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 Football Club 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 Football Club
FoundedMay 20, 2015 (2015-05-20)
StadiumRiccardo Silva Stadium
Capacity20,000
OwnerRiccardo Silva
CEOMichael Williamson
Head CoachLewis Neal (interim)
LeagueUSL Championship
20239th, Eastern Conference
Playoffs: DNQ
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 Stadiums" (Now Riccardo Silva Stadium) on the campus of FIU.[1][2] The team, co-owned by media entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and former Italy national team defender Paolo Maldini, came only one year after former England national 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 led 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 sold 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]

Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, head coach and technical director Paul Dalglish left the team.[28] On November 29, former Inter Miami CF assistant coach Anthony Pulis was named Miami FC's new head coach.[29] In 2023, halfway through the season, Pulis stepped down as Head Coach. Lewis Neal was named Interim head coach.[30]

Sponsorship
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2016–2019 Italy Macron —
2020–present Helbiz[31]

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 Argentina Darío Cvitanich 9 Italy Alessandro Nesta
Fall 5th 22 9 6 7 31 27 33
2017 Spring 1st 16 11 3 2 33 11 36 1st Semifinals QF Brazil 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 United States Jaime Chavez 9 Scotland Paul Dalglish
2019 Sunshine Conference 1st 10 9 0 1 48 5 27 1st Champions 1R Mexico Miguel González 13
2019–20[lower-alpha 2] NISA East Coast Conference 1st 6 4 2 0 19 6 14 1st Champions United States Dylan Mares 5
2020 USLC Group H,
Eastern Conference		 3rd 16 4 4 8 20 34 16 24th did not qualify Cancelled Jamaica Romario Williams 8 United States Nelson Vargas[lower-alpha 3]
Scotland Paul Dalglish
2021 Atlantic Division,
Eastern Conference		 4th 32 16 6 10 55 40 54 8th Conference Quarterfinals Cancelled Haiti Christiano François 11 Scotland Paul Dalglish
2022 Eastern Conference 6th 34 15 10 9 47 32 55 9th Conference Quarterfinals 3R United States Kyle Murphy 10 Wales Anthony Pulis
2023 Eastern Conference 9th 34 11 8 15 43 44 41 20th did not qualify 3R El Salvador Joaquín Rivas 10 Wales Anthony Pulis[lower-alpha 4]
England Lewis Neal

Average attendance
YearReg. SeasonPlayoffs
2016 5,427 –
2017 5,172 7,115
2019[lower-alpha 5] 569 1,309
2020[lower-alpha 6] N/A –
2021[lower-alpha 7] 699 –
2022 1,144 –
2023 1,432 –

Stadium
Name Location Years
Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, Florida 2016–2017, 2019,[lower-alpha 8] 2020–present
Cobb Stadium Coral Gables, Florida 2017; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup[34]
St. Thomas University Soccer Field Miami Gardens, Florida 2018
Florida International University Soccer Stadium Miami, Florida 2018; 2 matches in U.S. Open Cup[35][36]
2022;1 match in U.S. Open Cup;
2023; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup[37]
Buccaneer Field Miami Shores, Florida 2019

Players and staff

Current roster
Miami FC President and co-owner, Riccardo Silva (center) with Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (left) and former head coach, Alessandro Nesta (right)
As of March 17, 2023[38]
No. Pos. Player Nation
1 GK Jake McGuire  United States
3 DF Aedan Stanley  United States
4 DF Paco Craig  England
6 DF Moisés Hernández  Guatemala
7 FW Claudio Repetto  Italy
8 MF Gabriel Cabral  Brazil
9 FW Kyle Murphy  United States
10 MF Florian Valot  France
11 FW Joaquín Rivas  El Salvador
13 GK Adrian Zendejas (on loan from Charlotte FC)  United States
14 MF Ryan Telfer  Canada
15 MF Lorenzo DiMercurio  United States
17 FW Michael Salazar  Belize
18 MF Dennis Dowouna  Ghana
20 MF Ben Mines  United States
21 MF Bolu Akinyode  Nigeria
22 DF Ben Ofeimu  United States
23 DF Curtis Thorn  England
77 DF Gustavo Rissi (on loan from Indy Eleven)  Brazil
99 FW Christian Sorto  El Salvador
  1. ^
    Miami FC academy player
    2.

Out on loan
No. Pos. Player Nation
5 DF Callum Chapman-Page (on loan to Indy Eleven)  England
31 GK Noah Abrams (on loan to Charlotte Independence)  England

Staff
As of June 20, 2023[39]
Position Staff Nation
Interim head coachLewis Neal England
Assistant coachMarcello Alves Brazil
Head of Performance
& Assistant coach		Ryan Thamm United States
Goalkeeper coachGiuseppe Weller Italy
Equipment managerKeeler Watson United States

Individual records

Top goalscorers
As of match played October 14, 2023

(Appearances listed in parentheses next to total)

