Portland! Light rail direct from airport to stadium. Men’s and women’s clubs share the same stadium. A very unique stadium as well, previously used for pro baseball. Also direct flights on BA from Heathrow.
@@stuntpeggnieve You should come to a Madison Forward game. USL 1 League. A little different than California out here in Madison, WI. You would have a blast.
Great to see some content by a UK creator that paints American soccer culture in a positive light and truly shining a light on the real passion fans have here. Used to creators only mentioning soccer in a condescending and mocking light
Honestly chap, I'm a season ticket holder at Nottingham Forest, and the only thing I feel watching this is a tremendous kinship with my fellow fans. We share something that transcends countries and cultures.
in the eighties i worked in Chesapeake for two weeks, we had to work with other trades and lots of locals, we made many friends, went for beers, ate with lovely people, the working class are all the same all over the world, we work to make a decent life and enjoy a beer, i certainly learnt a lot from the Americans i met.
I think you'd be surprised at how popular and well liked American/Canadian soccer is here in England. It's becoming very common to see people out and about wearing mls jerseys. Be encouraged! I myself have been following the mls since it began in the early 90s, it's amazing for me to see far you've come in a relatively short time. Sport takes time to develop and evolve, and what you and Canada have achieved in the last, say 30 years, is incredible. We have to remember, once upon a time, great soccer nations like Brazil and Italy were once learning beginners. All the best to you. England ❤ usa and Canada
@@alhollywood6486 you get the same thing in SF- the hot inland air hits the cool ocean air and the fog rolls in. We named ours Karl. The best times to visit are either spring or fall, which doesn't coincide so well with the soccer season
@@stuntpeggnieve Haha, several people I've known from England came out to the west coast for the first time and were unaware of how long the marine layer hangs around sometimes. One bloke complained that he'd hired a convertible Mustang to drive along the legendary Pacific Coast Highway, got up early like you did and was disappointed that it was overcast until well into the afternoon.
@@slickrick557 it’s horrible that the MLS is destroying history just because they want a 500 million dollar entry fee. They pick money over soccer with every decision and I’m starting to get tired of it.
Nieve, when you briefly mentioned Orange County's fight with the LA Galaxy, have you ever seen the documentary about the Columbus Crew drama? The Club, which is one of the founding clubs of MLS, was bought by a new owner who wanted to relocate the team to Austin TX and the documentary follows the whole story about the struggle the Crew supporters had to put up with to keep the Club in Columbus. It's a compelling watch.
The whole Columbus to Austin disgrace was the turning point for me. I’ve not watched a single MLS game since then. The whole system is rigged against everyone bar the teams willing to pay for entry to MLS.
It hurts to think about as an Austin FC fan. I support the #SaveTheCrew movement, and strongly believed that we should've had our OWN club, not a stolen identity from Columbus. I'm glad both of us got to keep our clubs in the end, though. It's a sad struggle, I can't imagine how it felt being a Crew fan.
@@leewitney5863I’ve been having issues with the MLS for a while. But what was a tipping point for me is the MLS trying to get rid of the US Open Cup. I find it to be a nice competition to give lower league teams a little bit of exposure. But they apparently care about the money grab of leagues cup. It’s gotten me to become more supportive of the USL. And I would have turned against Austin if they had stuck with their proposal of moving the Crew from Columbus.
It was incredible meeting you at the match. It was super brief, but thank you so much for your incredible kindness! Thanks for being a fellow owner! :)
This was awesome. I'm a Rhode Island FC fan, brand new team in the USL Championship that started this season. It's great to see you showing the USL in a positive light. We are all very passionate fans of the beautiful game
First off from HARTFORD ...boooo😂. ...ok ya had a great year ...this will definitely turn up the rivalry ....I was actually rooting for ya to win...Rhode Island doesn't get many chances ....😢😂....Providence/UCONN ..lol
I think a part of that has to do with how little we discuss the sheer size and scope of the United States itself. Just the state of California has more ghost towns than there are professional soccer teams in the U.K.. The state of Texas is the size of the nation of Germany, and the U.S. has over 10 states bigger than the U.K. itself.
If there was proper interest and investment by every rung of the ladder, the US could have a league worthy of the UCL from the sheer amount of people in the US. By "every rung of the ladder" I mean from proper youth leagues and investment for teenagers to adapting the MLS to the world standard of promotion/relegation. Because that's how you build a fan base of fans, they start going to local games since childhood, see the highs and lows of the team and get invested. Getting bottom of the table every year and nothing changing makes a sport very boring
@@DIAC1987 This is nonsense. Even in the UK we have two major leagues in England and Scotland. Both have their own structures of league hierarchies, with promotion and relegation. Then you have have lower tiers regionally. So if football grew to become a major sport in the US it's easy to imagine regional leagues of states, all with promotion/relegation.
Honestly, there is a huge system of amateur leagues and clubs in America. There is a decent chance that you might have one. As far as PROFESSIONAL clubs go, however, people are lucky if they even have a pro club in their whole state.
Thank you for this video! Indy Eleven supporter here, we’re in the USL as well and MLS are trying anything they can to keep us down from expanding. I just want our new stadium to be built. It’s been a long struggle.
@@CodeZaffrekinda but not really... The city is, but not the club, MLS are trying to get a separate ownership group and separate team, they've done this in other expansion cities that make the USL club fold, look at STL, Austin, San Diego, etc
@@themidweekfixture5059I was happy for San Diego when I heard that they were getting an MLS team. Now however, the whole thing just feels so weird. Especially the owner of the team who has no ties to the city but was able to get into the league for $500 million.
thank you for shedding light on how destructive MLS is for the game here. they intentionally expand into markets that have thriving grassroots/independent clubs as they're trying to monopolize soccer.
Literally the American Venture Capital way. All major American corporations seek to buy out smaller family owned businesses to then just turn it into their own locations and kick out everyone who made it what it was in the first place. Easier to buy out a building and a name then build up or invest in your own location.
@@stuntpeggnieve As the "ultra" mentioned, the MLS sees a non-promotion/relegation model as the most profitable. It is also tied to the NCAA "college" system and maintains a "super draft" that rewards the worst teams with, in theory, the best players from the amateur ranks. Just like the NFL, NBA, etc. That model, along with the salary structure, maintains parity in the league. No one can just buy the title by spending billions. The history of antagonistic leagues in US soccer, and in other sports, is not new.
@@stuntpeggnieve the problem is the current buy-in for an MLS club is several hundred million dollars and new stadiums cost about the same. The way many of the teams in MLS are leveraged in debt makes FFP seem quaint. If they introduced relegation those teams would go insolvent virtually overnight. What would be more likely would be something similar to baseball where the lower leagues operate as affiliated feeder clubs that develop younger players for MLS teams.
@@ljmolly4029 The most valuable teams in the world are generally NFL, NBA and MLB teams because of the closed league system. We do live in a capitalist world.
I have to admit that you crack me up sometimes Stunt. "Please can I have a car" is a belter 😂 and obvs you do very interesting videos from the top pyramid of football to the underground. Always a pleasure to watch your stuff
I think a lot of brits don't understand the distances involved here too; my club, Sacramento Republic, has our *closest* away game 2 hours away one way. Our furthest game was 3000 miles and 3 time zones away... for a league game.
