Miami FC

The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.

For the soccer team known as Miami FC from 2006 to 2010, see Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016).
Not to be confused with FC Miami City, Miami Fusion, or Inter Miami CF.

Miami FC
Full nameThe Miami FC
FoundedMay 20, 2015 (2015-05-20)
StadiumRiccardo Silva Stadium
Capacity20,000
OwnerRiccardo Silva
President & Head CoachPaul Dalglish
LeagueUSL Championship
2019–20NISA, East Coast: 1st
Playoffs: Champions
WebsiteClub website

The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 season. Following the demise of the NASL, the club participated in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) before moving to the USL Championship for the 2020 season. The team currently plays its home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium on the campus of Florida International University.

History

North American Soccer League

The club was announced on May 20, 2015 as the 12th North American Soccer League franchise with plans to begin play in the 2016 season and later confirmed it would play out of "Ocean First Stadium" (Now Riccardo Silva Stadium) on the campus of FIU.[1][2] The team, co-owned by media entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and former Italian national team defender Paolo Maldini, came only one year after former English national football team star and Major League Soccer legend David Beckham announced his intent to launch an MLS team in city.[3][4]

In September 2015, Alessandro Nesta was appointed as the club's first coach. On November 20, 2015 Italian sportswear company Macron were announced as the club's kit suppliers on a three-year deal.[5]

Nesta resigned as coach following the completion of the 2017 season, on 17 November.[6]

Miami FC 2 logo

National Premier Soccer League and 'Miami FC 2'

In January 2018, following the suspension and later cancellation of the 2018 NASL season, the organization announced the creation of "The Miami FC 2" in the National Premier Soccer League with 12 members of its 2017 NASL roster.[7][8] The intention was for Miami FC's players to play with Miami FC 2 while waiting for the NASL's proposed winter schedule to take effect.[9][10] The team hired Paul Dalglish as the new head coach on January 25.[11] The team played its home matches at its former training grounds on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.[12]

The team went on to dominate the regular season in the NPSL's Sunshine Conference. Only one loss to Jacksonville Armada FC in the regular season lead the team to finish top of the table and in the conference playoffs the beat the Armada, 3–1, to win its first NPSL trophy.[13][14] After advancing in the national playoffs, including winning the NPSL South Region, Miami FC 2 won the organization's first ever league championship when it defeated FC Motown, 3–1, for the NPSL National Championship on August 4.[15]

For the 2019 NPSL season, the team returned to playing as Miami FC and repeated its previous year's success by finishing atop the regular season table and winning the Sunshine Conference over Miami United FC, 3–2.[16] It won the South Region for a second straight year before becoming the first club to win a second NPSL National Championship when it defeated the New York Cosmos B, 3–1, and earning the organization's eighth trophy in three years.[17][18]

National Independent Soccer Association

On November 15, 2018, the NPSL announced that Miami would be a founding member in a new professional league, commencing with the "NPSL Founders Cup" competition from August to November 2019, followed by a full league schedule in 2020 at either division 2 or 3 level.[19][20][21] However, on July 24, 2019, it was announced that Miami would instead join the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the inaugural Fall 2019 season.[22][23] The team went undefeated through seven games during the regular season, clinching the top playoff spot in the East Coast Conference. On November 9, Miami won the NISA East Coast Championship over Stumptown Athletic, its ninth trophy in three years.[24][25]

USL Championship

On December 11, 2019, former USL Championship club Ottawa Fury FC announced that it had transferred its franchise rights to the Miami FC ownership group, and the club would begin competition in the league beginning with the 2020 season.[26][27]

Sponsorship
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2016–2019 Macron —
2020–present Helbiz[28]

Record

Year-by-year
Season League Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA Pts. Overall Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Top goalscorer Manager
Name League
2016 NASL Spring 11th 10 1 4 5 7 15 7 7th Did not qualify 3R Darío Cvitanich 9
Alessandro Nesta
Fall 5th 22 9 6 7 31 27 33
2017 Spring 1st 16 11 3 2 33 11 36 1st Semifinals QF Stefano Pinho 17
Fall 1st 16 10 3 3 28 17 33
2018[lower-alpha 1] NPSL Sunshine Conference 1st 12 8 3 1 30 5 27 1st Champions 2R Jaime Chavez 9
Paul Dalglish
2019 Sunshine Conference 1st 10 9 0 1 48 5 27 1st Champions 1R Miguel González 13
2019–20[lower-alpha 2] NISA East Coast Conference 1st 6 4 2 0 19 6 14 1st Champions Dylan Mares 5

