Euphoria at Blackbaud Stadium.

The days of USL teams sharing accommodation with local High School football teams in rickety old grid iron football parks may soon be coming to an end, given the initiatives of several pro-active franchises - PAUL S. HENDREN explains.

e has been described as being a trailblazer; the Godfather of American soccer and a visionary. Francisco Marcos, who holds the dual role of A-League Commissioner and United Soccer Leagues President, is now firmly perched at the top of one of the world's largest umbrella soccer organizations. 

Francisco Marcos.

In addition to overseeing 100 youth teams the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Marcos has a stable of 127 adult teams ranging from grassroots amateur teams, through a non-amateur women's league to a full professional loop - sanctioned as a Second Division by the United States Soccer Federation and a First Division in Canada.

From his heady days with the defunct North American Soccer League, to concocting the format of his present soccer venture Marcos has journeyed through North American soccer wars over the decades wearing many hats including promoter, agent, journalist and administrator.

The seeds of today's USL were sown in 1986 when Marcos founded the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. The SISL became the Sunbelt Independent Soccer League. The "U" was added in 1991, making the league the U.S. Interregional Soccer League, which eventually became United Soccer Leagues.

The A-League is the highest level of competition in the USL providing professional soccer to markets where Major League Soccer does not reside. More than one million fans throughout North America passed through A-League turnstiles in 1999. Marcos struck a productive working relationship with Major League Soccer and most A-League franchises are partnered to MLS teams. In 1999 the A-League's Rochester Rhinos upset the apple cart by capturing the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup defeating several MLS teams on their way to the championship.

"The huge potential to expand and develop soccer in North America is self-evident and the commitment and enthusiasm of the USL to achieve this end is equally evident..."

Aston Villa Chairman
Douglas Ellis.

More than one million fans throughout North America passed through A-League turnstiles (45k) in 1999.

Marcos even had the foresight to send a working group to England to drum up a relationship between the USL and some of Britain's top clubs. An arrangement that was welcomed by the likes of Chelsea, Glasgow Celtic, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, to name just a few. While showing off the re-development of Villa Park to USL delegates Aston Villa Chairman Douglas Ellis commented that: "The huge potential to expand and develop soccer in North America is self-evident and the commitment and enthusiasm of the USL to achieve this end is equally evident."

New Frontiers

The A-League has been a salad bowl of soccer personalities. A home to young budding stars who consider the second tier league to be a stepping stone to greener pastures or a place for foreign mercenaries to extend their careers.

Steve Nicol.

Steve Nicol has seen it all. Capped 26 times for his native Scotland the former Liverpool Great was a significant cog in the Big Red Machine of the Eighties proudly defending the honour of those who cheered him from the legendary Kop terrace. Nicol was accustomed to playing before capacity crowds in magnificent soccer shrines. Anfield, Wembley, Hampden Park, to name just a few, were common destinations for the decorated Scot.

" If soccer is going to be a religion, then we need our own chapels, churches, and cathedrals. The other sports have recognized that you don't feel at home in somebody else's bedroom so to speak. You can't pray the same way in somebody else's synagogue if you are a Christian. It is no different for soccer...."

United Soccer Leagues President,
Francisco Marcos.

Now the aging defender is lacing up his boots as a player-manager for an outfit called the Boston Bulldogs. A modest A-League team playing in a small municipal stadium in an affluent community on the outskirts of Boston. Nicol, with his best playing days behind him, hopes to parlay his move to the United States into a successful career in soccer management. Instead of sold out soccer shrines Nicol now displays his talents before significantly fewer onlookers, many of whom are still trying to comprehend 'selling a dummy' or 'offside traps'.

 
Fun for the kids at the Boston Bulldogs.

Juan Arango has travelled the world trying to sell his skills to any takers. The talented 28-year-old Colombian striker has filled nets in three continents before he embarked on his most recent soccer campaign with the Toronto Lynx. Arango, like so many other foreign hired guns in the A-League, has been forced to adapt to a sport that continues to languish in the shadows of the mainstream. The adventurous South American, who was weaned on the beautiful game in a soccer crazed culture, has found the adjustment to North American soccer to be most challenging. He has even discovered that the experience of playing soccer in ballparks more suited to baseball to be quite peculiar, if not a novelty to tell his mates back in his hometown of Cali.

Juan Arango.

Something Old

Over the decades Hersheypark Stadium has sat in its glory proclaimed to be the most prominent outdoor stadium between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In addition to being the home of a series of spectacular concerts the vintage stadium underwent a significant $1 million face-lift to accommodate its newest tenant, the A-League's Hershey Wildcats. With a capacity of 16,000 for soccer the renovations included a new press box, new locker rooms, a new scoreboard and reconfigured seating. Of greater significance, however, was the introduction of a new state-of-the-art natural turf field. A field that was widened by 20 feet that now meets and even surpasses FIFA's stringent requirements.

