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According to Lisa Eisenmenger at the Boston Pro Soccer Examiner (click here for the original article and all the details), other than basketball’s Steve Nash potentially suiting up for a friendly, the Whtiecaps have named Tottenham Hotspur’s Executive Director Paul Barber as their CEO effective March 1, 2010.
The Vancouver Whitecaps have named Tottenham Hotspur’s Executive Director Paul Barber as their CEO, effective March 1, 2010. Forbes cites the Spurs as the 11th most valuable soccer team worldwide, valued at $445 million with annual revenue of $245 million.
“It’s a decision that leaves a lot of people scratching their heads because [Barber] grew up as a Spurs fan, so that’s his club,” said Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi. “That would be for him a dream job and now he’s leaving it to take on the challenge here in Vancouver. He was very impressed with the ownership group and felt that the direction we were going was one that he’d like to be a part of. He did come and meet with staff at the Whitecaps and I’m assuming that provided him with an even greater level of comfort. He’s viewing this as an opportunity to be in on the ground floor.”
The Vancouver ownership group consists of Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallet, and Steve Nash.
Barber’s involvement in the Spur’s stadium project and their new training center is key for Vancouver. The Whitecaps are refurbishing a 60,000 seat stadium and building a new training facility. The transformation of BC Place is a $485 million endeavor and features two retractable roofs, with the inner roof to shield the upper seating levels and provide an intimate atmosphere for soccer games.
The training facility, slated to be built in 2010 at a cost of $40 million, lies at the heart of Vancouver’s commitment to development. The Whitecaps already operate a residential academy, funded at $1 million annually by owner Kerfoot. When they enter MLS in 2011, Vancouver will be the first MLS club with that distinction.The academy scouts talent worldwide and has already sold a player on to a German club, but Lenarduzzi says the primary goal is to develop players for the club, not sell them on.
“I don’t know that if we’d consider that a bonus,” said Lenarduzzi, “that’s not necessarily an objective for us to develop players to sell them. We want to develop players to have them play in our first team. If they’re good enough beyond that then we’d never stand in their way in terms of moving them abroad, but that’s not a line item for us in our budget to try and achieve. If it happens, it’ll be because it’s a special player and the time is right for that player to move on to another level.”
What do you think? Are the Vancouver Whitecaps going to make the same impact on MLS as Seattle or even more? Can or will MLS adopt the Whitecaps strength in player development? With all of these new teams taking on best practices from the start, can some of the older and less well preforming MLS teams transform themselves fast enough to catch up? Excited by the new entrants or do you just wish the MLS would focus on fixing the older clubs first? With all the new high quality entrants to the MLS, what city could match similar requirements for success as the 20th team in MLS?
-Patrick Beatty
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I can only hope the academy system they are brining in is adopted by other MLS sides.
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Surprising, yet not, considering Steve Nash is a Tottenham supporter.
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Go Seafoam !
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Not sure, being a Canadian side, it will have the same impact on a mostly US league as Seattle. But they will certainly solidify gains. As much as has been made as the Portscum/Seattle rivalry, Vancouver is an equal partner in the trifecta and has always had strong support. They also appear to be bringing a degree of professionalism and competence that only Seattle’s FO has managed thus far. In some cases I’m amazed at the support other teams have given what they have to overcome in management.
Also I think having our first real academy will be a real plus. Something for the other sides to use as an example. In a capped league, development is the only real way for a team to give itself an advantage.
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Fuck you Vancouver loser. The whitecaps invented scumbags.
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I think Vancouver coming into the league will be very positive for MLS. I especially hope that their academy system bears fruit and causes other MLS teams to follow suit.
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See what I mean about Portscum?
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Looking forward to Vancouver joining my Sounders for MLS ‘11. Wish we had an academy system – it only adds to the professionalism of the league. I’m guessing Vancouver will have a different sort of effect on MLS; Seattle helped show what football can be, but Vancouver-Seattle will create the first real rivalry in the league.
The ability to thrash Portscum more regularly is an added bonus.
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All the success of the Sounders, now Vancouver and soon Portland are all from the womb of the USL and its Y-league = Super 20 = PDL = USL-2 = USL-1 and now Mr. Gulati as the person in charge of safe-guarding the sport in America..I ask you are you going to let a few ego manics ruin the sport. Like slick Hollywood producers these guys are looking for a re-make…bring on old film (in this case the NASL) dust it off update some technology and everyone start clapping!?!? Mr. Gulati, alot of people drank the Kool-aid in Guyana..it did not make the right!
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