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Press and Journal
2 days ago
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Dante Polvara takes Aberdeen teammates to Charleston Battery homecoming
Aberdeen midfielder Dante Polvara was the guest of honour at his former side Charleston Battery on Saturday. The 24-year-old was acknowledged for his part in helping the Dons win the Scottish Cup with a warm reception from the Charleston support before their USL Cup match against Greenville Triumph kicked off. Polvara also had some of his Dons teammates in South Carolina watching on as Jack Milne, Gavin Molloy and Hibernian-bound Jamie McGrath also attended the game. The American spent time on loan at Charleston Battery in 2023, making 21 appearances and scoring one goal. The Dons players will return for pre-season training towards the end of the month.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Watch Live: Detroit City FC vs. Portland Hearts of Pine
Detroit City Football Club returns to USL Jägermeister Cup action this Saturday as they travel to Maine to face off against USL League One side Portland Hearts of Pine. Kickoff from Fitzpatrick Stadium is set for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on CW Detroit 50 (WKBD-TV). For Michigan residents, the match is free to stream on Le Rouge enters this match off a 3-1 defeat to Charleston Battery on Saturday afternoon. It was a brilliant start for Detroit, as Jay Chapman opened his Detroit City account with a goal in the second minute, but Detroit struggled to get anything going after that. A Cal Jennings first-half brace would see the visitors up 2-1 going into the half, and Juan Torres sealed the game with a goal in the 57th minute. Last time out in the Jägermeister Cup, Detroit City walked away with a 1-0 victory over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Darren Smith saved the day for DCFC in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, heading the Ben Morris cross into the bottom corner of the net, giving Le Rouge its first three points of the competition's group stage. Portland Hearts of Pine enter this match on a four-match unbeaten streak in league play. In its inaugural season, Portland currently sits in 11th place in USL League One with one win, five draws, and one loss. Last weekend, Portland traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to face off against Forward Madison FC in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw, resulting in shared points. After going down 1-0 seven minutes into the game, Portland fought back to level in the 35th minute off a Nathan Messer from outside the box. Portland's first match in the Jägermeister Cup came against Hartford Athletic, where the Connecticut club walked away with a 2-0 victory. Jack Panayotou would score the two goals for Hartford before being sent off with a red card in the 72nd minute. As things stand in Group 4 of the Jägermeister Cup, Rhode Island FC sits in first, Hartford claims second, and Detroit City sits in third. Those three all have three points each, but with goals scored being the tiebreaker, both Rhode Island and Hartford find themselves above Detroit. Westchester SC sits fourth, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in fifth, and Portland Hearts of Pine in sixth. Le Rouge continues on the road next weekend when they travel to Pennsylvania to face Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Detroit returns to Keyworth Stadium Saturday, June 21st, to take on The Miami FC. Kickoff from Keyworth Stadium is set for 4 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches are available at For more information about Detroit City FC, visit and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram. CBS News Detroit is the official broadcast partner of Detroit City FC. This story is reprinted with permission from Detroit City FC.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Why USL owners took the leap to vote for promotion and relegation
Charleston Battery owner Rob Salvatore was on the stage at his club's annual 'Fan Fest' last month for a question-and-answer session with supporters when a fan stood up and asked something Salvatore wasn't expecting. Did USL's announcement in February that it intended to launch a Division 1 league mean that it would institute promotion and relegation next? Advertisement 'When I said I was for it and I hoped our league can figure it out, it was the loudest cheer of the night outside of introducing (coach) Ben Pirmann,' Salvatore told The Athletic in a phone interview. The moment stuck with the 49-year-old entrepreneur, who leads the ownership group that bought the team in 2019. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional soccer club in the United States. They were the first non-MLS club to build a soccer-specific stadium back in 1999. And in a setting with between 400 and 500 of its most diehard fans – people who had followed the club for decades – the desire for promotion and relegation sent a clear message. 'I was not expecting that to happen,' Salvatore said. 