Hey,
@bhmlegion
fans! If you have any pictures of BBVA Field (aka The Bank™️), go ahead and drop them in this thread! I’m missing some football right now and I want my fix.
#HammerDown
It's simple: If my team isn't playing Inter Miami CF, I have zero reason to watch Inter Miami.
Why in the world would I spend my time when I could be watching MY club to watch one player?
WHY ISN'T AMERICA TUNING INTO MESSI?
The 1st
#InterMiamiCF
game of '24 shown exclusively on TV delivered disappointing viewership. Only 137,000 watched the exciting game last week on FS2 & 101,000 on TUDN.
Second leg is tonight on FS2 at 8:15 PM ET.
“…Indy Eleven is a minor league team…”
Indy XI is not a farm system team. They don’t have a parent club. They aren’t developing talent for an MLS team. They are a PROFESSIONAL team.
PROFESSIONAL soccer is still PROFESSIONAL soccer.
Birmingham City fans, I’m about to ask an insane question but I ask this seriously:
Is this team in League One better than the squad the last four years in the Championship? Because the talent looks unbelievable.
#BCFC
#KRO
My time in Louisville, Kentucky was incredible. Despite building a brand new stadium,
@loucityfc
being the standard in the USL, and
@RacingLouFC
building a quality franchise, Louisville is the worst kept secret in US Footy.
Birmingham brought in 14k and 18k fans because of the USOC. The next closest we got was 10k.
The *idea* is what keeps some lower league soccer alive and is what make people fans of their local lower league team.
I don't say this lightly. If you don't buy your tickets today, it will be too late. As of right now, the General Admission for the
@opencup
match between
@bhmlegion
and
@InterMiamiCF
is sold out.
Birmingham is going crazy, y'all.
People posting the “Thanks, Tim Weah!” is one of the most tone deaf things I’ve ever seen.
Likely one of the lowest points of his professional career, or even life. Countless racist messages a death threats.
Don’t act like that was a good thing because a man is unemployed now.
.
@eastmamba
coming back home and seeing the fans of his hometown club for the first time since his USMNT run. This is what it means to Birmingham, Alabama. Up the 205.
And if you think MLS is going to be "fair" on what dictates a "reserve player", bless your heart.
long term USL fans remember when MLS teams would send down MLS First Teamers in "must win" USL matches. It'll be the same.
This is just another way to discredit the lower leagues.
NEW: On Friday afternoon,
#MLS
announced that it will have its Next Pro developmental teams participate in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup instead of its first teams.
The league will reassess participation for future iterations next winter. Report:
I’m going to say something controversial… maybe…
Don Garber’s job is doing what he is doing. Saying the things to make people mad at HIM and not the owners who actually made these decisions.
Direct your anger toward the ACTUALLY decision makers, not a punching bag.
“It’s a second division. It’s not even close.”
Houston Dynamo coach Ben Olsen got spicy talking about USL Championship vs. MLS after the Open Cup loss to Detroit City.
(🎥 Dynamo YT)
I know MLS is doing it for petty reasons, but you know there are Houston executives that are fuming because the Powers That Be™️ are acting like they had a trophyless season
@kevinroorbach
I understand that, but I have my loyalties to my club and my city. If I had to choose Messi or Birmingham on the TV, I'm picking Birmingham. Unless it's Messi's last ever match, I really don't care all that much.
These moments. These moments are what it’s all about. Thank you,
@bhmlegion
for making this a season I’ll never forget. It’s now how we wanted it to end, but this moments are what make fans for life.
You know what sucks? Inter Miami moves on to the semi finals for the first time in their history. All they can talk about is Messi.
If Birmingham made it to the semi finals, it becomes the complete craze of our city.
Inter Miami does not deserve this. They just don’t.
I said I had massive news, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this. For some stupid reason, she said yes.
She’s absolutely my better half and I cannot wait for it to be that way forever.
THIS is what it’s about. Finn Calloway is a local teenager who plays for his local club, got real minutes in a professional match, and is now taking photos with kids who are barely younger than him.
This is why we support the way we do.
Shoutout to
@fluffopotamus88
for helping us in the band get involved with the rest of the student section. For too long it felt like we were isolated from the students and homeboy really made an effort to help us out.
Every single club in the US should follow the groundwork that Loyal set in building a community.
There so few clubs that are as connected to their community the way San Diego are. Obviously MLS came and ruined what was built, but that shouldn’t scare off clubs from building.
Joe Hogsett just gave a half baked speech and said “a club for our city.”
If only there was a club that just had their eleventh birthday TODAY that would invest in the city.
Something that shouldn’t be unnoticed. One of the owners for the Legion is on the pitch clearing the water off the pitch himself.
