According to Tom Timmerman of the Post-Dispatch:
Athletica players have just been told in a meeting at the Soccer Park that the team is shutting down in the wake of the team’s financial problems. AC St. Louis appears to have survived, though that’s not definite yet. No word yet as to whether the Athletica will play this weekend’s game at Atlanta or not.
Website MLS Talk is reporting that there is financial trouble within the AC St Louis family that may lead to the NASL men’s team and WPS women’s team folding. From their story:
Athletic Club of Saint Louis is on the verge of folding its North American Soccer League and Women’s Professional Soccer clubs, sources have confirmed. The club’s weakened cash reserves may not allow them to make their next payroll obligations, and despite ongoing conversations amongst the United States Soccer Federation, NASL, and WPS, no plan is currently in place which will allow the teams to complete their 2010 seasons.
The situation came to light when AC St. Louis failed to make a regular payment to the NASL league office. Each club within NASL periodically sends money to the league office to cover the owner-operated league’s operating costs. Upon investigation, the NASL learned the Jeff Cooper-led group did not have the cash reserves to meet the obligation or its future operating expenses.
This would be a blow to St Louis soccer should the pro teams fold. It may have an impact on the St Louis Scott Gallagher programs in Missouri and Illinois as well.
The Post-Dispatch dug into the details a bit further in their story Athletica, AC St. Louis rumors
But something is going on. WPS has released a statement that says:
“We’re aware of the situation in St. Louis. The League’s Owners continue to review and monitor the situation in conjunction with the US Soccer Federation.”
Asked what the situation is, the response was that there would be no further comment. U.S. Soccer says pretty much the same thing, that they “are aware of some challenges that are currently going on and we are diligently working through the situation.” The NASL is referring all inquiries to U.S. Soccer, since they run the league.
So there’s “a situation” of some sort. The team has had no comment, and all most people over there know seem to know are the rumors that they’ve read online.
Finally, Inside Minnesota Soccer, which has distinguished itself in it’s coverage of the NASL/USSF 2nd Division soccer including the season preview I pointed to last month, offers some additional information on both AC St Louis and Crystal Palace Baltimore:
Several sources are saying that Cooper has indeed left his post of the two troubled teams and “has distanced himself from the club.” One source believed that operating expenses of the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, which was given to Cooper’s group last summer, was the main culprit of cost overruns.
Tickets starting at $18 are on sale by phone at 1-800-745-3000
The USA and Germany have met twice in the past seven months, the first a 1-0 U.S. victory last October in front of a sold-out crowd in Augsburg, Germany. The two women’s soccer powers also met in the championship game of the 2010 Algarve Cup in early March, a 3-2 U.S. victory in sloppy conditions in Faro, Portugal.
This will be the first international match for the U.S. players during the current season of Women’s Professional Soccer, which will take the weekend off from action due to the game. The U.S. squad will arrive in Cleveland on Monday, May 17, for a week of training prior to the match and Sundhage will name 18 of the 22 players in camp to the game roster.
It includes St Louis Athletica players Hope Solo and current US Team Captain Shannon Boxx but does not include Lori Chalupny who is still dealing with concussion-related injury issues.
Last season: 10-6-4, 34 points (2nd place)
Playoffs: lost to Sky Blue FC, 1-0
Head Coach: Jorge Barcellos (2nd season)
Outlook: Athletica are loaded. The club made little noise on draft day having traded away its first round pick last season for Kendall Fletcher and Christie Welsh. Two weeks later they traded up to acquire Shannon Boxx with the first pick in the LA Sol dispersal draft, and the ripple effects of drafting an American allowed them to grab Aya Miyama with the eighth pick.
If Lori Chalupny returns from a self-imposed absence to deal with concussion symptoms (she has been with the team throughout training camp), it will be difficult for any team to ever outplay Athletica in midfield. However, Boxx, Miyama, and Chalupny are not known for scoring goals so the front line will shoulder much of that load.
The back four is also a question mark as Elise Weber slides in to take over for Kia McNeill, traded as part of the Boxx deal. WPS Goalkeeper of the Year Hope Solo is capable to cleaning up many defensive miscues. The last team to score a goal and win a game in 2009 is unlikely to face the same uphill climb this time around.
Athletica face FC GOLD PRIDE who finished Last season: 4-10-6, 18 points (7th place) and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Saint Louis Athletica of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), kick-off the 2010 season Sunday against FC Gold Pride and four time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta. Game time is set for 3:00 pm at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park. The match can be heard live on-line at www.team1380.net.
The new look Saint Louis Athletica could see as many as six new faces in Sunday’s starting lineup. Returning veterans from 2009 Hope Solo, Tina Ellertson, Kendall Fletcher, and Elise Weber will be anchoring the defense. It is in the midfield that Athletica will see the biggest changes. Newcomer Shannon Boxx is a certainty in the middle of the park, and Japanese international Aya Miyama is likely slated for left wing duty. Tina DiMartino and rookie Carolyn Blank are also likely to figure into the starting eleven, which leaves Head Coach Jorge Barcellos some interesting options up top. England international Eniola Aluko is Athletica’s featured striker, but will she be partnered by Sweden’s Madelaine Edlund or by new addition India Trotter?
On paper the matchup between these two club’s has the best of everything that the WPS offers, namely star power. The 2010 edition of Athletica is loaded with experience. The club has a roster of players that have nearly 700 international caps to their name. Athletica has six Olympic medalists, including four gold and two silver medalists. Saint Louis alone has six players that played in the 2008 Olympic Finals in Beijing; Shannon Box, Lori Chalupny, Lindsay Tarpley, and Hope Solo from the United States gold medal squad, and Daniela and Elaine from Brazil who took home the silver. All told Athletica players have appeared in over 100 matches at World Cup and Olympic Finals.
“On paper we have an incredible team,” said Hope Solo during an in-studio interview with 101 ESPN Radio in St. Louis. “Now we have to prove it on the field. I said it last year and I was wrong, but I am saying it again this year. We expect to win this championship.”
Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-STL-GOAL or by going on-line to www.saintlouisathletica.com
Saint Louis Athletica is a founding member of Women’s Professional Soccer, WPS. In their inaugural season Saint Louis Athletica finished in second place in the WPS, and reached the WPS Super Semifinal.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the world’s premier soccer league for women with eight teams across the United States featuring the best players from around the world. In 2010, eight teams will each play 24-game schedules from April 10-September 12 including six original WPS teams – Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride (Bay Area), Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY) and Washington Freedom – and two expansion teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence. The top four finishers in the regular season will qualify for the 2010 WPS Playoffs scheduled for September 19-26.
For more information, visit the WPS official website at www.womensprosoccer.com or follow all the news at www.twitter.com/womensprosoccer.
