Steven Sandor's Blog, page 85

The Soccer Bowl loss stings for Fury fans — but the ref got that red-card call right

Gaston Cellerino scores the second of his three goals. PHOTO: NASL

If you’re an Ottawa Fury fan looking for solace, for a shoulder to cry on, don’t read this. Because you might not like what you read; it might feel like salt in the wound.

Look, everyone reading this post gets what you’re going through. Your team has got so close to the final — pretty well the entire Canadian soccer community was behind you — and you end up losing 3-2 to the New York Cosmos. The team that every NASL fan outside of metro New York loves to hate wins the Soccer Bowl, while the best feel-good story in the league has a final chapter that isn’t quite so happy.

And, when you’re distraught about the result, chances are you’re replaying several incidents over and over. You think about how your team got the short end — how the world has conspired against you.

Of course, there will be much debate over the red card that referee Alan Kelly gave to Ottawa fullback Mason Trafford. It came in the 68th minute, with the Cosmos clinging to a 1-0 lead. Trafford and New York’s Sebastian Guenzatti got mixed up in the challenge near the sideline. Guenzatti went down, and it looked like Trafford looked to leap over the Cosmos player. But Guenzatti wasn’t still, he was rolling — and Trafford badly mistimed his leap. Put together those two factors, and you have Trafford landing squarely on Guenzatti; two feet came down, the second coming down later than the first — which looked like a stomp.



Was it an accident? Absolutely. Was it avoidable? Probably. Was it red-card worthy? For sure.

It’s not Kelly’s job — nor should it be — to judge intent. He can only judge the play based on what he sees in the split second he has to make that call. And he sees Trafford come down and plant — hard — on Guenzatti. He has no choice but to go with the red.

It sucks, for sure. And, there’s no way Trafford should be suspended for more than one game next season. He should miss the Fury’s 2016 opener, and be back for game two. You can’t judge intent when calling the foul, but you can consider it when looking at the length of the suspension. Trafford doesn’t deserve to have the book thrown at him.

Now, before the Fury fans scream blue murder, I have more to write that probably will make them angrier.

Gaston Cellerino scored three times, and it was enough for the Cosmos. But a New York fan would likely point out that Kelly made some very Fury-friendly calls through the match. The two highlights:

1. He did not give the Cosmos a first-half penalty even though Trafford put Roversio in a bear-hug and dragged his quarry to the turf. That was a stone-cold penalty, even if you’re the sort who’s OK letting defenders getting away with the odd jersey grab. This was a flat out tackle, and the ball was headed for Roversio at the back post.

2. Kelly waved off a Cosmos goal later in the game, calling Raul for infringing on Fury keeper Romuald Peiser. That’s a 50-50 call, and it could easily be argued that Raul was guided into Peiser by the Ottawa defender. While not as clear-cut as the penalty that wasn’t given, there’s still a solid case to be made for that goal to have stood.

We also have to accept that the Fury players themselves were culpable in the three Cellerino goals.

Cellerino’s first goal came thanks to some awful defending; he was outnumbered two-to-one going into the penalty area, but snuck through and scored. It looked as if the Ottawa defenders were expecting a foul to be called and then were caught napping when Kelly (correctly) played the advantage.

Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare came on as a sub and was immediately burned by Cosmos winger Walter Restrepo; his floated cross led to the second goal.

And Cellerino went in alone for the third goal.

Basically, an Ottawa team that prided itself on its defence all season long was caught napping several times — and was burned.

Look, I get that there’s no way that this game should have been played on the international weekend. There’s no doubt that Ottawa didn’t feel the loss of Julian de Guzman, who was outstanding for Canada on Friday. It’s something that NASL has to make sure never happens again — a championship game clashing with an international weekend.

Tom Heinemann scored twice for the Fury, both goals coming with his team down to 10 men. If you don’t love the way Tom Heinemann plays, well, that’s your problem. I will leave this column there, on that high note. Because, on a Soccer Bowl day filled with clouds, he was Ottawa’s silver lining.

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No grass, no problem: Vancouver’s success has blown away several myths about hosting Canada matches

PHOTO: ANDREW SOONG/CANADA SOCCER

Next March 25, the eyes of Canadian (and Mexican) soccer fans will likely be on Vancouver’s BC Place.

