On the passing of Joe Barone former NPSL Chairman and ACF Fiorentina GM
Joe Barone was a key figure in the development of lower division soccer in the US
Joe Barone had a bigger impact than most on what I do.
Barone collapsed on Sunday as Fiorentina were preparing for a clash with Atalanta in Bergamo. He was rushed to the hospital but died on Tuesday. He was 57.
I knew Joe for many years, and he was someone that put his heart and soul into building soccer in the United States.
I first met Barone in 2010 when he was running the Brooklyn Italians in NPSL. The Italians, an amateur side, had just joined NPSL and I was actively trying to get NPSL and reborn NASL to link up. Barone would prove an ally on this score for many years.
Eventually Barone was elected Chairman of NPSL and while I was no longer working at NASL, remained very engaged in it and other lower division soccer. Our paths crossed constantly and Barone was always full of energy and excitement as well as bringing timely advice.
The NASL-NPSL linkages became more formalized by 2015 and Barone and I were in touch about Fort Lauderdale’s reserve team which was playing in NPSL.
In 2016, the New York Cosmos were facing insolvency and NASL as a result of that and the financial issues with Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, imminent collapse. It was Barone who brought Rocco Commisso to the table and the rest is history as we say.
During 2017, as I helped multiple NPSL clubs as a consultant, Barone was always around and had created a consensus on a direction for the league. In 2018, he gave the club I was then working for, Miami FC a temporary home when NASL did in fact collapse.
Perhaps, Miami FC should have moved to USL right there and then, but instead stayed in NPSL for two seasons as Barone tried to put together a professional division of NPSL. Unfortunately after years of efforts, the plan failed, and Miami FC moved first to NISA (which at the time operated at a far inferior level than NPSL even if it was a pro league) and eventually, (thankfully) to USL.
Barone was always generous with his time and pressing the cause of lower division soccer. He was a panelist, on a panel I moderated about the game in the United States as a sports business conference in 2018. He was always also trying to stabilize NPSL and during his tenure the “churn and burn” of clubs entering and leaving the league was lower than before or after his tenure (though notably a few key clubs did defect to USL League 2 toward the end of his tenure).
When Commisso bought ACF Fiorentina in Serie A, Barone moved to Florence to serve as the GM of the club. I had been in infrequent touch with him after his move but we still exchanged messages every now and then.
Barone was a true titan of the game in this country and was making an impact in Italy where Fiorentina, basket-case of a club a few years ago, made a European Final last season.
He will most certainly be missed.
From NPSL Website
Very sorry to hear the news, and his passing is too soon.
Sat next to him and JP Dellacamera when the Cosmos played Hartford City back in 2018. Seemed really interested in the fans opinions of lower division soccer and what we thought would make the game grow. In other words, MLS would have never hired him.