Same problem in Australia/NZ, and we less than 10% the population of the USA. London-based players moan about having to travel a couple of hours up to Manchester. My team in Perth, Western Australia, has to play away games in New Zealand!!
@@VonRibbitt And yet Brazil has most it's population centered in the east, in a single time zone. Much more feasible. Brazil also doesn't have it second largest city on the other side of the continent or country from its first. Plus, Brazil is a footballing nation. Their other main sports are volleyball and basketball and are FAR behind football. In the US, football is 5th (moving into 4th) after NFL/CFB, NBA, MLB, and NHL. If the sport had MORE support, a pro/rel system would be feasible. But just this season alone, USL (the league Orange County and Sacramento play in) had 2 teams fold because it's too expensive. A lot of teams don't draw enough fans.
most USL and some MLS fans really are. MLS is where you get a lot of the USA Soccer Guy types, but I've had just as much fun and sometimes more watching USL and other local teams
@@ybnalex9628 RIP the Open Cup. S seems MLS would rather have a meaningless mid season fixture in front of 7000 fans than do anything truly exciting for the sport.
I went to an MLS game between Toronto & Orlando FC and the Toronto 'Ultras' stood and sang for 90 minutes. Nobody who loves the game should be looked down upon and I think that's something we English fans do quite a lot
Exactly. I get into with people on YT all the time about why they bash American Soccer/football so much. Its so dumb. Theres people like men who played and are jus as passionate if not more about the sport than the rest of world
no way! im from louisville but i wouldve never expected a louisville fan in england! im gonna tell my english friends on xbox lol your a boss for supporting my city!
My Dad was a college soccer coach in central california and we had games at our home stadium against uc santa barbara 13,000+ and the amazing student section called the “Manglers” would be there full force chanting every game. it was a really cool childhood memory. those games were ROCKIN!!
Compared to the large majority of MLS clubs, USL clubs are much more authentic in terms of how the club is structured due to how forced a lot of things in the MLS are. USL from what I've seen have much more organic growth with their clubs which is why everything seems so much more 'proper'.
Great! Thanks for posting from CA. I looked for your videos all the time. I was scared stuntpegg had closed down. Welcome to SoCal and OC, my backyard. You are truly the megamind/guru of football.
Another fine post, Nieve, though I did miss a little of your usual well-researched narrative early on. Then came the latter parts which told so much. One other thing, please never lose that quirky sense of humour. Best wishes from an EFL club owner.
What British football is really missing are chants to the tunes by The Beach Boys. "We're picking up Leeds vibrations, they're giving us excitations..."
Love the video and love the work you are doing Nieve. Also I love what the Americans fans are doing over there. Real grassroots effort to build a solid and base. OC people should be proud of this and should be fully committed on supporting their club. I mean that stadium is gorgeous its not a huge one but its just amazingly kept and maintained.
Well, to be fair, given that just about every state has at least one Springfield, or Arlington, or Jackson, or Washington, or Franklin; I think that it was a reasonable clarification because you never know.. 😀
Loved the video ! California and Texas are definitely the leading pioneers for soccer in the US. That's where the most youth play and it is the most competitive
Monterey Bay fan from the UK here. The standard of football is much better than people in Europe would have you believe, but the entire product is utterly boring without promotion/relegation. Plus, when the majority of teams make the end of season playoffs, regular season games feel so inconsequential.
Promotion/relegation battles would add much needed drama aside from a title race (or championship playoff) but the consequences for clubs make it unsustainable. If an MLS team dropped down two tiers due to bad ownership and poor coaching/players let's say, and couldn't recover, I think owners would bail out. Imagine LA Galaxy traveling to Chatanooga. Would be like the Lakers playing a G-league team in Iowa.
@@ljmolly4029 I mean, you're not wrong, but these consequences are part and parcel of sport. The unwillingness to change the system because they're afraid of losing money says all you need to know about sport in this country (not just football). It's all business and bottom lines, competitiveness and excitement be damned.
@@Beatonio I very much agree. I work for and support a USL 2 club. And as far as MLS goes, I support the Phila Union. I'd love to see my local club earn three promotions and play the Union in Philly in my lifetime. Sadly I don't see it happening.
@@ljmolly4029 I also think people underestimate the costs those promoted USL teams would incur with going up. Before even getting to the higher player salaries, you would have massive stadium costs as a lot of teams would be nowhere near what MLS requires for broadcasts. Early-years MLS got around this by playing in NFL stadiums until soccer-specific grounds could be built. But that's not really an option for a lot of these USL cities.
@@shaunnichols1743 I agree. I was privy to some of the Phoenix Rising's proposal for an MLS team. They have rich owners, but in short, they are not "oil money" rich. Would be great to see a Charleston Battery or Richmond Kickers (historic US clubs) get promoted. But so much to invest... to then get relegated? It could ruin them. I guess the analogy would be Luton Town? The investment remains valuable in the English championship, whereas back in USL it wouldn't be.
Im a lower league fan on the other side of the US, but what a great video highlighting what its like to be a fan. The game is growing here. While I (and most fans) would like to see pro/rel, we still support our teams through thick and thin.
This brings back memories of MyFootballClub when "we" originally bought Ebbsfleet United. MyFC isn't the owner any longer and I'm not a member of the new iteration of the group, but it definitely made me feel a small (very small) part of it, including a day at Wembley when EUFC won the FA Trophy.
Me too. The whole process was quite an eye opener, I learned a lot about lower division football. It was seldom pretty, although there were some high points, like you mentioned.
Thanks for checking out my home area and showing our local team. For the record I am an LA Galaxy fan but I want OCSC to survive and stay here (I also tried to apply for them for a summer job).
I love the fact that they are trying to start something. Being there from the start of the club and being part of the history. It’s like Bobby Buckle under a lampost on the High Road in N17. You gotta start somewhere
Great showcase! Stumbled across your channel this morning. I grew up in OC, 15 min south of Irvine and played many games on their fields. Didn't know OC Blues had grown into such a club. (Been living elsewhere for the last 16 years) Played against them in the early 2000's. Great to see they reached their goals through fan ownership; too bad they've closed the campaign...would have loved to been an investor/fan-owner. Loved the video, will have to check out more of your channel.
@@luisridez9219 american colonized philippines also describe football as the rich kids game. a third world country. brazil is third world and they are amazing, not sure about argentina they are the same profile. football played on the streets. multiple legends of the game. sometimes i wonder if spain never sold us to the americans then football would be big here, paulino alcantara of barcelona fame was from the philippines.
Great video, and done with a light touch and minimal snobbery and snark. These people seem wonderful and I admire their club. No idea how you're not gonna get demonetised into oblivion with the Beach Boys tune, mind.
