English soccer or football is one of those places where players can truly grow and shine. I honestly wish that the U.S. was so well-structured.
English soccer has a 24-level structure. The highest being the Premier League and the lowest being the Bristol Downs League 4. However there every team from league 4 to the Premier League has the chance to reach the Premiership or be regulated to league 4 play. And that in itself is what I love about English soccer, the ability for any team to be champions of England.
I think this is something the USSF should take a look at. We have fairly organized leagues-USL, MLS, NPSL, and the amateur USASA. However, it wasn’t until now that a club from the USL had a chance at gaining entry to the MLS-our top league. While the near future will surely have these inclusions-the MLS dream of reaching the goal of 18 teams by 2012. The only foreseeable way to reach this level would be to include top USL teams. However even the top amateur teams would have to go through a big process to even reach “semi-pro” status.
We see a little smidgen of this in the recent inclusion of the San Francisco Glens. Recently the Glens, of the San Francisco Soccer League, have been added as a provisional member to the NPSL West.
English Soccer Opportunities:
Until I took a good look at how English soccer really works, I thought every single person that I heard that was going to England to play was literally crazy. Here was my thinking: I I would hear of guys flying over to England to try and make it professionally. To me, that was ludicrous, why would you think you could make it over there, if you couldn’t make it over here. To add another note: The MLS All-stars play a English Premiership team and most of the time, they lose.
Having taken a good look, I see why so many people try to make it over “there”. There are 24 leagues of play. That means that there are probably thousands of teams, and that is not including the Premiership. So say a player gets a try-out from 250 lower level teams. Odds are pretty good of making it there.
Most people will probably not make it to the Premiership or even the top 10 leagues of play in England. However, opportunities are high when there are 14 different levels to choose from all with 10 or more leagues, and all of those with double digit clubs in them…this time, you do the math.
