Charleston Battery

[weecounty hibby]

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What if all your if not answers to your own questions turn out to be yes as opposed to if not though?

So in short can you see why people would get worked up?

Not really to be honest as I think it unlike, in fact highly unlikely, that the answers will be yes. Maybe I just don't want to get worked up/annoyed/outraged (delete as appropriate) about everything

[beensaidbefore]

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They are a smallish team but in a huge market and one where sport is part of their way of living.

Even High School sport there has a lot of interest and a link to community and local business. If we can get any insight and resource to help us to learn from that then that is one benefit.

The other benefit is that they are a smaller team but in that big market. The likelihood of them ever being able to both identity and keep a big talent is limited. If they can help identity players in the US then the link with us gives us the opportunity to give that talent a pathway into higher level football.

A link with someone like Atlanta I'm sure sounds great instead but what would we really get or learn from? They play in a huge state of the art stadium. They have a TV deal with Fox and they are operating in a commercial space that we just aren't. If they identify good players they will want them to end up with them. Perhaps the only real difference would be getting players on loan from them at a higher level - but then again we can get players on loan from anywhere we like just now.

Stop talking sense!

[H18 SFR]

Likelihood of pre-season friendly over there in the coming years?

[NAE NOOKIE]

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An interesting read and we'll need to see how things pan out.

But the below is a bit disconcerting given their links with Aberdeen:

"I have good connections with a number of clubs but there would be no point looking at an English Premier League side – it would be like going to see how Atlanta United is run, which is a level or three above where we're at."

In a way with that statement the guy has done to us what a lot of folk are doing to his club on here. Atlanta United are about two years old but in his mind are already one or two levels above Hibs. Having said that, in those two years Atlanta have been an absolute phenomenon, especially their attendances which are mind blowing for a new club, I think they average close on 50,000

That's what I don't get though. Atlanta United have shown how to be a huge success from a standing start in the environment Charleston Battery must have ambitions of operating in, if they don't have MLS aspirations then they lack ambition. That being the case surely Atlanta United are exactly the type of club Charleston need to be learning from, not a mid table, mid sized in European terms, club operating in one of the financially poorest leagues in Europe.

If I was a Charleston Battery fan I would be wondering what they have to learn from Hibs in all honesty

[Haymaker]

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Likelihood of pre-season friendly over there in the coming years?

Here's hoping!

[Haymaker]

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Atlanta United have shown how to be a huge success from a standing start in the environment Charleston Battery must have ambitions of operating in, if they don't have MLS aspirations then they lack ambition.

Unless you can pay the MLS franchise fee it doesn't matter what your ambition is.

So maybe learning from a club how to develop and grow outside a market you cannot enter, might be quite useful.

[Andy74]

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In a way with that statement the guy has done to us what a lot of folk are doing to his club on here. Atlanta United are about two years old but in his mind are already one or two levels above Hibs. Having said that, in those two years Atlanta have been an absolute phenomenon, especially their attendances which are mind blowing for a new club, I think they average close on 50,000

That's what I don't get though. Atlanta United have shown how to be a huge success from a standing start in the environment Charleston Battery must have ambitions of operating in, if they don't have MLS aspirations then they lack ambition. That being the case surely Atlanta United are exactly the type of club Charleston need to be learning from, not a mid table, mid sized in European terms, club operating in one of the financially poorest leagues in Europe.

If I was a Charleston Battery fan I would be wondering what they have to learn from Hibs in all honesty

There's not much to learn from Atlanta really. The franchise system is totally different to any usual way of growing a club. They are massively backed and owned by the same guy that owns the Atlanta Falcons and founded Home Depot. I think their stadium can hold up to 70,000 and regularly gets over 50,000 and they have a direct TV right deal with Fox.

[California-Hibs]

So here's my two cents worth regarding the link up, what I feel it means, can achieve etc.

