So it was just announced that the Battery has sold their stadium and practice field to a developer. The article said they were trying to work something out to play their games at the citadel..... I’m not sure what this means for their club, but it does suck. I have enjoyed the atmosphere at that stadium over the years!

Agreed it was a wonderful place and will be missed

Patriots going away,,,, blackbaud going away..... “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”..... sucks

The official statement from the Battery:

The Charleston Battery were contacted by the Post & Courier yesterday concerning the future of our club and whether or not we would be remaining at MUSC Health Stadium on Daniel Island for the foreseeable future, to which we gave the following response -

"If there were an opportunity to move the team downtown Charleston where the club started, the Charleston Battery would be extremely excited. The possibilities to benefit the local community and the energy it would bring to the nation's longest running professional soccer team are invigorating"

“There is an ongoing dialogue with a number of parties concerning securing the best long term future for the Battery in Charleston. At this moment in time, we have no further comment - if and when there is anything further to report we will announce.”

I know CBSC parents were caught unaware by the news. There were whispers last summer that the Battery were going bankrupt. While they have tried to deny that, this news certainly lends credence to the whispers.

Where downtown could they hope to go, except back to Stoney field? That field is set to be improved and turned into turf.

http://www.live5news.com/2018/11/05/downtown-charleston-football-field-see-major-renovation/

However, CCSD owns that field to my knowledge and no improvements to the infrastructure are included. Outside of Stoney, I do not see a viable home for a professional club on the peninsula. Besides, a new stadium would likely cost more than double the $8.5 million I saw quoted for the current site.

I do not see the silver lining here.

The fact that they weren't out in front of the news and didn't have a deal in place (even if tentative) prior to the announcement is concerning for sure.

I dont see this as a postive,, we always heard they started the youth club as way to generate additional revenue because the organization was struggling financially. I think selling off the stadium is a big sign.

I don't think they (the Battery) are selling it. They are only leasing it. The lease holders are selling it and it appears the buyers are going to be re-developing that space. I'm just surprised the Battery wasn't (more) ready for this.

If they do somehow get somewhere to play downtown, I will certainly get to more games.

I am betting that the USAMP/GPS/DISA tryouts next month will all be a little bigger now.

CBSC, a separate entity from the pro club, is in the best situation of any local club regarding fields. With the help of the Battery foundation(a second entity working with CBSC) they will have the Summerville soccer complex and the fields in Daniel Island currently being built.

The only other club in as good a situation RE fields is JIYSC and my guess is GPS will be working on a merger with JIYSC because i believe they are losing fields (or will have to start paying for them) in North Charleston.

The USAMP project is a year behind the schedule they gave the town of Mt P and they now have an issue where they told County of Charleston the lot in Awendaw is not usable because there are grand trees they cant cut down where they need the fields to be.

DISA was losing kids to all the local clubs prior to any field issues and I'd be surprised if that changed.

They money from any sale of land, if and when it happens, will only benefit the pro club in the long run as they seek a better location in a more central geographic location. That is all a different subject and only peripherally related to CBSC.

I wouldn’t consider downtown a more central location,,,Daniel Island is pretty central to Mt. Pleasant, downtown and the North Area. Usamps teams are still strong and gps has heard the knock about fields since they have been in Charleston yet their boys teams have gotten stronger every year! It will be interesting to see what happens to the battery. Strange the the members didn’t hear before it made the newspaper.

Time will tell.