Albany BWP Highlanders was an American soccer team based in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 2003, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two years on hiatus from the league in 2008 and 2009, returning to competition in 2010, then folded at the end of the season.
 | |||
| Full name | Albany BWP Highlanders | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Highlanders | ||
| Founded | 2003 | ||
| Dissolved | 2010 | ||
| Ground | Frank Bailey Field Schenectady, New York | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 | ||
| Owner |  Jeff Rockmore | ||
| Head Coach | Franz Zwicklbauer | ||
| League | USL Premier Development League | ||
| 2010 | 3rd, Northeast Playoffs: DNQ | ||
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The team played its home games at Frank Bailey Field on the campus of Union College in nearby Schenectady, New York, The team's colors were black, gold, and white.
History
editThe roots of the Highlanders go back to Steve Freeman's youth in Tampa, Florida where he played for Blackwatch Keelley. Freeman spent his first season of college playing for Hartwick College and another with Siena College, both in New York, before finishing college in Florida. After graduation, he returned to New York and settled in Albany where he taught school. In January 1997, he founded Albany Blackwatch, a youth club modeled on the club he played for as a boy. The club began with two boys teams, but quickly expanded to several boys and girls teams, each with a Scottish-themed name.[1] In 2001, Blackwatch entered a team into the USL Super Y-League. In 2003, Freeman created the Blackwatch Highlanders and entered it into the USL Premier Development League. Freeman served as the general manager and Bernie Watt coached the team.[2] The Highlanders played from 2003 until 2007, first as Blackwatch and then as the Albany Admirals, the last season with Freeman as head coach. They then went on a two-year hiatus before being resurrected in 2009 as the Albany BWP Highlanders, and re-joined the PDL for the 2010 season.[3]
Notable former players
editThis list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.
Year-by-year
edit| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | Open Cup | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 4 | USL PDL | 6th, Northeast | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
| 2004 | 4 | USL PDL | 3rd, Northeast | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
| 2005 | 4 | USL PDL | 4th, Northeast | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
| 2006 | 4 | USL PDL | 4th, New England | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
| 2007 | 4 | USL PDL | 5th, Northeast | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
| 2008 | On Hiatus | |||||
| 2009 | ||||||
| 2010 | 4 | USL PDL | 3rd Northeast | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | |
Head coaches
edit
Bernie Watt (2003)- Steve Freeman (2007)
- Franz Zwicklbauer (2010)[4]
Stadia
edit- Frank Bailey Field; Schenectady, New York (2003–2007, 2010)
- CBA Stadium; Albany, New York (2007) 2 games
Average attendance
editAttendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.
- 2005: 149
- 2006: 138
- 2007: 130
- 2008: Did not play
- 2009: Did not play
- 2010: 185
References
edit- ^ "Blackwatch: Our History". Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
- ^ Highlanders open season tonight
- ^ "Albany BWP Highlanders re-launched". United Soccer Leagues. 2010-01-28. Archived from the original on 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ "Zwicklbauer to Lead BWP Highlanders". Archived from the original on 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2010-03-02.