USL News Release
Friday, August 24, 2007
RICHMOND, VA – United Soccer Leagues announced Friday the Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors, as voted on by the teams, at the USL Second Division Championship banquet, honoring Bermuda’s Stephen Astwood, Cleveland’s Martin Rennie and Richmond’ Mike Burke, respectively.
Most Valuable Player – Mike Burke (Richmond Kickers)
The USL-2 Assist Leader with nine on the year, Mike Burke assumed the role of captain upon the mid-season retirement of veteran defender Kevin Knight, finishing the regular season tied for scoring on the team with three goals and nine assists for 15 points.
In his eighth season with the Kickers, Burke eclipsed the all-time career assists leaders to hold the sole position in the franchise with 38 assists overall. He continues to reside in third place on the Kickers all-time career points list with 90 (26g, 38a).
Burke was a USL-2 First Team honoree and USL-2 Most Valuable Player Finalist en route to the 2006 USL-2 Final, where he was honored as the Championship Game MVP.
Burke is the third player in the history of the USL Second Division to win the honor without having won the Scoring or Goal Scoring Championship the same season. He is the first to do so since Craig Beeson of the Everett BigFoot won it in 1996. Giovanni Savarese also won the award in the league’s first year in 1995 without a scoring title as he led the Long Island Rough Riders to the championship.
Coach of the Year – Martin Rennie (Cleveland City Stars)
Beating out the coaches of the two championship-bound sides, all Martin Rennie did this season was build an expansion side from scratch and finish the 20-game regular season with just one loss at 10-1-9. Their record was good enough to finish second in the league, just two points behind Richmond.
The first-year club also finished with the lowest goals allowed total on the season with just 14 finding the back of the net. They narrowly missed playing for the championship, falling 1-0 in overtime at home to the third-place Harrisburg City Islanders.
Rennie came to the club having led the Cascade Surge to a division championship in the PDL in 2005 with a franchise-best 12-2-2 record. He also has semi-professional coaching experience in Scotland.
Rookie of the Year – Stephen Astwood (Bermuda Hogges)
Although striker Stephen Astwood only tallied four goals and an assist on the season for the first-year Hogges, Astwood left a lasting impression on his opponents to receive All-League honors. He led the team in scoring, finishing with one more goal than former Manchester City star Shaun Goater for the season.
2007 USL-2 Championship
The USL Second Division Championship featuring the Richmond Kickers at home defending their title against the Harrisburg City Islanders is Saturday, August 25 at 8:00 pm ET. The game will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel on delay at 10:00 pm ET following the MLS match broadcast.
