Off the Woodwork

Jon Nelson gets you ready for the weekend ahead in MLS with the SDH Week in Review. Apple TV commentators Ramses Sandoval and Kacey White, along with Pulso Sports' Niko Moreno, discuss all the latest around the league.

Ted Turner died today at 87. The tributes will celebrate CNN, the Braves, the superstation that changed American television, and the America's Cup. All of it is deserved.

But there is a soccer chapter in his legacy that belongs to Atlanta specifically, and it is not making it into the obituaries.

In 1978, Turner quietly invested $1.5 million to bring professional soccer back to Atlanta. He denied any involvement to the press while his lawyers were already filing the partnership paperwork with the NASL. The league voted 22 to 2 to block the deal because they were terrified of his superstation. He educated them, won the unanimous approval two months later, and funded the Atlanta Chiefs for three seasons.

He was right about soccer. The market just needed four decades to catch up.

Jason Longshore tells the full story today, drawing on legal documents from Dick Cecil's archived papers at Emory University and a conversation with Chiefs broadcaster and GM Terry Hanson, in this special tribute edition of Off The Woodwork.

Rest well, Ted. Atlanta soccer owes you more than it knows.

Carlos Bocanegra joins Jason Longshore to talk about Atlanta FC, his new boutique youth club built on a model American youth soccer rarely sees: one team per age group, one dedicated coach per team, and a family-first environment where parents get the training session plan after every practice and are welcome at team talks. Bocanegra talks about why he stopped playing soccer for nine months in high school because of a bad coaching experience, why the late bloomer is the player most at risk in the current system, and what he hopes Atlanta FC can do to start changing the culture of youth development nationally. Jason adds context on the staff: Liam Curran, nine years at Atlanta United and currently working with U.S. Youth National Teams, as Director of Goalkeeping, and Dr. Ryan Alexander, founding High Performance Director at Atlanta United, in the same role at Atlanta FC. Tryouts are May 18 through 20 at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven. More at atlantafootballclub.com.

Then it's What's On Tap, sponsored by Michelob Ultra, official beer sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26. Arsenal are going to Budapest for their first Champions League final in 20 years. Jason breaks down the most statistically dominant European campaign any English club has put together in the modern format, what Mikel Arteta has had to manage to get there, and why dismissing the PSG-Bayern first leg as poorly defended is the wrong take entirely. Preview of tomorrow's second leg in Munich, where Bayern need two goals and both managers have said neither team is coming to defend.

The 3-4-3, brought to you by Ford, closes the show. Local stories cover the AU2 road win over Carolina Core, the full boys high school quarterfinal bracket with all four classifications, and the girls semifinal picture including Model's 6-0 win in Rome with Emily Gentry's first-half hat trick. Four headlines: Arsenal's Premier League title door opens wider after City drop points against Everton, the Neymar assault allegation at Santos involving Robinho Jr., Mourinho extension talks accelerating at Benfica with Real Madrid circling and a ten-day release clause window approaching, and Hearts three points clear of Celtic with three matches left chasing the first Scottish title by a club outside the Old Firm since Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985. Three smile stories: the Rosario Central dog who turned out to belong to a Newell's Old Boys family, Cooper Sanchez getting better every single match and deserving national attention he is not getting, and the crowd in Rome for Model's state quarterfinal win.

Atlanta United have won three in a row across two competitions, and Jason Longshore breaks down how each win came in a different way, the gritty Toronto result, the controlled Open Cup win in Charlotte, and the comeback against Montreal that showed a team with a new level of confidence and connection. The schedule ahead: LA Galaxy on Saturday, then three road matches before the World Cup break.

Then Jason pulls from the Josh Blank media roundtable at the Arthur M. Blank Foundation: why the fan festival at Centennial Olympic Park may matter more for long-term fandom than the matches themselves, what AMBSE controls when FIFA controls ticket pricing, the '96 Olympics as the benchmark for what 2026 can do for Atlanta's global brand, the Spain connection across both soccer and business, and what MLS has to solve before the 2029 media rights negotiation.

The segment closes with the full NWSL build: where the franchise stands on hiring, what the fall brand reveal means for the runway to 2028, the Georgia player pipeline already in place, and why Josh Blank says this launch is being built more intentionally than Atlanta United was from the start.

Atlanta is about to take center stage. Arthur and Josh Blank join Mike Conti to discuss why the 2026 World Cup is a milestone moment for Georgia. Mercedes-Benz Stadium has hosted the Super Bowl and Final Four, but the World Cup is a different beast. Hear how Atlanta is preparing for 8 matches.

Abe Gordon and John Nelson recap and listen to sounds from the players after Atlanta United has officially gone STREAKING! Atlanta United rallied after giving up an early goal to pull out the 3-1 win over CF Montreal! Is this the turning point of the season for Tata and Company?

In the second hour, Jason gets the city prepared for Atlanta United’s trip up I-85. Atlanta United heads to Charlotte as the U.S. Open Cup continues! In the second segment, Jason updates the city on the happenings of the Champions League. How is PSG doing in the Champions League? Plus, in the 3-5-3, Tuskegee University is doing what?! Tuskegee University launching soccer program?!

Jason Longshore is in on a Monday night ahead of a US Open Cup match with Charlotte FC after a much needed win in Toronto. Atlanta United wins in Toronto! In the second segment, Jason gives updates on Women’s soccer as the Washington Spirit are 4-0 and Atlanta takes another step towards their NWSL franchise. NWSL continues to grow as Atlanta breaks ground on its new training facility. Plus, we enter Noel’s World for the first time on AST as she asks Jason his opinion on Lamine Yamal’s injury ahead of the World Cup as well as checking out adidas’ “Bringback” jersey collection. Have adidas been listening to Jason and Noel?

Jon Nelson brings you the best of SDH AM from the week of April 24, 2026. Three conversations worth your time heading into the weekend.

First, Craig Forrest and James Charman from Footy Prime join for opposition research ahead of Atlanta United's Saturday matinee at BMO Field. The Toronto FC breakdown covers Josh Sargent's early impact, Daniel Shalloway's emergence as a goal-scoring star, the back line questions Robin Fraser is still working through, and Luca Gavrón's keeper goal that nobody saw coming.

Then, Atlanta United director of methodology Javier Pérez drops in on short notice to talk about two years of building the academy and twos from the ground up. He covers the U-16 side's GA Cup championship run, a competitive showing against Valencia CF at U-15, and where he sees the next wave of first-team talent coming from, including Cooper Sanchez as exhibit A.

To close, Front Office Sports reporter Margaret Fleming joins to break down the NWSL's announcement of its 18th franchise in Columbus, Ohio. The conversation covers rising expansion fees, how Atlanta's 2028 entry raises the bar for facilities league-wide, venue sizing concerns in Denver and Boston, and why the league might be better served consolidating now rather than continuing to expand.

Soccer Down Here covers the beautiful game from a Southern perspective. Find the Morning Espresso newsletter at soccerdownhere.net.

Abe Gordon and John Nelson breakdown a gut-wrenching loss by United, after falling 2-1 to the New England Revolution, in a match that was largely dominated by Atlanta United until the second half!