Watching the Carolina Railhawks playing the Minnesota Thunder Friday night (beating them 2-1), I was struck by a kind of déjà vu when I saw Minnesota's home jerseys. Notice any similarities?

That grainy picture on the left is a screenshot of the USLlive video feed, because oddly enough, I couldn't find photos anywhere on the web of that Thunder jersey. Click to continue reading...

In their effort to climb back into playoff position, the Carolina RailHawks have added yet another former Rochester Rhino to the lineup as Rey Ángel Martínez Mendivel is set to be unveiled by the club at a press conference scheduled for next Thursday as they announce a formal partnership with the Mexican Consulate General in Raleigh. Click to continue reading...

Here's a follow-up to my recent post about where one could get one's soccer fix after the Aztex season finished. While I still miss the games out at Dragon Stadium, it's hard to argue there's not enough soccer to keep a fan busy.

• Stoke City - their season is underway, so there are games every weekend.

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A week ago, the Carolina RailHawks season was on life support. After Fridays 3-2 win over Miami, their condition can be upgraded to critical.
The three points earned last week are vital to the RailHawks chances of salvaging their season, but they are not in the clear yet. The win got the RailHawks out of the USL-1 cellar and into 10th place. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks acquired forwards Hamed Diallo and Ronald Cerritos last month in hopes of giving life to their otherwise unspectacular attack.
On Friday, both provided that spark Carolinas been looking for.
Diallo scored the go-ahead goal in the 25th minute and running mate Cerritos tacked on what proved to be the game winner in the 29th to lead the RailHawks to a 3-2 win over Miami at WakeMed Soccer Park. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks left WakeMed Soccer Park on Friday in a position they've never been before -- last place in the USL First Division.
The RailHawks lost 2-0 to the Montreal Impact, extending their winless streak to nine matches (0-5-4) in the process. The match also was the fifth time in six outings Carolina has been shut out. Click to continue reading...

The W-League expansion Pali Blues were surely taking the competition seriously, bringing coach Charlie Naimo across the country from New Jersey and signing fringe national team players like India Trotter. They've capped an unbeaten season with a championship, but it wasn't easy -- a comeback effort in the final against FC Indiana followed a titanic battle with the defending champion (and WPS-bound) Washington Freedom in the semis.

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Considering the Carolina RailHawks have never won a game when theyve allowed the first goal, spotting league-leading Vancouver a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes Friday made for a disastrous night.
The Whitecaps struck for three goals in the first half and despite playing a man down the entire second half, dealt the RailHawks a 3-2 defeat, extending Carolinas USL First Division winless streak to 13 games. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks have traded away the only player to make an appearance on bass drum in the 204 Depot.
Tim Candon's got the whole story over at SWakeSports: Edozien traded to Miami for defender Eddie Guiterrez.
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It turns out that the good folks over at The Closet Factory are not only fans of the Carolina RailHawks, but supporters of the Triangle Soccer Fanatics. To show their support, they've put together a very cool wallet-sized songbook to help you learn some of the songs we sing each match in the 204 Depot. Click to continue reading...

Tim Candon's got the scoop...

The Carolina RailHawks signed veteran forward Ronald Cerritos on Thursday, team president and GM Chris Economides confirmed.
Were hoping he can come in and add a spark and some leadership to the team, Ecoomides said. Hes had a storied career with the El Salvadoran national team and MLS.

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Chelsea Football Club announced today the start of an unprecedented initiative to partner with Americas top youth football clubs.
Chelsea is beginning to build a network of top youth clubs across America to develop Chelsea Soccer Schools, a new Tournament called the Chelsea Sevens, coaching clinics and exchange programmes. Click to continue reading...