Name Years League Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Total
1Cuba Ariel Martínez2016–2019, 202121 (101)9 (14)1 (7)31 (122)
2United States Jaime Chavez2016–201824 (63)1 (5)3 (6)28 (74)
3United States Dylan Mares2017–2018, 201921 (56)4 (12)2 (9)27 (77)
4Mexico Miguel González2019–202021 (31)4 (7)0 (1)25 (39)
5Brazil Stefano Pinho201717 (27)0 (1)4 (3)21 (31)
6 United States Kyle Murphy2022–present16 (62)0 (1)1 (3)17 (66)
6 Senegal Mohamed Thiaw2019–202015 (30)2 (7)0 (1)17 (38)
7 Cuba Darío Suárez2018–201910 (24)4 (12)2 (4)16 (40)
8 El Salvador Joaquín Rivas2022–present14 (42)1 (1)0 (1)15 (44)
8 Italy Vincenzo Rennella2016–201814 (39)0 (1)1 (8)15 (48)
8 Ghana Kwadwo Poku2016–201713 (49)0 (1)2 (5)15 (55)

Most appearances
As of match played October 14, 2023

(Goals scored listed in parentheses next to total)

Name Years League Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Total
1Cuba Ariel Martínez2016–2019, 2021101 (21)14 (9)7 (1)122 (31)
2Nigeria Bolu Akinyode2021–present92 (2)2 (0)4 (0)98 (2)
3England Paco Craig2021–present91 (6)2 (0)3 (0)96 (6)
4Argentina Mario Daniel Vega2016–201875 (0)6 (0)8 (0)89 (0)
5Canada Mason Trafford2016–201869 (0)6 (0)9 (0)84 (0)
6United States Rhett Bernstein2016–201866 (2)6 (0)6 (1)78 (3)
7United States Dylan Mares2017–2018, 201956 (21)12 (4)9 (2)77 (27)
8United States Jaime Chavez2016–201863 (24)5 (1)6 (3)74 (28)
9England Callum Chapman-Page2019, 2021–present63 (5)8 (1)2 (0)73 (6)
10United States Aedan Stanley2022–present64 (0)1 (0)4 (0)69 (0)
10United States Mark Segbers2022–202364 (2)1 (0)4 (0)69 (2)

Managerial records
As of match played October 14, 2023
Name From To P W D L GS GA %W Honours Notes
Italy Alessandro Nesta September 1, 2015[40] November 17, 2017[6] 71 35 17 19 111 78 049.30 (1) NASL Spring Season
(1) NASL Fall Season
Scotland Paul Dalglish January 25, 2018[41] November 13, 2019[42] 45 36 5 4 143 30 080.00 (2) NPSL Sunshine Conference Championship
(2018, 2019)
(2) NPSL South Region Championship
(2018, 2019)
(2) NPSL Championship
(2018, 2019)
(1) NISA East Coast Championship
United States Nelson Vargas November 14, 2019[43] August 10, 2020 3 0 0 3 4 11 000.00
Scotland Paul Dalglish August 10, 2020[44] November 15, 2021[28] 46 20 10 16 71 64 043.48 [lower-alpha 9]
Wales Anthony Pulis November 29, 2021[29] June 20, 2023[46] 54 19 18 17 74 63 035.19
United States Lewis Neal (interim) June 20, 2023 present 19 9 1 9 24 21 047.37

Club culture

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

The club's mascot is Golazo, a seven-foot-tall Kingfisher bird with blue and orange feathers.[47]

Rivalries

The closest team geographically was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with games between the two sides often labelled the FL Clásico.[48] 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 two teams would meet again in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, which saw Miami FC winning 3–1. 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.[49] They would also meet in the 2022 Edition of the U.S. Open Cup, which Miami FC won 3–0.

They also have a local rivalry with MLS team Inter Miami, who they have played twice the US Open Cup in 2022 and 2023.

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.[50] 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 Coast Championship (1): 2019

Notes
  1. Competed as Miami FC 2
  2. Only competed in Fall 2019 portion of the season
  3. Until August 10, 2020
  4. Until June 20, 2023
  5. Only includes National Independent Soccer Association attendances
  6. Games were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  7. First seven home matches were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were not used to find the average
  8. One regular season National Independent Soccer Association match & the 2019 NISA East Coast Championship[32][33]
  9. During the 2021 USL Championship season Dalglish tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to perform his duties as head coach. Assistant coach Andy Thomson ran the squad for three matches between July 7 and July 17 and earned a record of 3-0-0.[45] However, USL does not acknowledge this and still lists Dalglish as the head coach during this time.

References
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  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.
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  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.
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  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.
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  29. Kaufman, Michelle (November 29, 2021). "Inter Miami assistant coach Anthony Pulis named head coach of USL club Miami FC". The Miami Herald. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
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  31. "Miami FC Announces Major Jersey Sponsorship Deal with Presenting Sponsor Helbiz". www.miamifc.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020.
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  39. "Staff". Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  40. Evans, Simon (August 31, 2015). "Italian Nesta appointed coach of new Miami club". Reuters. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
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  42. "THE MIAMI FC APPOINTS PAUL DALGLISH AS GENERAL MANAGER" – The Miami FC, November 13, 2019
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  46. Cozzoli, Matteo (June 20, 2023). "Miami FC Announces Departure of Anthony Pulis as Head Coach". The Miami FC. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  47. "Meet Golazo!".
  48. "Fort Lauderdale Strikers Look to Win the First-Ever Florida Clasico as They Face Miami FC This Weekend".
  49. "2018 US Open Cup round 2: Miami United eliminates shorthanded Miami FC 2". Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  50. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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