Image credit: OKC Energy FC

Oklahoma City Energy FC announced Thursday that it mutually agreed to part with coach Jimmy Nielsen on Thursday.

It was a surprising move from a club that was a penalty shootout round away from making its first USL Cup earlier in November.

First, a few notes about what happened and Nielsen’s future:

·  Neither side expected it to get to this point a week ago. Nielsen and the club had agreed to the basics within the contract, but negotiations broke down over salary for his three assistants.

·  The Energy offered to increase the salary for the assistant coaches, but the proposed increase did not meet the coaches’ expectations.

·  Ultimately the Energy made a reasonable offer within its standard budget, but Nielsen and his staff will likely find a new club willing to pay their expected salary. Neither side was necessarily cheap or “at fault” for the negotiation breaking down — just part of the business.

·  Nielsen will be in demand with the number of high-profile open positions within United States lower-division soccer. Nielsen has no immediate plans lined up, given he expected to remain with the Energy as recent as the past week, and is open to any opportunity (including overseas).

·  Nielsen’s lack of a required United States Soccer Federation coaching license for division two standards did not play a role in his departure. Nielsen, who is scheduled to take the coaching licensing classes this upcoming January, would have missed five matches if he had taken the classes this past summer. Both the Energy and United Soccer League supported this timeline, given the lack of flexibility the USSF offers with its certification process.

·  Swope Park, the Major League Soccer B club for Sporting Kansas City, is a club that admires and respects Nielsen, who played his final four seasons with Sporting. Peter Vermes, Nielsen’s former manager, is the hiring person for that position.

·  Nielsen was the longest-tenured coach in the USL this past season, which goes to show how rare this type of longevity (four years) is within the sport, much less a second division league. His tenure with the Energy was successful, building the club from scratch in its first season and making three playoff appearances in the following seasons, including two Western Conference finals.

·  Nielsen: “I had four amazing years here. It was an incredible time, but it is also time for a new challenge. I respect the ownership tremendously. We couldn’t come to a new agreement, but I don’t envision that changing the relationship that we have moving forward.”

As for the Energy’s coaching search:

·  Bob Funk Jr. and Tim McLaughlin (co-owners), Jeff Ewing (club president) and Jason Hawkins (executive director of community development) will lead the coaching search.

·  The club is working on a list of potential candidates, and it plans to have its primary candidates identified as soon as next week. It would prefer to hire its next manager in December, but there is no concrete deadline.

·  Energy FC has identified three points of emphasis for its search: winning, community engagement and culture, and integrating its pro club with technical development all the way down to its youth partners and academy aspirations.

·  This is not the Energy’s first proper coaching search process. The club hired Nielsen in 2014 based on Sporting KC’s recommendation, given the Energy were Sporting’s USL affiliate at that time. However, Oklahoma City had already vetted multiple candidates, including an interview with current Indy Eleven manager Tim Hankinson, before hiring Nielsen.

·  Notable lower-division coaches that are now available include Nikola Popovic (Swope Park), Alessandro Nesta (Miami FC) and Mark Dos Santos (San Francisco Deltas), though the later two may receive larger contract offers from big-spending North American Soccer League clubs. The Energy expects to be one of the premier USL openings, given its resources and above-average investment within the league.

·  Speaking of spending, the Energy expects to have a similar player budget for 2018 as it did this past season. This was not an issue with Nielsen during negotiations.

·  The club debriefed its players shortly after Nielsen’s departure. Despite the coaching change, the Energy has already received affirmation from multiple players to re-sign for 2018.

·  Taft Stadium’s fast turf and narrow pitch will be considered in the coaching search, but it won’t be the deciding factor. Tulsa Roughnecks coach David Vaudreuil told me earlier this season that Nielsen did an excellent job bringing in players that excelled within the tight pitch constraints.

·  Funk Jr.: “As an organization, we want to win. That’s a big priority. We want to be competitive, and we want to put a great team on the field of character, quality and can win games. That’s what we are going to be expecting out of the coach and staff — take our roster and complete those goals.”

·  Funk Jr. (cont.): “It will always be a goal to go to the playoffs and win the USL Cup, but it also includes the community involvement, engagement and understanding the importance as an organization to be involved in the community and fit in our culture.”

