FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that the New England Revolution and Sporting Clube de Portugal made their strategic partnership official, but the organizations first broached the subject of a mutually beneficial pact back in early June.
Executives from Sporting were in Foxborough for the international friendly between Portugal and Mexico, and when a mutual contact suggested that the Revs front office meet with them, the relationship began.
“The guys from Sporting were really interested in partnering up and doing something to help them gain more of a foothold here in the United States, in our region in Massachusetts, but also around soccer in the United States and particularly around MLS,” said club president Brian Bilello, who along with general manager Michael Burns was in Lisbon for Wednesday’s announcement.
“They know the quality of player that we have here and they were interested in having a strategic partner in this region. In return they offered up the ability for us to partner with them in Portugal and see some of their players.”
The multi-year partnership will feature limited commercial elements – perhaps some shared merchandise in the teams’ official pro shops and a potential friendly somewhere down the line – but the primary driver, Bilello said, is the on-field benefits both sides hope to gain from player coordination.
Chief among those benefits is the potential for the Revolution to take Sporting players on loan, or perhaps even full transfers if the circumstances make sense. Sporting’s first team features a pair of former MLSers in Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC) and Uri Rosell (Sporting KC), so the club is well aware of the league’s potential in helping develop young talent.
“We’ll have that relationship with the club so that we know all the players that are in their program and where they are in their timeline, and what our ability might be to bring those players in and see those players,” said Bilello. “I think from a first-team perspective, it’s a huge benefit for us potentially right away.”
The partnership not only provides the Revs a direct line to Sporting’s talented stable of players, but it also expands the scouting network of both clubs. While the Revs can provide insider knowledge on American and MLS players to Sporting, information will also flow the other way as Sporting’s scouts help identify players which might fit within the Revolution’s system.
“We’ll have access to their scouting network and leagues and areas where they’re playing,” said Bilello. “For them, there’s value in access to our scouting network, particularly here in the United States in terms of youth players, college players and MLS players. I think on both ends there’ll be some sharing in terms of helping identify and understand players in each other’s regions.”
One of the most exciting elements of the partnership, Bilello said, is the ability for the Revs to tap into Sporting’s vast history in the area of youth development. Considered one of the world leaders in developing young talent, Sporting’s academy has helped produce the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma.
The two clubs will not only frequently share their philosophies on youth development, but the opportunity will also exist for Revolution youth players and coaches to learn directly from Sporting’s staff.
“Their experience from more than 100 years of being a club, you can see some of the names that have come out of the Sporting academy – Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo. I could go on and on,” said Bilello. “They clearly have a great track record in that area and the ability to have our coaches spend some time with them – whether it’s in the States or over in Portugal – I think will be invaluable to us.”
While MLS rosters are currently frozen and no transactions can take place until the season has ended, New England’s staff has already taken advantage of the partnership and begun exploring Sporting’s vast talent pool. Bilello and Burns were on hand for Tuesday evening’s UEFA Champions League match against Chelsea, as well as a U19 game and a reserve team training session.
“That doesn’t mean that every six months there’ll be players changing hands between the clubs, or even as soon as this first window coming up which is the winter window for us,” said Bilello. “But we’ve already started looking at some of the players in their system and working with them, so it wouldn’t surprise me if something happened soon.”
