<b>Battery agrees to terms with Alan Dicks to lead the club into the millenium.</b>

Battery agrees to terms with Alan Dicks to lead the club into the millenium.

Coach Dicks and his wife Maura.

The Charleston Battery has agreed to terms with head coach Alan Dicks for the year 2000. Dicks will remain at the helm of the Battery for the third strait year after leading the team to the A-League playoffs and the US Open Cup semi-finals in 1999. Dicks was the USL Coach of the Year in 1996 with the Carolina Dynamo, and led Carolina to the A-League National Final in 1997. Dicks' Battery squad clinched a playoff spot this weekend with a 2-1 overtime victory over Atlantic Division Champion Hershey, winning the most A-League regular season games in franchise history (15). It is the seventh consecutive season that the Battery had qualified for post season play. The highlight of the 1999 season so far though, is the improbable US Open Cup run, fueled by a 4-3 overtime upset of MLS power DC United. The Battery surprised the Soccer world by defeating the most accomplished team in recent US history at Blackbaud Stadium on August 4th and advanced to the tournament semi finals. It was the first time in Battery history that the club had qualified for the US Open Cup. " I am delighted to be with such a progressive club," said Battery coach Alan Dicks. " We are looking to build on the excellent nucleus of players that we have here and continue to upgrade."

A-League Playoff Preview: The Battery (seventh seed) travels to Hershey to play the Hershey Wildcats (second seed) in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Round one is a single elimination game, at the home of the four highest seeds in the conference (see enclosed playoff tournament brackets). The winner will face the winner of the Staten Island-Richmond game in the Eastern Conference semi finals, which is a three game series. Kick off is scheduled for Saturday September 11th at 7:30pm and will be aired live on the Charleston Battery Skatell's radio network on WTMZ 910am.