USL News Release
Friday, February 18, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. – With a career that spans more than 40 years in U.S. Soccer, USL founder and current USL President Emeritus and Director of International Development Francisco Marcos was nominated on Thursday to be enshrined in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the Builders category. Marcos is one of seven candidates nominated in the Builders category, with voting scheduled to conclude on March 11.
“I am greatly honored by this nomination,” Marcos said. “To be considered for this honor in the Builders category is a very humbling experience for me.”
Marcos was awarded the U.S. Soccer Federation’s highest honor in 2007 as the Werner Fricker Builder Award winner, joining an illustrious group that also includes current USSF President Sunil Gulati, former USSF President and Founder of Major League Soccer Alan Rothenberg and 2011 award recipient Kevin Payne, the CEO and President of D.C. United.
FRANCISCO MARCOS' CAREER IN SOCCER
Marcos’ career began in 1968 when as a Hartwick College graduate he was part of the school’s men’s soccer team on a European tour. The idea of taking American teams to Europe evolved into a full-time business for the young entrepreneur, who founded American International Sports Exchange, the first American company to develop soccer tours for teams in the United States.
Through the company, Marcos established a network of international soccer contacts that would serve him throughout his career marketing the game in North America. Many prominent college and professional coaches in the United States got their first taste of international soccer thanks to Marcos’ tours.
Marcos then moved into the professional game in the United States, spending more than 10 years as part of the North American Soccer League. His work in NASL began as a volunteer in 1973, when Marcos was asked by his Hartwick College coach, Al Miller, to help recruit players from Europe to join the expansion Philadelphia Atoms. The players Marcos was able to recruit, among them future Liverpool coach Roy Evans and NASL First-Team All-Stars Andy Provan, Chris Dunleavy and Jim Fryatt, helped the Atoms win the NASL championship in their first season.
After that success Marcos joined the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1974 as the expansion franchise’s director of public relations and vice president of soccer operations. The Rowdies won the NASL Championship in their first season in 1975, and thanks to agreements Marcos brokered between the Rowdies and Brazilian powerhouse Sao Paulo, the club began a series of games sponsored by Pan American Airlines. The Rowdies’ partnership with Sao Paulo also saw players from both teams move back and forth from Brazil to the United States and helped the Rowdies became one of the marquee franchises in the league.
Marcos was also active in Tampa’s local soccer community, playing host to a weekly Rowdies radio show and providing color commentary for their televised games. Under his tutelage the Tampa Bay Area’s youth soccer organization would blossom into the Florida Youth Soccer Association.
Marcos then took on a new challenge, again with Miller, as he went to the Dallas Tornado for the 1979 NASL season as vice president of personnel. After missing the playoffs the previous season, Marcos and Miller were able to lead the Tornado to the playoffs in each of their two seasons with the club.
After a brief foray into Canada to help Miller establish the Calgary Boomers, Marcos returned to Tampa to work for the Rowdies early in the 1981 season, and remained with the club until 1985. Along with owner George Strawbridge, Vice President of Marketing Marty Rothberg, General Manager Chas Serednesky and Coach Eddie Firmani, Marcos helped make the Rowdies one of the pre-eminent and best remembered clubs in NASL history.
It was then that Marcos made the boldest move of his career. The seeds for what would become United Soccer Leagues were sowed when Marcos founded the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, which in addition to hosting its own indoor league also played host to the first national amateur and youth indoor tournaments.
Marcos soon looked to expand his league’s reach, adding a men’s outdoor development league in 1989. A professional level was added in 1995, and a youth division in 1999, as Marcos’ vision of a complete pyramid of development came to fruition.
Marcos was also highly involved in developing the women’s game in the U.S., establishing the W-League in 1995. The first league of its kind in the world, the W-League offered the opportunity for players to compete and develop in a professional environment. Among those who have competed in the W-League are U.S. Internationals Kristine Lilly, Christie Rampone, Tiffeny Milbrett, Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan, while the W-League’s Buffalo Flash recently became Women’s Professional Soccer’s newest franchise.
Marcos has also been a key member in U.S. Soccer circles. A member of the USSF Soccer Board or Directors since the 1993-94 season, Marcos was also a member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation from 1997 until 2009. As a member of the USSF, he was the head of the U.S. Delegation for three FIFA U20 World Cups - 1999 in Nigeria, 2001 in Argentina and 2005 in the Netherlands - and was the official team liaison for Brazil’s national team during the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
Marcos has also been on numerous U.S. Soccer commissions, including the Co-Chair of the USSF International Task Force from 2007-08.
In addition to his work for the USSF, Marcos has had a long-standing commitment to showcasing the game through the media. From hosting his own television show in the late 1960s in Oneonta, N.Y. to being a radio host and color commentator during his NASL days, Marcos also founded the magazine Soccer Monthly which eventually became the official magazine of the USSF. Marcos has also attended every World Cup since 1970 as either a fan or journalist, most recently covering the 2002 and 2006 World Cup for the Tampa Tribune.
“Francisco has left an indelible mark on the modern history of U.S. Soccer,” USL President Tim Holt said. “The work he has done not only for professional clubs and United Soccer Leagues but also the U.S. Soccer Federation has helped manufacture the growth the sport has seen over the course of his career. It has been a privilege to work alongside him for USL.”