Firstly a bit of background about myself. I'm an Edinburgh guy that's lived in Sacramento California for going on 9 years now. I have a side job as a 'Statistical Reporter' in which I cover various teams and various leagues, however it is predominantly Sacramento Republic that I cover, so I've basically up until Covid, been to all of their home games for around 5 years. They play in the 'USL' which is the league Charleston Battery play in.

So having seen Charleston play quite a lot and believing I have a pretty good handle on the league itself, here's my take on it.

This deal is much better for Charleston than it is us. However if it goes in a certain direction it could certainly prove very good for us. We'll get back to that in a little bit.

The quality of the teams throughout the whole league is poor. Absolutely no getting away from it. This isn't a case of having the blinkers on, or a Scot pridefully sticking up for his own SPFL, or anything like that. Our top fight teams would wipe the floor with all of them, even the likes of Hamilton. Theres a few, and I mean a few, 'fairly decent' players in the league, but on a whole, nah, very poor quality.

That is why I think this will more greatly enhance the development of the Charleston players coming our way, then it will our youngsters going that way (although there will be some good things that no doubt will come from that as they'll likely go straight into their 1st team whereas Charleston players in particular wouldn't get anywhere near ours).

Charleston like many USL teams, haven't been around for long and are still emerging. They only have an average following of 2,424, the leagues average wage for a 7 month period is $12k, so to put that into perspective, the average player is believed to be on around $400 (£300) a week.

So the idea of the link up player standard wise, doesn't excite me at all. I would have much rather had a link up with an MLS club as there is undeniable talent in there (I cover alot of San Jose Earthquake games so have a good idea of the MLS quality).

However! Where i think it could be interesting is the marketing. US fans are veeeeery different from Scottish fans. Many of the cliches are true. Its more of a social thing for them, drinking a beer while the games going on, taking to their neighbor facing each other and often not too focused on the game. Don't dream of shouting out anything negative towards one of your own players etc No booing or reactions of anger and disappointments after the games spilling into social media etc, its always very positive (and can actually get very annoying).

Well, with this comes a community, a social aspect of following, the team. Take their Facebook page for example - 23K Likes. Compared to ours - 77K Likes. And while our numbers bigger the point I'm trying to make is we have a thirst for football in Scotland, and have a long history etc yet Charleston have only been on the go since 1993 and play in a population of just 133K, vs 500K in Edinburgh, and while yes we also have Hearts, that basically is our big and only 2 Sports teams in the city, while in South Carolina from American Football, Basketball, Baseball etc teams have huge followings. So with that all said 23K Facebook Likes with only an average attendance of 1,424, shows that people have a sense of following/representing their team. Its the end here for Sacramento Republic FC, however their page actually has 92K likes!....Not that Facebook likes is the be all and end all, but still an example.

Its got me thinking about certain commercial opportunities (probably won't happen but you never know). A Hibs shop/ section within their stadium? Or perhaps within South Carolina with the branding heavily towards 'Charleston Battery FC association Scottish team Hibernian' (Throw 'Scotland' in a title and watch them grow in exciting. Seriously i should know. Every time I open my mouth in a grocery store etc How often they hold Scottish Games all across the country. Their interest in Clans, tartan etc. Heck, go onto their Facebook page with the video announcement they put out regarding us as their new association and read all the comments from their fans claiming us as their new found team, wanting to now go to Edinburgh, pleading the club for an organized game in Scotland so they can see our Stadium, etc.

I definitely think commercially, if some right and in a certain diction, Hibs could do very VERY well, and have the better deal from the whole situation.

[bingo70]

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So here's my two cents worth regarding the link up, what I feel it means, can achieve etc.

Firstly a bit of background about myself. I'm an Edinburgh guy that's lived in Sacramento California for going on 9 years now. I have a side job as a 'Statistical Reporter' in which I cover various teams and various leagues, however it is predominantly Sacramento Republic that I cover, so I've basically up until Covid, been to all of their home games for around 5 years. They play in the 'USL' which is the league Charleston Battery play in.

So having seen Charleston play quite a lot and believing I have a pretty good handle on the league itself, here's my take on it.

