On a warm spring evening in April 2015, a record crowd of 11,691 - including global soccer icon Ronaldo - cheered on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium to begin a new era under an exciting new ownership group.

Fast forward to Sept 1, 2016, and just 455 people bothered to turn up to see the North American Soccer League club play a midweek match against MLS-bound Minnesota United.

So what happened? How did this US soccer team with a historic name and one of the world's greatest ever players as its face, suffer such a rapid demise?

So much so that its Brazilian owners are looking to sell after months of turmoil, including regular late payments to players, coaching staff and front-office members.

The Guardian recently looked into this story, but The Telegraph also spoke to a close source to the Strikers to try to shed more light on the club's decline.