Average attendance
YearReg. SeasonPlayoffs
2016 5,427 –
2017 5,172 7,115
2019[lower-alpha 3] 569 1,309
  1. Competed as Miami FC 2
  2. Only competed in Fall 2019 portion of the season
  3. Only includes National Independent Soccer Association attendances

Stadium
Name Location Years
Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, Florida 2016–2017, 2019,[lower-alpha 1] 2020–present
Cobb Stadium Coral Gables, Florida 2017; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup[31]
St. Thomas University Soccer Field Miami Gardens, Florida 2018
Florida International University Soccer Stadium Miami, Florida 2018; 2 matches in U.S. Open Cup[32][33]
Buccaneer Field Miami Shores, Florida 2019
  1. One regular season National Independent Soccer Association match & the 2019 NISA East Coast Championship[29][30]

Players and staff

Current roster
As of February 5, 2020[34]

Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.

No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Mark Pais  United States
2 Forward Othello Bah  Liberia
3 Defender Marco Franco  United States
4 Defender Hassan Ndam (on loan from FC Cincinnati)  Cameroon
6 Midfielder Harrison Heath  England
7 Midfielder Vincent Bezecourt  France
8 Midfielder Tomás Granitto  El Salvador
9 Forward Romario Williams  Jamaica
10 Midfielder Sebastián Velásquez  Colombia
11 Midfielder Prince Saydee  Liberia
12 Forward Miguel González  Mexico
13 Defender Lawrence Olum  Kenya
14 Forward Lloyd Sam  Ghana
17 Midfielder Brian James  United States
19 Defender János Löbe  Germany
21 Midfielder Héctor Morales  Cuba
22 Goalkeeper Bryant Gammiero  United States
23 Defender Brenton Griffiths  Jamaica
25 Midfielder Lance Rozeboom (captain)  United States
28 Forward Mohamed Thiaw  Senegal
45 Defender Jalen Markey  United States
92 Goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre  United States
Miami FC President and co-owner, Riccardo Silva (centre) with Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (left) and former head coach, Alessandro Nesta (right)

Staff
As of August 16, 2020[35]
Position Nation Staff
Interim head coach ScotlandPaul Dalglish
Assistant coach EnglandPaul Crichton
Assistant coach United StatesAnthony Hazelwood
Assistant coach EnglandChris Spendlove
Athletic trainer United StatesAndres Bueno

Individual records

Top goalscorers
As of match played August 16, 2020
Name Years League Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Total
1 Jaime Chavez2016–201824 (63)1 (5)3 (6)28 (74)
2 Dylan Mares2017–2018, 201921 (56)4 (12)2 (9)27 (77)
3 Ariel Martínez2016–201915 (72)9 (13)1 (7)25 (92)
4 Miguel González2019–present17 (19)4 (7)0 (1)21 (27)
4 Stefano Pinho201717 (27)0 (1)4 (3)21 (31)
6 Mohamed Thiaw2019–present15 (18)2 (7)0 (1)17 (26)
7 Darío Suárez2018–201910 (24)4 (12)2 (4)16 (40)
8 Vincenzo Rennella2016–201814 (39)0 (1)1 (8)15 (48)
8 Kwadwo Poku2016–201713 (49)0 (1)2 (5)15 (55)
10 Darío Cvitanich20169 (26)0 (0)0 (1)9 (27)