'I didn't know the question was coming and I certainly didn't know a rousing cheer was coming. But I went home and I was like, 'Whoa. They really want it.' … I think this is a product and an audience and a consumer decision that makes a lot of sense. I see that demand, I see that signal. and I'm like, 'Man, we've got to do this.' And I think everybody read that in their local markets, and I think the league did a great job of realizing we can do this now and we really, in a way, have to do it now.' As first reported by The Athletic, USL owners voted Tuesday to adopt promotion and relegation, becoming the first professional soccer league in the history of the United States to do so. Owners passed the vote with a supermajority. The plan is for USL to implement pro-rel in 2028 when it launches the new D1 league. The USL previously had discussed implementing pro-rel in 2023, but had not been able to get enough support to bring it to a vote. But Salvatore's experience in Charleston wasn't an anomaly. It created a buzz for USL, and owners continued to discuss the option before calling the vote. Advertisement 'I've always said that it was just going to take time, and we were doing the work,' USL president Paul McDonough told The Athletic in a phone interview. 'The owners did the work. We did the work. We had a lot of discussions. And everyone realizes the opportunity to be bold and ambitious and be a first mover in this area.' The vote could be a key moment in the history of the sport in the U.S. It certainly will lead to different types of discussions around the USL, which is, of course, the point. But there are areas of the game's governance that will have to be considered, too. U.S. Soccer's division sanctioning includes rules around the size of a team's stadium and the net worth of its ownership group. Promotion and relegation will force conversations about those standards — though it is worth noting that the federation has often provided waivers for leagues. Brett Johnson has ownership stakes in the USL Championship club Rhode Island FC as well as Premier League club Ipswich Town. Johnson invested in Ipswich when it was in England's third tier, League One, and so directly experienced the benefits and romance of promotion and relegation. He's been an advocate of the system for years. 'The journey with Ipswich Town and seeing what (promotion) does to revitalize a club and, by extension, a community, I truly believe there's nothing like this construct in sport,' Johnson said in a phone interview. 'Every single game matters. It requires excellence on and off the pitch. And I'm excited to adopt it on our shores and I think for USL, it's a brilliant move, if you will. 'I think USL is already creating itself as one of the best developmental leagues in the world. I think it will take us to another level. The timing is perfect, because I think increasingly, a lot of eyes are looking to America with the World Cup coming up.' Advertisement Johnson said his group specifically targeted a club at the third division level with the goal of getting a team back to the Premier League. Things don't always work out as planned, but the fact that more investors have targeted this type of investment gives Johnson hope of what could come down the pipeline for the USL. It was no easy task to bring USL owners to a vote. Years of discussion took place. There were false starts on league-wide votes. But the momentum was there after the D1 announcement, and with the World Cup approaching there was a belief that the status quo would not be enough for USL to grow. 'It clearly passed with a very strong mandate,' Johnson said. 'Everything's about timing, and I think it took a while for a lot of people to get their head around it. But it was really clear that the time was right here. I give everyone, collectively, a lot of credit. This feels like the right time to do this. And I think we're all in the right mind space in terms of trying to now do what's necessary, which is to execute effectively to make this a reality.' The vote Tuesday was very much a first step. There is a lot of work to do. USL will work with owners, TV partners and fans to determine what exactly its pro-rel system will look like. McDonough pointed out that an American league has a unique problem: it needs to put a spotlight on both its playoffs that determine a league champion, as well as pro-rel battles. How it balances those two respective competitions is crucial. But the league had 'to try to do something that's going to cause a level of differentiation,' McDonough said. 'With everything going on in the country and the opportunities for growth with the World Cup, it just doesn't make sense to stay the status quo.' USL will study variations of pro-rel, including the possibility of having the top teams from a lower division play in a playoff against the bottom teams from the higher division to determine if teams move up or down. Much is still to be determined, including the number of teams that will go down and up from each division, respectively. USL also still must determine how many teams will play in Division 1. Currently, it's aiming for 12 or 14 teams. The third division, USL League One, would be the bottom of the pyramid, and teams would not be relegated from there. Advertisement Whatever format the leagues settle upon, McDonough said the USL feels confident promotion and relegation will drive growth for the whole. 'People want something different,' McDonough said. 'A lot of people now in this country relate a lot to European soccer, because so much of it is shown on TV and they play over here. People are drawn to that. And they see what happened at (a club like) Wrexham. They romanticize about something like that. 'Now that's not going to be us initially, but if this can help push the relevance of soccer in our communities and nationally across the board to become more relevant, then you've got to do it.' Salvatore went back again to that night in February and the overwhelming response from fans. It eliminated any doubts he had that this was the right next step for USL. 'I was very happy to see that not only it passed, but it passed decisively,' Salvatore said. 'I just felt that at the end of the day, we're businessmen and women who own and run these teams, and you're going to listen to the market. If you think there's that demand, you gotta go get it.' Join The Athletic's MLS WhatsApp channel. All the latest MLS updates straight to your phone with exclusive content from our writers in the form of messages voice notes, videos and more. Paul Tenorio, Felipe Cardenas, Jeff Rueter and Pablo Maurer will bring you their views and observations as MLS embarks upon its biggest season yet.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nancy Mace Accuses 4 Men of Rape, Sexual Misconduct in Fiery House Floor Speech: ‘I'm Going Scorched Earth'
