City Stars may be folding

[budfrog532]

If this post on InsideMNSoccer.com (which is typically a pretty reliable source) can be believed, the City Stars franchise has been yanked by the league, and they are closing up shop without completing a sale.

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2009/12/02/cleveland-city-stars-release-players-from-contracts/#more-12363

[Spin]

Thanks USL, for farking up a solid profitable Second Division franchise by "encouraging" them to move up before they were ready.

No wonder everyone is bolting to the NASL. That leaves four teams in the USL 1st next season. Friggen brilliant.

How long before we get an NASL expansion franchise?

I haven't seen a self destruction of this magnitude since the eh hem, old NASL.

[budfrog532]

Rumor has it that there is another ownership group looking at a USL-2 franchise, but they didn't want to deal with the debt and other legal structures from the City Stars, so they are going with an expansion franchise.

Again, that is solely Internet rumor, so it probably has about as much credibility as the DA vs. BQ tirades on the Browns forums here.

[Spin]

Nothing yet on oursportscentral.com or it's forums, they're usually all over rumors.

[budfrog532]

Nothing yet on oursportscentral.com or it's forums, they're usually all over rumors.

insidemnsoccer.com, mls rumors, bigsoccer and the soccer writer's blog at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle are the best sources of general nonsense and gossip about USL/NASL.

The "2nd ownership group" thing has been out there for a while, so no idea if it is valid or not.