Canadian national-team head coach Benito Floro all but confirmed that his team’s next home World Cup qualifier will be played in the same venue where more than 20,000 rocked and rolled Friday, and saw the home side come out with a vital 1-0 win against Honduras.

Floro spoke about the need to return to a place which has given Canada the most vocal support it’s received in his time as the coach. He said he was “sure” the game would be played in Vancouver. So much for any of the theories out there that, because of the artificial turf, the flight distance, the fact that SkyTrains have no drivers, that it’s an El Niño year… that the Vancouver game would be a one-off.

For such an important game as Canada-Mexico, Floro understand that Canada needs the most bang out of its home advantage that it can possibly have. An open-air game (you and I both know that, like the game against Honduras, that roof will be open) on a cool early spring evening. For most Canadians, it will be pleasant. For the Mexicans, it will be cold.



Case in point: With the roof open, on what most Canadians would call a pleasant night, the Honduran coaching staff were wearing heavy winter jackets. One of the Honduran journalists asked Floro after the game about the cold. Floro laughed and showed that he only wore his suit jacket outside.

As well, BC Place offers the advantage of playing on artificial turf. Friday’s game likely has killed the “Canada-will-always-want-to-play-men’s-games-on-grass” argument dead. Now, saying “but they have to play on grass” will be like admitting to people that you own rap-metal records. It’s a dated argument. Not only was Floro enthusiastic about the venue, but the players were as well. Many of them came out and spoke to the media after Friday’s game. Not one complained about the playing surface, but pretty well all of them talked about how fantastically well Vancouver performed as a host city. Player after player referred to Friday’s atmosphere as best-ever for a Canadian home game.

What does it tell you? Players’ first concern is the number of supporters in the stands. They don’t care about an extra flight if the fans show up. Now, the Canada-must-play-in-the-East direct-flights-to-Europe argument has finally been blown out of the water, as well. Put that in a box with the piano-key neckties.

Look, for an international game, playing on turf is a major advantage for Canada. And, for our players, there are two ways to look at it.

1. For the MLS/NASL guys, they likely play on turf a lot of the time anyway.

2. For the guys playing in other parts of the world, playing on turf is an issue if you have to do it regularly. But coming in for a camp and for one game? Meh.

Look, if the turf-gives-Canada-an-advantage things works out, we might come to a time that, when it comes to booking qualifiers, stadiums that have plastic pitches may have advantages over grass fields. I’m not saying we’re at that point yet, but we’re definitely at the point where trying to leverage one over the other is moot.

Where Canada plays its games has caused unnecessary provincial divides for too long. But, on Friday night, at the post-game party at Doolin’s — strategically placed up the hill from BC Place so you face a long stretch of inclined walking before you can put a whiskey to your lips — I met supporters from across Canada. Toronto, Regina, Moose Jaw, Edmonton and from different parts of British Columbia. It’s fantastic to see so many people from different parts of the country getting together to cheer on the national team, and to share a few stories and drinks. And, honestly, the flight from Edmonton to Vancouver took less time than many streetcar rides to BMO Field I have endured in my lifetime.

As many of you know, I don’t live in Vancouver; so, for me to say that Floro is bang-on in briningg the national team back to the Pacific coast isn’t a case of unbridled civic boosterism. I’ve seen too many Edmonton poorly attended games (too cold, too hot, game kicked off at a bad time, game was played at the same time as an Oilers game, name the excuse) to dare put the Alberta capital in the running. In the case of Toronto, for reasons mentioned above, I don’t like the idea of putting a qualifier against Mexico on grass, unless BMO Field promises to hire the groundskeeper who looks after that stadium in Cuba. (Same goes for Stade Saputo.) Olympic Stadium doesn’t offer the ability to open the roof if the weather is inhospitable — which BC Place can do. Ottawa is intriguing; open air, artificial turf. But I think we need to see regular crowds of 9,000-plus for Fury games — not just the playoff crowd of last week — before going there.

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Canada kills the wicked witch, while Vancouver gets promise it will host key WCQ against Mexico

The Voyageurs got BC Place fired up. With more than 20,000 fans and a great atmosphere, it looks like Vancouver will get more WCQ matches.

Who knew that an exorcism could be achieved with such an ugly goal? Such a beautiful, wonderful, ugly goal, that is.

