Another day, another interesting story about a NISA club in Georgia. USL League One and NISA reporter Dan Creel stated a few days ago that the ownership group behind Savannah Clovers FC has left the club. The Clovers, a 3rd-division professional side currently participating in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), are relying on the league to fund the team.
Creel revealed that NISA has paid player wages since February but sent out a letter last week stating that March’s payroll would be cut, leading to the per-player payment of $400.
Creel also told Scarves and Spikes that the players decided to travel to the match against USL League One’s South Georgia Tormenta Wednesday night for the U.S. Open Cup second round (Savannah fell 4-0 in Statesboro) but voted against traveling to face the Michigan Stars for their NISA opener, scheduled for Saturday, for the time being. However, the league schedule and commissioner John Prutch both said that the match was still on and Savannah would make the trip. Creel later reported this, as well, revealing that they were traveling with a thin bench (later confirmed with a bench of 4) as at least one Clovers player left the team due to the pay. The reasoning for this change is not known, but Savannah did play the match and took a 2-1 lead but lost 3-2 to Michigan after two stoppage time goals.
It is unknown why ownership decided to pull out. Savannah was majority-owned by club CEO Shane Folgado and his investment group, with minority ownership stakes held by club founder Bryan Sykes and COO Jeff Thiffault. Folgado was confirmed to have left by Kartik Krishnaiyer and Beyond The 90’s interview with NISA commisioner John Prutch. However, Thiffault returned to the club after leaving, according to that same interview, and has been put in charge temporarily by NISA. To add to the returning members, according to both Beyond The 90 and Soccer Down Here’s interview with John Prutch, Bryan Sykes has also been brought back into the fold.
Another note on Savannah’s ownership that has to be addressed is that there seems to be another unknown owner behind the scenes who’s issues channeling money to the U.S. from his base in South Africa due to geopolitical issues from the Ukraine War (that is Commissioner Prutch’s description in both the Beyond The 90 and Soccer Down Here interviews) caused all of the problems at hand. This owner, described by Prutch to Beyond the 90 as the “primary team owner” (a description that goes against public reports from the Clovers that Folgado was the majority owner), is only given a name once: Mario. No one spoken to for this article has any info on the true identity of Mario, and Commissioner Prutch didn’t expand into detail during his interviews. What he did say was that Mario will be replaced in “the next couple of months”.
Until then, NISA, Thiffault, and Sykes will presumably support the club until new owners are found. NISA previously tried to do with Charlotte-based Stumptown AC, a club that was eventually dissolved when no owners were found. Commissioner Prutch told Soccer Down Here that a decision on future ownership would be made in the next few months as potential investors had been found, one being in the club’s existing management (referring to Sykes and Thiffault becoming majority owners, possibly?). Any potential investor must be worth more than $10 million for NISA to meet US Soccer Federation’s PLS Standards for Division III.
To add to the club’s troubles, according to Dan Creel the Clovers’ players could walk and leave the club en masse. If that were to happen, NISA could replace the roster with new players. However, that would be impractical and challenging considering that their season has already been delayed due to the prolonged roster formation of the league’s 4 new expansion clubs, Georgia FC, Irvine Zeta, Arizona Monsoon, and Capo FC. If the players walk out and NISA decides not to replace them, that could mean the end of the club.
This is a very sad day for professional soccer in Georgia, especially for Savannah’s proud local fanbase, so let’s hope that NISA can find new owners for the club as their future is at risk.
The word you want is actually “whose” and not “who’s”. But to get to the subject there, I don’t understand how the Ukraine War would be a problem for a guy in South Africa unless he’s a dick who is doing business with Russia. Anyway, this mess shows one of the problems with lower leagues. The financial requirements for entry are so low that it doesn’t take a lot for someone to barely get in and then suddenly not be able to meet financial obligations. NASL had this happen throughout their existence, for example. I feel for the players and wish them the best.
This is some good reporting, Calum, and I appreciate that Scarves and Spikes is trying to cover soccer in a broader base than just Atlanta United.
I also like that shift in coverage; though I notice only match threads get heavy activity lately.
This is why we need promotion/relegation!
Oh, wait…
We should implement it when the pyramid is stable. That doesn’t have to include NISA, a league that will soon cease to exist if we’re being honest. Their failure to choose owners doesn’t negate the strengths of pro/rel.