This deal is much better for Charleston than it is us. However if it goes in a certain direction it could certainly prove very good for us. We'll get back to that in a little bit.

The quality of the teams throughout the whole league is poor. Absolutely no getting away from it. This isn't a case of having the blinkers on, or a Scot pridefully sticking up for his own SPFL, or anything like that. Our top fight teams would wipe the floor with all of them, even the likes of Hamilton. Theres a few, and I mean a few, 'fairly decent' players in the league, but on a whole, nah, very poor quality.

That is why I think this will more greatly enhance the development of the Charleston players coming our way, then it will our youngsters going that way (although there will be some good things that no doubt will come from that as they'll likely go straight into their 1st team whereas Charleston players in particular wouldn't get anywhere near ours).

Charleston like many USL teams, haven't been around for long and are still emerging. They only have an average following of 2,424, the leagues average wage for a 7 month period is $12k, so to put that into perspective, the average player is believed to be on around $400 (£300) a week.

So the idea of the link up player standard wise, doesn't excite me at all. I would have much rather had a link up with an MLS club as there is undeniable talent in there (I cover alot of San Jose Earthquake games so have a good idea of the MLS quality).

However! Where i think it could be interesting is the marketing. US fans are veeeeery different from Scottish fans. Many of the cliches are true. Its more of a social thing for them, drinking a beer while the games going on, taking to their neighbor facing each other and often not too focused on the game. Don't dream of shouting out anything negative towards one of your own players etc No booing or reactions of anger and disappointments after the games spilling into social media etc, its always very positive (and can actually get very annoying).

Well, with this comes a community, a social aspect of following, the team. Take their Facebook page for example - 23K Likes. Compared to ours - 77K Likes. And while our numbers bigger the point I'm trying to make is we have a thirst for football in Scotland, and have a long history etc yet Charleston have only been on the go since 1993 and play in a population of just 133K, vs 500K in Edinburgh, and while yes we also have Hearts, that basically is our big and only 2 Sports teams in the city, while in South Carolina from American Football, Basketball, Baseball etc teams have huge followings. So with that all said 23K Facebook Likes with only an average attendance of 1,424, shows that people have a sense of following/representing their team. Its the end here for Sacramento Republic FC, however their page actually has 92K likes!....Not that Facebook likes is the be all and end all, but still an example.

Its got me thinking about certain commercial opportunities (probably won't happen but you never know). A Hibs shop/ section within their stadium? Or perhaps within South Carolina with the branding heavily towards 'Charleston Battery FC association Scottish team Hibernian' (Throw 'Scotland' in a title and watch them grow in exciting. Seriously i should know. Every time I open my mouth in a grocery store etc How often they hold Scottish Games all across the country. Their interest in Clans, tartan etc. Heck, go onto their Facebook page with the video announcement they put out regarding us as their new association and read all the comments from their fans claiming us as their new found team, wanting to now go to Edinburgh, pleading the club for an organized game in Scotland so they can see our Stadium, etc.

I definitely think commercially, if some right and in a certain diction, Hibs could do very VERY well, and have the better deal from the whole situation.

That’s interesting, cheers.

Don’t suppose you know much about the guys training with us? Not so much about Robbie Crawford but Leyland Archer and the young guy from FC Dallas? (Sorry, forget his name). Any chance of getting deals you think?

Is it one level below the MLS, Charleston play?

[Andy74]

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That’s interesting, cheers.

Don’t suppose you know much about the guys training with us? Not so much about Robbie Crawford but Leyland Archer and the young guy from FC Dallas? (Sorry, forget his name). Any chance of getting deals you think?

Is it one level below the MLS, Charleston play?

The thing I had mentioned previously and so did the Charleston guy, was that the link up could be beneficial for both of us in securing good players initially. Charleston will now be able to offer a kid they identify a start with them but also a pathway to Hibs.

If we linked with say an Atlanta we might get half decent players on loan (which we can from anyone anyway) but any good players they would ultimately want. Charleston look like they are getting local players but also from the Caribeean area and having first call on those types of players could certainly be good.

