Atlanta Football

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After a two-year absence, men’s professional soccer returns to Atlanta on Saturday night. Local fans hope that this time, it is here to stay.

The Atlanta Silverbacks kick off the 2011 season with big goals in mind — both on the field and in the front office — as they play host to the NSC Minnesota Stars at 7:30 p.m. in Doraville.

The Silverbacks men will play in a new league — the North American Soccer League — and will field a brand new squad at the team’s stadium, located just north of Spaghetti Junction off I-85.

The Silverbacks believe the changes will help provide the base for an enduring and successful future — one that includes playing at the highest levels.

“Our goal is to be an MLS franchise, eventually,” Silverbacks public relations manager Neal Malone said on Thursday (Major League Soccer is the top professional division in the United States). “We know that (jumping up to the MLS) is not going to happen over the next year or two. But it is certainly one of our longer-term goals.”

The history of Atlanta soccer goes back to Ron Newman who came to Atlanta from the UK in 1967. Using his carpentry skills learned in Portsmouth dockyards, he built makeshift goals to help stage what might have been the first suburban match in the American South!

Recalling the staging of his first community soccer practice at the Williamsburg Village Apartments, north of Emory University in Decatur, Newman scheduled it for 7 p.m. by the apartment pool but no one came. By 8 p.m., they had more children than they could handle and thus was suburban soccer launched!

Newman was then inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 1992. But soccer’s popularity has grown by leaps and bounds and there are literally dozens of soccer clubs and associations in the metro area.

There’s also a fine selection of top-quality soccer gear right here in Atlanta metro for soccer enthusiasts and soccer players at all levels of athletic skill.

Head to It is Soccer.  Soccer players in Atlanta will be thrilled to learn that It is Soccer has four locations in Atlanta Metro and they carry Resuch and Diadora product lines featuring everything from apparel to training equipment! Choose from jerseys, goalie apparel, bags, caps, gloves, hats, socks, warm-ups, uniforms, soccer balls, protectors, outerwear and shin guards.

The Georgia soccer team faces a tall task as it continues the spring campaign with a game against the Atlanta Beat of the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the UGA Soccer Stadium.

The Beat roster includes Olympic gold medalists Carli Lloyd and Heather Mitts, who have been regulars on the U.S. National Team and are expected to be chosen to the American roster for the World Cup this summer. Mitts has two gold medals to her name in addition to over 100 caps for the U.S., while Lloyd’s game-winner in extra time gave the U.S. a 1-0 win over Brazil in the 2008 Olympic gold medal game in Beijing.

Georgia, meanwhile, is in the thick of its own spring schedule as it is currently 3-1-1 after most recently splitting a pair vs. Tennessee and UNC Greensboro last weekend in Knoxville. The Bulldogs went 11-6-4 in 2010 and reached the semifinals of the SEC Championships. The team returns nine players who made at least 10 starts, including 89 percent of its scoring makeup and its top six point contributors.

Former Auburn soccer player Allison Whitworth is one of 24 players on the official roster for the Atlanta Beat of Women’s Professional Soccer, the club announced on Thursday.

An eighth-round pick by the FC Gold Pride in the 2009 WPS Draft, Whitworth has appeared in eight games during her career, spending time with the Pride (2009), the Beat and Chicago Red Stars (2010). A goalkeeper, she has a career 1.25 goals against average with 41 saves.

A three-year starter at Auburn that lettered for four years (2005-08) and was a First Team All-SEC selection in 2008, Whitworth still holds the school record for career saves (356) and is second all-time with a 1.13 goals against average and 22 shutouts.

The Auburn soccer team has already faced the Beat once this spring exhibition season, falling 1-0 at the Auburn Soccer Complex. The teams will face off again on Sunday, April 3 at Spain Park High School Stadium in Hoover at 3pm.