Suddenly the large stadium in North America's chocolate Capital has become a favourite venue for the United States Soccer Federation. Prior to the Women's World Cup the US women played China in Hershey before a capacity crowd and the Football Confederation (formerly CONCACAF) chose Hersheypark stadium to host the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company not only own the Wildcats but the large company also owns the stadium, the adjacent arena, the amusement park and two Five Star hotels.

Wildcat's General Manager Todd Smith is of the opinion that the stadium surpasses the capacity needs of an A-League team but it has quickly established itself as a significant base for United States Soccer Federation national team games.

Lamar Hunt US Cup action. 
Tampa Bay (MLS) vs. 
Charleston (A-League).

In the glory days of the seventies, Portland, Oregon was home to some of the most spectacular soccer in America and it was fondly referred to as "Soccer City USA". An average gate of over 20,000 fans attended Timber games during their banner season in 1976 and in 1977 Civic Stadium hosted the North American Soccer league Championship game. A contest that proved to be the last competitive game in the legendary Pele's decorated career.

Since the demise of the North American Soccer League in 1984, Civic Stadium has remained in the minds of American soccer spin-doctors and it has hosted several international soccer events, including World Cup qualifying, with overwhelming success. On July 11 Portland Family Entertainment announced that professional soccer was returning to Civic Stadium in the form of the A-League's Portland Timbers, a resurrection of the name made famous during the heydays of the NASL.

Portland Family Entertainment, who also owns the minor pro baseball team, has pledged over $34 million to renovate the 27,000-seat downtown venue.

Pittsburgh vs. Charleston
 in A-League action.

Something Borrowed

They have paved the way for other soccer franchises with their astute marketing schemes and they are a template for success. From their humble beginnings the Rochester Raging Rhinos made Frontier Field a place to be and a place to be seen. Frontier Field, a beautiful little baseball park with state of the art amenities situated in the heart of Rochester's city centre, was originally intended to be the home of Triple A baseball but it was the soccer team that made the venue a popular destination for Rochester's sports crazed locals. The Rhinos have played to capacity crowds, game in and game out, forcing the franchise owners and city officials with a huge undertaking.

Given the success of the soccer team the Rhinos' owners have seriously courted America's top professional soccer league. "Major League Soccer will only consider Rochester in their plans if a suitable soccer specific stadium is built," said Rhinos' President Frank DuRoss when reached by telephone. Despite its intimate sightlines Frontier Field's splendid turf grass field has taken a beating given the endless conversions from baseball to soccer. DuRoss and his associates answered the challenge and on January 12 they unveiled a grand scheme that included a splendid HOK designed 20,000-seat stadium incorporating 30 luxury boxes and 1,700 club seats. The price tag for the entire project is estimated to be $44 Million in addition to the cost of the land. DuRoss is convinced that the ideal site for the soccer stadium is adjacent to the Baseball Park and the Rhinos are willing to commit $4 million in cash, borrow $22 million in bonds as well as cover all losses.

They were given a boost when local telecommunications giant PaeTec pledged $10 million for the naming rights and State officials have identified the enormous soccer boom in Western New York by endorsing the project to the tune of $15 million. Even before groundbreaking, scheduled next spring, the Rhinos have practically sold all 31 luxury suites at PaeTec Park. DuRoss, an experienced sports entrepreneur, is of the opinion that for A-League teams to thrive each franchise needs to operate their own 15,000 seat facilities or have full control of their lease agreement.

The Long Island Rough Riders tested the baseball waters with the soccer team. The Rough Riders, a team owned by the same parent company as the Long Island baseball Ducks, ventured into EAB Park for six games this season. EAB Park, a 6, 200 seat baseball stadium is a brand new facility that has caught the eye of Nassau County sports enthusiasts. The six game experiments proved an overwhelming success and local sports enthusiasts appeared to enjoy EAB's intimate feel for soccer. 

EAB Park.

It was all hands on deck during game days as all front office staff were recruited to help with the soccer retrofit. The baseball mound was removed, the base paths were covered with turf and the outfield wall was pushed back to accommodate a soccer field. The Riders will not be aborting their comfortable home at Mitchel Field but they hope to encourage more baseball enthusiasts to attend soccer games.

Mitchel Field itself is considered an ideal setting for A -League soccer with its 8,000 capacity, superb natural turf field and first-rate training facilities. The Mitchel Field Complex, recently upgraded for the Goodwill games, has even caught the eye of New York/New Jersey MetroStars' owner Stuart Subotnick who is rumoured to be eyeing a second major League Soccer franchise in the Long Island area.

