Of all colonies, Europa has the deepest roots to the 'beautiful game', thus a lot to live up to..  Now, even though season 2 looks to be shaping up better than season 1, there is growing anxiety among United fans that the club will lose a key player, Kevin Sulzberger.

Sulzberger took on the goalkeeper position after a late-season shuffle that saw Yvonne Barnato become a forward in an attempt to bolster the club's anemic offence.  It was big shoes for Sulzberger to fill; even though United had only won 7 of 15 matches with Barnato in goal, she was a fan favourite; most of the blame falling on Captain Fuchs and the forward line up.

Sulzberger's was a natural.  When he was between the posts, United was more likely to win than lose.  It wasn't enough to get United into the playoffs, but his performance has only improved this season.

With the looming possibility that Sulzberger will join the new Wendland club for season 3, it may mean losing him before the end of the season.

"I'll be looking at my options," says Sulzberger, "Wendland is where I grew up after we arrived almost 10 years ago.  It is where my family lives, so there are a lot of compelling reasons to go home."

Both expansion teams, Columbia Hills and Wendland, will be aiming to build from local talent, so it is expected that players like Sulzberg and Comets' Marysa Waaijer will be courted heavily by their home colony.

Europa United has been actively nurturing Manfredo Riva as back-up goalkeeper.  He got his first win in Week 3 against the Comets, so is a promising candidate should Sulzberger terminate his contract early.

When United manager, Matthäus Reinmann, was asked about losing Sulzberger, he simply responded, "It makes sense."   

 With cross-colony transfers proving to be both logistically challenging and risky when players can't adjust to their new colony, keeping clubs local may be the healthiest path for many clubs in this young league.

"We can't pretend things operate like sports clubs of the past," added Reinmann, "This is Mars and our circumstances here are unique to any Earth history lessons. What's best for players will ultiimately be best for the league."