Adrian Heath is bracing himself for “the ultimate reality TV show” as he prepares his Orlando City club for a unique final season in the USL Pro league before they become the 21st franchise in Major League Soccer.



It is a rare challenge for the Lions’ fourth-year head coach, with the former Stoke and Everton star now firmly entrenched in Florida but admitting he is largely stepping into the unknown when their season kicks off at Charleston on March 22.

Sure, Orlando’s MLS future is already set in stone after the club was admitted into the top tier last November following an impressive three-year campaign, but first they have to negotiate the ‘in-between’ season as USL Pro’s reigning champs, and with an extra target on their back thanks to their imminent top-flight status.

Oh, and there is also the little matter of having no home ground this year. Previous home the Citrus Bowl is being completely rebuilt and their proposed new 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium has yet to take shape. Instead, they will be in a world of their own; Disney World in fact, where the ESPN Wide World of Sports will act as a temporary soccer sanctuary, with a 6,000-seat facility being created around one of the playing fields there.

It is the most homespun of arrangements for a team with such lofty ambitions, but somehow it will be a fitting send-off in a city that has embraced the idea from the start, with Major Buddy Dyer being one of their most fervent supporters, and some 20,000 showing up for the championship game against Charlotte last September.

Now, though, Heath has a six-month ‘audition’ period for his players, competing at one level but aiming at another, and he admitted:

“This is now my 38th pre-season campaign since I first started playing at the age of 16, and it is certainly the most interesting I’ve ever had because we have so much going on. “Previously, it was always just a matter of simple goals, like putting a competitive team out and winning games, but now we have to take notice of a lot more things, like the MLS Draft, the combine, the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap, as well as having a new home this year at Disney. “It is the ultimate reality TV show, really, and the players know this. The bottom line is that all the guys on the field this year will definitely be playing for a future with us at the higher level, but the reality is some of them aren’t going to make it. “The one burning question for everybody is, who will be the guys who go with us? We’ve filled four of our MLS player spots for next year, but there are a lot more to be had. We will probably need 28 to 29 members of the squad and what we are trying to do is put a picture together like a jigsaw. We have four pieces now, but we still don’t know what the ultimate picture will look like, although we know those four will not be out of their depth.”

Orlando’s quartet of ‘certs’ for next year are their international midfield trio of Darwin Ceren, newly signed from El Salvador, Cuban Yordany Alvarez, who is returning to City after playing for them in 2011 and then spending the past two seasons with Real Salt Lake, and Trinidadian Kevin Molino, who’s been with the club all three seasons, as well as brand new signing Tyler Turner, the USA Under-18 center-back who is highly thought of at youth level having captained the U-17s and scored against both Brazil and Turkey.

That obviously still leaves a lot of places up for grabs, and Heath was paying special attention to the other teams they played in the recent Disney Pro Soccer Classic, when they faced off against Philadelphia, Toronto, Columbus and New York.

City acquitted themselves well, drawing with all four MLS outfits in turn – including hugely entertaining 4-4 scorelines against both the Crew and Red Bulls, both of whom were several weeks ahead of Heath’s men in their pre-season preparations – and the Lions boss was encouraged by a lot of what he saw.

He insisted: “There was a lot of pleasing stuff in the course of those games. Some of our football going forward was excellent and, while we obviously had some issues defensively, there were some very encouraging signs. The big thing this tournament did give us, though, was the opportunity to scout the other teams involved and look at their players with an eye on next year’s expansion draft. We really need to do our homework, which is just another thing you wouldn’t be doing in a normal pre-season campaign.”

In fact, the word ‘normal’ may not apply to Orlando at any stage this year as they look to sign off their USL Pro days in style and make sure they are ready for the big time.

Heath revealed he had already spent some time with previous teams that have come through the ‘in-between’ season. He explained: “I was lucky enough to have a few days at Seattle and Portland, where they were very kind to share their experiences from going from the USL to MLS.

“The first thing that stuck out was the time they thought they had. They told me they were thinking “Oh, we have 13 to 14 months to get it all sorted,’ and suddenly it went by in a heartbeat. Before they knew it, they were about to start an MLS campaign. The other thing that came across was the importance of managing the player expectations. During the year it may become apparent some of them are not going to make it, and then you have to avoid any drop-off you might have from the group.”

Orlando’s other ongoing issue will be managing speculation over the arrival next year – or otherwise – of a certain Brazilian ace from AC Milan, who has strong connections to the club’s main financial backer, Flavio Augusto da Silva, who hails from near Rio and also has ties to Flamengo.

Heath added:

“We are aware Kaka gets mentioned in every article about us, but we also have to be thinking, what’s the second plan? There are a lot of gray areas of what we can and can’t do, especially when it comes to the draft scenarios.

“One thing I’m certain of is that I didn’t realise I had so many friends in America and back in Europe. I’ve been on the phone since eight this morning already, talking to agents and all of a sudden your email goes from 20 to 50 a day, all from agents wanting to put players in MLS.

“We have a lot to offer here in Orlando because it’s one of the most attractive places to live of all the MLS cities, and the league gets bigger, better and stronger every year. If you are going to live in the States, I would argue we are in one of the top three cities to live in, and that’s borne out by the amount of interest we’re getting.”

For all the extra elements involved and his footballing ‘reality show,’ Heath has simple ambitions. He said: “I expect to win the regular season, the play-offs and championship. Anything less will be a failure in our eyes. The only thing that will stop us is us. We are fully capable of doing it and I certainly won’t accept anything less. There are no excuses for looking ahead.”