New Soccer Team in Jacksonville

[Ajax]

I've heard unsubstantiated rumors that MLS would be the ultimate goal, although it does seem like a long shot at this point.  MLS has raised the bar quite a bit over the last few years when it comes to awarding expansion franchises.  We would need a soccer-specific stadium, among other things.  (Hmmm...maybe Alvin Brown could try and get us an MLS team instead of an NBA team. )  There are questions about whether there's enough disposable income in this area to support the Jaguars and an MLS team.  Anyway, a good show of support for this team certainly wouldn't hurt the cause. 

Yep, Destroyers as in naval ship.  They're doing a lot to play off that theme - 'man the guns' and their crest has a lot of naval-type imagery.  Somewhere on their website they have an article about that.  At first I wasn't crazy about the name, but it's grown on me. 

[Reeves Army]

I figured I'd help you guys out with this since you guys are fairly active here and I'm a Jags fan anyway.

Jacksonville has not one, but TWO soccer teams. They both play in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid.

(Brief primer: The top three tiers are professional: MLS is first-tier. NASL, which has Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale, is second tier. USL Pro, which has Orlando City, is third tier. Fourth tier is premier amateur. There are two leagues: the National Premier Soccer League, NPSL, and the USL Premier Development League, PDL.)

You have the aforementioned FC Jax Destroyers in the PDL, and Jacksonville United in the NPSL.

They each have Wikipedia pages (FC Jax, United). Both of their leagues have largely regionalized action with a national playoff format.

FC Jax plays at Jacksonville University this year, and will move to UNF next year. Their first overall game is May 13 at Mississippi, and they host Mississippi for their first home game on May 19. The PDL has five other teams in its Southeast Division: Bradenton Academics, Central Florida Kraze (they're in Winter Park), Schulz Academy U23 (Fort Lauderdale), Mississippi Brilla and Nashville Metros.

United plays at Patton Park. Their first overall game is TOMORROW at Chattanooga. Their first home game isn't until May 21, hosting Rocket City United. NPSL has six other teams in its Southeast Division, but none are in FL: Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves, Rocket City United, Chattanooga FC (they are INSANELY popular, drawing 4k/night), Knoxville Force, Georgia Revolution and FC Tulsa.

If you want to discuss it more, there are two FC Jax threads in the USL section on the national soccer fan forum BigSoccer. If there's enough chatter, they will create the team its own subforum. There's no United thread in the NPSL section yet, just a general SE region thread.

[danno]

Just a reminder... First home game is at 7:00 Thursday at JU.  They are off to a 1-1 start.

[Ajax]

Yeah, I have a meeting in Palm Beach Gardens that is scheduled to last until 4:30 or so.  I'll be the guy speeding up I-95.  Not very happy about having to miss this one...

[danno]

Nice turn out tonight though we lost 5-0 to Mississippi.  Those guys from Mississippi are good, no wonder they are defending champs.  Next home game this Monday night against Nashville.

[Ajax]

Thanks for the update danno.  I'll definitely be there on Monday.  Our guys beat Nashville at their place, so maybe we'll see a victory in front of the home crowd Monday. 

[danno]

Forgot to mention.  Pretty good crowd, I'm no professional but I would say maybe 700 in attendance.  The team annouced 1111.

[danno]

Here is an update from: http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/528005.html

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For the second time in less than a week, Mississippi Brilla matched up against the Jax Destroyers, this time with the Premier Development League newcomers, the Destroyers, hosting at Jacksonville University and for the second time Mississippi came out on top, earning a 5-0 victory on Thursday night.

The match started nervously for Mississippi as Jacksonville had several early chances that were turned aside by Brilla goalkeeper Brendan Moore. However, the tide turned after a through-ball toward the Destroyers’ goal forced the goalkeeper into a rushed clearance. The ball fell to Brilla captain Mike Azira, who controlled and chipped into the back of the net in the 14th minute.

David Palmer would double the Brilla lead in the 34th minute when Nathaniel Foster found him on the corner of the penalty area. Palmer curled his shot to the far post, past the diving Jacksonville ’keeper.

Anteneh Lemma added a third goal in the 41st minute when Moses Aduny forced the FC Jax defense into a giveaway 30 yards from goal. Lemma curled the ball around the Jacksonville goalkeeper who was well off his line, giving Mississippi a 3-0 halftime lead.

Both teams had chances to find the back of the net early in the second half, but it wasn’t until the 62nd minute when FC Jax’s Ryan Corning hauled down Moses Aduny in the Destroyers’ penalty area. Corning earned a red card, and Aduny converted the penalty kick for Mississippi’s fourth goal.

The Destroyers nearly pulled a goal back in the 80th minute when a Daniel Villegas free kick was acrobatically saved by Brendan Moore, who pushed it over the crossbar.

Mississippi closed out the scoring in the 87th minute when Brilla substitutes Shaun Herselman and Joey De Mare combined, Herselman finding a wide-open De Mare eight yards in front of goal. De Mare calmly passed into the corner of the net to make the score 5-0.

"I’m very pleased with the result on the road,” Brilla coach David Dixon said. “We still have a lot of room for improvement, but I think we have a chance to be a special team."

Mississippi will now travel to the Central Florida Kraze for a matchup of unbeaten teams. They will kick off on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Showalter Field in Winter Park, Fla.

[danno]

Next game is Monday night at 7:00 vs Nashville.

[ProjectMaximus]

That is some really good coverage for a fourth-tier soccer league match. Better-written than some NFL articles I read.

[Ajax]

I'll be there - I'm looking forward to it since I had to miss last week's opener. 

My kids play at Westside Soccer and there were at least 10-12 FC Jax players at the fields on Saturday.  Some were at a table signing autographs and it looked like some of them were helping coach during some of the games.  I'm sure they've been doing that at several of the local clubs - great idea for them to reach out to the kids. 

[danno]

The crowd last Thursday was full of kids from all of the local clubs.  They have done a good job marketing to the local clubs.

See you there.

[Reeves Army]

You guys did very well with the first FC Jax game from what I saw.

The Destroyers are now 1-2-1 after 4 matches. Both losses were to Mississippi Brilla, which is one of the big teams in the SE Division.

You guys who are passionate about soccer need to form a supporters' club. Just like what The Ruckus and other groups in Orlando have done, if you make your voices heard, both at games and in the community, you can get higher levels of soccer. I know Jacksonville is capable of more.

[danno]

2-2 draw on Sunday...