Follow James on Twitter: @James_Poling.

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Photo credit: Butler women’s soccer

INDIANAPOLIS — Both were selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. Both delivered huge tallies to lead No. 20 Butler to the conference championship game.

Freshman forward Caitlyn DiSarcina and first-year defender Julia Leonard scored the Bulldogs’ first and second goals, respectively, pacing Butler to a 3-0 home win over Providence on Thursday evening in the BIG EAST semifinals.

Butler didn’t wait long to open the scoring. A blast from outside the box by midfielder Paige Monaghan required a fingertip save from Providence goalkeeper Shelby Hogan, which then caromed off the woodwork and landed at the feet of forward Caitlyn DiSarcina. The freshman showed the poise of an upperclassman in calmly tapping the ball in to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Right place, right time for DiSarcina!@ButlerWSoccer takes a 1-0 lead in the #BIGEASTwsoc Semifinals pic.twitter.com/rg6zmgPt5u

— BIG EAST Champs (@BIGEASTchamps) November 2, 2017

The second goal also came on a tap in, but under different circumstances. A service from a corner kick created a scrum in the box, and Leonard flung her right foot out to flick the ball home just as multiple Friars attempted to recover.

The Bulldogs Take Control

Julia Leonard puts @ButlerWSoccer up 2-0 in the second half. #BIGEASTwsoc pic.twitter.com/meIbvUOVPF

— BIG EAST Champs (@BIGEASTchamps) November 3, 2017

The BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year provided the nail in the coffin. After nearly scoring on Butler’s first goal, Monaghan made sure of it with a late dagger that dashed any hopes Providence had of a comeback. The standout junior struck a low shot without much pace that somehow made its way through a couple Friars defenders and past Hogan.

Coming In Hot!

Paige Monaghan with a quick strike to put @ButlerWSoccer up 3-0.#BIGEASTwsoc pic.twitter.com/YzgHW0PeJ7

— BIG EAST Champs (@BIGEASTchamps) November 3, 2017

The Butler defense continued its dominance in the victory. Goalkeepers Hannah Luedtke and Leonie Doege combined with a back line rotation of Shannon McDevitt, Annika Schmidt, Leonard, Kyra Cooke and Amanda Kowalski for the clean sheet. Butler has only allowed a staggering four goals all season, tops in the country.

FULLTIME: @ButlerWSoccer 3, @PC_WomensSoccer 0

Goals from @cdisarcina10, @julesleonard3 and @PaigeeQuinn propel Butler to Sunday’s @BIGEAST title game Sunday vs. @HoyasWSoc. How even are the teams? Georgetown won 4-0 today and is ranked 20th. Butler 21st. Teams tied 0-0 last wk.

— Soc Takes (@SocTakes) November 3, 2017

Butler will now travel to Georgetown for the BIG EAST championship game Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The No. 19 Hoyas, the top seed in the conference tournament, demolished Marquette 4-0 on Thursday afternoon.

“It’ll be a great little rematch for us,” Butler co-head coach Tari St. John told ButlerSports.com‘s Chelsea Groves after the game. “It was 0-0 here and we’re looking forward to being able to play them again. Obviously they pose many challenges, but I think our team will be up for it.”

The conference title game will be shown live on FS1. With BIG EAST teams sporting low RPIs this season, it’s unclear how many at-large bids the conference will receive into the NCAA tournament.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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The USAi Old Bhoys and Carpathia FC duke it out during a May match in Indianapolis. Photo credit: Kevin Johnston/Soc Takes

On July 6, I posted a Twitter poll asking which of four ideas I should write up next. The people answered, with “UPSL explained” getting 50 percent of the vote. So, let’s do this.

The United Premier Soccer League is one of the more interesting, and downright confusing, leagues below the organized U.S. Soccer pyramid. It’s also a league that has drawn a fair bit of mockery and derision — some of it deserved — for the personalities of its leadership, operating principles and ridiculously rapid expansion.