I think Eli is spot on when talking about how MLS models itself after other US leagues instead of a typical soccer/football league. And I think that from that there is this culture of how people watch soccer here, and support soccer: it's very corporate. I've been to matches across the country, and whilst everything has its own feel, there are "staples" per se of how it looks. Everyone has a somewhat sanctioned supporters section no matter the size, lots of club seating, etc. They leave very little on the table in MLS, and this has begun to transfer down to the lower divisions, who are trying to do their own thing, but do still have to fall in line because of how big the first division has gotten. One can hope for a future with an open promotion/relegation system that encourages competition, but we aren't there yet for many reasons. And it will take a massive culture shift from the top to begin to push us in that direction. Your coverage of USL from a well understanding British perspective is one we don't get often, and appreciated! Curious if you hit an LAFC (or the other team) match while in town and what your thoughts were in comparison?
I haven't attended an MLS game in a while, but it does seem like the fans are getting better at developing unique cultures. I remember in the 90s-00s it felt like a lot of people were just cosplaying European ultras and it made for a lame atmosphere.
The thing about promotion and relegation is, it creates stories, and its great for fans. The MLS could do with their own Leicester City story, it would so so much to sell the game. Im a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder, of course i didn't like our wilderness years after relegation, but that just makes our fight back to the top of the game all the sweeter. If the Prem had started as a closed model we'd have been "protected" from all that, at the expense of the absolute bliss of getting back promoted. The big MLS owners need to know that fans will flock to stadiums and tv screens for the games where everything is on the line at both ends of the league.
Promotion and relegation do not encourage competition, chief. That's a lie you have been sold. Since the founding of the EPL, over twice as many different clubs have won championships in the NHL, the NFL, MLB, and the NBA! The promotion/relegation system is fool's gold. It's like buying a lottery ticket. It's just the rich f**king with the heads of all the poor fans of all non-Big Six clubs. 99.9% of the time, or damn close to it, those clubs are simply punching bags for their overlords.
There were a few clubs that offered ownership in their sides. Becoming more common in the USA. There is promotion/relegation in a lot of non-league soccer in America. I encourage you to come to an Eastern Premier Soccer League match, where their clubs on multiple occasions compete well, if not defeat some USL 1 and Championship sides in the Open Cup.
@@AlexanderWinterborn-r6p sport needs to be competitive. A system in which %90 of teams are playing for peanuts by the end of the regular season is pointless. Top teams are waiting for the playoffs and bottom teams are tanking for a favourable spot in the next draft. Only the teams from the middle with options for qualifying are competing. IMO that's not interesting.
@@jonpeley No one is tanking for the draft in the MLS. At best it's a last chance system for kids who were overlooked by the academies or developed late. Take a closer look at how many players are making an impact in the League from each team's academies compared to the draft players. Everyone, including the USL has already made the transition to academies and internal development a long time ago. The draft exists, but it doesn't have the prestige and importance that it does in other American sports. It's just an artifact of the early days of the MLS and nowadays mainly provides another mechanism for teams to trade resources to organize their finances under the salary cap.
The first organized football game in the USa was 1866 and the AFA league was started in 1884. The reason for football disappearing for a time in America was scandal on the earliest leagues.
I support Birmingham Legion and just watched them beat OC 3-0 Saturday! Thank you for featuring the USL as they are the best hope for soccer in America! Love your channel!
England... you don't have enough money to actually try to win a trophy, but you get to participate till we kick you out USA... you can buy your way in, but you have a chance to win, and you can never leave
“Buy players to win an ascension”…only for your team to slowly get picked apart by the bigger teams and eventually you end up getting relegated. Not a perfect system.
What England could actually learn from American soccer, just if anyone's curious: 1. STRICT salary caps 2. Equal revenue sharing Now granted both of those went out the window as soon as Don Garber started building his fifa legacy barcelona in miami or your name is LAFC
As a Crew fan it pisses me off to no end because business wise I know we are likely going to end up losing Cucho pretty soon bc of his insane value. The money is great, but the problem is no one worth that amount of money will come to Columbus over LA and Miami. It's bullshit.
If every club on the planet sticks to the same salary cap, that'd be fine, but it's unworkable. If one country has a salary cap, it's means other countries can capitalise at their expense and sign the best players.
@@quagsnake That's a fair point and it's why I think caps are more of a UEFA + Saudi Arabia issue than PL. If that means other countries start pulling players away from UEFA and the global quality starts evening out, I think that would be great.
And if england did that all the players would go play somewhere else in the world that don't have salary caps. I think 'american soccer' could benefit from thinking globally because what you typed is shortsighted and insular.
irvine and orange/irvine hills is such a great area. i've never seen so many public parks in one area in my life , literally it seems on every main intersection of streets is another public park
I think mostly because professional sports in the US has long valued parity - from salary caps to inverse-standing drafts. I suspect a lot of fans are put off by European leagues having one or two teams top the league every year. And no end of season playoffs!!
@@luisridez9219 tbf I'm Australian and we don't have pro/rel here either we have the same problem as America all our sports follow the same model as them
Same here in Australia. We are hopefully 2 years away from a national second tier league. @Stuntpegg you should come to Australia (Sydney or Melbourne)
Hey hey just found this video (have seen you on AwayDays) I'm a football fan in Phoenix (we have a USL team too) thank you so much for sharing that football fans here in the states that actually know the situation don't support MLS but we do support our USL teams. Unfortunately like 1 guy said I doubt we will ever see promotion/relegation here thanks to the MLS greed.
Thank you for putting the spotlight on the USL. It is a great league. I think you would love Detroit City FC, and I know we'd love to host you for a game or two. No promises on becoming an owner though
Thank you so much for coming to the US and experiencing how we do the game! Both guys on the sidelines made excellent points throughout! We have so many different sporting and entertainment options, the MLS is trying to compete with both the US sports leagues AND the football leagues around the world, and the MLS owners are too scared to loose so much money from relegation. I just hope that this sport can continue to grow here! 🇺🇸
Same reason why the NFL is the way it is. All partner leagues preventing any loss like that one guy was saying, creating an echo chamber like the top reply on this comment is alluding to. American businessmen/women are cowards and have been for a very long time. It's why our economy has stagnated over the past 15-20 years in terms of a positive increase in growth. Nobody makes anything, has any passion, or cares for anything else other than $$$$$. Edit: You can see it in American blood btw with the Overwatch League in esports. Partner league, no competition to really drive the all-stars, ridiculous buy-ins, all for the league to crumble in a few years.
The guy's got a point about English football chants lacking variety. We've all been coasting on the same 4 or 5 chants for years now, it's getting embarrassing. Well past time to do some crate digging for different tunes and come up with some new material I reckon.
from the perspective from across the pond - football in the US is at the stage the UK was about 120 years ago. football is grass roots and it's obvious the seeds are there. give it time and remember, football can be played anywhere and all you need is a ball and four items of clothing - "jumpers for goalposts" is a phrase that comes to mind.
