The good news we hear is that the Strikers front office is selling season tickets like hotcakes! The bad news we have heard is that last years MVP Christian Gomez and top scorer Abe Thompson will not be back this year. (Gomez is said to be headed to China). The absence of both are a tough blow for the offense of the team which seemed non existent during Saturdays game. A notable presence Saturday was Eduardo Coudet, the Argentine midfielder who played for the Philadelphia Union last year. Former clubs he played in include Celta de Vigo in Spain, San Luis in Mexico, and River Plate.
The Strikers defense looked solid against the Red Bulls considering they had only practiced for a week before their first scrimmage. There is no doubt the Strikers need some top fire power upfront and a good playmaker. Let's see what coach Daryl Shore comes up with as preseason continues.
Following is a video by Miami Ultra Alan Guevara.
MLS News
South Florida resident and Reuters journalist Simon Evans has launched a new Reuters Soccer blog. His latest piece is an interview with Thierry Henry.
Q: Was the fact that America is still, in some ways, a new frontier for the sport and you have a role in spreading the game’s popularity, an attraction?Be sure to follow Reuters Soccer Blog on facebook http://www.facebook.com/reuterssoccer
No, I know that people are always going to talk about me, Rafa (Marquez), Becks, Donovan, they will talk about us but it is up to everyone in the league, all of us, to perform well and attract more fans and let everyone see that MLS is serious. When you have things like the All Star game, I know its only a friendly, but again, it is a chance to show that you can compete. It is down to everyone, to Real Salt Lake, to Dallas to all the organizations in the league to make the league better, not only what you could call the ‘usual suspects’
Flight 19 Flight 19 is a Fort Lauderdale and Broward County based supporters group dedicated to passionately supporting our local professional club team, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, as well as South Florida soccer in general.
The group was conceived in 2010 by a handful of Miami Ultras members, as part of the broader South Florida United effort, to stir up support for local soccer in the Fort Lauderdale area, coinciding with the return of the legendary Strikers and North American Soccer League in 2011.
The group is named in honor of the flight of 5 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that took off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale(now Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport) in December of 1945, disappearing in perhaps the most famous incident associated with the Bermuda Triangle. Our crest is based on the roundel insignia found on WWII era US Military Aircraft, the original NASL style soccer ball and the triangular shape of the Bermuda Triangle. The story of Flight 19 is part of the history of Fort Lauderdale, and considering the home of the Strikers, Lockhart Stadium, is situated on land that was once part of an airport built to train WWII Naval pilots, it is a fitting name to represent our efforts to honor Fort Lauderdale and our rich history.
Be sure to check out and join Flight 19 and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
14 comments:
Great billboard!
Unfortunately, Miami FC/Fort Lauderdale Strikers won't play another team as good or as attractive as Red Bull the rest of the year. Fans in both Miami and Fort Lauderdale want to see the best. We had the Gatos/Toros, the original Strikers and the Fusion.
This new NASL cannot deliver what fans in both cities want to see, hence like Miami FC it is doomed to flop.
Bring us MLS and we'll come, whether it is in Miami or Fort Lauderdale! We'll draw as many as Seattle with the right marketing.
It is only by supporting the Strikers & the WPS team that will play in Boca - Don Garber's requirement that you support what you've got - along with any and all CONCACAF Gold Cup games, International friendlies and all other aspects of the sport that will win an MLS franchise for South Florida.
Certainly the NASL season won't have name teams here. Garber, and MLS, want to see if we'll support what we've got, support the sport, before they'll let us have what we want. As part of that concept, not to support the Strikers is to drive us further away from an MLS franchise in South Florida. If we allow the Strikers to flop, we flop. We've demonstrated that we can't support the sport.
It baffles me that this message has to be repeated over and over and over. Folks, you know the way to get what you want. Do it. Support the sport by supporting the Strikers. It is that simple.
Exactly Antique. Being D2 did not stop fans in Portland, Montréal, Vancouver and Seattle from supporting their local teams, and that support directly led to them making the move to MLS. Were they "cheap knockoffs" of their old NASL counterparts as I've heard some here describe the new Strikers? No they weren't/aren't. If you refuse to support the local team because it is not MLS then you are not a true soccer fan.
And of course, the Commissioner of MLS DON GARBER told us that's what we need to do. I was sitting 10 feet from him when he said it. If you don't support the Strikers you are hurting the chances of MLS ever coming back. Case closed.
If these negative people want to bitch about it not being "world class" soccer or the the team not playing in, or being named after, Miami then that's their problem. At least shut up and stop giving all South Florida fans a bad name.
P.S. Ed thanks for the mention! Go Strikers!
By not caring about the team or teams you have here you are just showing that you really don't love the sport.Unfortunately that attitude is clear for everyone. People asking for MLS or nothing else don't really have a clue of how the sport develops, how it works or why it is so popular across the world. They just want to see stars and big names, in fact they may not eve care what sport it is, they just want the big names.