Let’s start at the beginning. The UPSL was founded in 2011 as a higher-level alternative for clubs in the Los Angeles area to play in something beyond their normal local leagues. The league initially played a fall-spring season with 10 teams, and gradually began to grow throughout Southern California. In 2015, the league had grown to 30 teams across three conferences, with teams in California, Nevada and Colorado. The season had also grown to run from May through October. 2016 marked the introduction of the split season format, with separate spring and fall seasons played annually. For that year, the spring season ran from January through May while the fall season ran from July to December. The league also reached 47 teams for the fall season across five conferences, including the new Nevada and North Conferences.

The next major development came in 2017 with the addition of promotion and relegation. That spring, the SoCal Division of the Western Conference split into two separate leagues, UPSL Premier Pro and UPSL Championship, with promotion and relegation between the two. This same structure was then brought to the Colorado Conference for the fall season.

And this brings us to 2018.

For the 2018 spring season, the UPSL fielded a record-high 171 teams. Yes, one-hundred, seventy-one teams. These were divided into eight conferences (Central, Colorado, Midwest, Mountain, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Western), and further split into 20 divisions. The 2018 fall season is set to feature even more expansion, with the UPSL currently listing a frankly ludicrous 222 clubs. Yes. More than 200 clubs. More clubs than members of the United Nations.

Anyway, let’s get back into how the league actually works.

Don’t think of the UPSL as a single league with hella teams, think of it as a collection of regional leagues under the same organizing body. Teams only play those within their respective division in any given season, save for the addition of friendlies against other opposition. While this is true for the NPSL and PDL as well, it’s done to a much greater degree within the UPSL.

In several discussions with UPSL owners, including the owners of Keene FC and OKC 1889 FC, the biggest draw for clubs is the lower cost of entry. UPSL is significantly cheaper for new clubs than either of the “fourth division” leagues, and for community-run or small town teams, that matters. UPSL is also much more focused on hyper-regional alignments, making travel times shorter and travel costs lower. Just looking at the Texas-area teams in the three leagues shows this: It’s 540 miles from Fort Worth to Brownsville for those NPSL teams, 600 miles from Oklahoma City to Corpus Christi for those PDL teams, but only 225 miles from Oklahoma City to Keene, Texas for those UPSL teams. That adds up, especially for players who have families and day jobs.

This, to me, is the biggest strength of the UPSL’s growing footprint. Having your longest road trip at maybe three and a half to four hours is much, much easier than having six- to eight-hour trips to games. Or, as is the case for WSA Winnipeg in the PDL, trips as far south as St. Louis. That’s at best a 16-hour drive each way.

I’ve made the case on several previous occasions for the creation of “state leagues” like they have in Brazil, and UPSL has implemented something I would argue is actually better.

And now to a primer on the UPSL’s promotion and relegation. For the 2018 spring season, promotion and relegation was in use in two divisions, SoCal and Colorado. Both divisions are split into two levels, with the highest designated as Pro Premier and the second as Championship. There are plans for a third tier, which will be designated League 1, in Colorado and Florida, with the Florida Central Division splitting into two tiers for the 2018 Fall Season. That Floridian second tier will actually be designated as a third tier under the Florida Central League 1 name, with the higher league designated as a second tier. Confusing as it may be, it actually has meaning within the UPSL’s regulations for clubs, and allows the league to spread pro/rel to other regions based on identical standards.

In my discussion with Keene FC’s co-owner Matt Kahla, he mentioned one of the best arguments for pro/rel that I’ve ever heard. Since implementing promotion and relegation in California and Colorado, the number of blowout wins has decreased. Teams that go out every week and lose 5-0, 8-0, even 11-0, can drop down to a level where they’re playing much closer competition, and teams that win those blowout games can move up to a tier better suited for their level of play. It really makes perfect sense at the amateur level where the resources available to different teams can vary dramatically. With the lower costs to enter the league comes with it wildly varying ownership, and it’s been the case for years in amateur soccer where some teams have what others simply don’t.