[bingo70]

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The thing I had mentioned previously and so did the Charleston guy, was that the link up could be beneficial for both of us in securing good players initially. Charleston will now be able to offer a kid they identify a start with them but also a pathway to Hibs.

If we linked with say an Atlanta we might get half decent players on loan (which we can from anyone anyway) but any good players they would ultimately want. Charleston look like they are getting local players but also from the Caribeean area and having first call on those types of players could certainly be good.

You’ve made some really good points on this thread tbf. I tried not to acknowledge them previously as they made my post look a bit stupid so I kind of hoped by not replying to you we could just move on and forget I said anything.

Having access to the Caribbean market sounds terrific though.

I wonder how it’ll work with work permits now? Same as before or have things changed now we’re leaving the EU and trying to get relationships with the rest of the world and not just European countries?

[California-Hibs]

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That’s interesting, cheers.

Don’t suppose you know much about the guys training with us? Not so much about Robbie Crawford but Leyland Archer and the young guy from FC Dallas? (Sorry, forget his name). Any chance of getting deals you think?

Is it one level below the MLS, Charleston play?

So yeah, its one level below MLS. There's no relegation/promotion in the US. There's two conferences within the USl, East and West, both with 18 teams. They finished 9th last season. Archer and Crawford are pretty much mainstays in the team, although from memory and highlights I couldn't tell you much about either of them.

The FC Dallas player on trial with us is Thomas Roberts. No knowledge of him as he's been playing the majority of his time for 'North Texas SC' which is actually in the league BELOW USL - USL League One, and I couldn't tell you anything about that league to be honest, although I wouldn't imagine its much to write home about. He does have 6 MLS appearances to his name though and is only 19, so perhaps a good prospect? Left midfielder, and played in a North Texas team that won the league last year and got him noticed by FC Dallas to promote to their 1st team. Sorry, wish I could tell you more

[superfurryhibby]

Excellent posts on this thread from California Hibs and Andy 74. Nice also to see the Bingo 70 fellae acknowledge a change of heart from his initial stance (very mature ).

A progressive link up for Hibs by all accounts. It's good to see the club taking the initiative and hopefully there will be more of this kind of thing. There are potential opportunities to be had for a forward thinking club and other football markets to explore too (I'm thinking of South America and Ron's contacts there?).

[Viva_Palmeiras]

From the Caribbean to Arbroath on a cold Tuesday night for cup duty in December..... ;)

[Viva_Palmeiras]

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Excellent posts on this thread from California Hibs and Andy 74. Nice also to see the Bingo 70 fellae acknowledge a change of heart from his initial stance (very mature ).

A progressive link up for Hibs by all accounts. It's good to see the club taking the initiative and hopefully there will be more of this kind of thing. There are potential opportunities to be had for a forward thinking club and other football markets to explore too (I'm thinking of South America and Ron's contacts there?).

I’m gonna keep on asking until I get confirmation - surely as half Peruvian he has to be “Ronaldo”?

[Viva_Palmeiras]

If Ian Gordon wasn’t there would we still have the link up I wonder?

[ancient hibee]

Spectator/fan involvement in sport in the USA is on a different level to here.A few years ago I spent3/4 days in Knoxville,the State Capital of Tennessee.I took a trip around the University of Tennessee and was amazed t see that they had three sports stadia the biggest one holding 50,000.I mentioned this to a local in the hotel and he told me this was purely for the Uni and that there was a football game there in a couple of days which would pack the 50000 stadium .I said that this must be exceptional and he told me it was normal as there was a waiting list for season tickets.Knoxville is a relatively small place but at the weekend the place was mobbed with people(all in orange the Uni colours)and the freeways were busy with fans coming from all over the state.Quite a few of them were staying in our hotel and said that they did this every couple of weeks.They spent far more on Uni/team stuff that the cost of the season ticket.It’s a big country with a big population and people are proud of their college connections but to see this for sport at a level below the top was an eye opener.

