According to TTP, that news was posted well before you stumbled in the door... look upAccording to their Facebook page, Campo Atletico are now called Santos Atletico. No idea why.
Source?I heard Campo changed their name to Santos Atletico.
While we wait for the Div. 2 and 3 groups to be posted, a little catch up on the latest VMSL developments...
So it turns out West Coast Saints did indeed fold. This is surprising given that if they could only field one team between their two, you would have thought they would keep the spot in the higher division, especially since their Div. 3 team, Celts, has only missed out being promoted in both of the last two seasons and Celts even beat Saints head to head in the cup last season. One would assume as well that players from Saints looking to continue to play this year would find room with Celts. That being said, it appears that the two teams had entirely different management and the games between the two groups certainly had no love lost, so perhaps it was a case of Saints sticking it to Celts and leaving them to rot in Division 3!
Not exactly sure what the shift in club name and appearance signals for Campo/Santos, other than Brazilian over Italian I guess, but it may indicate that longtime owner of that VMSL spot and brand, Giancarlo Cusano, has finally fully stepped away. After a tumultuous season in Premier last year, rumours were swirling that Cusano was ready to throw in the towel midway through the campaign. Instead, enigmatic "Soccer Coach" Eduardo Azmitia reappeared on the scene and ensured Campo at least showed up to games. Azmitia is now the only name listed on either of the "Atletico Santos" team pages leading one to believe he is fully in control of the club and the name change would only add further credence to this.
Regardless of who is in charge, Santos will need some reinforcements from somewhere. A winless summer league campaign that saw them post a 0-12 record with only 4 goals for and 80 against, leaving them with a -76 goal difference hardly inspires confidence that this group will be challenging for an immediate return to the VMSL's top flight. In fact, given the level of competition in the Knight Soccer League's "Friday Night Lights" division, if they could not cut it at that level then they are more likely to be favourites for relegation as opposed to promotion.
Elsewhere in Summer League action, Rino's Tigers won the PCSL Challenge Cup after finishing runners up in league play on goal difference to Victoria Highlanders. Tigers would have their revenge against the Highlanders after a very exciting 4-4 match needed penalties to decide. More intriguing, however, is the fact that all four of the Tigers' goals were scored by Farivar Torabi, who previously led Burnaby Metro Athletic to a third place finish in VMSL Division 1, leaving them to narrowly miss out on promotion to Premier by only two points. Sources indicate that Torabi has earned a spot with Rino's top team for the winter and the choice is now his whether to jump ship or to return to Burnaby for another stab at promotion. Metro are likely pre-season favourites to top the league in Division 1 this year, but losing Torabi and his 27 goals would certainly dent those chances.
Other assorted news and notes from the various summer leagues: Vancouver Greencaps finished last place in KSL Division 1, but won their playoff quarter final as they look to finish the summer on a high note in their gear up for the winter. In the RASA Summer League, Rino's are in with a chance to win the Division 1 title, though they will need some help from third place Westside on the last day of the season. Newly promoted VMSL Div. 2 Marpole finished fourth and Div. 3 West Hounds managed a single point in Richmond's top flight. Meanwhile, in RASA Division 2, Strikers ran away with the league ahead of their promotion to VMSL Div. 1 for this fall with the team they pipped to go up in the VMSL, Metropolitan, once again coming up short in the summer and having to settle for second place.
Finally, on the rumours about UBC taking the reigns at Richmond and their VMSL Div. 1 spot, I am reliably informed that negotiations remain ongoing and the sides hope to have something in place by the end of this week. It is no secret that UBC have been keen to find a place to park their red shirts in a sort of "Junior Varsity" set up ever since their relationship with Westside fell through a few seasons back. The crux of that break up came down to an issue about control of the team and the fact that UBC was keen on bringing VanU into the partnership. No word on whether a similar structure is in the mix with Richmond. UBC has placed some players with Richmond in the past, so there is a bit of an existing relationship there, though it does seem like a bit of a commute to have guys living on campus have to hike out there for practices and games, so it will be intriguing to see just how the logistics play out if a partnership is consummated. I had heard a previous rumour around the start of the month that the Richmond coaching/management were not exactly overly enthusiastic about returning at the helm for this season, so perhaps this partnership comes at the perfect time.
We?It will be a fun season, but we will stay away from TTP
This should be interesting. I think it has to be all ubc guys or none toTalks are complete, the team will play/train out of UBC. Will include red shirts and alumni.
looks like pool b is playing in the Irish league.Hot takes on the pools:
Div 2 - Pool A definitely the stronger at the top than Pool B
Pool A:
Pool B:
- Metro have to be favourite but expect strong challenges from Shaheen as well as Lomas if they can have another season like last season
- Romania, of course, could factor but it will depend on if they can recruit some youth, otherwise they are likely to be in the mix but come up short down the stretch
- Hrvat are a wild card - will they be the team that made the cup final or the one that was mid table last season?
- Three promoted teams on this side with Apna, Marpole and CMF Lobos who are all likely to be hungry - I could see all three staying up but think Apna might struggle
Div 3 is always a lottery as "NEW" teams are often unpredictable.
- Great draw for Bingers but I would say Serbia and Twin Arrows will be duking it out for promotion in the end
- Chance for bounce back seasons from 13th Legion and Sarajevo and they could find themselves in the hunt as well
- Good opportunity as well for Strathcona and Harps to try and push up the table for a Provincial spot
- GFC Lions are the lone promoted team in this group (along with playoff survivors Greencaps) and should likely have a battle on their hands to stay up
On the face of it I would say 3A looks the toughest with 3C the easiest (it also looks like it will have a bye unless the league finds a team to replace "Watermen").
In 3A Celts, Serbia B and Siaron will all likely feel like they have a shot to go up, plus there is recently relegated Hurricane Tigers.
3B is likely between West Van's former U21s and France FC, though there is always the chance that the good one of the New West teams (looks like Royal City "FC"??) gets their act together again or a keen West Hounds team who had a cup upset and spent the summer playing against higher level competition put together a good season; no relegated side in this group. Pegasus B made up of players coming over from FVSL Div. 2 Temple United and Vancouver Olympics under Dino Anstopolous are wild cards as well.
Bombastic A have to like their chances of going straight back up from 3C with no obvious out and out challengers for the title. Expect NorVan Lions to be near the top and likely Bosna as well, but if Bombastic has kept their team together than they should be favourites here.