To wrap this up before reaching full #HipsterManifesto, here are a few additional points that don’t really fit in anywhere else:

The UPSL has much higher churn than other amateur leagues, namely the PDL and NPSL. But that’s honestly not surprising, nor is it that much of a problem. There are thousands of teams across the country that want to move into a national league, and when a league makes it as easy and affordable as possible to join, there will be teams who stretch their resources thin in doing so. But, failure in the UPSL is much, much cheaper than failure in the NPSL or PDL, and a team going under isn’t likely to cripple the club permanently. Many teams that leave the UPSL simply return to their local amateur leagues rather than fold outright. While I do personally find it amusing that the “Former Teams” section of the UPSL’s Wikipedia article vanished, it really doesn’t matter that much with the way the league operates. And that’s not to say that new teams aren’t being vetted by the league. They just have lower thresholds to meet than they do elsewhere.

The UPSL put a team in Alaska. That team, Alaska City FC, has actually been around in the Alaska Soccer system since 2011, and has now become the first member of the new Alaska Division in UPSL. Yes, they’re planning a full division of teams in Alaska. Because why wouldn’t they? As long as there’s enough interest, and it sure looks like there is, it’ll work. The biggest reason why there’s no Alaskan representation in NPSL or PDL is because of the lack of local opposition. Having an entire division within the state makes that easier. There are already a number of youth soccer clubs across the state (well, the inhabited parts) that this division will undoubtedly draw from.

Several UPSL conferences use only a handful of venues. The SoCal Championship division has 10 teams playing at the Lake Forest Sports Park in Lake Forest, Calif. while the Florida South division has nine of 12 teams based at Ives Estates Park in Miami. The most interesting of these, though, is the Atlanta Caribbean division, where every single game is played at Southeast Sports Complex in Livonia, Ga. Most, if not all, of the eight teams in the division have strong Caribbean roots, and many of these teams have been playing in Atlanta-area leagues for years. But it’s still amusing to see only one venue listed for the entire division on Wikipedia.

The UPSL is also building a women’s league as well as a youth league. The women’s league, known as the WUPSL, has seven teams confirmed in California and Colorado, but will likely continue to grow at the same ridiculous rate as the men’s league. The academy league currently has 10 teams confirmed, all at the U18 level.

OK, so that’s enough rambling for one day. I hope you learned something new about this slightly odd, probably misunderstood and undeniably unusual league.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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Photo credit: Chris Aduama

EVERETT, Mass. — Boston City FC forward Isaac “Nana” Addai has been loaned to Associacao Ferroviaria de Esportes in Brazil, team sources said Wednesday.

Addai, 22, has scored 30 goals in 28 games in the last two NPSL seasons, playing for the Rhode Island Reds and Boston City. Addai has played for Liberia’s Under-23 national team, moving to the U.S. after living in a refugee camp and performing professionally in Ghana.

Boston City will earn 40 percent of a sell-on fee should Addai be transferred.

“He’s a different player, he has a lot of quality, he’s explosive and knows how to score goals,” Boston City coach Palhinha said of Addai. “It’s very difficult to score goals and he knows how to score. He has very good control of the ball and he’s super strong. He plays with the vision to make the right play for the team.”

Photo credit: Michael Preston

Palhinha, a former Brazil national team player, and investor Renato Valentim hope to finance Boston City FC partly by player transfers. Valentim also founded Boston City FC Brasil, which will compete in the Minas Gerais state league.

Addai had 12 goals and seven assists as Boston City (6W-3L-3D, 21 points) finished in second place in the Atlantic White Division this season, adding a goal in two U.S. Open Cup matches. Boston City has qualified for the NPSL playoffs in each of its two seasons.

“Boston City promised me an opportunity to play at a higher level and I am excited to continue to develop by taking this next step after an enjoyable season here,” Addai said in a team release. “My teammates made me feel very welcome and they played a huge part in my success. I am excited by the challenge that lies ahead in Brazil.”

Photo credit: Chris Aduama

Addai will be presented at Ferroviaria’s game against Noroeste in a Copa Paulista match at Estadio Fonte Luminosa in Araraquara on Saturday, July 22.

***

You can follow Frank on Twitter: @frankdellapa.