This ownership loves this club and this city. This isn’t the norm. This is an exception in the US.
This stuff shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Something I said on The USL Show that I’m going to reiterate.
If USL-C backs out of the USOC because of a proposed 40% of gates given to MLS, while understandable, still makes USL-C a bad guy.
It just proves the point of MLS that it’s not about The Cup, it’s about the money.
My plea for USL fans is to not underestimate MLSNP teams. There are so many former L1 and Championship standouts who are a part of those teams.
The clubs may not care about The Cup but those players and coaches 1000% do.
Want to know something I think would genuinely change the Open Cup? Make it a weekend event. Stretch out the calendar, put it on a weekend. More fans will go, teams will have less 3 in 10 day weeks. It’ll fix so much, in my eyes.
Check out this video on how to do Dixieland Delight right.
Be sure to sing
#RollTide
and Beat Auburn when you see it up on the video board. Retweet to share.
#DixielandDelightDoneRight
I've also been floated the rumor of some USL-Championship teams are looking into their options on competing in the US Open Cup* by a source I trust.
*The contingency is if MLS teams get 40% of gate receipts on away fixtures, but non-MLS does not get the same deal.
So, unless I’m miss remembering something, tonight was our highest viewer count we’ve ever had on The USL Show (for livestreams).
1. League One fans are wild
2. The USL is growing at an insane pace and I’m so excited for it.
I shouldn't say this because I don't want to jinks anything, but for the short time that I've watched BCFC on a regular basis, this is the best the team has looked. Chong is actually insane.
I like to think Coach Saban has two people on his shoulders.
One is Ms. Terry telling him to be respectful and not score too much.
The other is Kristen telling her dad to run up the score.
@BcfcLegion
So many of our fans here never had an attachment to a team outside of Legion so this is the first time that they’ve had a fandom come outside of just living in the city/state where a professional team plays. I know so many people who are Blue till they die now.
On New Years Eve, one of the best kits of 2022 showed up to my place.👀👀
I am a complete sucker for map kits and
@SanDiegoLoyal
had THE BEST ONE OF 2022.
SWEET REVENGE 👀
AFC Wimbledon, reformed by supporters in 2004, defeated rivals MK Dons with a last minute winner at Plough Lane. Listen to what it means to the fans. SOUND UP 🔊
CBS came in and asked DCFC fans to be sterilized. No country flags? Even for player countries?
They came for the atmosphere and everything that comes with Detroit City, and immediately changed it.
Talk about supporting the supporters…
WAKE UP. IT IS AN
@AlabamaSoccer
MATCH DAY. 205 TO WORLD WIDE, THE CRIMSON TIDE LOOK TO ADVANCE TO THEIR FIRST EVER NATIONAL TITLE MATCH IN SCHOOL HISTORY.
THIS HISTORIC SQUAD IS MORE THAN A GREAT STORY, THEY’RE A FORCE TO BE RECKEN WITH.
COME ON THEN, LADIES.
#RollTide
Small 🧵:
There are many days I wish the guys at The USL Show got paid. John, Ryan, Alan, Phil, Tyler, everybody put in work to try and be the best show possible.
Nights like tonight are ones where I am glad we can speak freely.
We've talked about how dirty USL was over Chatt.
Hey,
@bhmlegion
I have a request.
Make the biggest moment in Alabama soccer history EVEN bigger.
Legion WFC’s first ever home opener is June 7th. The match against Inter Miami CF is on June 7th.
This is a chance to do something TRULY special for soccer in Birmingham.
Dear
@bhmlegion
,
Because we cannot sing (or sing as much), I think Keep Right On should at least be played over the speakers before or during the match. I would love to see our partnership with
@BCFC
grow and I think that is a perfect way to do it.
Love, Kaylor.
#HammerDown
One of the biggest take aways from the press conference was Alex Crognale saying, “It may be the loudest game I’ve ever been a part of.” Which includes the 2017 FC Cincinnati vs Columbus Crew US Open Cup match (sorry, Alex), which had 30,160 in attendance.
This city is for real.
You know, I have to share this. Never thought my name would be
A. Mentioned in the same article as Junior Flemmings.
B. Mentioned in a French footballing article.
Check out
@LesVioletsCom
’s article on Junior.
Super bitter sweet homecoming day for Romeo. I don’t think I’ve fallen in love with an animal so fast in my life but I know his owners have missed him terribly.
One last update coming when he’s home.
I'm seeing people lump Chattanooga FC in with "MLSNP Bad" for funny USOC memes, but also... it's straight up not fair.
If CFC stayed in NISA, they would have either been forced into going back to semi-pro or join the "RIP Club" list.
