Three titles in a row for Lansdowne, where will they be in three years?

Lansdowne Bhoys are in the midst of an unimaginable career in the amateur level, which makes us question what the club's future hold ahead.

New York Athletic Club won the Cosmopolitan Soccer League (5th division) not one, not two, but three years in a row from 1998-99 to 2000-01. They joined the higher division, the National Premier Soccer League (4th division), in 2008-- but still have a second team in the CSL.

Lansdowne Bhoys F.C. won the CSL not one, not two, but three years in row from 2013-14 to 2015-16. They will join the NPSL in...

Lansdowne Bhoys coach Austin Friel [on the right]  holding the CSL cup and showing three 
fingers to represent his team's three titles in a row.  Lansdowne Bhoys Images

The American soccer tier doesn't follow a promotion-relegation system. Some of the requirements to join the NPSL are a $12,500 one time membership fee, $5,000 annual league fee, a stadium with at least 500 seats.

That's the paper requirements, if you want the on-the-field requirements, take a look at these Bhoys.

Lansdowne only lost two league games in the past three seasons, outscoring their opponents 156 to 34. Furthermore, they didn't concede a single goal in the last three finals, but scored nine-- talking about unimaginable.

It's not like they're taking candies from babies, the CSL have a variety of players who played for some of the top college teams in the country or played professionally.

Players such as Chris Megaloudis (NY Pancyprian Freedoms), who's a retired Puerto Rican international; Micheal Palacio (NY Pancyprian Freedoms), who the New York Red Bulls signed in the 2008 MLS Draft, Lucas Befi (Everton Westchester Eagles), a former Belhaven University player and so on.

The Bhoys manager Austin Friel reflected on how challenging the CSL can be to overpower. "Three in a row is never easy," the manager said, "[if] you've watched some of the games, they're not easy. It's against some good teams, some good players. It's a tough league to win."

If a club wins a tough division for three straight years that's more than a sign that they should take it a notch higher. Well, guess what? Lansdowne went over and beyond that.

The Irish-based club made it to the third round of the U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Long Island Rough Riders (4th division) 2-1 in extra time and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (United Soccer League: 3rd division) 2-0.

Such achievement is not even the caliber of a team that's in the next step ahead of Lansdowne: the NPSL. In fact, coach Friel himself noted that a lot of his players' skill sets are higher than the NPSL but rather on a professional level.

"We have talent on this squad and many of my guys can play in the USL on any team," the Irishman told Beyond F.C. You can't go against it, he has the results to prove it.

Friel was talking about players such as: captain Stephen Roche, who previously played professionally in Ireland with University College Dublin A.F.C., Sean Kelly, a former Arsenal U-18 captain and Irish U-19 national team player; Daryl Kavanagh, who played in Ireland's top division for ten years, winning the league once. The list goes on.

Daryl Kavanagh in his days with St Patrick's Athletic in 2013.
David Maher/ Sportsfile

Kavanagh playing for his current club, Lansdowne Bhoys.
Lisfl Images

Talent is definitely not what separates the CSL champions from any other USL team, but the time on the training pitch. As opposed to professional players, the Bhoys work full-time, limiting them to practice only three times a week, when a USL side practice about everyday.

"If we train everyday, we could manage the USL," forward Sikele Sylvester said, "[but] people got to work, I work, everybody on the team is a worker. We could play [in the USL] but we got to put a lot of work in training, these guys are not that fit, like me, I'm not that fit."

One of the first time, the club openly shared that they aim to reach the USL was in a Beyond F.C. article on May 24. "The aim of the club is eventually in the next three years going to the USL," Friel said.

No amateur team has ever made it to the USL. Well, no amateur team has ever reached Lansdowne's level of success, which makes their goal quite believable. If the Bhoys keep snatching titles and upsetting teams from the higher division in the U.S. Open Cup, it's not a question of if they will go pro but when will they go pro.

They aim to do it in three years, so you might want to check the USL's team list in 2019.