Crystal Palace Baltimore to Sit Out 2011 Season

Crystal Palace Baltimore announced today that they will not be fielding a team in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 2011 season in order to restructure with an intended re-launch for the 2012 NASL season. The re-launch will include a complete re-branding of the club to coincide with opening a soccer facility in downtown Baltimore.

in addition, the club announced that it is ending its four year relationship with Crystal Palace FC of England’s Championship Division. Crystal Palace Baltimore was the first trans-Atlantic partnership of its kind in North America but the relationship between the clubs could not survive the financial struggles that resulted in Crystal Palace FC entering administration in England.
The club is currently working with the City of Baltimore to secure a venue for 2012 and beyond. “We want to be downtown and believe doing so will allow us to better connect to our fans and the City” said Pete Medd, part-owner and President of Crystal Palace Baltimore. “We would like to thank our loyal fans who have stuck with us despite not having a place to call home and we are committed to giving them what they deserve and what all of our future fans in Baltimore deserve; a venue that honors their loyalty and commitment to the club.”

http://www.nasl.com/article/crystal-palace-baltimore-to-sit-out-2011-season

SHOCKER!.. not

Given that the club in London is called Crystal Palace for a highly specific reason, I always found Crystal Palace Baltimore to be a fairly silly name. Good luck to them with their plans for 2012.

Hoping to see Balto back for 2012...and ya, the new name won't hurt either!

I really hate to say it, because, I really like and respect Yankiboy too much to slam is team. But those giys were out of their league when they jumped tot he NASL, even if the league hadn't of split, they'd have takenb Clevelands place in USL-1 and the results would have been exactly the same. They were an OK USL-2 team (not great by any means but improving) on the field, as opposed to Cleveland, who were deservedly USL-2 Champions when the USL forced them upwards, but CPB weren't drawing flies with 3 day old crab cakes attendance wise.. I really don't know what Medd & Cherneski were thinking when they thougt they could make a go of it in USL-1.. or even if they were thinking... maybe they had delusions of dollar bills blinding them... I'm really REALLY sorry for their fans, especially Yanki.. they deserved better then they ultimately got. If you do see a team again in that general area, you can bet it'll either be a totally different organization, or if it is Medd & Cherneski, they do the sensible thing and stay down at USL-2 or PDL level.

Bro, I feel ya. If the Medds & Jim can come back as a USLPRO club I would be thrilled with that.

I appreciate everything that the ownership and mangement group did for the club.

The USL-1/NASL/USSF D2 was a lofty goal but it always striuk me as overly ambitious. And I always said so. Having been given so much access to Puerto Rico Islanders FC, I had a pretty good idea of the money pit--the chasm of difference for operating budgets that exist between a second and third division club.

I hoped for the best when Baltimore decided to make the move up but like MikeryRatt and others, feared that it was going to be Cleveland 2.0 (which is a bit ironic given the Amercian football history between the two cities).

Hoped for the best, feared for the worst. Enjoyed the ride as best I could until the wheels fell off.

Baltimore just isn't the soccer market that it appears to potentially be on paper. I really believe that we are third division city and will never be anything more--unless DC United becomes Baltimore United and even then, I don't think that could be financially viable.

Maybe that seem slike I dogging my hometown--that is just my take.

I respect and thank the Medds, Jim Cherneski and anyone who ever worked with the organization or wore the jersey.

That club gave a me a lot of joy during the last four seasons and something else constructive to do with my time. it probably extended my marriage...

Yanki - what's the word on the street regarding the Balto United talk? Would they initially play at the Ravens Stadium? Would be hard to imagine MLS without DCU?

While the Ravens love the revenue for a once a year big international friendly or maybe som potential World Cup games that will be staged in an air conditioned Island based stadium in Quatar--I don't think that they want a soccer team messing up there turf on a regular basis. Of course, any potential overlap would only be from August until early November. Maybe they will charge an arm and a leg and do it for a partial season or so.

Word on the street is that DCU is trying to find some leverage with DC and the incoming mayor elect to actually try and get a deal done in DC (which they have always preferred). If the econmoic feasibility report being worked on comes back favorable, then United will say, "hey, if the Maryland Stadium Authority and Baltimore City government are willing to help get us in a stadium then we will see ya later".

In doing so, they will be risking losing most of their strong Northern VA base and DC base. They will also lose a lot of the Suburban MD (Metro DC area) fans as well. A lot of people are not going to travel to B'more to support the team.

I personally don't think that Baltimore can support the team without bringing fans in from the South. United ain't the Orioles--pre-Washington Nationals when all it took was a nice tradition and beautiful new ballpark. They still draw from the South but not like they used to (mostly coz they have been awful and the Nationals arrived).

DC United doesn't want to leave DC. Garber and Payne barking and talking smack hasn't helped the situation. RFK just won't work for the club economically. I noestly forget how sorry a stadium it is until I go visit someplace else. Chang is looking for new investor(s) for United.

Baltimore is a bluff unless DC, Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia don't come through--and that would be the order that I rank as far as where would be most likely to come up with a stadium--for a club that doesn't want to spend very much of it's own money to build one.

For United, Baltimore is like the chick who is a 2 at 10PM but becomes a 10 at 2AM when they are closing the club to the guy who went out looking to hook up who realizes that he had better take what he can smooth talk before there are no options left...

That's what we are if we are keeping it real.

I think the Ravens have some type of field turf, so it shouldn't hurt too much.

So essentially, it's akin to Mario Lemieux visiting KC and the new Sprint Center. He wasn't interested in moving the Pens to KC, he just wanted 'a new arena and a steak dinner'.

Hopefully DCU ownership and the powers to be can get it worked out...on the flip side, it would be nice to see a D-1, D-2 team in Balto for you guys, I just can't imagine where they would put it downtown?

You got it, Killer.



There had been talk of putting it close to M&T and Orioles Park before the previous City mayor got crucified for using some gift cards.

If MLS is involvedf then I am pretty sure that it would have to be downtown near the other stadiums. For FC Baltimore I think someplace away from the Harbor is much more likely, someplace further east (complete speculation on my part)...

See you in 2012!

From your mouth to God's ears...

(I hope so but it is going to be a long, hard road and we are going to need some miracles on top of all of the very hard work that the ownership group is doing...)