2019 Protagonist Soccer Club of the Year Ballot Results

There’s something about a surprise that seems completely appropriate for New Year’s Day. Everything you thought you knew was in the past and you wake up in a new world, completely different from what you thought. So welcome to the new year, peeps, nothing is what you expected.

When we announced the clubs for the voting a week and a half ago, I had every expectation that this morning I would be writing about the runaway win of one of the two big clubs nominated, Chattanooga FC or Detroit City FC. Both clubs have massive followings and it just made sense that, because of how the voting was structured, a dedicated group of followers could drive their club to the win. That didn’t happen this time, much to my surprise. While both clubs had strong showings, neither were able to push it over the line, and we have a different winner today.

The structure of the voting may some problematic to some, because it allows voters to vote as often as they want. That decision was actually intentional. Because bigger, legacy-type clubs have larger followings and bigger name recognition, they should be able to draw more voters, while smaller clubs will have more difficulty in generating votes. Allowing multiple votes from individual voters allows for a committed, but smaller group, to have a greater impact in the process. That is without a doubt what happened this year.

Our site has focused heavily on the NPSL, while the UPSL and other leagues get coverage, just in a more limited scope. There are a host of reasons why that is the case, and it might change in the future, but for now that is the state of things. This year, we added to that palette of coverage the WPSL and UWSL, the two strongest national leagues in lower division women’s soccer. With a limited staff, coverage is still in the early stages but we’re proud that we’re expanding and think the women’s game deserves the effort.

And that’s why it’s so exciting to announce that the 2019 Protagonist Soccer Club of the Year is Pensacola FC of the WPSL. Rather than rehash all the reasons why they are completely deserving of this award (check the nomination story), we’ll focus on their determination to continue voting even when other clubs began to drop off. Even late into the evening on New Year’s Eve, votes were coming in for Pensacola. There were votes for other clubs, but Pensacola was the bulk of the votes at a time when many people were turning to celebration.

Pensacola’s win typifies the kind of grit and determination that marks the lower leagues in this country and women’s soccer in general. Get up and grind, every single day, someday you’ll get recognized. Congratulations on the win to a very deserving club.

The Rest of the Ballot

Several other aspects of the ballot results should also be mentioned. We tossed in a second question, in which we asked, “who was the second option for each voter.” This question was included to see how clubs were perceived by other fans. Who garnered the most respect among other clubs’ fans. The results showed a massive showing for Chattanooga FC and Detroit FC, with the clubs grabbing almost 60% of all the votes cast. There’s something to be said for game recognizing game.

Finally, we included on the ballot a write-in portion, “What is the biggest problem facing grassroots soccer?” The results ranged from funny to serious, but the overarching subject throughout the responses was the lack of oversight and structure within the game, caused by the Federation’s inattention. MLS and USL were also big factors in the write-in voting, specifically efforts to expand into markets and stealing market share. Lack of money rounded out the majority of the answers, either due to low game-day attendance/fan support or lack of corporate sponsors.

Some answers deserved to be mentioned for sheer comedy: “Alexi Landas.” Not sure who that is, though it’s safe to guess its a misspelling of a particular soccer pundit’s name. “Need more Beer!!!!” Though I’m not sure if the voter was just ordering another round and slipped it into their vote? Another along that line was “Wives telling us we can't play” which is clearly the biggest problem facing at least one voter. And we can’t forget the need for more noisemakers, “Need more cowbell.”

My favorite response is a call to action: “Too many people who think they know best despite having no real success of experience, need more doers and less talkers.” Appropriately enough, it came from a Pensacola FC voter. And that’s advice we can all take into 2020. More doing and less talking.

- Dan Vaughn

Club of the Year Nominee: Oakland Roots SC

As a staff, we sat down and discussed which clubs deserved the title “Club of the Year.” Working together over the last three weeks we came up with a list of five. This week, I’ll introduce each club and make the argument for your vote. Saturday morning, voting begins and will continue till the end of the year. January 1, we’ll announce our Protagonist Soccer 2019 Club of the Year. I hope you enjoy these articles and then vote for your club of choice. - Dan

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There’s a famous Supreme Court decision everyone loves to quote. You may have heard of it, but it happened in 1964, Jacobellis v. Ohio. In that case, Nico Jacobellis ran a movie theater and decided to show a movie the state of Ohio had deemed obscene. When they arrested him and charged him, he challenged the law, lost twice on appeal, and eventually took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reversed the decision, on the grounds that the Constitution didn’t allow regulation of pornography (the film wasn’t porn in our modern sense, just a very artsy French film with sex in it), unless it was “hardcore pornography.” Justice Potter Stewart, who ruled to overrule the lower court’s decision, issued a very quotable dissent when the decision was made. “"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."

