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USL Oakland Roots

Venue Changed for Saturday

June 24, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Oakland Roots News Release


Roots Family,

The past few days have been difficult for all of us at Roots. Ahead of our debut USL Championship season and as part of our ongoing investment in Laney, we ordered a brand new, state-of-the-art turf system. Due to significant shipping delays caused by COVID-19 and weather along the way, this turf was not delivered on time. In the meantime, we proceeded with the field system we have used for every game in the past. This involved us installing 2900 panels of turf, with as little disruption as possible for Laney Football, before every match. As you all know, the USL and the referees for Saturday's game deemed the field unsuitable for play during pre-match inspections.

This Saturday, June 26th, we are scheduled to play a home game against Austin Bold FC. Our priority in the last few days has been to ensure that what happened last Saturday will not happen again. We have made the decision that the only way we can be certain of this is not to use the turf system from last year, and to find an alternative venue for the match.

Together with USL, we have been working around the clock to find the best alternative local venue which meets the following requirements;

Soccer specific field, without football field lines

Field dimensions no less than 110 yards long by 70 yards wide

Facility must meet USL requirements and standards

Facility is able to meet USL Broadcast Television Standards

Our decision is that we will play Saturday's match at Roots' training facility at Las Positas College in Livermore. Las Positas College has served as Roots' training facility throughout the global pandemic and has been used by multiple National Teams as a training facility in the past. Given all the factors described above, as well as availability, we believe Las Positas College is the best alternative option, especially in terms of minimizing the disruption for our players as they compete for The Town. USL have already confirmed the facility meets their requirements for this match.

Unfortunately, this means that Roots fans will not be able to attend this Saturday's match. It's with huge disappointment that we have arrived at this decision, given how much work we put into our fan experience, but we believe it's the best decision we can make to play the match this weekend.

For a full refund and/or questions please email tickets@rootssc.com. If you purchased a ticket to the 6/26 match, you will receive a credit for the equivalent value to a future match of your choice. This credit will be automatically added to your online ticket account. This, along with the credit from the 6/19 game will take into effect in the coming day(s). We apologize for the inconvenience and hope that you will exercise the option to join us at Laney again on the new surface later in the season.

The Game will still be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on KOFY now at 7:30 PM for fans to enjoy and support the players.

It's been a journey, and we are committed to growth in our community. One of the Core Values we instill in our players and staff is 'Do, Learn, Grow' and the importance of learning from mistakes. We are all deeply sorry for the mistakes we made at the start of our USL Championship season and we truly appreciate each and every one of you who believe that the future of Oakland Roots holds something truly special.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 24, 2021


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