In the 38th minute of Friday’s CONCACAF Group A World Cup qualifier against Honduras, Junior Hoilett, making his “A” debut for Canada, scooted down the left wing and delivered a great cross to the back post. Will Johnson headed it towards the centre of goal. But, striker Cyle Larin had already fallen down; no matter, the ball bounced off Larin’s midsection and crawled across the goal line.

It was a goal that won’t be remembered for its quality; but for its impact.

That, ahem, “strike” did more than propel Canada to a vital 1-0 win in front of 20,108 — which, based on volume, often felt twice that size — at BC Place. It helped bury the skeletons of 2012. The 8-1 loss to the Hondurans that knocked Canada out of qualifying for 2014 World Cup would not be avenged by an audacious strike, but by a ricochet and a ball limping over the line.

Excuse us while we snicker. For just a little bit.

“When I got up, I didn’t even know that I hit it,” said Larin. “Then when I saw it on the screen and I saw it hit off my back, I knew it was my goal.”



Hoilett is Larin’s roommate in the Canadian camp; fitting because they both hail from Brampton, Ont.

“We’ve been talking about where we went to school and stuff like that,” said Hoilett. “It was great to bring that Brampton work onto the field.”

Johnson enjoyed it, as well.

“He’s got a better chance of breaking De Ro’s [Dwayne De Rosario] record than I do,” Johnson said of Larin’s goal. “Hopefully, he remembers me when he does.

“We’ve come a long way since the last time we played them in Toronto [a disappointing draw ahead of that infamous 8-1 loss]. I think Junior made a big difference tonight. I’m not sure that we’d win this game without him.”

Minutes before the Larin goal, team captain Julian de Guzman — set to miss this weekend’s Soccer Bowl because the NASL scheduled the biggest game of its season against an international break — rocketed a volley from just outside the box that forced Honduran keeper Noel Valladeres into an athletic save. Had that gone in, we would have spoke of the majesty of that goal for weeks. But, no, we can sorta cover our mouths like kids who got away with something because our goal came in a far more ignoble fashion.

In the second half, Johnson smashed a free kick that Valladeres was able to paw off the post.

Johnson, whose MLS season has been plagued by injuries, was excellent, as were his midfield partners, de Guzman and Hutchinson. In fact, JDG and Hutchinson were so energized, so excellent in their possession and decision-making, that you’d think they’d wound back the clock 10 years.

Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro said that the three veterans have shown that their birth certificates don’t matter. They bring passion and energy to the team, and are all in great shape.

“I’ve been waiting for this for years,” said de Guzman. “I remember 2008, at home against Jamaica. We were in the lead, it was an important match for us, and they ended up tying it. The rest was history and go back to 2012, we ended up against tying against Honduras at home. We dominated that game and couldn’t come out with the win that we needed. And that affected the result for us [8-1] and the end of everything. So, this win was very special. I think a lot of the guys… it was a different feeling we had going into this game. Felt a lot more confident. We had the right players involved. Everyone finally believed in us.”

Johnson said the win is nice, but 8-1 was a long time ago.

“I don’t think we’ll ever forget it, but I’m definitely past it. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. In this game you have ups you have downs… for me, the score in that game didn’t matter to me as much as the opportunity to go to the hex that we missed. It probably would have been more painful had it been 0-0 in the 95th minute and we lose by one.”

Canada needs to finish in either first or second in Group A in order to qualify for the Hex. Mexico beat El Salvador 3-0 Friday. Canada will play in El Salvador Tuesday.

But Floro said that he is “sure” that Canada’s next home “A” match, set for March against Mexico, will be played in Vancouver. The atmosphere was outstanding, and many of the Canadian players said they’re looking forward to a return engagement at BC Place.

“I am sure we are going to play against Mexico here,” said Floro.

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The 500 club: The Plastic Pitch subscription drive

When  the Plastic Pitch Kickstarter campaign was launched in late 2013, the goal was to secure funding for at least a year’s worth of issues. Now, based on our quarterly schedule, we are working on issue 8, to be releasd in January 2016. That’s two full years worth of work. We’ve featured work from some of the top soccer writers in North America, and featured stories about Canadians playing here and abroad.

