Jamie Vardy’s US soccer club Rochester New York PULLS OUT of the new MLS NEXT Pro season
BREAKING NEWS: Jamie Vardy’s US soccer club Rochester New York PULLS OUT of the new MLS NEXT Pro season after failing to secure funding
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The US soccer team backed by Jamie Vardy has sensationally pulled out of the new MLS NEXT Pro season after its potential backers pulled out at the 11th hour.
As exclusively reported by Sportsmail last week, Rochester New York were in advanced talks to secure fresh investment before the new season, but it has now been revealed that the deal has collapsed.
In a statement released on Friday night, the club revealed they were left with ‘no time and no choice but to decline fielding a team in 2023’.
It is currently unclear whether the club will fold entirely, or just sit out a year while it continues to look for fresh investment before returning to the league in 2024.
In a long statement posted on the MLS NEXT Pro website, the club said: ‘It is with a heavy heart and a great sense of disappointment that we share with you Rochester NY Football Club will not participate in the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season.
Rochester New York FC has pulled out of the new season of MLS NEXT Pro on Friday night
The club, which is backed by Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, was in talks to secure new funding
Co-owners David and Wendy Dworkin were in talks to secure funding but they broke down
‘This decision involved a great deal of input from many stakeholders including MLS NEXT Pro and was not one we arrived at lightly. Our full intention for 2023 was to reward RNYFC supporters with another exciting season of professional soccer in Rochester. Our fans turned out in great numbers in 2022, cheered loudly, and were as impassioned as the players themselves.
‘Most recently, we were in advanced discussions with an ownership group to acquire a majority interest in RNYFC. However, the purchasing group decided not to proceed earlier this week as we were moving to close. This left us with no time and no choice but to decline fielding a team in 2023.’
Vardy became a co-owner of Rochester, who were set to compete in the third tier of American soccer, when he bought a minority stake in the club in June 2021.
Sportsmail reported last week that the club’s other co-owners David and Wendy Dworkin were close to finalizing third-party funding, which could have seen Vardy’s role adjusted to that of advisor.
Now, though, the team’s entire future – let alone Vardy’s – is in jeopardy.
