Phoenix FC

Phoenix FC was an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix. The team was a member of the USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team's colors were red and white.

Phoenix FC

Full name	Phoenix Football Club
Nickname(s)	Wolves
Founded	July 2, 2012; 11 years ago (2012-07-02)
Dissolved	March 12, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-03-12)
Stadium	Sun Devil Soccer Stadium Tempe, Arizona
Capacity	3,400
Owners	BDR Sports LLC
Head Coach	David Robertson
League	USL Pro
Home colors Away colors

History

On June 18, 2012, BDR Sports LLC was incorporated in the State of Arizona to bring a professional soccer team to Phoenix.^[1] On July 2, 2012, the USL Pro awarded a franchise to the BDR group for the 2013 season.^[2] On July 15, the team announced they had hired David Robertson, Director of Boy's Coaching at Sereno Soccer Club, as head coach. He is a former Rangers, Aberdeen and Leeds United player. He also managed Elgin City and Montrose in the Scottish Third Division. The team name ("Phoenix City FC") and colors were announced the same day.^[3][4] On August 28, the team selected Umbro as the team's official football uniform and equipment supplier.^[5] On September 7, the team renamed itself "Phoenix FC", introduced its logo and selected "Wolves" as their nickname.^[6]

On September 27, 2012, former Aberdeen striker Darren Mackie signed a one-year contract with Phoenix FC, becoming their first player signing.^[7][8][9]

On December 11, 2012, Phoenix FC and Arizona State University announced a stadium agreement for 2013. Phoenix FC would play home games at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium beginning in April 2013. As part of the deal, the seating capacity was meant to be expanded by more than 4,000 additional seats, taking the total capacity to over 5,000 seats. However, due to the position of stadium lights poles on the east side of the stadium, the capacity was revised to just over 3,400.^[10][11][12]

2013 season

Main article: 2013 Phoenix FC season

Phoenix FC opened their only season with a 2–0 loss to the Los Angeles Blues on March 23, 2013.^[13][14] They won their home opener at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on March 30, 2013. They defeated VSI Tampa Bay FC 1–0 on a goal by Netinho before a sold-out, standing room crowd of 4,198.^[15][16][17]

The team finished the 2013 season with 5 wins, 14 losses and 7 ties.^[18] Donny Toia lead the team in scoring with six goals and was a nominee for USL Pro Rookie of the Year.^[19]

Demise

USL Pro revoked the Phoenix franchise rights from BDR Sports LLC on November 1, 2013, citing multiple violations of the franchise agreement, such as failing to pay its players on time and submitting misleading and inaccurate financial statements.^{[20][21][22][23]} On December 16, 2013, USL Pro awarded the franchise rights for Phoenix FC to American Soccer Marketing LLC, owned by former interim team president Tim Donald.^[24][25][26] On March 12, 2014, American Soccer Marketing announced that it could not continue operating the team in the USL Pro league. They were replaced with Arizona United SC (now Phoenix Rising FC) the next day.^[27]

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular season (W–L–T)	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Avg. attendance	Top goalscorer
2013	3	USL Pro	12th Place (5–14–7)	did not qualify	First round	1,532	Donny Toia	6

Players

Main article: All-time Phoenix FC roster

Roster

^[28]

No.	Position	Player	Nation
0	GK	Lalo Fernández	Mexico
1	GK	Andrew Weber	United States
2	MF	Reid Schmitt	United States
3	DF	Scott Morrison	Scotland
4	DF	Devon Grousis	United States
5	DF	Renan Boufleur	Brazil
6	MF	Anthony Obodai	Ghana
7	MF	David Paul	United States
8	MF	Netinho	Brazil
9	MF	Diego Faria	Brazil
10	FW	Darren Mackie	Scotland
11	DF	Cyprian Hedrick	Cameroon
13	GK	Sheldon Parkinson	Jamaica
14	FW	Aaron King	United States
15	DF	José Ramos	Mexico
16	DF	Isaiah Schafer	United States
17	DF	Brian Holmes	United States
18	MF	Thomas Ramos	United States
19	DF	Elliot Weber	United States
20	GK	Neal Kitson	United States
21	MF	Josh Bento	United States
22	MF	Cameron Vickers	United States
23	FW	Peabo Doue	United States
25	FW	Donny Toia	United States
26	GK	Humberto Soriano	United States
27	FW	Travis Bowen	United States
28	FW	Davy Armstrong (on loan from Colorado Rapids)	United States
29	FW	Roberto Valadez	United States
30	GK	Sócrates Oliveira Fonseca	Cape Verde
32	DF	Robert Clayton Zelin III	United States
33	DF	Chad Newman	United States
—	FW	Will Bates (on loan from Seattle Sounders FC)	United States

Front Office

•   Tim Donald – President
•   Eric Cornwall – Chairman
•   Rui Filipe Bento – General Manager
•   Shawn Dietrich – Director of Operations
•   David Robertson – Head Coach

Stadiums

• Sun Devil Soccer Stadium (2013 – 9 games)
• GCU Soccer Stadium (2013 – 1 game)
• Reach 11 Soccer Complex (2013 – 3 games)

References

1. "Business Entity Search". Arizona Corporation Commission. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
2. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). 2012-07-02. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
3. "USL Pro Valley team names coach, reveals team name". Arizona Republic. 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
4. . AzKicksIt.com. 2012-07-16. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
5. Team Facebook Page
6. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). 2012-09-07. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
7. "Phoenix FC officially signs first player, former Scottish Premier League forward, according to sources". Odeen Domingo. Arizona Republic. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
8. "Darren Mackie, Phoenix FC's first signing and former Scottish Premier League striker, answers fans questions sent through Twitter; Phoenix FC tryouts update". Odeen Domingo. Arizona Republic. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
9. . AZKicksIt.com. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
10. Phoenix FC Scores With Sun Devil Soccer Stadium Deal
11. Phoenix pro soccer team will stake home field at ASU in Tempe
12. "Help Center - the Arizona Republic".
13. "Phoenix FC loses first ever game on Saturday; played much of the match a man down". Arizona Republic. March 24, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
14. . AZKicksIt. March 24, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
15. "Netinho scores Phoenix FC's 1st goal in win". Arizona Republic. March 31, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
16. . AZKicksIt. March 30, 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
17. . SoccerNation.com. March 24, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
18. . Jason Robertson. recklesschallenge.net. August 21, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
19. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). September 4, 2013. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
20. . Odeen Domingo. ODFCnews.com. November 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
21. . Indy Week. November 2, 2013. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
22. "League pulls franchise from Phoenix FC owners group". Ted Prezelski. Tucson Sentinel. November 2, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
23. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). November 2, 2013. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
24. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). December 16, 2013. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
25. "Phoenix FC, USL PRO announce new ownership group". Odeen Domingo. ODFCnews.com. December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
26. . Garrett Cleverly. AZKicksIt. December 16, 2013. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
27. . United Soccer Leagues (USL). March 13, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
28. Phoenix FC Team Roster 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine