PlayOn: English Power Knows Where The Talent Is

By John Plevyak

Well it's good to see that something got printed. Of course "The Pressbox" is getting ad money from First Mariner Bank, run by Blast prez Hale, who placed the ads with the request more soccer coverage, of anyone, be included in the paper.

On a related note I am beginning to think that those in charge at CP Baltimore are marketing like they are in the EPL. Which is to say that they are just figuring that people will show up without prompting. For instance why would the general manager of a start-up franchise also be an assistant coach? He should have plenty on his plate just building name recognition.

I have to disagree. Ed Hale has no interest either way over Crystal Palace Baltimore. If he did, you would see an agreement between the two clubs by now.

Crystal Palace has a few published articles in Press Box, Baltimore Examiner, and The Baltimore Sun. They are just putting too much faith in people reading. TV is where you reach the most fans now a days unfortunately...

and sadly at this level, TV is way out of the budget, especially in the DC/Baltimore area

Actually the Ed Hale info came from the editor of "The Pressbox" last spring. I was meeting with him over some photo work before their first issue came out. Now Hale may have changed his mind now that he has competition, that I don't know. He just wanted more soccer promotion because much like we'd all agree, I'm guessing here, more soccer is always better than less. I agree I can't see an agreement between the Blast and CP though as they have totally different objectives. Hale is a Baltimore guy and CP seems to be looking to give promising players more time in live action in order to try to plug them into the parent club.

Medd, CPFC USA’s vice president/general manager, ...
...The current roster for the CPFC USA Eagles is made up of 18 players from various countries, including Cameroon, Bolivia and Columbia. Three players from the parent club are expected to join the team this summer and the buzz is that one of them will be Lewwis Spence, one of the most exciting young players in England....
...
...The roster is made up of some players that actually passed up an MLS contract to play for CPFC USA. “The attraction of possibly playing in England is a real draw for these young players,” Medd said. “It has not been difficult recruiting talent. These players are professionals, employed by Crystal Palace, a club with a history over 100 years and a backing of over $100 million dollars.”

Hhmmm, there seems to be a bit of mis/dis-information going on here!

A) I hope that Crystal Palace USA realizes that
1 - they can only have 6 non-USA players on their roster. That means any player that is not a US citizen, has a US Passport or US Green card is considered a foreign player.

What happens when they "bring over" players from the parent club and they already have the max # of foreing players? Someone gets cut!

2- Do they realize that USL D2 doesn't qualify for a P1 passport?! Other work-related passports take alot longer and usually cost more. Some organizations don't even qualify with the INS to get such passports!

B)How many US players really think that they will go from USL D2 here to the UK?! This just will not happen unless a player is either
1 - A member of the US National Team and has appeared in 75% of our national team games over the past 2 years, or
2- Can qualify through his lineage for a Eauropean Passport.

Otherwise, Crystal Palace (or ANY other professional English team) will not be able to obtain the necessary work permit from the government to qualify for a contract!

This is why you generally see more US players in the USL D2 Division. That and many other $-related reasons.

I hope they (Crystal Palace) figure it out and that players go in knowing what they can or can't do?!