Most appearances
As of match played August 7, 2020
Name Years League Playoffs US Open Cup Total
1 Ariel Martínez2016–201972 (15)13 (9)7 (1)92 (25)
2 Mario Daniel Vega2016–201875 (0)6 (0)8 (0)89 (0)
3 Mason Trafford2016–201869 (0)6 (0)9 (0)84 (0)
4 Rhett Bernstein2016–201866 (2)6 (0)6 (1)78 (3)
5 Dylan Mares2017–2018, 201956 (21)12 (4)9 (2)77 (27)
6 Jaime Chavez2016–201863 (24)5 (1)6 (3)74 (28)
7 Blake Smith2016–201755 (1)1 (0)5 (0)61 (1)
8 Kwadwo Poku2016–201749 (13)1 (0)5 (2)55 (15)
9 Michael Lahoud2016–201745 (1)1 (0)6 (0)52 (1)
10 Richie Ryan2016–201742 (0)1 (0)6 (0)49 (0)

Managerial records
As of match played August 16, 2020
Name Nat. From To P W D L GS GA %W Honours Notes
Alessandro Nesta  Italy 1 September 2015[36] 17 November 2017[6] 71 35 17 19 111 77 049.30 (1) NASL Spring Season
(1) NASL Fall Season
Paul Dalglish  Scotland 25 January 2018[37] 13 November 2019[38] 45 36 5 4 143 30 080.00 (2) Sunshine Conference Championship
(2018, 2019)
(2) NPSL South Region Championship
(2018, 2019)
(2) NPSL Championship
(2018, 2019)
(1) NISA East Coast Championship
(2019)
Nelson Vargas  United States 14 November 2019[39] 10 August 2020 3 0 0 3 4 11 000.00
Paul Dalglish  Scotland 10 August 2020[40] 1 0 1 0 1 1 000.00

Club culture

Miami FC draw the bulk of their support from the suburbs in the south and west of Miami.

Rivalries

The closest team geographically was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with games between the two sides often labelled the FL Clásico.[41] Fixtures with the other two teams in Florida, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Jacksonville Armada are also keenly contested. These four teams competed for the Coastal Cup over the course of the 2016 season.

After the 2016 season Tampa Bay left the NASL for the United Soccer League and Fort Lauderdale ceased operations because of financial issues. That left Jacksonville as Miami FC's only in-state rival in the NASL. Miami did however face Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Rowdies by a score of 2–0.

When the NASL cancelled the 2018 season, Miami and Jacksonville continued their rivalry in the NPSL in both 2018 and 2019 as both clubs continued operation. The team also began a rivalry against Miami United FC dubbed "Magic City Clasico." The teams met in the Second Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup where United shocked FC, 3–1, to advance.[42]

Supporters group

Dade Brigade are the official supporters group of Miami FC and they occupy the east stand of FIU Stadium which is known as the Brigade End for home games.[43] They are named for Miami-Dade County.

Honors

North American Soccer League
  • Spring championship (1): 2017
  • Fall championship (1): 2017

National Premier Soccer League
  • Sunshine Conference Championship (2): 2018, 2019
  • South Region Championship (2): 2018, 2019
  • National Championship (2): 2018, 2019

National Independent Soccer Association
  • East Championship (1): 2019
gollark: There are many stupid people on the internet.
gollark: Rule 10 says not to talk about how to make it, at least.
gollark: Can anyone recommend good and decently cheap headsets (headphones with a microphone)?
gollark: Vivaldi uses... Blink or something... so it should still be compatible with modern browser stuff.
gollark: Well, enjoy, but I no longer support IE in anything I develop. (which is admittedly nothing important, but I think some organizations do similar stuff now)

