By a vote of 3-1 the United States Amateur Soccer Association (USASA) ordered the First Round game between the Richmond Kickers (USISL Premier League) and Spartans SC (USASA) to be replayed on July 3. The Spartans filed a protest claiming that they were misinformed of the kickoff time of the match and the USASA agreed with them. The Kickers won the original game 5-2 on June 11.
“We’ve done everything by the book, and we’re still being mistreated,” Kickers co-owner Cookie Ketchum told the Richmond Times-Dispatch of the replay decision.
The Spartans first protested the Kickers’ use of Scott Snyder, who had played a few games with the Spartans. The Kickers had already cleared Snyder with the USASA before the game, and apparently the USISL club did not know about the game time protest until they were informed of the replay.
1995 US Open Cup Preview: The state of American soccer in 1995
1995 USOC Round 1 POTR: Carlos Llamosa
1995 USOC Q-Finals POTR: Ben Crawley
1995 USOC Semis POTR: Jake Arrambide
1995 USOC Final POTR: Jeff Causey
1995 USOC Player of Tourney: Rob Ukrop
1995 US Open Cup Results (click on the score of the game for a match report)
After their first protest involving Snyder was turned down, it was the mix-up of kickoff times that prompted the Spartans to file another protest, claiming they were unable to use some players because they were given the wrong start time. According to the Spartans, they were given the wrong kickoff time by a USASA official, not the Kickers who had been advertising a 3 p.m. kickoff from the start.
The Spartans claimed the different kickoff time deprived them of six of their better players, although there were different stories for their absence. One Spartans official apparently told someone with the Kickers that the players were in California for a wedding, while another said they were off coaching youth soccer games.
The replay puts the Kickers, currently 12-0 in the USISL Premier Division, in a bit of a tight spot, forcing them to play five games in 10 days.