Richmond Kickers
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Richmond Kickers
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Wikipedia - Richmond Kickers
Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional Soccer League (now USL League Two) expansion team, which at the time, was the fourth tier of soccer in the United States.
The club's majority owner is 22 Holdings, LLC, and its minority owners are Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club and the Ukrop family, a prominent family from the Greater Richmond Region who founded the Ukrop's grocery chain. The company serves as the club's primary uniform sponsor. Darren Sawatzky has been the club's manager since 2019, taking over for David Bulow. The club's Director of Soccer, Leigh Cowlishaw, coached the team from 2000 until 2018, making him one of the longest tenured professional soccer coaches in American soccer history.
The Kickers play their home league matches at City Stadium, with a reduced capacity of 6,000 seats for most matches. City Stadium has been the club's primary home since 1995. The club has two primary supporters groups: the Red Army and the Scuffletown Social Club, both of whom sit in Section O of the stadium. Richmond has rivalries with fellow Mid-Atlantic and Deep South soccer clubs including the Charleston Battery and Greenville Triumph. The Kickers had an intrastate rivalry with the Virginia Beach Mariners, where the two sides competed for the James River Cup until the Mariners folded in 2009.
The Kickers played their inaugural match on May 8, 1993, winning 1–0 over the now defunct-Columbia Spirit. Richmond has won eight trophies over the course of their history including four regular season titles across the second, third, and fourth divisions, and three playoffs championships across the third and fourth divisions. The club has won the U.S. Open Cup once, winning the domestic cup in 1995. The club earned a berth into the 1996 CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup, but ultimately did not play in the tournament.
Today the club is one of the most well-attended USL League One teams, with an average of 3,000 to 4,000 fans per match.
The team has been known to develop several players who has notable soccer careers. Some notable players who played for the Richmond Kickers include, Derrick Etienne, Dwayne De Rosario, and Matt Turner. Some players who played a majority of their career with Richmond include Matthew Delicâte, Yomby William, Robert Ukrop, and Kevin Jeffrey.
History
1993–2019
The Richmond Kickers were founded in 1993 and played their inaugural season in the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL), which, at the time, represented the third division of the American soccer pyramid. The team originally played their home matches on the campus of the University of Richmond and targeted players specifically from Virginia. After a poor season in 1994, the club self-relegated to the newly formed fourth-tier USISL Premier League, now known as the USL League Two. During the 1995 season, the Kickers battled to a 15–3 winning season and went on to win the first ever USISL Premier League championship, defeating the now-defunct Cocoa Expos in the championship. That same season, Richmond won their only, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship. The following year, Richmond chose to rejoin the third division, where they reached the USISL Select League championship, only to lose to the California Jaguars in the finals.
For the next nine seasons, Richmond played in the second tier of the American soccer pyramid, earning the Commissioner's Cup twice, in 1998 and 2001, as well as earning two conference championships. However, the club was never able to secure a division two league championship, their closest coming in 2005, when the Kickers fell to the Seattle Sounders in the 2005 USL First Division Championship. After the 2005 season, the Kickers ownership self-relegated the team back into the third division, citing possible financial problems for the club if they remained in the second tier. Since joining the third division, the Kickers have had tremendous success, making it to at least the playoff semifinals each season they have played in the third division. Additionally, the Kickers have won two third division premierships and two third division championships during their spell.
In September 2005, the club retired Rob Ukrop's #6 jersey. Ukrop played for the inaugural 1993 Kickers and the 1995 U.S. Open Cup team, joined the New England Revolution at the launch of Major League Soccer before returning midway through the 1996 season to play out his career in his hometown.
Richmond Kickers have not only experienced league success, but have been perennial contenders in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament. In the 2007 U.S. Open Cup, the Kickers defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy of the first division, Major League Soccer, 1–0 in the third round of competition. The Kickers won their First Round match of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup, beating the Fredericksburg Gunners of the PDL with a final scoreline of 3–0. The Kickers won their second-round game over the Western Mass Pioneers 2–1 before being eliminated from the Cup in the third round by MLS side, and defending USOC champion, New England Revolution, 3–0. In the 2011 US Open Cup the Kickers made a Cinderella run, defeating MLS clubs Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City to reach the semi-finals, before falling to the Chicago Fire.
The Kickers briefly sponsored two developmental teams of their own: Richmond Kickers Future and Richmond Kickers Destiny. Future played in the men's USL Premier Development League from 2002 to 2008, while the Destiny played in the women's USL W-League from 2004 to 2009. The Kickers entered a multi-year deal to become the USL Pro affiliate of D.C. United in 2013, and continued that affiliation through 2018. Loudoun United FC was launched as a fully owned-and-operated affiliate of D.C. United for the 2019 USL Championship season, presumably ending the Kickers' affiliation tenure.
USL League One era and new ownership (2019–present)
After two losing seasons in the second-division USL Championship, the Kickers announced that they were self-relegating and becoming inaugural members of the new third division league, USL League One. In addition to joining a new league, the Kickers announced that 22 Holdings, LLC, an organization consisting of former Davidson College soccer players and led by former Kickers player Rob Ukrop, had acquired a controlling interest in the team. The former majority owners, the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club, would continue holding a minority interest in the team and operating as the team's youth organization.