By Paul Nicholson
November 20 – While David Beckham and his people discuss whether to open up shop in the MLS in Miami or not, Orlando has stolen a lead with MLS commissioner Don Garber unveiling Orlando City Soccer as the next expansion franchise yesterday. Garber made the announcement at a community celebration near the site where a new downtown stadium will be constructed.
November 19 – NYCFC, the new New York City MLS franchise scheduled to start play in the 2015 season, is increasing its marketing presence and trading on the group’s assets with a new video featuring Manchester City players in New York.
By Paul Nicholson
15 November – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and Major League Soccer (MLS) have signed a partnership agreement in Antigua that will showcase young Caribbean football talent to the MLS and give the players the opportunity to progress towards professional football in the US. “This provides an opportunity to get our best young players on to the professional ladder. It is the start of an initiative to develop the standard of football across the region,”
November 15 – Former US national team player Mia Hamm became the first woman to be inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame in Pachuca, Mexico. Hamm played 275 times for the US over a 17-year career, scoring 158 goals – more than any other international players, male or female.
By Paul Nicholson
November 12 – Sonia Bien-Aime has been appointed to the executive committee of CONCACAF. Bien-Aime is also one of three women on FIFA’s Executive Committee, having been co-opted to the top table of world football at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius earlier this year.
November 11 – The CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship ended with a penalty shoot-out win for Mexico over Canada in Montego Bay, Jamaica, this weekend. Mexico and Canada will join host Costa Rica as CONCACAF representatives in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which starts in March.
By Paul Nicholson
November 6 – CONCACAF held the draw for the confederation’s Women’s Under-20 Championship 2014 Cayman Islands, yesterday. The eight team finals will be played in Grand Cayman in January 2014, the top three teams qualifying for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals to be held in Canada in August.
November 4 – Former England captain David Beckham is reported to have lined up fellow internationals Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard to play for him once his new Major League Soccer franchise has been completed.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – As widely anticipated having ended his illustrious playing career, David Beckham has decided his next move: starting a Major League Soccer team.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 23- The under-17 World Cup, the largest football event of its kind to be staged in the Gulf, may be progressing satisfactorily on the field but off it an inopportune dispute has broken out over the issue of over-age players — generated by the host nation.
By Paul Nicholson in Grand Cayman
October 22 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has called on his federations to maximise their potential and drive the region into a new era by taking opportunities for development into their own hands.
October 21 – A four-day FIFA Development Seminar in Grand Cayman was kicked off by FIFA President Joseph Blatter, CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice-President Jeffrey Webb and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke in Grand Cayman yesterday.
By Paul Nicholson
October 22 – At the Gala Dinner for the opening of the CONCACAF Sport Summit in Grand Cayman, it was announced by Dr. Djibril Diallo, senior adviser to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, that confederation president Jeffrey Webb has been awarded the 2013 UNAIDS ‘Protect the Goal’ Special Award for the Diaspora.
By Paul Nicholson in Grand Cayman
October 22 – The landmark CONCACAF Sport Summit, titled ‘Transformation through partnership’ opened here Monday night with a powerful, at times hilarious, address by former political prisoner Tokyo Sexwale, who spent 15 years imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela on South Africa’s Robben Island.
October 21 – The inaugural finals of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Women’s Under-20 Tournament kicked off Friday at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium in Jamaica with a 7-2 win for Cuba over Grenada. In the second match of the doubleheader, Trinidad & Tobago took the maximum three points with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Anguilla.