FC Tulsa, one of the USL Championship’s most ambitious organizations, and Triestina, a historic club playing in Italy’s Serie C, set to benefit from joint collaboration
TULSA, OK January 18, 2024 – FC Tulsa and Triestina Calcio are pleased to announce the formation of a long-term strategic partnership. The partnership is the first collaboration between a USL Championship club and an Italian professional organization and will cover all areas of technical squad management including scouting, data analysis, player development and operational best practices.
As part of the partnership, the sporting department of Triestina, led by Alex Menta, will actively advise FC Tulsa on scouting and recruitment initiatives. It is expected that the partnership will further open up pathways between talented young American players to play at high level European clubs, of which Triestina will be a frequent destination. The collaboration between the two clubs will also provide select Triestina players the opportunity to accelerate their professional development through loan moves to the high-level USL Championship, serving to strengthen FC Tulsa’s roster in the process.
“It’s a truly exciting day for FC Tulsa. We are excited to partner with Triestina, a historic and ascending club in Italian football,” said Ryan Craft, Co-Owner of FC Tulsa. “This milestone will foster additional innovation within our scouting department and unlock access to an abundance of new and unique roster talent that will help us compete for trophies for years to come. We expect this partnership to further demonstrate the increasing viability of the USL as a tremendous option for young players to access the top echelon of global soccer. The future for FC Tulsa has never been brighter.”
“We are very pleased to establish this partnership with FC Tulsa,” said Ben Rosenzweig, Chairman and President of Triestina. “We believe FC Tulsa is an ideal partner to help us identify and develop talent on a truly global scale, while strengthening our ties to the US market. This will allow both clubs to offer young players a career path that is better tailored to them, while providing a unique ecosystem where their development can be closely monitored. FC Tulsa shares our ambition, and I am confident that both clubs will benefit from this collaboration for years to come.”
The strategic partnership will further leverage FC Tulsa’s recently acquired best-in-class training facility spanning 60 acres. The grounds consist of 11 outdoor soccer fields and a 190,000 square foot indoor sports facility containing 2 indoor soccer fields, an indoor high performance training center, fitness center, medical training and recovery facilities, locker, film and meeting rooms and 8 futsal courts.
“FC Tulsa’s world class training facility creates an optimal environment for player development” added Rosenzweig. “This facility will serve as a tremendous differentiator for promising American and International footballers looking for a pathway to the highest levels in Europe via Tulsa and the USL Championship. FC Tulsa’s commitment to excellence, combined with Triestina’s expertise and experience in the global transfer market, ensures that these young players will have the optimal environment to seamlessly make the leap to compete at the highest levels of the game.”
About US Triestina Calcio 1918
Triestina is an historic soccer club based in the city of Trieste, in Northern Italy. Triestina was founded in 1918 and currently competes in Serie C (the third tier of Italian soccer). Trieste is one of the 20 largest cities in Italy and is strategically located on the Adriatic Sea straddling the borders of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Triestina plays its home matches in the Stadio Nereo Rocco, which has capacity for more than 26,000 spectators and is one of the top-rated stadiums across all tiers of Italian soccer. Triestina was acquired by LBK Capital, a US based investment firm, in July 2023.
About FC Tulsa
FC Tulsa is the only professional soccer team in the state of Oklahoma, playing soccer in the USL Championship at ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa. The club motto is #ForTulsa and aims to represent the renaissance and rebirth of our beautiful city by putting the Tulsa community at the heart of everything FC Tulsa does. On the pitch, the club made the USL Championship Playoffs in two of the previous four seasons.