[Stairway 2 7]

There's usually only 1 2 professional sports teams per state. The equivalent would be 60 odd thousand going to watch the national team at Murrayfield or 50 at hampden, and that's squewed against us as our pop of 5 million dwarfed by there state's

[Ozyhibby]

I’m pretty sure Michigan Uni haven’t had a crowd below 100,000 for more than 30 years.


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[Stuart93]

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I’m pretty sure Michigan Uni haven’t had a crowd below 100,000 for more than 30 years.


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Performs tricks at parties pulls rabbits out a hat?

[davhibby]

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You’ve made some really good points on this thread tbf. I tried not to acknowledge them previously as they made my post look a bit stupid so I kind of hoped by not replying to you we could just move on and forget I said anything.

Having access to the Caribbean market sounds terrific though.

I wonder how it’ll work with work permits now? Same as before or have things changed now we’re leaving the EU and trying to get relationships with the rest of the world and not just European countries?

I’d guess that work permits from that part of the world won’t be changing, just that players from EU countries will be held to the same rules as non EU ones now

[NAE NOOKIE]

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So here's my two cents worth regarding the link up, what I feel it means, can achieve etc.

Firstly a bit of background about myself. I'm an Edinburgh guy that's lived in Sacramento California for going on 9 years now. I have a side job as a 'Statistical Reporter' in which I cover various teams and various leagues, however it is predominantly Sacramento Republic that I cover, so I've basically up until Covid, been to all of their home games for around 5 years. They play in the 'USL' which is the league Charleston Battery play in.

So having seen Charleston play quite a lot and believing I have a pretty good handle on the league itself, here's my take on it.

This deal is much better for Charleston than it is us. However if it goes in a certain direction it could certainly prove very good for us. We'll get back to that in a little bit.

The quality of the teams throughout the whole league is poor. Absolutely no getting away from it. This isn't a case of having the blinkers on, or a Scot pridefully sticking up for his own SPFL, or anything like that. Our top fight teams would wipe the floor with all of them, even the likes of Hamilton. Theres a few, and I mean a few, 'fairly decent' players in the league, but on a whole, nah, very poor quality.

That is why I think this will more greatly enhance the development of the Charleston players coming our way, then it will our youngsters going that way (although there will be some good things that no doubt will come from that as they'll likely go straight into their 1st team whereas Charleston players in particular wouldn't get anywhere near ours).

Charleston like many USL teams, haven't been around for long and are still emerging. They only have an average following of 2,424, the leagues average wage for a 7 month period is $12k, so to put that into perspective, the average player is believed to be on around $400 (£300) a week.

So the idea of the link up player standard wise, doesn't excite me at all. I would have much rather had a link up with an MLS club as there is undeniable talent in there (I cover alot of San Jose Earthquake games so have a good idea of the MLS quality).

However! Where i think it could be interesting is the marketing. US fans are veeeeery different from Scottish fans. Many of the cliches are true. Its more of a social thing for them, drinking a beer while the games going on, taking to their neighbor facing each other and often not too focused on the game. Don't dream of shouting out anything negative towards one of your own players etc No booing or reactions of anger and disappointments after the games spilling into social media etc, its always very positive (and can actually get very annoying).

Well, with this comes a community, a social aspect of following, the team. Take their Facebook page for example - 23K Likes. Compared to ours - 77K Likes. And while our numbers bigger the point I'm trying to make is we have a thirst for football in Scotland, and have a long history etc yet Charleston have only been on the go since 1993 and play in a population of just 133K, vs 500K in Edinburgh, and while yes we also have Hearts, that basically is our big and only 2 Sports teams in the city, while in South Carolina from American Football, Basketball, Baseball etc teams have huge followings. So with that all said 23K Facebook Likes with only an average attendance of 1,424, shows that people have a sense of following/representing their team. Its the end here for Sacramento Republic FC, however their page actually has 92K likes!....Not that Facebook likes is the be all and end all, but still an example.

