MINNEAPOLIS -- The staff of the Minnesota Kicks soccer team said Wednesday it is quitting despite comments from North American Soccer League Commissioner Phil Woosnam that new ownership will be found for the financially troubled club.
Kicks President Tom Scallen, who has been negotiating with prospective buyers, said he was 'bitter' toward Kicks owner Ralph Sweet, now in England.
'I just can't do any more,' Scallen said, although negotiations still were underway.
The league, trying to line up the schedule for the indoor soccer season, had given the club until last Thursday to find new ownership. Then the league extended the deadline until Monday.
On Wednesday the league said that Minnesota, the Los Angeles Aztecs and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers would not participate in the indoor season. But Woosnam insisted that the Kicks and the financially ailing Aztecs were still 'full members' of the NASL. The Strikers agreed over the summer not to play indoors.
Dave Ferroni, Minnesota's club public relations director, said at a news conference that the staff stayed on so far out of loyalty to the team.
'But the time comes when you have to go on to other things and seek new employment,' he said.
He said the staff is leaving and the offices will be closed Thursday morning.
Players said they are not sure what will happen next.
Rodney Burwell, president of Proform, Inc., a Bloomington-based company that makes covers for barges, told Woosnam he is interested in heading a group to buy the Kicks.
Burwell was scheduled to meet with a group from Houston Wednesday but the meeting was postponed because one of the members suffered a heart attack on the way to the airport.
'Negotiations will continue for a number of days,' Woosnam said. 'But the league has decided it must move forward with the indoor schedule.
'This doesn't mean there will be no more soccer in Minnesota. Should new ownership be established in the next few days, a team from Minnesota could play indoor exhibition games.'
Scallen sharply criticized Sweet's handling of the franchise.
'A sports franchise isn't a shoe franchise,' Scallen said. 'Ralph did an injustice by putting us in these straits.'
Coach Geoff Barnett said, 'I'm going to see this through. This is my life. I'm one of the founding members of the club.'
He said something should have been done to 'prevent this from happening to the players.'
Several players were at the Kicks' offices. If the financing isn't solved, the players will become free agents and there may be a dispersal draft.
Steve Heighway, a player who just built a new house in the area, said, 'Tell me who's going to pay the mortgage on my house.'
Sweet said earlier the team lost $1 million in the last outdoor season and the club is reported to be $500,000 in debt.
Players received their latest paychecks Oct. 2.
