Podcast: Bolts’ Brian Ainscough, Boston City’s Renato Valentim on a new rivalry

Boston City FC owner Renato Valentim and Boston Bolts CEO Brian Ainscough joined 'The Goal' podcast. (Photo by Steve Safran)

The latest guests on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast are hoping to see the formation of Boston’s newest soccer rivalry.

Renato Valentim, originally from Brazil, is a successful entrepreneur and one of the owners of the restaurant chain, Tavern in the Square. He is also the owner of Boston City FC.

Brian Ainscough, originally from Dublin, Ireland, is a former Irish Youth National Team player and former professional. He is now the CEO of the Boston Bolts.

Valentim and Ainscough joined host Matt Langone on the podcast in the studio to discuss, among other things, how they’re trying to promote and grow a rivalry between their USL League Two sides, who are both part of the Northeast Division. They will meet on the field for the first time on Wednesday.

Boston City FC is in its first season as a USL League Two team. Valentim, Ainscough and others within the two clubs are referring to the budding rivalry as “The Dirty Water Derby.”

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Here are some highlights from our discussion with Valentim and Ainscough on the latest episode of “The Goal.”

On what the hope is for this rivalry:

Valentim: “I think it’s great for the community and for Boston. The Boston area is amazing to have these teams this year from the area play each other, compete on the same field. But outside of that, of course, you want to make soccer grow here, too.”

On what makes USL League Two special:

Ainscough: “I’ve been in it for a while now — I think six or seven seasons — and each year I can see it getting better and better. USL League Two is fantastic and it’s a great platform, even for my club to be in the top of the pyramid, so to speak. And for my club, players aspire to be a top college player, a pro player, and a lot of our players, former players, have played with the USL team and have gone on to play as professionals.”

On the process of forming a roster for a new USL League Two team:

Valentim: “In general, you start to recruit players, not just from USA, but from outside of it — from Portugal, from Brazil, some come from Europe. You hope you can compete this year, and you’re better than the last couple of years.”

On competing for the same players to fill out the rosters:

Ainscough: “There are plenty of players to go around. That’s why when an opportunity came to put another Boston team in, I was, like, hands up, let’s get them in place.”

On exploring other ways to promote and grow this rivalry:

Ainscough: “We’re open to ideas. I think that’s sometimes up to our fans and family, and the marketing guys to work with Renato’s marketing guys and do anything we can do. Maybe we go to one of Renato’s restaurants and, you know, have a little get-together there. Maybe have an arm-wrestling match and put a friendly wager on that.”

“The Goal” podcast is brought to you by the Hoosac School and University of Nebraska High School.

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