The New Orleans Storm were unable to make their shared soccer/baseball accommodation at Zephers Field work and they have taken a leave from the A-League to examine the feasibility of their own soccer specific stadium.

Something New

There is no mistaking Blackbaud's enormous success. Considered one of the worlds leading software manufacturers Blackbaud's annual revenue exceeds over $85 million. Software magazine describes Blackbaud as being one of the best, brightest and most successful companies in the software industry.

With its corporate headquarters based in Charleston, Blackbaud is now also a leader in soccer stadium development. Recently the soccer team purchased the soccer friendly stadium and Blackbaud has retained a very strong partnership including the naming rights to the stadium. The intimate soccer ground, located in the shadows of the corporate office complex is a masterful little soccer park with an ideal capacity of 5,100, tight sight lines and a splendid 3,800 square foot English-style pub that is a virtual museum of American soccer memorabilia.

Many players who have passed through Charleston describe the $4.5 million stadium as being by far the best stadium in the A-League and a perfect template for the rest of the league to follow. Blackbaud Stadium also received top billing as the best stadium in the league during the A-League's annual peer evaluation last season leading the pack in many categories.

Above (55k) and left (94k); 
the Three Lions pub at 
Blackbaud Stadium.

The Virginia Beach Sports Plex was envisioned to be a model for everyone to copy. Built on the concept of "the Stadium of the Nineties", which was made famous by architectural giants Lobb Partnership, the Hampton Roads Mariners' home has all the potential to be a world-beater. The Stadium of the Nineties design incorporates expansion possibilities when the need arises and it has been critically acclaimed with Huddersfield Town's Alfred McAlpine Stadium and Bolton's Reebock Stadium. The Sports Plex can potentially increase its capacity to 30,000 from its present capacity of 12,000.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have found a temporary home at Bethal Park High School Stadium. The local Pittsburgh soccer community have embraced the Riverhounds and the sophomore A-League team's success resulted in an average gate of 4,200 with two sell-outs in the 5,400-seat stadium during their rookie campaign.

Pittsburgh has quickly established itself as a booming soccer community and Alliance Soccer Resources, the parent company of the Riverhounds, are hoping to parlay the popularity of soccer into a spanking new soccer facility. The centrepiece of the project will be a 10,000-seat soccer specific stadium with capabilities of expanding to 20,000 surrounded by at least 24 other soccer fields.

" Soccer is the little league of the new millennium..."

Cliff Gorski, VP of Alliance Soccer Resources, Pittsburgh.

Riverhounds' owner Paul Heasly will not be satisfied with just any soccer stadium and he is committed to see Pittsburgh erect one the North America's most progressive state-of-the-art soccer grounds. The stadium and complex initiative will be a Sports Legacy Foundation project incorporating the full support of all levels of local government. County officials have fully backed the project understanding that "Soccer is the little league of the new millennium," reported Soccer Alliance Vice President Cliff Gorski.

Flash Scheme

The San Diego Flash, a team that made headlines last year by offering public stock options, also have a grand scheme of building their own soccer specific stadium. Flash Park, a Craig McIntosh designed project, will be a 10,000 seat stadium (expandable to 25,000) with all the amenities of a "big league park" and an attached office complex.

A key element in the entire project's design is that several regulation-sized fields to service the local soccer community will surround the stadium. The Flash have targeted the City of Chula Vista, considered one of the most dynamic and growing regions in Southern California. In Milwaukee there is speculation that Tim Krause, son of former Brewers owner Charles Krause, is very interested in building a soccer stadium in the city centre.

The Milwaukee Rampage in conjunction with the indoor soccer Wave are eyeing a 10,000-12,000 stadium initiative near the Bradley Center. Both parties are in negotiations with City officials about the feasibility of such projects. In Sacramento there has been serious discussion about building a 10,000-15,000 seat soccer stadium to be built adjacent to the Arco Arena. The Sacramento Stadium partners, including former NBA owner Gregg Lukenbill, have higher aspirations than the A-League and hope to land an MLS franchise.

The boldest stadium announcement in the USL, however, has come from the Des Moines Menace, a team that competes in the amateur Premier Development League of the USL and a far cry from fully professional A-League. Menace majority owner Kyle J. Krause, a man whose financial empire is based on the Kum and Go chain of variety stores, announced plans to build a $10 million HOK designed soccer specific stadium that could house 7,000 spectators, with the possibility of private boxes. Krause is a firm believer that his PDL team could easily play in the A-League and he has pledged that the project will not require public money to survive.

From splintered benches and baseball infields to club seating and comfortable sight lines USL stadia across North America are undergoing significant face-lifts as North American Soccer raises the bar to new heights. 

Paul S. Hendren, a member of the International Sports Press Association, is based in Toronto, Canada and he can be reached via e-courier at phendren@aips.worldsport.org