But, it isn’t easy. And expenses continue to pile up. I’ve crunched the numbers and it’s simple. To make this work, Plastic Pitch needs 500 new subscribers by the end of the year. Well, maybe “new” isn’t quite accurate — as renewals would be counted towards to this number.

Subscriptions costs just $15 Canadian — that’s four issues of what this editors feels is some of the best Canadian soccer content you’ll find. Long-form stories, insightful analysis and advocacy for the improvement of the Canadian game. Put it in perspective, $15 is less than the cost of one craft cocktail.

There are a number ways to subscribe; either through the Apple or Google apps, through our Shopify store (CLICK HERE) or directly via PayPal (teamworkpress@rogers.com is the payment address). If you subscribe through Shopify or PayPal, please specify if you want to have issues e-mailed directly to you. But, one word of caution: It is MUCH easier for us to refund your money (if we don’t hit target) if you go through Shopify or PayPal.

Of course, we think a subscription to Plastic Pitch would make a great Christmas gift. Or a way to say thanks to your coach or the volunteers in your soccer program.

Because we put the mag out in three ways; either by e-mail, or through Apple and Google apps, many of our expenses have to be paid out in US funds, even though we’re a Canadian mag. So, the plummeting dollar, well, it hurts. Really hurts. Basically, costs to do business have increased 25 per cent over the past two years.

If you haven’t discovered the mag yet, and want to read it before you buy, you can preview any of our seven issues for free in the apps. Each issue offers a free timed preview, which lets you browse the articles. Inside you’ll find how we were the first to report about the possibility of a Canadian Division 1A league (issue 2), our look at how real Canadian minutes played were on the decline in MLS (issue 1), plus our issue 5 dedicated to the fractured soccer relationship between Canada and the United States. Issue 6 was our Women’s World Cup review issue.

As well, from now till Christmas, you will be able to get our back issues (1-6) for just $1.99 each. You can take advantage of those offers through the apps.

PLASTIC PITCH SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE:

486 to go!

Dos Santos another example of Canadian coaching success in NASL

PHOTO:NASL

In an interview conducted by TSN’s Jason de Vos last Sunday, Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani spoke about the need for more domestic clubs. And he said it wasn’t just about creating more opportunities for Canadian players; he also spoke about the need to develop Canadian coaches and administrators.

The NASL, though, has proven to be a pretty fertile place for Canadian coaches to bloom. On Wednesday, the league announced that Ottawa Fury boss Marc Dos Santos is the league’s Coach of the Year. Considering that he’s led a defensive juggernaut of a team to the Soccer Bowl in only its second year of NASL play, the honour is well earned.

In an interview with Plastic Pitch (issue 7), Dos Santos said he and his team won’t have a sense of accomplishment unless they win the Soccer Bowl.

If Ottawa wins on Sunday, Dos Santos would be the second Canadian coach to win the NASL title. Alen Marcina led the San Antonio Scorpions to the championship in 2014, though he was relieved of duties after the 2015 season — and the future of the Scorpions in NASL is very much in doubt.



But, Marcina’s name has already been linked to a variety of jobs.

Dos Santos will be leaving the Fury after the Soccer Bowl to pursue a new role with an MLS club. Colin Miller just finished the first year of his three-year extension as the coach of FC Edmonton.

In fact, at the start of the this NASL season, with Marcina, Miller and Dos Santos all in place, there were more Canadian head coaches in NASL than there were American coaches.

But, when the time comes for a new Canadian national-team head coach, Dos Santos’s name will no doubt be in the mix, especially if he goes to MLS and enjoys the same kind of success he enjoyed in NASL and during his time as a coach in South America.

As this post goes out on Remembrance Day, I’d just like to take a moment to thank all Canadian veterans and families of Canadian veterans for their service to this country. We get to enjoy trivial pursuits like soccer thanks to the sacrifices made by many of our brave countrymen and women, past and present.

Larin wins landslide vote for Rookie of the Year

Cyle Larin

For the second year in a row, a Canadian has been named the MLS Rookie of the Year.

Brampton, Ont. native Cyle Larin, who scored 17 times for Orlando City this season after being the first overall pick in the SuperDraft, has won the vote for the award. “Won,” as in the same way Chinese elections are won. According to MLS, he got 96.38 per cent of the club votes and 97.18 per cent of the media votes. Those who voted against him went to a “what-league-were-you-watching?” prison to be reprogrammed.

