Miami gets yet another pro soccer team
Miami soccer news that does not involve David Beckham, Miami FC announced on Wednesday the creation of Miami FC 2, a temporary team that will play in the National Premier Soccer League this spring while awaiting the August start of the North American Soccer League season.
The NASL pushed back its season start from April to August in order to align play with the world calendar and also to give the league time to add clubs after shrinking to five teams. Rather than have the team dormant for eight months, Miami FC CEO Sean Flynn created Miami FC 2 and entered the NPSL.
“Our players and coaches are excited to get back on the field, and the NPSL schedule allows us to face some quality competition in the Sunshine Conference throughout the next few months,” Flynn said. “This is the next step in our continued investment in soccer in Miami. We have a wonderful organization, incredibly talented players, a new head coach in Paul Dalglish and a first-class stadium. Our loyal and growing fanbase can expect further exciting announcements soon.”
The seven-team Sunshine Conference will include Miami FC 2, Miami United FC (Hialeah), Beaches FC (Stuart), Boca Raton FC, Naples United FC, Storm FC (Fort Lauderdale) and Jacksonville Armada U-23. Miami FC 2 will play its home matches at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, which is where the team trains.
Dalglish, the son of Scotland, Celtic and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, was hired last week to replace Italian coach Alessandro Nesta. Paul played in the English Premier League and the Scottish Premiership before heading to Major League Soccer in 2006. Since his playing days, Dalglish has coached in MLS, NASL and PDL.
“I always admired Miami FC from afar, was a little envious of how they did things, how professional they are, so I jumped at the opportunity,” Dalglish said. “The level of talent is very high. There is no team outside MLS you’d swap rosters with. It’s going to be a joy to coach here. It would be absolutely ludicrous for me to change too much of what Nesta, a legend, did. I want to put my stamp on the team, but will build on what he did.”