Its got me thinking about certain commercial opportunities (probably won't happen but you never know). A Hibs shop/ section within their stadium? Or perhaps within South Carolina with the branding heavily towards 'Charleston Battery FC association Scottish team Hibernian' (Throw 'Scotland' in a title and watch them grow in exciting. Seriously i should know. Every time I open my mouth in a grocery store etc How often they hold Scottish Games all across the country. Their interest in Clans, tartan etc. Heck, go onto their Facebook page with the video announcement they put out regarding us as their new association and read all the comments from their fans claiming us as their new found team, wanting to now go to Edinburgh, pleading the club for an organized game in Scotland so they can see our Stadium, etc.

I definitely think commercially, if some right and in a certain diction, Hibs could do very VERY well, and have the better deal from the whole situation.

Very interesting, thanks for that CH

[NAE NOOKIE]

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Unless you can pay the MLS franchise fee it doesn't matter what your ambition is.

So maybe learning from a club how to develop and grow outside a market you cannot enter, might be quite useful.

Well, does that not make the ambition to find a way to attract the folk with bottomless pockets it takes to ante up the 100 million or so it takes to purchase a franchise? It's not a market they cannot enter, its just a market their current situation means they cannot enter. You might as well say it's impossible for Hibs to make the Champions league group stages, it's not ... If I chucked a few hundred million at the club I'm sure we could A) win the Scottish premiership and B) swat aside a few minnows and a big name to get there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not actually having a go at you I understand where you are coming from, but at the end of the day 'ambition' costs nothing no matter how outlandish that ambition might seem at the time

Besides that and possibly a glimmer of hope for the likes of Charleston. MLS is growing with a number of clubs looking for a franchise that can't get one. How long before they start either a 2nd division ( time the Yanks learned the delights of relegation ) or a system like the NFL which can accommodate more teams without them having to play each other home and away every season. I'm lead to believe the NY Jets and NY Giants have barely faced each other in their history even though they both play in the NFL.

[Duke of Currie]

By having a relationship with another club , is there scope for sending multiple players across there for loan periods instead of farming them out to lower division Scottish clubs. Also , if you wanted players to gain coaching badges but stay within the club , am thinking about guys like David Gray or Darren McGregor , could part of the coaching development plan be that you are loaned as a coach to Charleston as part of the development plan.

Was looking at the Man City strategy , and am not trying to say we are competition to Man City , but the benefits from their network was they had a wider scouting network and collection of data cross multiple areas, also they had wider commercial benefits from being involved in different countries.

From what Ron Gordon has said when he mentioned the clubs being looked at, I dont think this will be the only partnership and what is gained will be seen behind the scenes rather than immediately on the pitch. This is just a hunch , but I think there will be a link up to another Scottish club which might be more beneficial/cost efficient than running a development team and possibly even a set up with a continental team which will widen the scouting/player information network and expand commercial opportunities.

I think these are seeds to help the club to grow financially as much off the pitch , increased commercial revenue and identifying younger players to sell on after a few years

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Well if we’re supposed to be modelling ourselves on Southampton then perhaps the tiered approach to international partnership give a hint. I’m guessing the language used (“package”) indicates we’d be getting some dosh for this link up. I almost see it as a pilot for testing things out, Refining & improving before potential expansion.

https://www.southamptonfc.com/-/medi...06_digital.pdf

I suppose it’s also a way of attracting and retaining staff - giving opportunities in the off season for coaches and players. Maybe instead of letting folks go there is a pathway for them in the US?

[Brightside]

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So here's my two cents worth regarding the link up, what I feel it means, can achieve etc.

Firstly a bit of background about myself. I'm an Edinburgh guy that's lived in Sacramento California for going on 9 years now. I have a side job as a 'Statistical Reporter' in which I cover various teams and various leagues, however it is predominantly Sacramento Republic that I cover, so I've basically up until Covid, been to all of their home games for around 5 years. They play in the 'USL' which is the league Charleston Battery play in.

So having seen Charleston play quite a lot and believing I have a pretty good handle on the league itself, here's my take on it.

