Forward Madison Talks Coaching, Stadium, League Sustainability at Town Hall

Everything you need to know from Forward Madison’s November 19 town hall

Image credit Forward Madison

On the evening of November 19, Forward Madison COO Connor Caloia alongside Forward Madison Head Coach and Technical Director Matt Glaeser sat down with fans to answer their burning questions. Most of the questions asked were previously written in to them but both Matt & Connor took questions from the folks in attendance. Here are some of the main takeaways.

Matt Glaeser has been given an multi-year extension 

The first major announcement of the evening was made when Caloia stated that Glaeser has been given a multi-year extension to his contract with Forward Madison as Head Coach and Technical Director. While a firm number wasn’t given, this extension now means Glaeser will remain at the helm for his fourth consecutive season at Forward Madison. Glaeser has seen steady success as the coach, maintaining his promise this time last year to see Forward Madison not only finish within the top 4, but host a playoff match.

Glaeser had many interesting comments regarding his plans and even answered many questions about his process, but some things to note. Glaeser said that fans and players alike have a lot to be proud of.

Despite saying that, he was not happy with the lack of silverware this year. Next season, he expects Madison to finish within the top 2 teams of the league and have some sort of trophy to Madison’s name. He stated, “We plan to come into this (next season) with a chip on our shoulder with the idea that there is unfinished business.”

Glaeser continued, “The caveat is that we’re still a little bit angry, a little bit hungry, and that’s the idea I want to continue so that we can sustain success.”

10 players returning under contract (so far)

While Glaeser did not reveal any roster decisions or specific individuals, he also confirmed that 10 players from this season will be returning next year. He reiterated from previous town halls that he wants to build a roster around a group of core individuals.

He also confirmed that one player has chosen to retire, while the name of the player wasn’t revealed, he wished the individual the best in his retirement.

Glaeser stated that next season his plans continue to be focused on how Madison can not only find a way to score more goals, but also to find more ways to find a way ahead when the game is getting mentally tough. He brought up the stat that Forward Madison had 6 draws last year that finished 0-0. He even pulled up the stat that Madison only had 2 shots on goal out of 16 total shots in their final game of the year, a 0-0 game that Madison would later go on to lose on penalties. He believes that if the team can find a way to capitalize in moments like those, the results will only get better.

Stadium still on the horizon

In May of 2023, Caloia revealed plans to bring women’s soccer to Madison in the newly formed USL Super League. The plans initially revealed a partnership between Breese Stevens Field and the City of Madison to make renovations to Breese Stevens Field for this new women’s team.

In recent months, plans looked to be stalled when the City of Madison proposed a referendum to add funding to the city to continue a multitude of things, including the ongoing renovations to Breese Stevens Field.

During the November general election, it was revealed that the referendum had passed. Because of this, Caloia stated that the club plans to rekindle talks with the City of Madison over ongoing plans of renovating Breese Stevens Field. The club still has a lease on Breese Stevens Field until the year 2029.

These renovations look to not only add additional seating capacity, replace the club’s 11 year old turf pitch, and make needed changes to the stadium like restrooms, more accessible seating, and more.

Club and league sustainability

As it was revealed last week, both Northern Colorado Hailstorm and Central Valley Fuego will no longer be in USL 1.

On top of this, bigger clubs in the USL Championship have recently folded. Last year, San Diego Loyal ceased operations due to lack of being able to find a facility. More recently, it was revealed that Memphis 901 would cease operations due to the same reasons. This has had all of us rightfully worried about our clubs and the future sustainability of not only our beloved soccer teams, but the league itself.

A lot of the questions asked were about aspects that would directly affect the sustainability for Forward Madison. Caloia reassured that the team is still invested in USL 1 and the path in which it takes to become sustainable in this league.

He said:

“I would say safely (that) we are the most stable club (within the league). Not to say other clubs aren’t, but we’ve built something that we think is not only an asset for the community, but has value as well. Sustainability is an interesting question and I think part of the way you get there that you invest, I think that if you start pulling back, not only on the field, but also in the fan experience is when you’re not going to be sustainable.”

One way Caloia said he’d like to continue to diversify business is not only in soccer. While Caloia is excited to bring women’s soccer to Madison, he also stated that Breese Stevens Field is also a concert venue that has been able to bring in some revenue for Forward Madison. He added this year as the club reported an 8% growth in revenue year over year.

Caloia believes that moves like these are what can build long term success to the club. He briefly added at the end of the town hall that he’d like to also see the club develop an academy in the future. While Madison already has their “future forward’s” team, a team of U9s-U19s that play for the team. Caloia looks in the future to hopefully bring an academy to the club.

Caloia also reiterated that he has no interest in moving up to the USL Championship as the cost to maintain a team in that league are much higher than being in USL1. The only way he believes Madison will be in the USL Championship, are if we are promoted if the league decides to move forward with its proposed promotion/relegation system

Other League Related Items Answered

Caloia talked about a lot of league related items as that is what the most questions always asked were curious about. Here is what we found out.

• The club does not currently have a schedule for next season, but expects it to come out early next year.

• With 5 teams joining the league next year, Madison’s travel budget has increased by an additional $100,000.

• The league will have 14 teams and is expected to have a 28 game regular season not counting playoff games, Jägermeister Cup matches, and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup games.

• No confirmation on whether the Jägermeister Cup will have USL Championship teams competing next year, but both Caloia and Glaeser are not opposed to having them within the competition.

• Any ideas of a European type schedule (Sep-May rather than Apr-Nov) are no longer within discussion

• Talks for promotion/relegation are still in discussion, but more in the hand of the USL and USL Championship teams.

They also addressed the fan concern about Pro Referees, saying they have been a lot better this year compared to years prior. A pretty unique incident occurred according to Glaeser when said there was a rivalry match happening in Breese Stevens Field this summer and the referee assigned to the match was planned to make his officiating debut in this game. Concerned for the referee and the game’s environment, Glaeser requested a new referee be put into the game. The league and the referees agreed and apparently it was done within 24 hours. This was something that astonished Glaeser, as he stated things like this just weren’t resolved as quick in years prior.

While I couldn’t quite go over the whole hour-twenty minute town hall in 2 pages, I highly recommend you watch the whole town hall on Forward Madison’s YouTube channel or by clicking the link here. There were some audio issues in the beginning and the audio on the official video is rather quiet, but if you can get over those two humps, it makes for a fascinating listen.