Antigua Barracuda FC

Antigua Barracuda were an Antiguan professional football team based in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Founded in 2010, the team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system from 2011 to 2013.

Antigua Barracuda FC
Full nameAntigua Barracuda Football Club
Nickname(s)The Barracudas
Founded25 May 2010
Dissolved6 January 2014
GroundStanford Cricket Ground
Capacity5,000
OwnerGordon Derrick
LeagueUSL Pro

The team played its home games at Stanford Cricket Ground (colloquially known as "Sticky Wicket Stadium") in Osbourn, Saint George Parish until the 2013 season when they became a travelling team. The team's colours were sky blue, white and black.

History

The team was formed with support from the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association to develop and retain local talent; it was the country's only professional team.[1] They were originally set to join the USL First Division in 2011,[2] but was later announced as being a founding member of USL Pro and its International Division after USL First and USL Second Division dissolved in 2010 to make way for the new league.[3]

The club's first official match took place in April 2010, a friendly against the Puerto Rico Islanders. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event.[4]

The club arranged two further friendlies with Montreal Impact, the first of which took place on 17 April 2010 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium[5] with the second scheduled to be held on 4 September at Saputo Stadium in Montreal. They also arranged exhibition matches against Jamaica's Tivoli Gardens and Harbour View for May.[6] On August 20, 2010 Barracuda FC announced the cancellation of the friendly matches because of funding difficulties. Impact President Joey Saputo subsequently made an accusation of a serious lack of professionalism on the part of the Antiguan club.[7]

On 23 September 2010, United Soccer Leagues formally announced that Antigua Barracuda FC would join the newly formed USL Pro in 2011 alongside Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and River Plate Puerto Rico as founding members of the league's tentatively named Caribbean Division, which was later officially unveiled as the International Division.[8]

The team played its first competitive game on 17 April 2011, a 2–1 home loss to the Los Angeles Blues. The first competitive goal in franchise history was scored by Tamorley Thomas[9]

The 2013 season saw the club lose each of their 26 games, tying the North American professional sports record for the worst performance over a full season, as well as being the one of only three times an association football club managed to have a winless season. Antigua Barracuda were forced to play all of their matches in the United States after the Puerto Rican teams withdrew from USL Pro; the club's players and staff were relocated to Tampa, Florida, and had no permanent training facility.[1] The club withdrew from the USL Pro on 6 January 2014, due in part to the lack of a home venue and the accompanying financial reasons.[10][11]

Stadium

Barracuda played their home games at the Stanford Cricket Ground in the village of Osbourn in Saint George Parish in Antigua. The stadium was originally built to host the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament in 2006, and was temporarily converted for soccer usage for Barracudas games. The stadium's nickname, "Sticky Wicket Stadium", came from the adjoining restaurant complex.

Players and staff

Coaches

Record

Year-by-year
Year Division League Regular season Playoffs CFU Club Championship Avg. attendance
2011 3 USL Pro 6th, American Division did not qualify did not qualify 1,189
2012 11th did not qualify 4th 883
2013 13th did not qualify 7th N/A[lower-alpha 1]
  1. All games played on the road

References
  1. McVeigh, Niall (4 April 2018). "Played 26, lost 26: The story of Antigua Barracuda's record-breaking season". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  2. Barracuda FC To Join USL First Division Archived May 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Sevilla, River Plate Join USL PRO". www.uslsoccer.com. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  4. "Barracuda V Islanders Match Game One". Antigua Sports. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  5. "The Impact will face Antigua Barricuda FC". Impact Montreal. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  6. "Byers wants long future with Impacts". Antigua Sun Online. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  7. "Impact : Match du 4 septembre annulé". 20 August 2010.
  8. "Sevilla, River Plate Join USL PRO". www.uslsoccer.com. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  9. "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  10. "USL PRO to see teams fold; MLS to field squads; new team partnership | ODFCnews.com". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  11. Baptiste, Neto (6 January 2014). "Antigua Barracuda quits USL". Antigua Observer. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  12. Baptiste, Neto (23 October 2012). "Tom Curtis Resigns". Antigua Observer. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  13. Baptiste, Neto (5 April 2013). "Cash strapped 'Cudas' confirm USL participation". Antigua Observer. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  14. "Barracudas Appoint Whitbread". United Soccer Leagues (USL). 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
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