References
  1. "MIAMI FC BECOMES 12TH NASL CLUB". North American Soccer League. May 20, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  2. Kaufman, Michelle (October 28, 2015). "Miami FC strikes deal to play its home matches at FIU Stadium". The Miami Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  3. "David Beckham confirms Miami franchise in Major League Soccer". CNN. February 5, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  4. Das, Andrew (May 20, 2015). "N.A.S.L. Will Add Miami Team in 2016, Beating David Beckham Onto Field". The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  5. "MACRON AND MIAMI FC SIGN FOR A 3 YEARS PARTNERSHIP". macron.com. Macron. November 20, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  6. "Gianluca Di Marzio :: Nesta saluta il Miami: "Grazie di tutto. Sono pronto per una nuova sfida"" (in Italian). November 17, 2017.
  7. "MIAMI FC RESPONDS TO NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE CANCELLATION OF 2018 SEASON". MiamiFC.com. Miami FC. February 27, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  8. "THE MIAMI FC 2 SOLIDIFIES INAUGURAL ROSTER WITH 10 ADDITIONS". MiamiFC.com. Miami FC. March 5, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. "MIAMI FC 2 TO DEBUT IN NATIONAL PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE FOR 2018 SEASON". Miami FC. January 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  10. "THE MIAMI FC 2: CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE". MiamiFC.com. Miami FC. March 8, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  11. "Miami FC Hires Paul Dalglish as New Head Coach". www.miamifc.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  12. "Miami FC 2 to debut in National Premier Soccer League for 2018 Season". www.miamifc.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  13. "RECAP: THE MIAMI FC 2 DROPS PHYSICAL MATCH TO ARMADA 1–0". The Miami FC. July 6, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  14. Bunch, Matthew (July 15, 2018). "The Miami FC 2 claims NPSL Sunshine Conference title in complete performance against Jacksonville Armada". Magic City Soccer. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  15. "MIAMI FC 2 CROWNED 2018 NPSL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS". National Premier Soccer League. August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  16. "RECAP: The Miami FC Comes From Behind to Capture Sunshine Conference Championship". www.miamifc.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  17. "Tulsa Athletic falls at Miami FC in South Region finals". Tulsa World. July 20, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  18. Lewis, Michael (August 4, 2019). "THE MIAMI FC CLAIMS 2019 NPSL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP". National Premier Soccer League. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  19. "ELEVEN FOUNDING MEMBERS TO LAUNCH A NEW LEAGUE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE". National Premier Soccer League. November 15, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  20. Carrick, Buzz (November 15, 2018). "NPSL is launching a pro league – could Fort Worth Vaqueros be involved?". Dallas News. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  21. "Eleven Founding Members to Launch a New League in Association with the National Premier Soccer League". Miami FC. November 15, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  22. Official, NISA (July 24, 2019). ""We are very excited @TheMiamiFC is joining @NISALeague and will begin competition this Fall 2019. Miami FC has a legacy of success and we welcome the level of competition they bring to the pitch," – Mr. John Prutch, Commissioner, NISA. #MiamiFC #NISAnationpic.twitter.com/34B7puXcP6". @NISALeague. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  23. "The Miami FC Join NISA, Return to "Pro" Soccer". Magic City Soccer. July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  24. "MIAMI FC LIFTS 9TH TROPHY, WINNING NISA EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP 3-0 VS. STUMPTOWN ATHLETIC". Miami FC. November 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  25. Carmenate, Achillies (November 10, 2019). "MIAMI FC WINS NISA EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, 9TH TROPHY IN FOUR YEARS". Lemon City Live. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  26. "Ottawa Fury FC Announce Relocation, Sale of Franchise Rights to The Miami FC". uslchampionship.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  27. Kauffman, Michelle. "Miami FC moves to USL Championship, returns to FIU Riccardo Silva Stadium. Here's why".
  28. https://www.miamifc.com/news_article/show/1093914
  29. "Miami FC vs. Oakland Roots - 27 October 2019 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  30. "Miami FC vs. Stumptown Athletic - 10 November 2019 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  31. "Miami FC vs. Treasure Coast Tritons - 18 May 2017 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  32. "Miami FC vs. Red Force - 10 May 2018 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  33. "Miami FC vs. Miami United - 17 May 2018 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  34. "First Team". Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  35. "Staff". Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  36. Evans, Simon (August 31, 2015). "Italian Nesta appointed coach of new Miami club". Reuters. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  37. "Miami FC Hires Paul Dalglish as New Head Coach". www.miamifc.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  38. "THE MIAMI FC APPOINTS PAUL DALGLISH AS GENERAL MANAGER" – The Miami FC, November 13, 2019
  39. "Nelson Vargas Appointed as Head Coach of Miami FC". www.miamifc.com. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  40. "Paul Dalglish Resumes Coaching Responsibilities at Miami FC". www.miamifc.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  41. http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/fort-lauderdale-strikers-look-to-win-the-first-ever-florida-clasico-as-they-face-miami-fc-this-weekend-7989187
  42. "2018 US Open Cup Round 2: Miami United eliminates shorthanded Miami FC 2". Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  43. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.