Austin Aztex FC

Austin Aztex FC was an American professional soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in the USL First Division, and in the USL Division of the USSF D2 Pro League, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. In October 2010, the Aztex were relocated to Orlando, Florida and became Orlando City after Orlando USL's rights were purchased by Phil Rawlins. The team was resurrected in 2011 by minority owner David Markley as the Austin Aztex, which began play in the USL Premier Development League in 2012 and moved to United Soccer League in 2014.

For the former United Soccer League club, see Austin Aztex.

Austin Aztex
Full nameAustin Aztex FC
Nickname(s)Aztex, The RAW
Founded2008
Dissolved2010 (moved to Orlando)
GroundHouse Park
Austin, Texas
Capacity6,500
OwnerPhil Rawlins
Head CoachAdrian Heath
LeagueUSSF Division 2 Professional League
2010Regular Season: 2nd, USL
Overall: 2nd
Playoffs: Quarterfinals

The team played its home games at Nelson Field, and House Park in Austin. The team's colors were red and white. Their head coach was Englishman and former Everton midfielder Adrian Heath.[1]

History

The club was owned by English-born Austin businessman Phil Rawlins. Originally from the UK, Rawlins serves on the board of English Premier League club Stoke City. Austin and Stoke had a formal partnership which included sharing training information and players, with Austin acting as a potential player resource for Stoke.[2]

Immediately after announcing their intention to join USL1, the Aztex purchased the 2008 USL PDL expansion side Austin Stampede and rebranded it as Austin Aztex U23. Wolfgang Suhnholz was named coach of the U23 team, which commenced play in 2008.

On August 8, 2008, the Aztex announced 2008 PDL Goalkeeper of the Year and former Austin Aztex U23 player, Miguel Gallardo, as their first professional signing for the 2009 season. Gallardo is signed with the team through 2011.[3]

The Aztex began their inaugural season as a professional team by playing 4 MLS teams in preseason exhibition matches. The first three games were held in Austin at Nelson Field while the fourth MLS match was in Rio Tinto Stadium on the MLS opening weekend. A fifth exhibition match was scheduled against the CONCACAF semi-finalist Puerto Rico Islanders in between their home and away series against Cruz Azul.

On May 19, 2010, Austin played the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 6,051 fans, their largest home crowd in franchise history.[4]

On October 22, 2010, an article was published that indicated that the team was likely to move to Orlando, Florida, for the 2011 season.[5] This was confirmed on October 25, as the team became Orlando City SC.

Players

Final roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  MEX Miguel Gallardo
2 DF  HAI Mechack Jérôme
3 DF  USA Wes Allen
4 MF  USA Ian Fuller
5 DF  JAM Kieron Bernard
6 DF  USA Lance Watson
10 MF  CUB Yordany Álvarez
11 FW  USA Maxwell Griffin
12 DF  USA Leonard Griffin
13 MF  KEN Lawrence Olum
15 DF  USA Kevin Sakuda
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF  USA Michael Callahan
18 DF  USA Joey Worthen
20 FW  TRI Randi Patterson
21 GK  USA Sean Kelley
23 FW  USA Kendell McFayden
24 MF  CAN Tyler Hemming
25 DF  USA Sam Brill
33 DF  USA Jay Needham
61 MF  TRI Stephan Campbell
77 FW  USA Jamie Watson

Staff
  • Adrian Heath – Head Coach
  • Bobby Murphy – Assistant Coach
  • David Winner – Goalkeeping Coach
  • Shermin Patel – Athletic Trainer
  • See also: All-time Austin Aztex roster

Year-by-year
Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup Avg. Attendance
2009 2 USL First Division 10th Did not qualify 3rd Round 2,974
2010 2 USSF D-2 Pro League 2nd, USL (3rd) Quarterfinals 3rd Round 3,733

Head coaches

Stadiums
gollark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BANCStar_programming_language
gollark: People can cope with *any* ridiculous platform eventually.
gollark: It seems like it works on kernel 5.4. I have a device with kernel 5.4. Thus, bee?
gollark: I am giving up on any hope of making this work.
gollark: This seems to be an off the shelf one with some tweaks. The kernel should have this. But they don't seen big on code reuse.

See also

References
  1. "Aztex Announce Head Coach". SunHerald. February 21, 2008. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  2. "Stoke do deal with US franchise". bbc.co.uk. January 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 28, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  3. "First Pro Signing for 2009 Roster". AustinAztex.com. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
  4. White, Colby M. "Aztex, Tampa Bay play to 3–3 tie". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.Aztex, Tampa Bay play to 3–3 tie
  5. Quarstad, Brian. "Austin Aztex Likely to Announce Move to Orlando, Florida". Inside Minnesota Soccer. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2010.Austin Aztex Likely to Announce Move to Orlando, Florida
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.