Well, the USL is at the point England was 120 years ago except the current climate is as if the Premier league without relegation existed at the same time, the MLS will stifle out the USL
Nieve, I live in Orange County 15 minutes away from this stadium and I have never been interested to even attend a game. Suprisingly your video is making me want to go to one. Thank you
Great video - and as much as I understand the sentiment of the guy at 8:00, he doesn't even understand how the system in this country works clearly. The "owners" of the MLS are not actually owners. They own none of the players of the team itself - they might own the stadium the team plays in, or the city will own it. But the MLS itself owns every club and player. Owners are essentially operators of those teams, and in exchange for operating that team they get a certain slice of the total MLS pie when it's payday. The previous soccer leagues in this country failed because they tried to emulate the English system and it was essentially an owner free for all - but then big markets like LA and NYC dominated and everyone tried to spend beyond their means to keep up and... they folded. If you want to see what it takes to get "promoted" from USL to MLS go do a deep dive into Orlando City Soccer Club (the *other* OCSC funny enough). They actually made the jump but it took years off winning USL repeatedly and funding their own stadium from scratch to please Don Garber (who later changed the rules Orlando had to follow to new rules for Atlanta and NYC and Miami... but that's a different story)
@@stacer1962 In what way do I make it about myself?, She responded I’m not really a Disneyland person but wishes she was and all I did was give her my suggestion, she doesn’t have to listen to me, she doesn’t have to go, I just read her comment and responded with a recommendation about a place I happened to go to, if you think I comment on any RUclipsr thinking it’s about me, then you’re criticising the wrong person.
"Sometimes you don't know what you've got, until someone tries to take it away from you" - that's a profound statement and very true. I've seen my own football team in the UK nearly go bankrupt due to poor ownership, terrible EFL rules and a lack of support.
It is growing, and more and more people care about it. Took some of my colleagues and friends to local club 'soccer games' and it was load of fun, and more affordable than NBA or NFL
I’m so glad your experience of going to a soccer game in America was attending a USL game. The USL continues to grow. My community in Southern California, the Antelope Valley, will be getting a team next season (AV Alta FC). In USL League One (the US’ third division). I like how each team in the USL is very community based and a way to get kids into the game who wouldn’t have had a chance otherwise. Also, while I’m not from Orange County, I’m very disappointed that the Galaxy tried to take the stadium away from them. That’s unfortunately what the MLS tends to do is get rid of the potential competition. I’m glad they were able to keep the team and the stadium, and that their identity was kept preserved.
Glad you had a great time in OC CA and visiting the OCSC my home club for years even way back before the stadium was built and we were called The OC Blues and played at University of CA Irvine
Thank you Orange County, so happy you were my first experience of league soccer! Now…any MLS recommendations?
LAFC!
Would love to see you check out third tier American club Forward Madison one day! Super fun atmosphere and dedicated fans!
Got to be Austin FC. Free beans on toast.
Portland! Light rail direct from airport to stadium. Men’s and women’s clubs share the same stadium. A very unique stadium as well, previously used for pro baseball. Also direct flights on BA from Heathrow.
FC Dallas
It is the small club experiences like this that make the best memories. Genuine passion.
Totally agree
@@stuntpeggnieve You should come to a Madison Forward game. USL 1 League. A little different than California out here in Madison, WI. You would have a blast.
Great to see some content by a UK creator that paints American soccer culture in a positive light and truly shining a light on the real passion fans have here. Used to creators only mentioning soccer in a condescending and mocking light
Other Brits denigrate the US and soccer in the US.
Honestly chap, I'm a season ticket holder at Nottingham Forest, and the only thing I feel watching this is a tremendous kinship with my fellow fans. We share something that transcends countries and cultures.
Sadly, I constantly see this from many European fans online about both American soccer and American fans.
in the eighties i worked in Chesapeake for two weeks, we had to work with other trades and lots of locals, we made many friends, went for beers, ate with lovely people, the working class are all the same all over the world, we work to make a decent life and enjoy a beer, i certainly learnt a lot from the Americans i met.
I think you'd be surprised at how popular and well liked American/Canadian soccer is here in England. It's becoming very common to see people out and about wearing mls jerseys. Be encouraged! I myself have been following the mls since it began in the early 90s, it's amazing for me to see far you've come in a relatively short time. Sport takes time to develop and evolve, and what you and Canada have achieved in the last, say 30 years, is incredible. We have to remember, once upon a time, great soccer nations like Brazil and Italy were once learning beginners. All the best to you. England ❤ usa and Canada
In so many ways, it's the best football/groundhopping channel on RUclips.
So lovely to say!
@@stuntpeggnieve it's very true !
100%
Absolutely agree. The presentation, information and great humour make it a joy to watch.
I laughed out loud when you said, "Wow... {dramatic pause} ... you can't see anything."
😂😂I woke up at 5am for that too!
Gotta love the June Gloom
@@alhollywood6486 you get the same thing in SF- the hot inland air hits the cool ocean air and the fog rolls in. We named ours Karl. The best times to visit are either spring or fall, which doesn't coincide so well with the soccer season
@@stuntpeggnieve Haha, several people I've known from England came out to the west coast for the first time and were unaware of how long the marine layer hangs around sometimes. One bloke complained that he'd hired a convertible Mustang to drive along the legendary Pacific Coast Highway, got up early like you did and was disappointed that it was overcast until well into the afternoon.
@@stuntpeggnieve Dedication, eh!
USL is such an amazing league, great video!
Bford what’s your favorite team
@@MultiGK13He roots for Cincinnati
I was sad when my team (San Diego Loyal) was dissolved. Optimistic about the MLS team but it won’t be the same
@@slickrick557 it’s horrible that the MLS is destroying history just because they want a 500 million dollar entry fee. They pick money over soccer with every decision and I’m starting to get tired of it.
How couldn't the MLS be if it features the world's best soccer player, Leo Messi...???
I approve of the beach boys soundtrack
And I think The Beach Boys would (or, for a lot of them, sadly, would've) approve of OCSC!
Nieve-the little surfer gurl😉
Nieve, when you briefly mentioned Orange County's fight with the LA Galaxy, have you ever seen the documentary about the Columbus Crew drama? The Club, which is one of the founding clubs of MLS, was bought by a new owner who wanted to relocate the team to Austin TX and the documentary follows the whole story about the struggle the Crew supporters had to put up with to keep the Club in Columbus. It's a compelling watch.
The whole Columbus to Austin disgrace was the turning point for me. I’ve not watched a single MLS game since then.
The whole system is rigged against everyone bar the teams willing to pay for entry to MLS.
It hurts to think about as an Austin FC fan. I support the #SaveTheCrew movement, and strongly believed that we should've had our OWN club, not a stolen identity from Columbus. I'm glad both of us got to keep our clubs in the end, though. It's a sad struggle, I can't imagine how it felt being a Crew fan.
@@void_skyy crew fans cried themselves to sleep
@@leewitney5863I’ve been having issues with the MLS for a while. But what was a tipping point for me is the MLS trying to get rid of the US Open Cup. I find it to be a nice competition to give lower league teams a little bit of exposure. But they apparently care about the money grab of leagues cup. It’s gotten me to become more supportive of the USL. And I would have turned against Austin if they had stuck with their proposal of moving the Crew from Columbus.
Imagine if Columbus Crew were named Ohio FC
Probably wouldn't be a FC Cincinnati
It was incredible meeting you at the match. It was super brief, but thank you so much for your incredible kindness! Thanks for being a fellow owner! :)
Count me in too. Watched this and got myself on the priority list to buy me piece when the option becomes available in the UK.