Want to know my favorite part about
@loucityfc
doing the pens in the direct they did? The front office has a real decision to make. Do they post the penalty highlights and highlight “You Knew” and “JOC Out”? Or will they just not include it.
Either way, it’ll be glorious.
I said final update. I’m wrong. Romeo belongs to a little store called Quirky Antiques. That store is in Columbus, Mississippi.
He traveled over 30 miles and was missing for months.
I’m taking him back tomorrow morning. This was an insane 3 hour journey.
The fact the USL still allows trades is insane to me. We have figured out that drafts are bad and proper free agents are good, but trades are still kosher? A bit bizarre.
If MLS posted the same tweet as USL-C where they didn't tag the non-USL teams, people would call them corrupt and say they're killing soccer.
Spade a spade. Hold all leagues to the same standard.
Between the kindness of
@loucityfc
and
@LouCitySting
, I would be lying if I said I didn’t get emotional yesterday.
I tend to keep my private life, well, private. What this community has done in embracing me and supporting me has done wonders for my mental health.
Thank you.
I want to just say the conversation of “Minor = Small Market” is insane to me. When we think of “minor league sports” in the US, we think of MiLB. It’s a farm team.
If you think of “Minor” in the literal sense of “small”, that’s fine, but that’s still an insanely American POV.
“…Indy Eleven is a minor league team…”
Indy XI is not a farm system team. They don’t have a parent club. They aren’t developing talent for an MLS team. They are a PROFESSIONAL team.
PROFESSIONAL soccer is still PROFESSIONAL soccer.
What appears to be beef between a club and a league has screwed over:
-players if they want to defend their NPSL title
-players if they want to competed in 2025 USOC
-club and their immediate future
-NPSL and their little amount of respect left
This benefited exactly 0 people.
Official Statement
It is with great disappointment that we must announce that we will be unable to defend our 2023 NPSL national championship. The attached letter of suspension from the NPSL board of directors cites no specific reason as to why Tulsa Athletic are suspended.
No matter who is in the 18, no matter who is coach, no matter if it’s Wooden Spoon, or USL Supporters Shield. I don’t care. I will drive to Birmingham to support my club.
This is my team that I have poured my heart out for. A couple of crap results won’t change that.
Releasing quotes like this are the reason a ton of athletes hate talking to media.
There was context surrounding this. There were other quotes in the article. Because The Athletic is behind a paywall, 90% of people will see this and only this quote. Now Horan is the villain.
I don't think I've seen it mentioned widely yet, but MLS teams will continue to play a lower division side until there are no more LL sides available.
Not only does this make it more difficult for a LL Club to make it to the finals, I'm sure it'll be a totally fair draw.
The format for the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S.
@OpenCup
, which includes 96 teams from across the amateur and professional ranks playing a total of 95 games from March to September, has been finalized »
I got offered the job.
I’m not sure what the next step will be, besides thinking and praying over it, but I appreciate all the kind wishes you all sent to me.🖤💛
In 2022:
-Sold $1M in players
-Tormenta had one of their players, Carter Payne, pass away in a hit and run
-created a scholarship in his name
-W League went on to win the league in the first ever W League final AT Aurora
-L1 went on to win the league in their brand new ground
@KaylorHodges
@THEChrisKessell
Tormenta average 1k people per match in a 5k seat stadium. 2nd worst attendance in the league.
If they win their league, they stay right where they're at.
A club playing for nothing.
And that's exactly why you'll never see a Ryan Reynolds invest in lower league soccer.
@dvorlando
@MLS
@WayneRooney
Not bad goal keeping. He is where every single keeper would be positioned. If anything, it’s a poor backline leaving that much open space for a man who everybody in the soccer world knows can make that shot.
I cannot wrap my mind around The Town FC attaching their name to John Fisher. The MLSNP side of it does not matter at all.
What person in Oakland would say, "You know who I want to invest in my team? John Fisher."
That single decision costed them so much more than they gained.
My absolute dream for The USL Show is to get the entire crew out to one match and have a pre-game/post-game show.
No idea how to fund that many people for travel, it seems impossible, but one day. One. Day.
Me: You know, Kaylor. You’ve never seen a US National Team in person, and Atlanta isn’t too far! Maybe you should go!
The cheapest ticket is $69 per ticket in the actual stratosphere.
The first ticket that isn’t third level is $90+.
I guess I’ll keep on waiting.
Find me a tougher and grittier team than the
@PLLRedwoods
. Obviously I’m biased because I am a fan, but they had every excuse to give up after the first quarter and decided to hunker down and give the best team in the league a real heart attack.
#RollWoods