“Knowing something when you see it” acknowledges that there are times in life when expressing something may be difficult, even though you know that it is correct. It is not a cop out, but rather a recognition that your gut feeling is correct, with or without the logic to back it up. And maybe it’s difficult to nominate a club that has struggled to produce points on the field and has existed for less than two years, but I know a nominee for club of the year when I see it. That club is Oakland Roots SC.

So let’s consider the case for Oakland Roots for club of the year. Without a doubt, the weakest point on that list is their performance on the field. With a league track record that is only 6 matches long, that isn’t much to go on. And what we do have is weak, points-wise. Roots ended the 2019 NISA campaign with only 3 points, all from draws. Without a win, it should come as no surprise that the club struggled in the goal differential category, ending the season at -3, second worst in the entire competition. But that’s where the negatives end and the narrative turns.

Oakland Roots managed to secure several big friendlies against south of the border competition, including Liga MX first division side, FC Juarez. Against Los Bravos, Roots struggled, yielding the first three goals in 12 minutes. However, for the next 80 minutes, the Oakland side held its own against the better club, finishing the match with a score of 4-2. Their second friendly continued that run, with a great victory over Ascenso MX (Mexican second division) leader CA Zacatepec. Zacatepec won the 2019 Apertura (first half of the league’s year) by a point and probably expected to easily beat Roots. The friendly ended with a scoreline of 2-0, with goals from Jack McInerney and Octavio Guzman. Competing and beating Mexican clubs won’t hurt your standing in the hearts of Californian soccer fans, where Liga MX is the most followed league, especially among Mexican Americans. The club was competing with clubs their local fans watched on tv. The comparisons were authentic and close to their heart.

And that Mexican American demographic is a big one in the city of Oakland. The population is 25% Latino and over 40% of the city speaks a language other than English, but that population is also White, African American, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Cambodian. It’s a diverse population where soccer can serve as a uniting bond. That diversity was a central focus from the beginning with the club. Diversity is authentic to Oakland and that diversity would play a central role in every decision moving forward.

The club was founded by Benno Nagel and Edreece Arghandiwal; Nagel brought years of soccer experience, while Arghandiwal had worked in marketing, brand management, and tech. After deciding they wanted to form a soccer club, they chose NPSL’s Founders Cup as the destination. With FC’s demise, NISA was where Oakland would extend their roots. During the club’s founding, Nagel and Arghandiwal gathered a board of community advisors from diverse backgrounds within the city. Those advisors offered perspective and advice on the decisions that would shape the soccer club as it formed.

The primary focus was that the club would represent Oakland. They used a phrase to guide them “Oakland first, always” and that phrase would lead them to the creation of the club’s iconic logo and overall branding approach. Partnering with Matt Wolf, who has created multiple iconic brands in American soccer (including fellow Californian club, LAFC), they included the Jack London Oak (a symbol of the city, a 100-year old tree that stands in the center of the city) in the design. The club worked with local clothing brand Oaklandish to design a line of clothing that extended the look of the club into everyday apparel. And the branding was such a hit, it began to show up in hip-hop videos, particularly in California-native G-Eazy’s videos. Soon after NBA stars began wearing their apparel. Authenticity is hot.

That approach to authenticity extended to how the club built their roster, going after Oakland native Devante Dubose. When the announcement was made, it was done with an eye-catching video that was widely shared on social media. It featured shot after shot of Oakland, with Dubose wearing Roots gear, eventually ending with a final shot of the player standing in a parking lot with a car drafting in a circle around him. I’m not from Oakland, but it felt authentic. Roots followed that signing more Oakland-raised talent in Julio Cervantes and Yohannes Harish. From there they added more talent like Benji Joya, Victor Bernardez, and Jack McInerney. It was a club built to represent the people who would support it, the authenticity would flow from the stands to the pitch.

And the people did show up. More than any other club in the NISA showcase in the fall of 2019, Oakland showed up for the club’s home matches. Roots averaged over 5,000 fans a match, putting their attendance over the vast majority of USL Championship clubs. The club worked to build on the fan experience, including a season-ending hip-hop show at the final match.

We often talk about how bad branding is so prevalent in American soccer. We scoff at outsiders buying rights to cities and then fumbling basic decisions on how to brand, staff, and run their club. So maybe in 2019 we should trumpet one that got it right, because Oakland Roots nailed it. By focusing on the city they loved, the founders created a club that fans could love. Oakland Roots represents the authenticity, diversity, and the unique makeup of Oakland, California. You should vote for Roots, because just like Justice Potter said, you’ll know it when you see it, and you can see it in Oakland. Oakland First, Always.

- Dan Vaughn