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DAYTON, Ohio — Dayton Dynamo FC and FC Buffalo settled for a 3-3 draw after a wild, five-goal second half last Sunday at Roger Glass Stadium. Here’s a video of Dayton fans reveling in the thriller and some photos from the NPSL contest:

Shout out to the @GemCitySquadron who have been loud . This is what lower division soccer is about! #Pride @NPSLSoccer @daytondynamo pic.twitter.com/A9YSgmkc0O

— Soc Takes (@SocTakes) June 25, 2017

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Photo credit: Jacksonville Armada FC

During his press conference today, Robert Palmer, owner of Jacksonville Armada FC, suggested that a USL ownership group had been interested in playing in Jacksonville — one that was also attempting to secure Hodges Stadium as its stadium of choice.

Interesting tidbit from Palmer around the time of his purchase of team: “USL was actively trying to put another team in Jacksonville to play at Hodges. Learned this 24 hours before closing on the purchase of the team”

— Chris Kivlehan (@kivlehan) January 8, 2018

In researching this claim, Soc Takes has been provided with a letter dated July 11, 2017 addressed to Marshall Happer, COO of Jax Armada, and NASL interim commissioner Rishi Sehgal that corroborates part of this claim. The letter (below) clearly suggests that another “competing interest” wished to use Hodges Stadium to host “professional soccer matches for the 2018 season.”

While it does not categorically state the USL as the league of interest, “professional soccer” suggests it would be a team interested in MLS or the USL, with the latter being far more likely. Additionally, sources have confirmed that the USL was interested in placing a team in Jacksonville.

Soc Takes is not aware of the identity of the alternate Jacksonville USL group.

During a time when owners and leagues regularly make incendiary allegations, it is good to have documentation to back one of these.

To see a good summary of today’s press conference, see the following:

Jacksonville Armada announcement about to start – will live tweet it #nasl

— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) January 8, 2018

Follow Nipun on Twitter: @NipunChopra7.

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Photo credit: Rene C. Nielsen

Group C play wrapped up Tuesday with France and Denmark advancing to the Round of 16. What were some of the most compelling Group C storylines during the Group Phase?

A Goal Makes a Difference

On the afternoon of June 22, 1982, Guillermo La Rosa scored the only goal for Peru in a match that ended 5-1 against a Poland team that featured Zbigniew Boniek.

Peru was eliminated in the first round of the 1982 Spain World Cup in the hands of Poland. But the sensation of La Rosa’s goal was forgotten for more than three decades.

World Cup after World Cup, Peru didn’t remember how to spell the word “goal” with their lips; they forgot how much oxygen their lungs needed to scream it again. Thirty-six years later, they suddenly recovered that memory.

Andre Carrillo and captain Paolo Guerrero gave Peru the dignity they deserved. Peru wanted and played the three matches always in search of the three points via the offensive and risky football fructified in the last game of “La Albirroja.”

The Real Tasks

France and Denmark advanced to the second round of the 2018 World Cup. After a 0-0 draw, both teams qualified to the Round of 16 undefeated.

France progressed in first place with seven points out of nine possible (two victories, one draw), and Denmark in second with five points (one win, two draws).

Now, math will not be necessary; the second round means proficiency. One mistake and you are out; ineffectiveness is a high price to pay.

Denmark demonstrates to have an excellent defensive mechanism, but benevolence in the attack. They’ve scored just two goals, which is the lowest offensive average of the qualified teams.

They will face Croatia, the black horse of Group D, which advanced with three victories behind a lot of offensive participation. Denmark’s game reclines in Eriksen’s potential, but a midfield with Modric and Rakitic could isolate him from the game, leaving the Danish without ball possession.

Denmark seems comfortable defending their goal; they’ve shown an unbreakable order and an efficient effort by holding the result. However, Sisto, and Poulsen will be the most important variations to bring instability to Croatia’s first line. Jorgensen could be the oxygen, and not just by holding the ball. The Danish center forward must appear as the referent for air balls and crosses. Against Croatia, Jorgensen needs to become the killer that Denmark wants.

The First Final

The conditions of Group D led to an unexpected encounter for the second round. France will face Argentina in their first knockout match.

It was scripted that France progressed as the dominant team from Group C, but it was a surprise that Argentina advanced in the last 10 minutes to the second round, struggling against Iceland and Nigeria.

