AFC Bournemouth
We take a closer look at the club who finished third in the NASL table last season.
It has been nearly 40 years since Minnesota had a top division football team. Currently in the NASL league, the American equivalent of the Championship, Minnesota United are set to be part of the MLS expansion and will join the top tier of American football in 2017 or 2018.
Soon after the club was awarded the spot, they announced the plan to build a state-of-the-art stadium in the centre of Minneapolis. Construction of the stadium is expected to begin this summer.
Minnesota have a strong English connection, as head coach Carl Craig was born in Newcastle. Having been on the Magpies’ books as a youngster, Craig then acquired his coaching badges and moved to America in 1994, where he started in the youth leagues before becoming assistant manager in 2010.
He was then promoted to head coach in December 2015, after Manny Lagos moved on to become the club’s full-time sporting director.
NASL SOCCER
The original North American Soccer League lasted from 1968 to 1984 and during that period, the likes of George Best, Bobby Moore, Pele and Johan Cruyff all plied their trade there.
In 2011, the league started a fresh with eight teams and Minnesota won the entire thing, beating Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the final.
