Jacksonville Armada FC owner and CEO Mark Frisch announced this week the dismissal of general manager Dario Sala and head coach Guillermo Hoyos along with assistant coaches Edison Ibarra, Rafael Perez Niño and Sebastian Fabres.
Eric Dade, Jacksonville FC executive director and Armada FC director of player development, has been named interim head coach for the remainder of the 2015 Fall Season. Current Armada FC Director of Soccer Operations Nathan Walter will assist Dade.
The Armada sits in last place in the North American Soccer League (NASL) Fall and Combined Season standings and has been held scoreless in their last five matches and 498 minutes of play. The club has yet to win a single game on the road, with a record of 0-2-11 (W-D-L).
“Since the inception of the Armada FC, I have made it clear that I have a very high standard for performance on and off the field. To achieve success in this league, and win championships, we must defend effectively, attack relentlessly, score goals and win games – both at home and away from home – on a consistent basis. We have not done this,” said Frisch. “Following an in-depth analysis of the team and operations, I am confident that a new direction is needed to turn around our team. Our players and fans deserve our very best and I strongly believe this is what is needed for us to move forward.”
TEA MEN ERA HONORED – Community First Park will throw back to Jacksonville’s soccer past at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday when the Armada FC hosts a tribute to their North American Soccer League predecessors, the Jacksonville Tea Men, during the club’s home match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
As part of a night of celebration in honor of the Tea Men, the Armada will don the Tea Men’s distinctive red and tangerine uniforms as they take on the Rowdies. Former players, coaches and administrators, including Tea Men owner Ingo Krieg, will take part in the celebration and will be honored on the pitch prior to kickoff. Krieg will raise a Tea Men flag as part of the pre-match build-up and former players will assist in conducting the pre-match coin toss. Video excerpts from Tea Men matches in the 1980s will also be shown on video boards and TV monitors throughout the match.
A popular fixture at the old Gator Bowl when they moved to the First Coast in 1980, the Tea Men provided memorable nights of professional soccer for fans as part of the original NASL, and the Armada wanted to honor the club that sparked the beginning of soccer's growth in Northeast Florida.
LOCAL COLLEGE NOTES - North Florida men will play one more non-conference game before beginning Atlantic Sun Conference play on Oct. 3 in Nashville, Tenn. against Lipscomb. In the meantime the Ospreys will prepare for a match with Georgia Southern on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Hodges Stadium…. The Atlantic Sun Conference has named UNF junior defender Jenna Steininger the Defensive Player of the Week for her performance for the Ospreys this past weekend. Steininger earned her the first weekly conference award of her career…. Flagler College junior Lex Craggs was selected as the Peach Belt Conference’s Men’s Soccer Goalkeeper of the Week. Craggs is the first Flagler goalkeeper to receive the weekly award since Camp Bissell in 2013. Flagler hosts the defending PBC champion Young Harris College on Saturday at Saints Field at 7:30 p.m.