He “only” got 82.39 per cent of the player votes.

The 17 goals set a rookie record for the league.

Last year, Calgary-born FC Dallas forward Tesho Akindele won the award.

Fury’s Peiser snatches NASL Golden Glove Award

In the news business, we’re told that man-bites-dog stuff is what’s worthy of our attention; things that are expected don’t make for great stories.

Well, Romuald Peiser winning the NASL Golden Glove Award wasn’t a surprise; after all, the award goes to the keeper with the best goals-against average in the league. With Peiser setting a new league record with a 0.76 mark on the season, we all knew the award was going to be his. But he still makes for a pretty good story — a veteran keeper making a massive impact well into his 30s.

Really, the only question is if Peiser got enough support from voters to take the league MVP award. We’ll find out later this week.

Peiser allowed just 22 goals in 29 matches. He had a six-game shutout streak. He posted clean sheets in 14 of his 29 games — that’s a new league record.



In the five years that the modern NASL has been in existence as a standalone league, the Golden Glove award has gone to keepers on Canadian teams three times. Montreal Impact keeper Evan Bush won it 2011, and FC Edmonton’s John Smits won it last season.

But, Smits was relegated to third-string status by the Eddies in 2015, and was released by the club at the end of the season.

Peiser, a 36-year-old Frenchman, has played throughout Europe, including stops at Paris-St. Germain and Rapid Bucharest.

“Every player is very important. I think that’s what made the difference for Fury FC. No matter who played, we did well,” Peiser said in a release. “We had a winning spirit, and you realize playing like that you get results. We had so much fun on the field defending, but also attacking because we scored a lot of goals in the Fall Season.”

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Well-rested Fury advances to Soccer Bowl; but there’s still a what-if feel to the final

Ottawa’s Paulo Jr. in action against Minnesota in the NASL Championship semifinal. PHOTO: NASL

The short-term gain was clear.

The Ottawa Fury was better equipped to last through 120 minutes (plus added time) of soccer, outlasting Minnesota United FC 2-1 in an epic NASL semifinal. Tom Heinemann, after taking an early yellow card, got the equalizer right after halftime, then stroked home the winner in the second half of stoppage time. Romuald Peiser, the NASL’s best keeper, made a couple of wonderful stops to preserve the lead.

Think back the last week of the regular season; Fury coach Marc Dos Santos surprised a lot of people by deciding to rest many of the regulars at his disposal. The Fury had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Atlanta in the final game of the season, which cost the team the No. 1 seed. That seed went to the New York Cosmos.

It’s easy to argue that, so far, it’s worked out for Ottawa. The team was rested and was ready to handle the rigours of a playoff game that lasted well past 90 minutes.

But, it’s got to pain people in Ottawa — and at NASL offices — that the final won’t be held in Ottawa. The semifinal at TD Place set a league record for post-season attendance, with 9,346 fans coming out. Had Ottawa hosted the final, the 10,000-tickets-sold mark would easily have been eclipsed. It’s also a lot cheaper to host league events in Ottawa than in New York; our weak loonie helps. In New York, despite Raul and Marcos Senna and another top-of-the-table season, empty seats have been the topic of discussion. Sure, there are many excuses and conspiracy theories about Cosmos attendance to fuel an entire History Channel miniseries; that it’s too difficult to get either out of Hofstra University or Coney Island, that another league has tried its best to bully the Cosmos. But, none of these arguments change the fact that we’re expecting to see a Soccer Bowl final in a stadium with lots of empty seats. It will be a game met with a lot of indifference in a crowded New York sports market.

The Cosmos drew just 5,061 to Coney Island for its semifinal win; that’s just a little more than half of what the Fury drew to TD Place.

A game in Ottawa would have been front-page news, especially with the RedBlacks not playing next week because they earned a bye to the second round of the CFL playoffs.

As well, playing the Soccer Bowl at home would have saved the Fury tens of thousands worth of travel costs. Last time I checked, New York, even out in the ‘burbs, doesn’t offer the best in hotel deals.