This was awesome. I'm a Rhode Island FC fan, brand new team in the USL Championship that started this season. It's great to see you showing the USL in a positive light. We are all very passionate fans of the beautiful game
Wow, awesome. Haha.
My boy Parky’s team! I’m supporting y’all from the A!
Booooo go Hartford 😆
Let's Go RIFC! Anchors up!
First off from HARTFORD ...boooo😂. ...ok ya had a great year ...this will definitely turn up the rivalry ....I was actually rooting for ya to win...Rhode Island doesn't get many chances ....😢😂....Providence/UCONN ..lol
Buys a club and becomes an absolute despot. You were made for this job, Nieve.
She just knows how bosses run their small clubs back in England xD
I like how she tells one of the players to get her water and then a car 😂😂
Nieve's content is unlike any other football content I've seen on RUclips. It's a breath of fresh air.
7:00 this is something Brits can't understand. We don't have a team in every little town, most fans don't have a local team
I think a part of that has to do with how little we discuss the sheer size and scope of the United States itself. Just the state of California has more ghost towns than there are professional soccer teams in the U.K.. The state of Texas is the size of the nation of Germany, and the U.S. has over 10 states bigger than the U.K. itself.
If there was proper interest and investment by every rung of the ladder, the US could have a league worthy of the UCL from the sheer amount of people in the US.
By "every rung of the ladder" I mean from proper youth leagues and investment for teenagers to adapting the MLS to the world standard of promotion/relegation. Because that's how you build a fan base of fans, they start going to local games since childhood, see the highs and lows of the team and get invested. Getting bottom of the table every year and nothing changing makes a sport very boring
only because your country is so small. In the US anything within 100 miles is considered local.
@@DIAC1987 This is nonsense. Even in the UK we have two major leagues in England and Scotland. Both have their own structures of league hierarchies, with promotion and relegation. Then you have have lower tiers regionally. So if football grew to become a major sport in the US it's easy to imagine regional leagues of states, all with promotion/relegation.
Honestly, there is a huge system of amateur leagues and clubs in America. There is a decent chance that you might have one. As far as PROFESSIONAL clubs go, however, people are lucky if they even have a pro club in their whole state.
Thank you for this video! Indy Eleven supporter here, we’re in the USL as well and MLS are trying anything they can to keep us down from expanding. I just want our new stadium to be built. It’s been a long struggle.
Indy is literally a top candidate for MLS expansion
@@CodeZaffrekinda but not really... The city is, but not the club, MLS are trying to get a separate ownership group and separate team, they've done this in other expansion cities that make the USL club fold, look at STL, Austin, San Diego, etc
Yeah. That whole situation over there is bullshit. I hope it all gets sorted, Indy Eleven get their stadium and the conspirators get sanctioned.
That’s your mayor
@@themidweekfixture5059I was happy for San Diego when I heard that they were getting an MLS team. Now however, the whole thing just feels so weird. Especially the owner of the team who has no ties to the city but was able to get into the league for $500 million.
thank you for shedding light on how destructive MLS is for the game here. they intentionally expand into markets that have thriving grassroots/independent clubs as they're trying to monopolize soccer.
It’s such a shame because if the MLS worked alongside all the clubs I’m convinced you could have something really special out there
Literally the American Venture Capital way. All major American corporations seek to buy out smaller family owned businesses to then just turn it into their own locations and kick out everyone who made it what it was in the first place. Easier to buy out a building and a name then build up or invest in your own location.
@@stuntpeggnieve As the "ultra" mentioned, the MLS sees a non-promotion/relegation model as the most profitable. It is also tied to the NCAA "college" system and maintains a "super draft" that rewards the worst teams with, in theory, the best players from the amateur ranks. Just like the NFL, NBA, etc. That model, along with the salary structure, maintains parity in the league. No one can just buy the title by spending billions. The history of antagonistic leagues in US soccer, and in other sports, is not new.
@@stuntpeggnieve the problem is the current buy-in for an MLS club is several hundred million dollars and new stadiums cost about the same. The way many of the teams in MLS are leveraged in debt makes FFP seem quaint. If they introduced relegation those teams would go insolvent virtually overnight. What would be more likely would be something similar to baseball where the lower leagues operate as affiliated feeder clubs that develop younger players for MLS teams.
@@ljmolly4029 The most valuable teams in the world are generally NFL, NBA and MLB teams because of the closed league system. We do live in a capitalist world.
His comment about England lack of chant's variety followed by the baby shark chants really felt a bit from The Office 😂
English fans sang "billy sharp" to the rhythm of baby shark first 🤷🏻♂️
Loved the interviews. There is nothing funnier than watching someone not get a joke.
I have to admit that you crack me up sometimes Stunt. "Please can I have a car" is a belter 😂 and obvs you do very interesting videos from the top pyramid of football to the underground. Always a pleasure to watch your stuff
Sometimes?
I think a lot of brits don't understand the distances involved here too; my club, Sacramento Republic, has our *closest* away game 2 hours away one way.
Our furthest game was 3000 miles and 3 time zones away... for a league game.
The Brits forget California itself is another country so distances goes along way
@@edercortes1960 Absolutely, it's wild the distances.
Same problem in Australia/NZ, and we less than 10% the population of the USA. London-based players moan about having to travel a couple of hours up to Manchester. My team in Perth, Western Australia, has to play away games in New Zealand!!
Your distance argument is bullshit, just look at brazil, argentina, MASSIVE countries and a proper league.
@@VonRibbitt And yet Brazil has most it's population centered in the east, in a single time zone. Much more feasible. Brazil also doesn't have it second largest city on the other side of the continent or country from its first.
Plus, Brazil is a footballing nation. Their other main sports are volleyball and basketball and are FAR behind football. In the US, football is 5th (moving into 4th) after NFL/CFB, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
If the sport had MORE support, a pro/rel system would be feasible. But just this season alone, USL (the league Orange County and Sacramento play in) had 2 teams fold because it's too expensive. A lot of teams don't draw enough fans.
They seem like proper fans.
We try
most USL and some MLS fans really are. MLS is where you get a lot of the USA Soccer Guy types, but I've had just as much fun and sometimes more watching USL and other local teams
@@narasimha-devit’s always fun to see usl and mls clubs face off in the open cup, some games show how usl can compete with some mls teams
@@ybnalex9628 RIP the Open Cup. S seems MLS would rather have a meaningless mid season fixture in front of 7000 fans than do anything truly exciting for the sport.
I went to an MLS game between Toronto & Orlando FC and the Toronto 'Ultras' stood and sang for 90 minutes. Nobody who loves the game should be looked down upon and I think that's something we English fans do quite a lot
English fans are actively hostile to new fans, I've never seen anything like it in sports. It makes me hate the English tbh, you don't deserve soccer
America definitely doesn't look down on anyone....😂
TFC has proper support and Canadian fan culture is quite different from USA
@@lobofootyno it’s not. Fan culture in Canada is literally the exact same as in the us.
