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A Whole New Ballgame For Crystal Palace Baltimore

January 27, 2010 - North American Soccer League (NASL) - Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


The New Year rang in many changes for Crystal Palace Baltimore, the most notable being its inclusion in the new North American Soccer League (NASL) as a charter member and playing the 2010 season in the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Division 2. We are excited and honored to be a part of this new league and to be able to compete against traditional powerhouses such as Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the Portland Timbers and the Montreal Impact.

Name and Crest

Crystal Palace is proud to call Baltimore its home and is humbled by the commitment of the city's passionate soccer fan-base. The club is pleased to announce that the name Crystal Palace Baltimore will now be used exclusively, replacing all former use of the name Crystal Palace USA. This change will be reflected in the club's official logo (see email attachment.)

Website

As part of the official name change, the web address for Crystal Palace Baltimore is now www.PalaceBaltimore.com (www.CrystalPalaceBaltimore.com will also work)

New League - New Level - New Players

This new league brings with it a whole new level of competition to the city of Baltimore - something Palace and its fans alike will welcome. With perennial heavyweights in its ranks like the Puerto Rico Islanders and Montreal Impact (both of whom gave Mexican and Honduran teams a run for their money in international competition last season), as well as the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers, Palace has had to beef up its squad with a host of off-season signings.

Japanese midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake played last season with the Charleston Battery, tallying 6 goals and 5 assists in 27 appearances. Before coming to the USA, the speedy 28-year old spent a year at Tokyo Verdy 1969, having spent the previous six seasons at Yokohama FC helping them win promotion to the J1 league in 2006. Yoshitake's career J-League totals include 150 games played with 15 goals and 10 assists.Randi Patterson, a 24-year old forward from Hackensack, New Jersey, also comes to us from Charleston where he scored an impressive 19 goals in his two seasons with the club. He has full national team credentials having represented Trinidad & Tobago on two occasions. Patterson spent four years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he earned two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year and NCSAA All-American honors. He finished his college career with a remarkable 61 goals - fifth all time at UNCG - and 19 assists.Korey Veeder, whose signing was announced last week, is training in Baltimore before heading over to train and eventually play in Europe. The 18-year old St. Petersburg, Florida native was a member of the elite US U-17 National Team residency program in Bradenton, Florida from 2007 to 2008, representing his country on 21 occasions. The defensive midfielder is currently a member of the US U-18 National Team pool. Veeder was named to the NSCAA/ADIDAS All-American Team in 2007 and 2008.

The full line-up of the other eleven teams that Palace Baltimore will face in 2010:

AC St. LouisAustin AztexCarolina RailhawksMiami FCMinnesota (name to be announced shortly)Montreal ImpactPortland TimbersPuerto Rico IslandersRochester RhinosTampa Bay RowdiesVancouver Whitecaps FC

Schedule

Opening weekend will be April 9th and the league schedule will run through the end of October.

New GM - Keith Lupton

Crystal Palace Baltimore is proud to announce the appointment of new General Manager, Keith Lupton. Lupton has spent 28 years refining his Midas touch in sports management. =46rom his days of owning and operating the Winchester Royals Summer Development Team (where he helped 35 players sign with MLB affiliates), to starting and managing Baltimore Orioles affiliates in Hagerstown, Bowie, Frederick and Salisbury, and to his most recent endeavors in starting independent baseball teams in Lancaster, York and Waldorf, everything he has touched has turned to gold.

It is this level of success that he brings to Palace as the club embarks on its newest chapter as a charter member of the new NASL.

Keith Lupton's career highlights:

Hagerstown Suns, Assistant General Manager (Carolina League) 1981

Frederick Keys, General Manager (Class A), 1990-94

League Champions, 1990

General Manager of the Year, 1990-93

General Manager of the Nation, 1990

Bowie Baysox, General Manager (Orioles Franchise Eastern League), 1994-96

General Manager of the Year, 1994

Delmarva Shorebirds, General Manager (Southern Atlantic League), 1996-98

League Champions, 1997

General Manager of the Year, 1997

Maryland Baseball (Now Opening Day Partners), Vice-President, 1998-present

Fall Developmental League, President

New Orleans Zephyrs (Houston Astros AAA Affiliate), Full-time Consultant, 2001

Other Independent Teams started:

Lancaster Barnstormer

York Revolution

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

Flex Season Ticket Package

This season, Palace Baltimore offers its fans an 18-ticket flex package at $188 (face value of $288). With the newer flex package format, fans are not limited to having to go to every game to get the full value of a season ticket package, but now have the freedom to pick which game they would like to see and also the number of people they would like to take. Flex Season Tickets can be purchased at Palace Baltimore's online shop or by calling 410-933-8326

In attendance at today's press conference were:

Randall Medd, Chairman - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Pete Medd, President and Co-Head Coach - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Jim Cherneski, Sporting Director, Founder and Co-Head Coach - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Keith Lupton, Executive Vice President, General Manager - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Peter Kirk, Chairman - Opening Day Partners

Val Teixeira, Player - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Andrew Marshall, Player - Crystal Palace Baltimore

Korey Veeder, Player - Crystal Palace Baltimore

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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