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of rape, sexual misconduct and physical abuse during a fiery speech on the House floor Monday. 'Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out the cowards who think they can prey on women and get away with it,' Mace said at the top of her nearly hour-long remarks. 'Today, I'm going scorched Earth, so let the bridges I burn this evening light our way forward.' Watch the speech, via the congresswoman's X account, below: The Republican congresswoman detailed the alleged acts as the 'most heinous crimes against women imaginable.' 'We're talking about rape, non-consensual photos, consensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district,' Mace said. The four men Mace named were former Charleston Battery soccer team owner, Eric Bowman; her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant; and Bryant's alleged business partners John Osborne and Brian Musgrave. Mace claimed that she discovered thousands of photos that were taken with hidden cameras as well as recordings that show the 'predators' made while sexually assaulting women over the years. During her speech, she also displayed images of all the men she named. As it pertains to her experience with Bryant, she accused him of 'physically' assaulting her toward the end of their relationship, when it ended in 2023. The pair got engaged in 2022. During her remarks, she also stated that she obtained videos and photos of Bryant's alleged assaults from his phone, including one incident of a woman she said he secretly filmed while she was nude. 'None of you will get away with it,' Mace said. 'None of you will because tonight is about justice for all of the women that you all raped, that you all filmed, that you all photographed, that you all abused for years … You've booked yourself a one-way ticket to hell. It is nonstop. There are no connections. So I and all of your victims can watch you rot into eternity.' Bryant, Bowman, Musgrave and Osborne have all denied the allegations. 'I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,' Bryant said in a statement to media. Bowman said: 'I unequivocally deny all the allegations made against me which are baseless, repugnant and defamatory.' In a text message, Musgrave said: 'Nancy Mace's statement tonight is a dangerous mix of falsehoods and baseless accusations, recklessly leveled at four individuals without a shred of evidence … Her continued pattern of making inflammatory claims without proof is not only reckless but a blatant attempt to weaponize the legal system for political and personal gain. This will be my only statement until I have consulted counsel.' In addition, Mace also called out South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson for allegedly failing to address and ultimately prosecute the men after being given evidence of said crimes. Wilson's office called the accusations 'categorically false' and 'politically motivated.' 'Recent statements made by Congresswoman Nancy Mace regarding the conduct of the South Carolina Attorney General are categorically false,' Wilson's office wrote in a statement. 'Ms. Mace either does not understand or is purposefully mischaracterizing the role of the Attorney General. At this time, our office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement or prosecution agencies regarding these matters. Additionally, the Attorney General and members of his office have had no role and no knowledge of these allegations until her public statements.' Both Mace and Wilson are gearing up to run for the governor of South Carolina in 2026. The statement continued: 'Congresswoman Mace and the Attorney General have been at multiple events together over the last six months. She also has the Attorney General's personal cellphone number. Not once has she approached or reached out to him regarding any of her concerns. ' After her speech, Mace took to X to share her final thoughts on the matter. 'God placed this burden in my path … To make sure these women will never be forgotten and the men who hurt them will never be allowed to hide again,' Mace said. On Monday night, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) shared that it has launched an investigation into the Mace's allegations. 'SLED opened an investigation regarding allegations of assault, harassment and voyeurism on Dec. 14, 2023, after being contacted by the United States Capitol Police,' SLED spokesperson Renee Wunderlich said in a statement. 'Since that date SLED has conducted multiple interviews, served multiple search warrants, and has a well-documented case file that will be available for release upon the conclusion of the case.' The post Nancy Mace Accuses 4 Men of Rape, Sexual Misconduct in Fiery House Floor Speech: 'I'm Going Scorched Earth' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
