The Syracuse Salty Dogs (formally Syracuse Football Club) were a professional men's soccer team based in Syracuse, New York

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

. The club were a member of the USL

United Soccer Leagues

The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...

 A-League, playing only two seasons from 2003-2004. The club was owned and operated by the Syracuse Pro Sports Group and played most home games at P&C Stadium

Alliance Bank Stadium

Alliance Bank Stadium is an 11,071-seat minor league baseball stadium in Syracuse, New York. The stadium opened on April 10, 1997, replacing the aging MacArthur Stadium which had been home to Syracuse's professional baseball team since 1934...

. The team suspended operations in October 2004 due to financial difficulties and has not played since, however groups have been working to return pro soccer to Syracuse.

History

The Salty Dogs debuted in their first season in 2003, where they ended with a record of 11-12-5 (W-L-D) under coach Laurie Calloway

Laurie Calloway

Laurence John "Laurie" Calloway is a retired English-U.S. soccer defender who spent thirteen years in the English leagues and six years in the North American Soccer League....

. The club improved their record to 15-8-5 in their second season and averaged the third highest attendance in the A-League during both years of play.

Financial difficulties & dissolution

Despite high attendance in the A-League over both years of play and reasonable success on the field, the team faltered financially. The club's budget had been strained as a result of using P&C Stadium

Alliance Bank Stadium

Alliance Bank Stadium is an 11,071-seat minor league baseball stadium in Syracuse, New York. The stadium opened on April 10, 1997, replacing the aging MacArthur Stadium which had been home to Syracuse's professional baseball team since 1934...

 (now known as Alliance Bank Stadium), which is run by the SkyChiefs. During their first season, the team was forced to play several home games at the Liverpool Athletic Complex at Liverpool High School

Liverpool High School

Liverpool High School is a comprehensive New York public high school located on Wetzel Road in the village of Liverpool, northwest of the city of Syracuse in the Liverpool Central School District, serving ninth to twelfth grade students...

, which was primarily an football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 field in Liverpool, NY

Liverpool, New York

Liverpool is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 2,505 at the 2000 census. The name was adopted from the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom...

 (also shared by the CNY Express, an amateur American football team). During its second season, the team's playoff home games were in Cortland, NY

Cortland, New York

Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....

 for similar reasons.

During the 2004 season, there were proposals to build a downtown

Downtown Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse is the economic center of Syracuse, New York, and Central New York, employing over 30,000 people, and housing over 2,000. It is also one of the 26 officially recognized neighborhoods of Syracuse.- History :...

 soccer stadium near Armory Square

Armory Square

Armory Square is a small neighborhood on the west side of Downtown Syracuse, New York. It began life as a busy commercial and industrial area just to the west of the central city. After World War II, Syracuse's central city became less and less populated as more housing and business facilities...

. After the team's folding, Matt Driscoll, Syracuse's mayor, stated that realization of such a stadium is only feasible if a team returns. The Syracuse Pro Sports group filed for bankruptcy and folded the team in October 2004.

Future soccer expansion in Syracuse

The Syracuse-based Monolith Athletic Club had been working to return professional soccer to Syracuse. After over a year of negotiations, the group has cleared two out of the four hurdles necessary to bring USL soccer back to Syracuse. The second hurdle, seen as the pivotal one, involving the Chiefs baseball team, was cleared in April 2006. The final two steps involved a settlement on territorial rights with the Rochester Raging Rhinos

Rochester Raging Rhinos

The Rochester Rhinos are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, the team plays in the National Division of the new USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, having self-relegated from the USSF D2 Pro League...

 and expansion

Expansion team

An expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...

 approval from the USL.

In September 2007, Matt Michael of the Syracuse Post-Standard reported that Monolith Athletic Club owner, Vito William Lucchetti, was no longer involved with bringing pro soccer to Syracuse, citing his intent to focus on his other business dealings.

Professional soccer did return to Syracuse in 2011 when the expansion Syracuse Silver Knights began play in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

2004 Roster

Salty Dogs roster for their final 2004 season.

Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup	Record	Avg. Attendance
2003	USL A-League	4th, Northeast	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	11-12-5 (W-L-D)	6,885
2004	USL A-League	3rd, Eastern	Semifinals	3rd Round	15-8-5	6,387

2003 Player Stats

Player	Goals	Assists	Points
Gabriel Valencia	10	1	21
Machel Millwood	6	2	14
Lars Lyssand	4	3	11
Rene Rivas	4	0	8
Mike Kirmse	3	2	8
Noah Delgado	1	5	7
Ryan Mack	2	2	6
Jack Jewsbury	2	0	4
Neil McNab	2	0	4
Tommy Tanner Tommy Tanner Thomas “Tommy” Tanner is a retired American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the USL A-League, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer Leaguey...	2	0	4
Ryan Hall	1	2	4
Ian Woan	1	2	4
Adauto Neto	1	1	3
Isiais Bardales	1	0	2
Anthony Medina	0	2	2
Paul Nagy	0	1	1

2004 Player Stats

Player	Goals	Assists	Points
Mauro Carabajal	9	1	19
Machel Millwood	6	4	16
Rene Rivas	6	2	14
Anthony Maher	6	1	13
Christoher Dore	3	6	12
Atilla Vendegh	3	3	9
Ian Woan	2	4	8
Lars Lyssand	3	1	7
Timothy O'Neil	1	2	4
Jonathon Steele	1	2	4
Matthew Barnes-Homer	1	0	2
Cjaba Kerekes	1	0	2
Christian Neagu	1	0	2
Cuauhtemoc Suarez	1	0	2
Kupono Low	0	1	1
Ryan Mack	0	1	1
Jason Perry	0	1	1