Following a round of roster cuts, the Jacksonville Armada FC‘s status for 2017 is coming into question.
The Armada, like other NASL clubs, are waiting out a decision from the U.S. Soccer Federation about the future of the league. Last week, owner Mark Frisch said that he was working to keep the team afloat for 2017, something that the Armada maintained when it announced five roster cuts on Wednesday.
The club is denying reports that it has dropped its entire roster, but the Armada has been rolling back on staff over the last few months. With the player cuts in place, it is prompting some discussion about the team’s future. More from The Florida Times-Union:
The team’s attendance has declined about 55 percent from its 2015 start. Three NASL clubs have left since the end of the 2016 season and the statuses of several more are in doubt.
The United States Soccer Federation is expected to rule on the second-division status of the NASL and the third-level United Soccer League later this week. That ruling will likely determine where several of the remaining NASL clubs play in 2017.
The Armada has undergone large-scale budget and staff cutbacks in August and September, and again at the start of December. The latter included the departure of six more employees, notably in the communications and marketing departments.
The U.S. Soccer Federation was to have ruled on the statuses of the USL and NASL last week, but opted to push its verdict back in order to have more discussions on the issue. Once that decision is made, the futures of the Armada and several other teams should become clearer.
Image courtesy Jacksonville Armada.
RELATED STORIES: Jacksonville Armada: We Intend to Keep Playing