Les Bleus have their most important task of the 2018 World Cup against a sleeping giant. Without translating the roster depth into game chemistry, Didier Deschamps hasn’t found the best facet of the French team yet. But as we review the 2016 Euro, France made progress to reach an enjoyable level of football during the knockout stages.

The key to the game against Argentina will remain in the midfield. Argentina doesn’t have a connection between the skeleton of the team and Messi; there’s a profound lack of systemic ideas with the Argentinian central midfielders and the offense.

Even if Deschamps makes rotations in the starting lineup — with players or formations — France has the best defensive midfielder in the game, N’Golo Kante. Kante can cover ground, recover and play at a very high intensity without being outpaced from the game.

This match will bring joy to World Cup fans.

The Kangaroo King

The 2018 World Cup was Australia’s fourth appearance in the most important stage of soccer. The Aussies scored two goals, both penalty kicks, to reach a total sum of 13 goals across their four appearances.

Tim Cahill converted five of those 13, and Tuesday’s match was his last chance to match a record by becoming the fifth player to score in four consecutive World Cups.

Pele, Klose, Uwe Seeler and Cristiano Ronaldo accomplished the feat.

Cahill, 38, played 37 minutes during the 2018 tournament, all against Peru. Even if Australia didn’t qualify to the next round, the Aussies showed resistance against better rivals.

However, the Australian fans are saying farewell to their most prominent icon of the 21st century.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

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INDIANAPOLIS — With the BIG EAST regular season title already in tow, Butler fell to a more motivated Xavier squad 2-2 (4-1) in penalties Wednesday at the Sellick Bowl in the semifinals of the conference tournament. But not before Butler made things interesting by notching a pair of late goals to erase a 2-nil deficit and send the match into overtime.

Here’s a gallery from the four-goal thriller that required a shootout:

Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbMeh.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Penn FC‘s Marco Franco and Paulo Jr. returned to the Circle City on Saturday night to take on their former club, Indy Eleven, at Lucas Oil Stadium on Pride Night. Both familiar faces were with Indy in 2017.

The end result, a 1-1 draw, meant a sharing of the points between two clubs currently separated by just three points in the USL Eastern Conference table.

Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

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INDIANAPOLIS — A celebration of the Indiana soccer scene is back.

The Union Jack Cup, a futsal tournament where local Indianapolis supporters’ groups of European clubs square off, will return to Broad Ripple on July 29. The tournament starts at 11 a.m. on the second floor of the Keystone Parking Garage at the intersection of College Avenue and Westfield Boulevard. The event is free and open to the public.

“When you have the likes of Jay Wetzel and the Union Jack staff working their asses off to support the local soccer community, the least we can do as patrons and supporters is throw them a futsal tournament,” said Napghanistan Casuals goalkeeper Brandon Evans. “We want to let everybody in Indianapolis and beyond know about not only the best ‘soccer bar,’ but the best bar in Indy.”

Drinks, snacks and prizes will be available at Union Jack Pub immediately following the conclusion of the tournament. The official after-party (21+) starts at 10 p.m. at Sam’s Silver Circle featuring live DJs and more prize giveaways.

Some of the groups participating in the five-on-five futsal tournament include: Slaughterhouse-19, Napghanistan Casuals, Manchester United Indianapolis, American Outlaws: Indianapolis, Queens Park Rangers Loyal Supporters of Indianapolis, Gelbe Wand BVB Indianapolis and OLSC Indianapolis. There will also be an Unaffiliated FC team for interested participants not aligned with a particular supporters’ group.

In addition to the tournament itself and other related festivities, the event offers plenty of opportunities to engage the community as well. Local charitable organizations will be on hand.

“As part of Slaughterhouse-19 and Union Jack’s commitment to help improve the city, multiple local non-profits will also have tents at the event,” states the Facebook event details.

The “blue kit”-wearing American Outlaws: Indianapolis squad took home the title in 2016 behind the expert guidance of venerable player/coach Frank Hall. The AO: Indy side will return this year in hopes of defending its futsal crown.

For more information on the third-annual Union Jack Cup or to inquire about participating, visit the event’s Facebook page.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.

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