Exactly. I get into with people on YT all the time about why they bash American Soccer/football so much. Its so dumb. Theres people like men who played and are jus as passionate if not more about the sport than the rest of world
"I wouldn't know, i am hidden under a tree." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The USL is growing and its a fantastic league. Nice to see you over there nieve.
louisville city fan from england
no way! im from louisville but i wouldve never expected a louisville fan in england! im gonna tell my english friends on xbox lol your a boss for supporting my city!
@MisterManiac supported loucity since 2019 😂 obviously been from England it does involve watching games at all hours of the night 😂
I love Stuntpegg, always interesting, thoughtful, and coming from a unique perspective 😊
Im glad you gave a spotlight to the USL. We're passionate about our clubs just like the rest of the world.
Birmingham Legion!
Maybe I should try the USL. I am trying to become an athlete. We can get many fans to see the passion of the USL
My Dad was a college soccer coach in central california and we had games at our home stadium against uc santa barbara 13,000+ and the amazing student section called the “Manglers” would be there full force chanting every game. it was a really cool childhood memory. those games were ROCKIN!!
Orange County seems like a proper club
We do our best.
Compared to the large majority of MLS clubs, USL clubs are much more authentic in terms of how the club is structured due to how forced a lot of things in the MLS are. USL from what I've seen have much more organic growth with their clubs which is why everything seems so much more 'proper'.
I’m not a OC fan but I support another USL team, we do it better. We care more about fan experience and being connected to your club than MLS teams do
@@rugbyking1540 lol the cope is insane.
lol
Great! Thanks for posting from CA. I looked for your videos all the time. I was scared stuntpegg had closed down. Welcome to SoCal and OC, my backyard. You are truly the megamind/guru of football.
Great video subject! Been following the USL Championship for years because of all the English players out there, love it
only footy focused channel who's videos I can watch full through without skipping around. Thank you for the consistent, high quality content!
Another fine post, Nieve, though I did miss a little of your usual well-researched narrative early on. Then came the latter parts which told so much. One other thing, please never lose that quirky sense of humour. Best wishes from an EFL club owner.
So cool to see my local club being featured on such an amazing great RUclips channel. Thanks for owning a part of the club Nieve!
The Oakland Roots near San Francisco and the TSS Rovers in Vancouver, Canada are also fan owned clubs - awesome!
TSS Rovers owner and Supporters Trust trustee here! Thanks for the shout-out. We are the only supporter-owned club in Canada.
It’s been cool to watch you grow
this channel. Fantastic video as always. Keep doing you.
What British football is really missing are chants to the tunes by The Beach Boys. "We're picking up Leeds vibrations, they're giving us excitations..."
There actually are chants in British football to the tune of Beach Boys songs. Sloop John B.
@@thenine83 I should have known. Although, technically "Sloop John B" isn't a Beach Boys original. But it counts still.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 nice one 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🐻
"Here you get to create the traditions that are gonna be passed down for generations to come."
*crowd sings baby shark*
I'm pretty sure they were singing "shag your mom" to the tun of baby shark... at least that's what it sounded like.
well, a lot of chants crome from nursery rhyme. so nothing wrong with that.
@@forstuffwow7145 matter of opinion
Love the video and love the work you are doing Nieve. Also I love what the Americans fans are doing over there. Real grassroots effort to build a solid and base. OC people should be proud of this and should be fully committed on supporting their club. I mean that stadium is gorgeous its not a huge one but its just amazingly kept and maintained.
Being a Texan, reading "San Antonio from Texas" made me giggle. Great video as always!
Well, to be fair, given that just about every state has at least one Springfield, or Arlington, or Jackson, or Washington, or Franklin; I think that it was a reasonable clarification because you never know.. 😀
Loved the video ! California and Texas are definitely the leading pioneers for soccer in the US. That's where the most youth play and it is the most competitive
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida
Monterey Bay fan from the UK here. The standard of football is much better than people in Europe would have you believe, but the entire product is utterly boring without promotion/relegation. Plus, when the majority of teams make the end of season playoffs, regular season games feel so inconsequential.
Promotion/relegation battles would add much needed drama aside from a title race (or championship playoff) but the consequences for clubs make it unsustainable. If an MLS team dropped down two tiers due to bad ownership and poor coaching/players let's say, and couldn't recover, I think owners would bail out. Imagine LA Galaxy traveling to Chatanooga. Would be like the Lakers playing a G-league team in Iowa.
@@ljmolly4029 I mean, you're not wrong, but these consequences are part and parcel of sport. The unwillingness to change the system because they're afraid of losing money says all you need to know about sport in this country (not just football). It's all business and bottom lines, competitiveness and excitement be damned.
@@Beatonio I very much agree. I work for and support a USL 2 club. And as far as MLS goes, I support the Phila Union. I'd love to see my local club earn three promotions and play the Union in Philly in my lifetime. Sadly I don't see it happening.
@@ljmolly4029 I also think people underestimate the costs those promoted USL teams would incur with going up. Before even getting to the higher player salaries, you would have massive stadium costs as a lot of teams would be nowhere near what MLS requires for broadcasts. Early-years MLS got around this by playing in NFL stadiums until soccer-specific grounds could be built. But that's not really an option for a lot of these USL cities.
@@shaunnichols1743 I agree. I was privy to some of the Phoenix Rising's proposal for an MLS team. They have rich owners, but in short, they are not "oil money" rich. Would be great to see a Charleston Battery or Richmond Kickers (historic US clubs) get promoted. But so much to invest... to then get relegated? It could ruin them. I guess the analogy would be Luton Town? The investment remains valuable in the English championship, whereas back in USL it wouldn't be.
So dope you came out for the California soccer/football experience! 🌞⚽️ Great video!!
as someone rather new to following the sport, your videos are very great at spreading love and appreciation of the sport. It's a breath of fresh air
As a Brit who lives in Italy i'm familiar with the standing under trees routine😆
Im a lower league fan on the other side of the US, but what a great video highlighting what its like to be a fan. The game is growing here. While I (and most fans) would like to see pro/rel, we still support our teams through thick and thin.
This brings back memories of MyFootballClub when "we" originally bought Ebbsfleet United. MyFC isn't the owner any longer and I'm not a member of the new iteration of the group, but it definitely made me feel a small (very small) part of it, including a day at Wembley when EUFC won the FA Trophy.
Me too. The whole process was quite an eye opener, I learned a lot about lower division football. It was seldom pretty, although there were some high points, like you mentioned.
I’m happy to see a video on the USL. My area just got a new team (Rhode Island FC) and the games are lots of fun to attend
Taking a slice of north west humour (sarcasm) around the world is priceless.
Thanks for checking out my home area and showing our local team. For the record I am an LA Galaxy fan but I want OCSC to survive and stay here (I also tried to apply for them for a summer job).
I love the fact that they are trying to start something. Being there from the start of the club and being part of the history. It’s like Bobby Buckle under a lampost on the High Road in N17. You gotta start somewhere
Great showcase! Stumbled across your channel this morning. I grew up in OC, 15 min south of Irvine and played many games on their fields. Didn't know OC Blues had grown into such a club. (Been living elsewhere for the last 16 years) Played against them in the early 2000's. Great to see they reached their goals through fan ownership; too bad they've closed the campaign...would have loved to been an investor/fan-owner. Loved the video, will have to check out more of your channel.
