Typically I’m not one to venue shame when it comes to lower-league soccer in the United States considering the way professional teams in any sport tend to siphon off public funds for shiny new stadiums. Plus “Pro League Standards” (PLS) are fucking arbitrary and stupid in the U.S., nonetheless, if you’re a lower-league soccer team in the United States and you’re playing on some high school football field, that’s okay in my book.
However, there are exceptions.
Take last night, for example, the Michigan Stars FC, technically a pro club competing in the third-division National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) took on amateur United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) side Metro Louisville FC in the finals of the NISA Independent Cup Great Lakes Region. The match took place at the Michigan Stars Sports Center in Washington Township with a 6:30 pm kickoff time.
The problem here is the Michigan Stars Sports Center doesn’t have lighting (at all) to safely illuminate the pitch once the sun goes down. To make matters worse — since last night’s match was technically a playoff it couldn’t end in a draw and would go into 30 minutes of extra time after it remained 1-1 after 90 minutes.
MSFC would eventually pull ahead and seal the win in the extra session, however, the problems with last night’s venue considering the start time and what was possible were well known to NISA and the Michigan Stars well before the scheduled kick.
Not that this wasn’t the first time lighting was an issue for a NISA club.
Last season, the LA Force had a match interrupted due to a lighting issue at one of the many different venues they call “ home”. However, since the Force is owned by Bob Friedland, a major investor in NISA, it wasn’t assumed LA at the time would suffer any punishment.
As far as last night goes taking into account the precarious situation NISA is currently in, no one should expect the league to come down and hold accountable one of their clubs over something silly like stadium lighting. This is despite the optics and safety issues of a league that’s currently taking on water faster than any sinking ship.
Oh, the irony…
The irony here with the pitch darkness comes just months after Stars owner George Juncaj released this now infamous statement on Twitter in the wake of MSFC’s 3-0 loss to Detroit City FC in the U.S. Open Cup. In the statement, Juncaj made the accusation that his team was “sabotaged” by “smoke, darkness, and smell” that night at Keyworth Stadium seemingly suggesting that’s what cost his team the win.
