The Aztexan

It's been kind of slow for the Aztex lately, news-wise. To tide you over until we hear something about the U23 roster, here are a few miscellaneous tidbits (apologies to readers who keep up on BigSoccer's Aztex forum, as neither of these will be news to you).

First, Playing Through, a nice write-up in the Austin Chronicle about local soccer hopefuls Marcelino Uriarte & Wes Allen:

It's a tale of two center midfielders.

Both are smart and versatile. Either would be a cornerstone of the Austin Aztex's Premier Development League team, a squad starting up from scratch a few weeks before the 2008 season opener on May 3 (home opener May 10 vs. Houston Leones, 7:30pm, at Dragon Stadium in Round Rock).

Second, here's a BBC Radio interview with Aztex owner Phil Rawlins. You can listen to the full, hour-long show in original RealAudio format, or just the 7 minutes of Phil's interview in MP3 format (which occurs about 42 minutes in to the full show). Apparently Phil, along with Head Coach Adrian Heath and USL President Francisco Marcos, was preparing for a Stoke City fan meeting of some kind, to discuss all things Aztex.

Phil (& Adrian, presumably) will also be at Brittania Stadium tomorrow night to watch Stoke beat Crystal Palace, the lucky dogs. I'll post an update to the Championship League table after the game, but I'd like to thank Bristol City for their 0-2 loss to Southampton yesterday. Keep up the good work, lads!

Labels: coaches, media, players, Stoke City, U-23

Another beautiful weekend for the second half of the U-23 tryouts at St. Edward's, and lots of players out to take advantage of it. There were reportedly 160 players trying out, separate from the 100+ that were out last weekend. That includes lots of local folks, as well as applicants from as far away as Toronto. The Aztex Pix Flickr group has more pictures of the day, including a few (posted by "grayfamilybuda") with good commentary.

The large turnout was thought to have been boosted by a Univision segment on the tryouts that aired mid-week. And there was additional press coverage this weekend: a photographer from Spanish-language weekly El Mundo, and a camera from News 8 Austin:



That video is now also available on News 8 Austin's site, along with a story drawn from the Aztex's report on last weekend's tryout (including an incorrect mention of "next weekend’s tryouts").

According to team sources, we should be getting some good announcements out of the front office soon. The word is that the stadium location has been decided, and will be announced as soon as all the agreements are finalized, possibly this week.

Labels: media, players, U-23

Okay, let's start off with some basics: the coverage of the announcement that Austin's getting a USL-1 team in our local papers.

First, the daily paper, the Austin American-Statesman: Austin Getting Soccer Club.

The Aztex would be the 12th team in USL D-1, which includes the Seattle Sounders, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Rochester Raging Rhinos and Puerto Rico Islanders.

USL D-1 has its roots in the former A-League, which had 28 teams a decade ago. Travel costs and costly player salaries were among the issues that forced some teams to fold or drop to a lower division. Rawlins said the league has since stabilized.

"Teams like the Sounders and Whitecaps have been around for 10-plus years," Rawlins said. "Average attendance is about 5,500" per game.

The Aztex also will have an under-23 team after acquiring controlling interest in the Austin Stampede, an expansion team in the USL Premier Development League. Rawlins also plans to have a women's team by 2010 and youth teams.

"We will have a full soccer club," Rawlins said.

The other bit I found especially interesting from the Statesman article was this bit at the end:

As for Stoke City, the red-and-white clad Potters are the second-oldest professional club in the world. They're currently one step down from the England's Premiership league, but will have a chance to qualify for the top league this year. The top two teams from the Championship League move up, while teams in third through sixth have a playoff for the third spot. Stoke is currently in fourth.

"We're right at the cusp of it," Rawlins said. "Our television revenue alone would go from $2 million a year to $150 million. It's a huge step up."

From $2 million to $150?? Hell yeah, baby! That certainly couldn't hurt the Aztex if their partner team got promoted to the EPL during Austin's inaugural year. And even if the Austin franchise never got a dime of that bonanza of pounds sterling, the additional press alone would surely have a good effect.

Okay, moving on, here's a bit in the local alt-weekly, the Austin Chronicle: Hello, Aztex.

Unlike any soccer team Austin's had before, this one is fully professional. And they'll start out with proven top-level management, and connections to the top levels of international football: president Phil Rawlins, an Austin resident, is also an owner and director of Stoke City FC – the world's second-oldest pro football club, currently having a very successful season in the English Championship – with whom the Aztex immediately announced an affiliation.

Plus a nice little bit of trivia/background about Stoke City:

Now I suppose I'll have to become a Potters fan. Shouldn't be hard, really – they're a likable and attack-minded young team, with a great club history, dating back to an 1863 railroad workers' team.

Labels: media, Stoke City