I go to the stadium to watch the game, because I love the game. People who come in droves to see their teams would do it with or without big names. They have allegiance to their cities and they mostly love the sport.
Messages like bring MLS and kill 2nd division have the opposite effect. We will never see it here again if people keep acting in such absurd way.
The WPS team playing in Boca is totally different than the Strikers. That's a top division team with top division talent. In fact, that team formerly the Washington Freedom has one of the best rosters of woman soccer players in the world. I have no problem supporting that team and will go to the games.
The Strikers and NASL are different. It is a second rate league with second and third rate players. Most of the players are MLS rejects or guys being parked at the local club because Traffic owns their contract and intend to sell them on. It's tough to support a team full of anonymous players and a handful of good ones you know you won't be able to keep.
All my posts here are not intended to slam the fans or the Strikers as an idea. I am from Miami, and would prefer the team have stayed in Miami for personal reason. However, I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with a team in Fort Lauderdale. In fact, I believe FTL is a better location for soccer. History has proven that, over thirty years.
My issue is with the ownership itself. Traffic will never give the fans MLS. It is against their business model. Now that we have a WPS team playing in the area, I strongly believe that is more worth supporting and has a better chance of ultimate success in a big market like this one, than a second rate team run by owners who ultimately do not care about results on the field.
Do you really want the legendary Ft Lauderdale Strikers name cheapened by a company that has zero interest in results and just wants to sell players?
Traffic Sports will never bring MLS to South Florida.
Traffic does not have to bring MLS to South Florida. But the Strikers success will hasten it.
We know that Traffic's primary business is in the meat market. So what!? The idea is to show the people that decide where the MLS franchises go that we are ready for one because we've got a substantial group of true fans of the sport that turn out in numbers for 2nd Division NASL soccer. True fans do that. They don't whine & complain and bad mouth what they've got just because someone else has better.
If we want MLS franchise #21-#24, #20 is going to another team in NYC, we've got to show MLS that we'll support it. Supporting the Strikers, whether you love the ownership group or not, shows the support that MLS desires. That will have them steer a group, or an individual, toward us. Maybe they'll buy he successful, already in place Strikers. Then everybody profits, one way or another.
Your way, MLS or nothing, assures us of nothing being exactly what we get from MLS.
I hope to see you at some WPS games &/or at FIU for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. At least by supporting them you're not acting against our best interests.
FYI
We must pull together even more now. There is another team in Florida that wants into MLS.
www.orlandocitysoccer.com/news/index.html?article_id=73
Orlando is just too small a market to be seriously considered. Their only hopes are if Disney joins them, which isn't the case at this time.
Seriously, Tampa has a better chance if Miami doesn't get a team. MLS is looking at the big markets. They need the TV rating only large markets like Miami or Atlanta could give them in order to have a true national foot print in this country.
Yes and if MLS awards a team to Orlando, they can kiss any potential TV ratings from South Florida and Tampa goodbye for good. Plus OCSC is run by the same guy who nearly killed the Rochester Rhinos and couldn't handle running the lacrosse team in O-town. Like Ed said, sans-Disney Orlando is a VERY long shot at MLS.
And on the subject of the Strikers, as Antique said, Traffic does not have to be the ones to bring us MLS. But by supporting the Strikers we can improve our chances of being in MLS. Even in MLS the Strikers would probably not live up to the greatness of the original team. Heck the Dolphins haven't lived up to their past greatness since the 80s.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is local tradition, pride and supporting the game.
RE: Orlando rebut - maybe, maybe not. Certainly SoFL has over double the population, but, if Disney gets into the picture anything can happen. Think of how many of us thought the USA had a lock on the 2022 WC. To casually dismiss any competition is to advance failure. Ask George Armstrong Custer & the 7th Cav.
My point is that we now, officially, have someone else that wants what we want. We may have many attributes that should make us the frontrunner, but they seem to have one thing we don't: a united front.
They meet with Garber then leave to formulate & implement a plan based on the info he gives them.
We meet with Garber, get the essential info needed to bring MLS back to South Florida, then a certain element squabbles over the current ownership of the local Div 2 team by refusing to support it in any way, even though supporting is necessary in getting an MLS team.
If you are MLS, which group gives the most favorable impression?
Do take the Orlando group seriously. They mean it. It's time to dismiss the nonsense & do whatever is necessary to bring MLS back here. That includes swallowing our pride and admitting that it is possible that we won't get MLS back unless, and until, we support the sport. That requires supporting the Strikers.
Seriously, MLS need to come to Miami. It’s time fans want it and fans will support it. We need better than a D2 team.
oh that is so awesome news!! I am really excited for the rest of the season for Strikers, I literally can't wait!
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