As the Carolina RailHawks walked to each section of the WakeMed Soccer Park bleachers to applaud their fans after Sunday's game against Monterrey, a portion of predominantly Hispanic fans congregated near the tunnel that leads to the locker rooms.
Though they were there waiting for their favorite Monterrey players to emerge, they turned their attention toward the RailHawks and returned a round of applause. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks Women ended their Inaugural Season on a high note defeating the Richmond Kickers Destiny 3-1 on Sunday night with goals by NC States Lindsay Vera, W-League veteran Amanda Mueller and UNC standout Sterling Smith.
The W-League RailHawks finished their first year with a respectable 7-6-1 effort and finished fourth in the Atlantic division and the top half of the consolidated, 41-team league table. Click to continue reading...

The Cary RailHawks U23s closed out there season last night with a 6-1 romp over the Nashville Metros. Cary got goals from Zack Schilawski (2), Brian Shriver, Billy Schuler, Mamadou Danso, and Brian Ackley. The U23s finished the PDL season 9-5-2 after starting the season with a 3-5-2 record and finished 3rd in the southeastern division of the southern conference. Click to continue reading...

On an overcast night in May, despite rain showers that dampened the stadium seats at WakeMed Soccer Park, Edith Serrano and her family sat glued to the twists, turns and kicks of the Carolina RailHawks.
Serrano, 37, cheered between her husband, Santos Ruiz, 38, and son, Noel Ruiz, 9. They had traveled from Wilson to Cary to see the RailHawks play the Seattle Sounders, braving the weather to claim their front row seats. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks didn't help themselves by gifting Puerto Rico 2 goals with defensive lapses, but they didn't get any help from the referee either who denied three legitimate penalty shouts against the Islanders on Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park.
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With only one week remaining to prepare for the opening of the 2008 Mexican Apertura, Primera division side Monterrey has arrived in Cary for a few days of training and an exhibition match against the Carolina RailHawks. Los Rayados opened their 3 day stay in the Triangle with a hard workout on Friday morning followed by a press conference. Click to continue reading...

Carlos Marinelli hasn't appeared for the Wizards since coming off at halftime of the Wizards 4-2 win over the Carolina Railhawks in the US Open Cup. Since then, he hasn't been around, hasn't appeared on the bench, and from reports hasn't even been at practice. Thad Bell over at The Back Post is now reporting that Marinelli is not even in the country. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks Women defeated the Tampa Bay Hellenic 3-2 in the second to last home game of their Inaugural Season.
UGA standout Carrie Patterson tallied two goals assisted by NC States Lindsay Vera and Wake Forests Sarah Winslow scored one assisted by McKenzie Burman for the RailHawks. Click to continue reading...

Sometimes I misplace emails, organizing stuff to read later and then find them. So it was with this one from a North Carolina reader, Dean. I actually watched the U.S. Open Cup match he refers to (the Wizards won, coming back from a two-goal deficit) and noticed a very young ball kid on the broadcast. Click to continue reading...

The whole point of last night's friendly with Burnley FC was to impress upon Burnley's millionaire director Brendan Flood and his organization that the Carolina RailHawks were a club worthy of partnering with for future player and business development opportunities.
By all impressions, both the players on the pitch and the front office did their job impeccably well last night. Click to continue reading...

The Carolina RailHawks announced today they have traded forward Jamil Walker to the Rochester Rhinos in exchange for Ivory Coast native forward Hamed Diallo pending USSF approval. The trade is effective immediately and fans can expect to see Diallo wear RailHawks Orange as soon as this Friday, July 11th as they take on the Minnesota Thunder in Minneapolis. Click to continue reading...

Darren Bentley of Burnley Football Club is chronicling the his team's summer training trip to the United States. The team arrived in Cary yesterday afternoon and got a chance to check out their Thursday competition at the RailHawks U23s match on Tuesday night. Here's some excerpts from Bentley's letter to the Burnley fans:

Hours after arriving in Cary ourselves, it would have been easy to call it a night.

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Children and adults who wear their soccer jerseys get in free ticket when the Carolina RailHawks U-23 PDL team plays one of England's oldest professional soccer clubs, Burnley Football Club, on Thursday.
The game against England's Coca-Cola Championship Division stalwart starts at 7:30 p. Click to continue reading...