Sure, I understand that Atlanta fans will feel that this column disrespects the Silverbacks. There’s no guarantee that Ottawa would have bagged three points if Dos Santos went with his “A” lineup in the final game of the regular season. For sure, suggesting three points would have been automatic is not fair to Atlanta coach Gary Smith and his crew. But, the point is, shouldn’t the Fury have fielded the best possible to lineup to go for that possible three points – and the No. 1 seed?

And, had Ottawa got the No. 1 seed, it would have faced the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. I’ve already sorta offended Atlanta fans, so now I’ll tick off another set of supporters in this league. The Strikers aren’t Minnesota United. There’s a big gulf between the No 3 and No. 4 seeds in NASL. The Strikers lost to New York yesterday and they would have been longshots in the Ottawa cold. So, I’d feel pretty good that the Fury would also have advanced had it played the Strikers rather than Minnesota.

I’m sure there will be a reader or two who will note that, in the past, I’ve suggested that winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield is pointless. So why the change in heart when it comes to finishing first in NASL?

Well, statistics show that Supporters’ Shield/MLS Cup winners are rare — it has only happened twice since 2003. And that’s because, through most of the conference playoffs, the series are determined through home-and-away aggregate series. The lower seed gets a home game, the higher seeds get a home game. History has shown us that it really even things out.

In the NASL playoffs, it’s a one-and-done scenario. There are no aggregate series. So, the ability to snatch a top seed and manage your match-ups and claim home field advantage is huge.

And, after the Soccer Bowl, we’ll fully be able to determine if Ottawa not going for the No. 1 seed will end up being a minor footnote to the season, or a major story.

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NASL, Minnesota United move to dismiss Canadian midfielder Mozzi Gyorio’s lawsuit against them

Mozzi Gyorio

The lawyers for Canadian midfielder Mozzi Gyorio, the NASL and Minnesota United FC will be in New York Nov. 19.

That’s when New York Supreme Court Justice Ellen M. Coin is to hear petitions from the NASL and Minnesota United to have the breach-of-contract claims from Gyorio’s legal team dismissed.

As with any case before the courts, there are several complicated issues at play. Earlier this year (CLICK HERE), Gyorio launched a lawsuit in New York court against Minnesota United and the NASL, demanding compensation for a contract that was terminated during the 2014 season.

Gyorio, a dual Canadian-Hungarian citizen who grew up in Prince Edward Island, signed with Minnesota United FC in 2014. Hopes were high because he was an effective player for Tampa Bay in a previous NASL stint.



But, in 2014, Gyorio refused an assignment to an NPSL side, claiming the league was “unsanctioned” and not fully professional. He claims that the assignment was made because Minnesota had maxed out the number of internationals it could have on its roster and had its eye on bringing in another. After refusing the NPSL move, he claims that Minnesota issued a memorandum to all of its players that they would need to comply with “reasonable” requests made by the club (such as an assignment to an affiliate). Because the memo came out after the request — and after Gyorio signed a contract — he claims that he can’t be bound to an alleged after-the-fact change in policy.

After taking his claims to the league, the decision came down from NASL headquarters that Minnesota had cause to terminate Gyorio’s playing contract.

In its application for dismissal, the NASL claims that it did not interfere with Gyorio’s contract. As well, it says that Gyorio did not exhaust the options available to him.

According to the claim for dismissal, NASL lawyer William G. Primps pointed out the clauses in the player contract:

“The Contract, in Paragraph 13, states: (a) The parties hereto hereby agree that all disputes relating to or arising out of this Contract or Player’s relationship with Club or the League including, but not limited, [sic] disputes related to compensation, benefits, discipline, or the termination of this Contract shall be presented to the commissioner of the League for final resolution by the League.

“If either Player or Club is dissatisfied with the decision of the League, as referenced in section 13(a) above, such party may serve notice of a demand for binding arbitration on the other party within seven calendar days of the receipt of the League’s decision. The dissatisfied party must provide a minimum of three qualified arbitrators from which one will be selected by the other party.”

According to Primps, Gyorio never took the arbitration route, therefore the suit against the NASL should be dismissed.

The NASL claims that Gyorio was notified on Aug. 22, 2014 that his contract was to be terminated. On Nov. 4, 2014. “NASL issued a response finding that Minnesota United did not harm Plaintiff in sending him to the reserves.”

