After a 10-year hiatus, professional outdoor soccer is back in Baltimore as Crystal Palace USA opens its regular season April 25 at UMBC Stadium. In its second season, Crystal Palace USA, which played its home games in Annapolis last year, competes in the 10-team Second Division of the United Soccer Leagues and is the first professional soccer team in the USA with a direct link to a professional English team.

“This is a great soccer town, with a ton of tradition and history” Pete Medd, co-manager of Crystal Palace USA said at the February press conference announcing the move to UMBC Stadium. “We’re thrilled to be bringing professional, outdoor soccer back to Baltimore after a 10 year absence. … Playing at UMBC will allow us to achieve our goal of providing world-class, family entertainment. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Similar to Major League Baseball’s farm system, Crystal Palace USA was created as a feeder organization to the world-renowned Crystal Palace Football Club, a $100 million company founded in 1905 in south London. Crystal Palace UK chairman, Simon Jordan, saw an opportunity not only to develop the footprint of Crystal Palace worldwide, but more specifically to tap into the underappreciated pool of American soccer talent. Click to read full article