This deal is much better for Charleston than it is us. However if it goes in a certain direction it could certainly prove very good for us. We'll get back to that in a little bit.

The quality of the teams throughout the whole league is poor. Absolutely no getting away from it. This isn't a case of having the blinkers on, or a Scot pridefully sticking up for his own SPFL, or anything like that. Our top fight teams would wipe the floor with all of them, even the likes of Hamilton. Theres a few, and I mean a few, 'fairly decent' players in the league, but on a whole, nah, very poor quality.

That is why I think this will more greatly enhance the development of the Charleston players coming our way, then it will our youngsters going that way (although there will be some good things that no doubt will come from that as they'll likely go straight into their 1st team whereas Charleston players in particular wouldn't get anywhere near ours).

Charleston like many USL teams, haven't been around for long and are still emerging. They only have an average following of 2,424, the leagues average wage for a 7 month period is $12k, so to put that into perspective, the average player is believed to be on around $400 (£300) a week.

So the idea of the link up player standard wise, doesn't excite me at all. I would have much rather had a link up with an MLS club as there is undeniable talent in there (I cover alot of San Jose Earthquake games so have a good idea of the MLS quality).

However! Where i think it could be interesting is the marketing. US fans are veeeeery different from Scottish fans. Many of the cliches are true. Its more of a social thing for them, drinking a beer while the games going on, taking to their neighbor facing each other and often not too focused on the game. Don't dream of shouting out anything negative towards one of your own players etc No booing or reactions of anger and disappointments after the games spilling into social media etc, its always very positive (and can actually get very annoying).

Well, with this comes a community, a social aspect of following, the team. Take their Facebook page for example - 23K Likes. Compared to ours - 77K Likes. And while our numbers bigger the point I'm trying to make is we have a thirst for football in Scotland, and have a long history etc yet Charleston have only been on the go since 1993 and play in a population of just 133K, vs 500K in Edinburgh, and while yes we also have Hearts, that basically is our big and only 2 Sports teams in the city, while in South Carolina from American Football, Basketball, Baseball etc teams have huge followings. So with that all said 23K Facebook Likes with only an average attendance of 1,424, shows that people have a sense of following/representing their team. Its the end here for Sacramento Republic FC, however their page actually has 92K likes!....Not that Facebook likes is the be all and end all, but still an example.

Its got me thinking about certain commercial opportunities (probably won't happen but you never know). A Hibs shop/ section within their stadium? Or perhaps within South Carolina with the branding heavily towards 'Charleston Battery FC association Scottish team Hibernian' (Throw 'Scotland' in a title and watch them grow in exciting. Seriously i should know. Every time I open my mouth in a grocery store etc How often they hold Scottish Games all across the country. Their interest in Clans, tartan etc. Heck, go onto their Facebook page with the video announcement they put out regarding us as their new association and read all the comments from their fans claiming us as their new found team, wanting to now go to Edinburgh, pleading the club for an organized game in Scotland so they can see our Stadium, etc.

I definitely think commercially, if some right and in a certain diction, Hibs could do very VERY well, and have the better deal from the whole situation.

What are their numbers for Insta? It’s only old people like us that use FB.

[Glory Lurker]

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What are their numbers for Insta? It’s only old people like us that use FB.

Sorry to jump in, but it gives me the chance to show I am young and, er, with it - 14,100.

Their merch range is pretty cool (that's what the young team would say, right?), smarter than ours! Although who knows what a game day eye stick is? Don't like the sound of that, whatever it is.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

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What are their numbers for Insta? It’s only old people like us that use FB.

Is actively engaging not a more telling stat - people can passively "like" or "follow" - its an illusion IMO and part of the problem with how kids view the world.

[Konte34]

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Likelihood of pre-season friendly over there in the coming years?

Certainly suggests so here: https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/spor...leher-19312535

[04Sauzee]

I see Dundee Utd have just announced a strategic partnership with Northern Virginia UTD fc who are currently owned by Brian Welsh

https://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/new...dundeeunitedfc