By SBI SOCCER
After playing in the USL from 2011-14, Orlando City is set for a return to the league.
Orlando City announced Thursday that the club will field Orlando City B, or OCB, in the USL. The team will play its home games at Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) in a 3,500 seat venue.
Orlando City becomes the ninth MLS team to have a direct affiliate in the USL, which has 29 teams as of OCB’s addition
“We are pleased to welcome back such an important club in USL history for the 2016 season,” USL President Jake Edwards said. “Having Orlando City SC back in the USL and playing in the greater Orlando area is an important step as we continue to build the league’s presence in the Southeastern United States.
“We are excited to see Phil Rawlins, Tim Holt and the entire Orlando City organization continue the incredible success the club has enjoyed in the USL in the past.”
In addition, Orlando City B announced that OCB has already completed a trio of signings in defenders Mikey Ambrose and Kyle Callan-McFadden, as well as midfielder Tony Rocha.
Ambrose joins OCB from Austin Aztex after previously featuring at the University of Maryland. A product of the FC Dallas academy, the 22-year-old has represented the U.S. on the U-17, U-18 and U-20 levels.
Callan-McFadden was most recently a member of England’s Norwich City, appearing twice for the senior team after coming up through the club’s academy. The 20-year-old has also earned international experience as a member of the U-16, U-17, U-19 and U-21 Irish national teams.
Finally, Rocha, like Ambrose, joins after a stint with the Aztex, scoring seven goals in two seasons. Prior to going pro, Rocha feature for the Tulsa University.
“We continue to build a top organization as we march toward our return to USL in 2016,” said OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “To finally have our crest and name, along with our new home for next season, checks off a number of major milestones for the team.
“In addition, signing our first group of players in Mikey, Kyle and Tony – three talented footballers with a very bright future – allows us start to build the framework of our roster for next year. We look forward to future updates on the team in the coming weeks and months.”
What do you think of the latest Orlando City news? What do you expect from the team and league in the coming seasons?
Share your thoughts below.
I think the b is also in reference to where they will play which is in Brevard County.
It couldn’t be an Orlando City start up without some players from Austin.
hey garber, during my lunch break I got an idea.
why not make an mls2 with out B teams and make an mls3 for the B teams.
wow im so intelligent 🙂
mls 2 for real teams as in different owners like cosmos or indy.
mls 3 for b teams
that is basically a reserve league then. i’d rather have this type of setup which mimics Germany and Spain.
My guess is he is whining for ProRel.
I could talk about Ben and Jerry’s new ice cream and the whiners would whine about ProRel.
Seriously? Is that the best name we could come up with, “Orlando City B”? Not the Pride or the Lions or anything that might be a remotely decent team name. “B”. I’ll just chalk that up there with the loser “2” team names.
These are real teams in real leagues that deserve better names. It’s not that hard.
I think the idea is to also spread the Orlando City brand.
Giving the team a different name might be confusing to the casual fan.
I think The Villages Geriatrics would make a great team name and branding…
Ugggg….There is already an OCB in the league….Go away Orlando
^Look out y’all–The “Who is the REAL OCB” beef just kicked off, right before our eyes. You read it hear, first.
BAJ and the OC have declared war. I hope that it’s not a repeat of the whole “East Coast-West Coast” thing, all over again.
This news makes me sad to be a Chicago Fire fan.
Old Stoke connections at work with Pulis’ son coaching.
What happens to Louisville?
nothing, i would think. they just are their own club.
I hope LCFC doesn’t lose any talent to this team.
Maybe louisville can get their own colors now instead of the Orlando scheme.
VeryBundesliga and LA liga of us
I think this is the preferable model because it’s a physically separate roster with a full league schedule as opposed to amorphous reserve sides — not quite distinct from the first team — playing half-cooked schedules. Ensures players get PT and are accountable to the schedule and results.
agreed. the U-21 league in England is constantly looked down on by BPL managers for that very reason. the German and Spanish setup makes sense. the only thing that is a bit of a downer right now are MLS II (or B) sides not having good attendance. there needs to be a lot of work there to get people in the stands for those games. i have a gut feeling OCB will not have that issue though.
the other complaint i read about the U-21 league is that it’s a bunch of kids playing each other. at that age, they should be playing against senior players…even if they are lower division players.
First, the Big Club teams of the world would see their youth and reserve sides as preparing players for the first team, not a profit center. I think that’s an American notion, that those teams will also turn a profit.
Second, the Big Club teams of the world would probably view the youth and reserve sides as necessary expenses within a profit making conglomerate, with the Big Club making the money and more than offsetting the developmental wing. Kind of like how in the 70s some conglomerate might have movie studios or book divisions and not care if they made money, because GE overall was making money. That has changed as the cash nexus has truly taken hold in this country and we now expect everything to make money. So now your movie studio makes Transformers 10 and not Godfather, and sells Ann Coulter books by the bushel. Does that improve the product? Think about the implications for soccer. A developmental team tasked with profitability that signed older players a la minor league soccer normally might be more competitive and sell more tickets….but is that really what you need? You need a place to see if 18-23 year olds can cut it.
Last, the Big Club teams of the world might see their developmental teams as either (a) what keeps them competitive when otherwise they should be weaker (Ajax) or (b) if profit has to come into it, a way of saving money on the transfer market or even making it when they sell someone. The Dynamo have only produced one HGP ever who stuck, Deric, which means every other player has to be college-drafted, transfer-signed, etc. You have to pay market and compete for services. Where if they made their own, they sign them direct, no competition, and they reap the back end profit if they sell them later. Wouldn’t we all rather make our own Zardes?
Good news. This is key link in the development system and every MLS team needs to have a USL reserve team eventually.
Uh-oh, I thought Louisville City was their default USL team.
Hope this doesn’t hurt LCFC’s progress this year, selling about 8,000 tix a game