Soccer: America's sport of the future since 1970.
… and it always will be.
@@matthewbrotman2907 rich mans game
The sports ⚽️ name is Association Football
@@luisridez9219 american colonized philippines also describe football as the rich kids game. a third world country. brazil is third world and they are amazing, not sure about argentina they are the same profile. football played on the streets. multiple legends of the game. sometimes i wonder if spain never sold us to the americans then football would be big here, paulino alcantara of barcelona fame was from the philippines.
soccer/football has grown heavily since the 70s, but basketball and even American football has grown much more.
Great video, and done with a light touch and minimal snobbery and snark. These people seem wonderful and I admire their club. No idea how you're not gonna get demonetised into oblivion with the Beach Boys tune, mind.
1337 miles. that made me smile.
not exactly accurate, but I'll allow it. lol :)
I think Eli is spot on when talking about how MLS models itself after other US leagues instead of a typical soccer/football league. And I think that from that there is this culture of how people watch soccer here, and support soccer: it's very corporate. I've been to matches across the country, and whilst everything has its own feel, there are "staples" per se of how it looks. Everyone has a somewhat sanctioned supporters section no matter the size, lots of club seating, etc. They leave very little on the table in MLS, and this has begun to transfer down to the lower divisions, who are trying to do their own thing, but do still have to fall in line because of how big the first division has gotten.
One can hope for a future with an open promotion/relegation system that encourages competition, but we aren't there yet for many reasons. And it will take a massive culture shift from the top to begin to push us in that direction.
Your coverage of USL from a well understanding British perspective is one we don't get often, and appreciated! Curious if you hit an LAFC (or the other team) match while in town and what your thoughts were in comparison?
I haven't attended an MLS game in a while, but it does seem like the fans are getting better at developing unique cultures. I remember in the 90s-00s it felt like a lot of people were just cosplaying European ultras and it made for a lame atmosphere.
The thing about promotion and relegation is, it creates stories, and its great for fans. The MLS could do with their own Leicester City story, it would so so much to sell the game. Im a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder, of course i didn't like our wilderness years after relegation, but that just makes our fight back to the top of the game all the sweeter. If the Prem had started as a closed model we'd have been "protected" from all that, at the expense of the absolute bliss of getting back promoted. The big MLS owners need to know that fans will flock to stadiums and tv screens for the games where everything is on the line at both ends of the league.
Pro/rel would mess up the salary cap though
Promotion and relegation do not encourage competition, chief. That's a lie you have been sold. Since the founding of the EPL, over twice as many different clubs have won championships in the NHL, the NFL, MLB, and the NBA! The promotion/relegation system is fool's gold. It's like buying a lottery ticket. It's just the rich f**king with the heads of all the poor fans of all non-Big Six clubs. 99.9% of the time, or damn close to it, those clubs are simply punching bags for their overlords.
Portland-Seattle would probably be the MLS matchup to see, weather also a bit more UK like than Southern Cal
thats the last place to ggo then seeing as we are typically trying to get away from our weather
Great video. Thank you for shedding some light on the state of football in America.
Well lower league ….maybe 500 fans?
No matter the crowd size what matters is the passion supporting your team. I belive Soccer will grow in America.
There were a few clubs that offered ownership in their sides. Becoming more common in the USA. There is promotion/relegation in a lot of non-league soccer in America. I encourage you to come to an Eastern Premier Soccer League match, where their clubs on multiple occasions compete well, if not defeat some USL 1 and Championship sides in the Open Cup.
Yes! Second this.
@@AlexanderWinterborn-r6p sport needs to be competitive. A system in which %90 of teams are playing for peanuts by the end of the regular season is pointless. Top teams are waiting for the playoffs and bottom teams are tanking for a favourable spot in the next draft. Only the teams from the middle with options for qualifying are competing. IMO that's not interesting.
@@jonpeley No one is tanking for the draft in the MLS. At best it's a last chance system for kids who were overlooked by the academies or developed late.
Take a closer look at how many players are making an impact in the League from each team's academies compared to the draft players. Everyone, including the USL has already made the transition to academies and internal development a long time ago.
The draft exists, but it doesn't have the prestige and importance that it does in other American sports. It's just an artifact of the early days of the MLS and nowadays mainly provides another mechanism for teams to trade resources to organize their finances under the salary cap.
Thanks for coming to my side of the pond. Glad you enjoyed Dana Point/Laguna/Newport
First proclamation as owner: beans on toast to be served in all concession stands.
Mandatory to eat, as well
@@stuntpeggnieve Of course. But I'm hoping for bangers and mash as well. I won't be visiting California any time soon... just hungry.
Nieve - thanks for doing this video. I how now signed up to own a bit of the club!
Thank you for covering a USL team! Means a lot.
After a bit of surly entitled humour this turned out to be a GREAT clip which was much appreciated. Thanks. UTV
The first organized football game in the USa was 1866 and the AFA league was started in 1884. The reason for football disappearing for a time in America was scandal on the earliest leagues.
wow sad
tug of war
rope climbing
bmx
cricket in olympics for as many countries as possible
Just love it Nieve..well done...Can't believe you are so close to my home....Hope you enjoy it!!!!
I support Birmingham Legion and just watched them beat OC 3-0 Saturday! Thank you for featuring the USL as they are the best hope for soccer in America! Love your channel!
You are so awesome! Love your content. I may start attending these games. Huge LFC/English Football fan from Cali.
England ... you buy players to win an ascension.
USA ... you have to directly buy into the league.
American sports leagues are essentially communist in design. Change my mind.
@@Konrad-z9w MLS is a joke of a league
England... you don't have enough money to actually try to win a trophy, but you get to participate till we kick you out
USA... you can buy your way in, but you have a chance to win, and you can never leave
That's an inaccurate and simple way of breaking it down.
“Buy players to win an ascension”…only for your team to slowly get picked apart by the bigger teams and eventually you end up getting relegated. Not a perfect system.
Happy to see you come out to our beautiful state of California! Hope ya enjoyed your time out here
What England could actually learn from American soccer, just if anyone's curious:
1. STRICT salary caps
2. Equal revenue sharing
Now granted both of those went out the window as soon as Don Garber started building his fifa legacy barcelona in miami or your name is LAFC
As a Crew fan it pisses me off to no end because business wise I know we are likely going to end up losing Cucho pretty soon bc of his insane value.
The money is great, but the problem is no one worth that amount of money will come to Columbus over LA and Miami. It's bullshit.
Local salary caps don’t work in a global market. In a one sport one country environment like NFL yeah sure.
If every club on the planet sticks to the same salary cap, that'd be fine, but it's unworkable. If one country has a salary cap, it's means other countries can capitalise at their expense and sign the best players.
@@quagsnake That's a fair point and it's why I think caps are more of a UEFA + Saudi Arabia issue than PL. If that means other countries start pulling players away from UEFA and the global quality starts evening out, I think that would be great.
And if england did that all the players would go play somewhere else in the world that don't have salary caps. I think 'american soccer' could benefit from thinking globally because what you typed is shortsighted and insular.
As a season ticket holder and owner this video is great. Well done!