In its motion to dismiss, NASL claims “Plaintiff has not pleaded that he has pursued arbitration against either Minnesota United or NASL pursuant to the Contract’s dispute resolution clause. Instead, NASL was served with the Amended Complaint in this matter by hand-delivery on October 13, 2015.”

Minnesota United’s lawyer submitted a copy of a Sept. 24, 2014 email sent to the club by Gyorio’s legal team; it named three potential arbitrators as per the contract. A hearing was delayed so the parties could wait for the league’s final decision on the contract. The team’s lawyers claim a Nov. 11, 2014 email was then sent to Gyorio asking if arbitration was to go ahead. Basically, they’ve claimed to the court that the legal bases were covered on Minnesota United’s side.

Minnesota United has claimed that the New York court has no jurisdiction to rule on a contract that was undertaken in the state of Minnesota. In an affidavit, Minnesota United President Nick Rogers said that “No MN United representative has ever traveled to New York to meet with NASL.” He also said that the contract was negotiated over phone and e-mail between Minnesota United coach Manny Lagos, Gyorio and his Canadian-based agent, John Horvath. There’s no New York connection.

And, Rogers contested Gyorio’s claim that he was a victim of the international roster-spot numbers game. He said it was all about the player’s performance.

“In April 2014 the coaching staff determined that, at that point in the season, it was unlikely that Mozzi would ever appear in a MN United match as either a starter or substitute,” Rogers said in the affidavit.

He also said that Minnesota United had every right to send Gyorio to the NPSL.

“Assignments to other U.S.-based soccer clubs are explicitly authorized by the contract and do not require the player’s consent.”

Rogers said that Gyorio owes Minnesota United US$350 in unpaid fines for refusing to comply with his contract. He said that after Gyorio refused to comply with the NPSL assignment, he stopped communicating with the club.

The paperwork filed in the case (so far) can be found HERE.

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The 500 club: The Plastic Pitch subscription drive

When  the Plastic Pitch Kickstarter campaign was launched in late 2013, the goal was to secure funding for at least a year’s worth of issues. Now, based on our quarterly schedule, we are working on issue 8, to be releasd in January 2016. That’s two full years worth of work. We’ve featured work from some of the top soccer writers in North America, and featured stories about Canadians playing here and abroad.

But, it isn’t easy. And expenses continue to pile up. I’ve crunched the numbers and it’s simple. To make this work, Plastic Pitch needs 500 new subscribers by the end of the year. Well, maybe “new” isn’t quite accurate — as renewals would be counted towards to this number.

Subscriptions costs just $15 Canadian — that’s four issues of what this editors feels is some of the best Canadian soccer content you’ll find. Long-form stories, insightful analysis and advocacy for the improvement of the Canadian game. Put it in perspective, $15 is less than the cost of one craft cocktail.

There are a number ways to subscribe; either through the Apple or Google apps, through our Shopify store (CLICK HERE) or directly via PayPal (teamworkpress@rogers.com is the payment address). If you subscribe through Shopify or PayPal, please specify if you want to have issues e-mailed directly to you. But, one word of caution: It is MUCH easier for us to refund your money (if we don’t hit target) if you go through Shopify or PayPal.

Of course, we think a subscription to Plastic Pitch would make a great Christmas gift. Or a way to say thanks to your coach or the volunteers in your soccer program.

Because we put the mag out in three ways; either by e-mail, or through Apple and Google apps, many of our expenses have to be paid out in US funds, even though we’re a Canadian mag. So, the plummeting dollar, well, it hurts. Really hurts. Basically, costs to do business have increased 25 per cent over the past two years.

If you haven’t discovered the mag yet, and want to read it before you buy, you can preview any of our seven issues for free in the apps. Each issue offers a free timed preview, which lets you browse the articles. Inside you’ll find how we were the first to report about the possibility of a Canadian Division 1A league (issue 2), our look at how real Canadian minutes played were on the decline in MLS (issue 1), plus our issue 5 dedicated to the fractured soccer relationship between Canada and the United States. Issue 6 was our Women’s World Cup review issue.

As well, from now till Christmas, you will be able to get our back issues (1-6) for just $1.99 each. You can take advantage of those offers through the apps.

PLASTIC PITCH SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE:

488 to go!