The North has added another house to its realm with addition of Minnesota United FC. This club is a small house from the NASL, North American Soccer League, that was given an expansion to hold the title of “23rd team for MLS”. But, soccer has existed in this state long before they became part of MLS. It began in 1976 when the original NASL, the league disbanded before the 2000s the first time, where they were called the Minnesota Kickers. In 1994, a new team introduced itself as Minnesota Thunder and played a few years. In 2010, a new team emerged as the NSC Minnesota Stars. The stars changed ownership in 2011 and became part of the newly formed NASL, and they won the NASL title in the inaugural year for the league. It was not until 2013 that the ownership changed the team’s name to Minnesota United FC. Since 2011, Minnesota has not won another title in the league. But, in March 2015, Major League Soccer announced that they rewarded the club an expansion spot.
Though it was a great accomplishment to get the expansion, it was not an easy process. For starters, the team needed to build a stadium that is solely for soccer. The league has been pushing teams to build soccer-specific stadiums. Teams like New York City FC have shared a baseball stadium with the New York Yankees, and New England Revolution share a football stadium with the New England Patriots. So when it came time to expand the league, Commissioner Garber told potential expansion cities that they need have plans to build a soccer specific stadium. In compliance with this, Minnesota United FC, nicknamed the Loons, began to work on plans. On April 2015, the ownership group stated that they would privately dun $250 million to a new stadium. Later in the year, blueprints came out and a construction company was decided upon. This on top of the expansion fee that cities pay MLS became a shiny penny that Minnesota payed.
Minnesota will be building an academy from the ground up. They have been working hard to find staff to bring the best experience to Minnesota and make an academy to compete against others. Currently, the Loons have eight players signed to play with them including signing from a West Bromwich academy member Saied and have Justin Davis transferring with the team from NASL to MLS. The Loons look to find more people in the upcoming super draft and look towards the local community too. The team will have the colors are light blue, black, and grey. The crest has a loon, the state bird, and three stripes, two grey and one blue, behind it.
Minnesota looks to come in and impress the league. With experience the front office has, this team will not be so easily beaten. While I look forward to the team’s impact on the league, I would not be so forward as to say that a playoff appearance will occur within the first year. I will also say that a house of the North is never one to be taken lightly.
Information courtesy of mlssoccer.com