Proper Copa 90 vibes in this video, great vid!
irvine and orange/irvine hills is such a great area. i've never seen so many public parks in one area in my life , literally it seems on every main intersection of streets is another public park
Relegation is such an alien concept here
Crazy how literally the rest of the world does it without a problem
I think mostly because professional sports in the US has long valued parity - from salary caps to inverse-standing drafts. I suspect a lot of fans are put off by European leagues having one or two teams top the league every year. And no end of season playoffs!!
@@luisridez9219 tbf I'm Australian and we don't have pro/rel here either we have the same problem as America all our sports follow the same model as them
Same here in Australia. We are hopefully 2 years away from a national second tier league. @Stuntpegg you should come to Australia (Sydney or Melbourne)
Honestly it’s t MLS not willing to set up a football pyramid system. A majority of the fans want it and so do the smaller 2nd and 3rd tier clubs
These videos are dope. Hope you keep em coming
"Evil LA Galaxy" 😆
Hey hey just found this video (have seen you on AwayDays) I'm a football fan in Phoenix (we have a USL team too) thank you so much for sharing that football fans here in the states that actually know the situation don't support MLS but we do support our USL teams. Unfortunately like 1 guy said I doubt we will ever see promotion/relegation here thanks to the MLS greed.
not an MLS recommendation, but Vermont Green is doing some great things
Ive loved your last few podcasts schooling men and pundits with your knowledge
CONGRATULATIONS LEGEND.🌟.
So happy to see you covering the USL!
Thank you for putting the spotlight on the USL. It is a great league. I think you would love Detroit City FC, and I know we'd love to host you for a game or two. No promises on becoming an owner though
☝️
No matter where it may be, seeing people rally around the beautiful game just warms my grumpy heart 😊
No other sport compares.
Nieve - we need more B role next time! Would love to see your experiences America…. Have fun!
Thank you so much for coming to the US and experiencing how we do the game! Both guys on the sidelines made excellent points throughout! We have so many different sporting and entertainment options, the MLS is trying to compete with both the US sports leagues AND the football leagues around the world, and the MLS owners are too scared to loose so much money from relegation. I just hope that this sport can continue to grow here! 🇺🇸
Pyramid system needed here. Nothing to play for for most of the teams most of the season. Loudoun United supporter here 🤘
Yeah, and they wonder why their teams can't complete internationally? 😀
Exactly that, hopefully one day 🤞
Isn't there prom/rel between USL1 and USL2? Does USL2 still exist?
@@GenialHarryGrout They exist, but they don't have pro/rel either. And I'm not really sold on it either.
Same reason why the NFL is the way it is. All partner leagues preventing any loss like that one guy was saying, creating an echo chamber like the top reply on this comment is alluding to. American businessmen/women are cowards and have been for a very long time. It's why our economy has stagnated over the past 15-20 years in terms of a positive increase in growth. Nobody makes anything, has any passion, or cares for anything else other than $$$$$.
Edit: You can see it in American blood btw with the Overwatch League in esports. Partner league, no competition to really drive the all-stars, ridiculous buy-ins, all for the league to crumble in a few years.
Been following your channel forever I loveeee the new uploads. You're the best😊
The guy's got a point about English football chants lacking variety. We've all been coasting on the same 4 or 5 chants for years now, it's getting embarrassing. Well past time to do some crate digging for different tunes and come up with some new material I reckon.
Yeah if you only watch Premier League teams. The EFL have far better chants
Such a cool video. Especially being American. Thanks for showing off what we can offer as football fans
from the perspective from across the pond - football in the US is at the stage the UK was about 120 years ago. football is grass roots and it's obvious the seeds are there. give it time and remember, football can be played anywhere and all you need is a ball and four items of clothing - "jumpers for goalposts" is a phrase that comes to mind.
Well, the USL is at the point England was 120 years ago except the current climate is as if the Premier league without relegation existed at the same time, the MLS will stifle out the USL
Just listen to 7:40
Nieve, I live in Orange County 15 minutes away from this stadium and I have never been interested to even attend a game. Suprisingly your video is making me want to go to one. Thank you
Great video - and as much as I understand the sentiment of the guy at 8:00, he doesn't even understand how the system in this country works clearly. The "owners" of the MLS are not actually owners. They own none of the players of the team itself - they might own the stadium the team plays in, or the city will own it. But the MLS itself owns every club and player. Owners are essentially operators of those teams, and in exchange for operating that team they get a certain slice of the total MLS pie when it's payday. The previous soccer leagues in this country failed because they tried to emulate the English system and it was essentially an owner free for all - but then big markets like LA and NYC dominated and everyone tried to spend beyond their means to keep up and... they folded. If you want to see what it takes to get "promoted" from USL to MLS go do a deep dive into Orlando City Soccer Club (the *other* OCSC funny enough). They actually made the jump but it took years off winning USL repeatedly and funding their own stadium from scratch to please Don Garber (who later changed the rules Orlando had to follow to new rules for Atlanta and NYC and Miami... but that's a different story)
@@acidbronson9712 just call the mls teams what they really are, franchises
@@luisridez9219 They are called franchises, just like all the other sports teams in the US.
Vamos Orlando 💜
I love the approach of football culture introduction to this channel! Keep it up.
The biggest question is has StuntPegg gone to Disneyland yet
I’m not really a Disneyland kinda person! Wish I was
@@stuntpeggnieveyou have no idea what you are missing…go to Florida instead though that’s better 😂.
Without a doubt, Disney World is the better park @@styepen602
Go to universal theme parks : Harry Potter World
@@stacer1962 In what way do I make it about myself?, She responded I’m not really a Disneyland person but wishes she was and all I did was give her my suggestion, she doesn’t have to listen to me, she doesn’t have to go, I just read her comment and responded with a recommendation about a place I happened to go to, if you think I comment on any RUclipsr thinking it’s about me, then you’re criticising the wrong person.
"Sometimes you don't know what you've got, until someone tries to take it away from you" - that's a profound statement and very true. I've seen my own football team in the UK nearly go bankrupt due to poor ownership, terrible EFL rules and a lack of support.
It is growing, and more and more people care about it. Took some of my colleagues and friends to local club 'soccer games' and it was load of fun, and more affordable than NBA or NFL
It has been growing since the start, its growing 0,000000000001% each year. Its a joke like Saudi Arabia league
I’m so glad your experience of going to a soccer game in America was attending a USL game. The USL continues to grow. My community in Southern California, the Antelope Valley, will be getting a team next season (AV Alta FC). In USL League One (the US’ third division). I like how each team in the USL is very community based and a way to get kids into the game who wouldn’t have had a chance otherwise.
Also, while I’m not from Orange County, I’m very disappointed that the Galaxy tried to take the stadium away from them. That’s unfortunately what the MLS tends to do is get rid of the potential competition. I’m glad they were able to keep the team and the stadium, and that their identity was kept preserved.
5:28 ELI LESSER MENTIONED
Glad you had a great time in OC CA and visiting the OCSC my home club for years even way back before the stadium was built and we were called The OC Blues and played at University of CA Irvine
This is so cool i live 15 minutes from there 😮💨