Jeff Wendt

The Republic | azcentral.com

USL Pro President Tim Holt visited the Valley to check on the progress of Arizona United SC.

Holt is "fortunate" and "grateful" for Kyle Eng stepping up as the new owner of the club.

Holt has been impressed by the 3,000 fans per game that have attended the first three home matches.

United Soccer League Pro President Tim Holt recently made a stop in Arizona during a recent road trip to check out how the league's franchises were faring as the 2014 USL Pro season got under way.

Arizona United was the second stop on Holt's three-city tour. Holt visited the Orange County Blues on April 24 before stopping in Peoria April 25 to check out Arizona United. Holt also visited expansion franchise Sacramento Republic FC and its home opener on the trip.

Holt was impressed with what Arizona United owner Kyle Eng has been able to do with the franchise in just six weeks since acquiring the rights to the franchise on March 13.

"I'll make this comment with (Kyle) standing here, what him and his group have done in five or six weeks, I think it's been five or six weeks since we awarded the franchise, is the type of stuff that takes five or six months to do, so this is going to be a really productive positive year," Holt said. "He's laying the foundation for the future and then we're really, really excited to see what he can do with a whole off-season of preparation both on and off the field."

Holt has been impressed by the almost 3,000 fans per game that have attended Arizona United's first three home matches.

"Take Arizona here, and taking something on five weeks before. So what they've done to have 3,000 fans in that first game under that time is equally as impressive as what's happening in Sacramento (which drew over 20,000 fans, a league record, on April 26)," Holt said.

Holt also talked about the state of the league and where he thinks the league is headed:

— On fan involvement with the franchise: "The one thing that I would have said from last year that always stood out for us is LFR (La Furia Roja), the supporter's group. And maybe not exclusively them, but just the supporters and the passion that they have, especially the supporter's club. So they've remained loyal and consistent all the way through."

— On the possibility of Tucson getting a USL Pro franchise: "Yeah, absolutely they are (on the radar for a team). We think they'd be a great USL Pro rival for Arizona United. We have a ton of respect for the folks that are behind that team. But talk about a wild derby, an Arizona derby-rivalry type situation. If we could make that happen, I think it would be good. I think it's a matter of time for a USL Pro franchise."

— On expansion to the West (currently, USL Pro has three teams in California and Arizona United in the West. Teams in Tulsa and Colorado Springs are set to join in 2015): "At the beginning of next month, we'll be announcing another team that is west of the Mississippi for USL Pro for 2015. (A franchise in St. Louis was announced Thursday as the 17th team in the league). And we're optimistic, before the season is over, we'll announce even one more that is sort of in the western half of the country. So it's happening. I can almost guarantee starting next year we'll have a conference-based system. By the end of the decade, we expect to have three conferences with anywhere between 10 and 15 teams per conference. So if you do the arithmetic on that, we're between 30-45 teams by 2020."

— On what set Eng apart from the rest of those trying to acquire the rights to the franchise earlier this year: "A whole host of different things. There's a certain element of passion that you can detect from Kyle. His love of engagement, obviously his history of business success. You can learn a lot about someone as you're going through this process by the questions they ask you. He didn't come in with all the answers, and had thoughtful questions about what it would take to be successful. I'll use these two words. We're very 'fortunate' that Kyle acquired this team when he acquired it. And we're 'grateful' that he's taken the responsibility of taking it forward."

Saturday's game

Charlotte Eagles at Arizona United SC

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Peoria Sports Complex.

Scouting report: Arizona United (1-1-1) is coming off a 1-1 draw to LA Galaxy II on April 25. ... Saturday night is the final game of a four-game season opening homestand. ... MF Paolo DelPiccolo, who scored United's goal, was named to the USL Pro Team of the Week. ... United will be without MF/F Jonathan Top, out with a hamstring injury. ... Charlotte (2-2) is led by F Jorge Herrera, who is tied for third in the league with six points (two goals, two assists).