Akron City FC is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. Founded in 2021, the men's team plays in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, a pre-professional league that is part of the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

system. The team originally played in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

(NPSL), a national semi-pro league at the fourth tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...

, in the Great Lakes Conference of the Midwest Region. The team plays its home games at Green Street Stadium on the campus of St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron. The team's colors are sky blue, red and white.

History

Founding and inaugural season

Akron City FC joined the NPSL as an expansion franchise in 2021 and took part in its first competitive season in 2022. On September 16, 2021,

Kia Zolgharnain Kia Zolgharnain (born November 10, 1965) is an Iranian-American soccer coach and former player. As a player, Zolgharnain was a forward who led the American Indoor Soccer Association in scoring during the 1986–1987 season. He coaches youth so ...

was named as the technical director and was responsible for player acquisition for the new team. Akron City played their first NPSL game on May 14, 2022. In front of 1,051 fans, the team secured a 2–1 victory over

Pittsburgh Hotspurs Steel City FC is an American pre-professional soccer club based out of Pittsburgh. The club has two senior teams, with the men's team playing in the USL League Two and the women's team playing in the USL W League, along with several youth teams. ...

. The team would not win again until its final game on July 15, 2022 against the Erie Commodores. Kia stepped down as head coach after three games for medical reasons and assistant coach Jay Stepp assumed head coaching duties for the reaming of the season. Cedric Tschami was elevated to top assistant. Despite the team's final record, four of their losses were by one goal and they played to four draws. One of those draws was against eventual Rust Belt champion and Midwest Region finalist

Cleveland SC Cleveland SC is an American semi-professional soccer club based in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio region. Cleveland competes in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) as part of the Midwest Region's Great Lakes Conference. The club was establishe ...

, avenging their two worst losses of the season. In that game, Akron City FC scored early and held a 1-0 lead for over 70 minutes before conceding the equalizer in the 86th minute. Despite the results on the field, the 2022 season was a great building block for the future. The team drew over 1,000 fans twice and averaged 625 fans for the season, well above league averages. The team secured 19 sponsorships, proving the business community was on board with the cities newest sports asset. In December 2024, Akron announced it was joining

for the 2025 season.

Club colors and crest

Sponsorship

Players and staff

Jannis Schmidt

Current & Historical Rosters

"2025 Roster" "2024 Roster" "2023 Roster" ''2022 Inaugural Season Roster'

Current & Historical Standings

NPSL Rust Belt Conference- 2022 Season

Year-by-year

Managerial history

Stadium

* Green Street Stadium, St. Vincent–St. Mary High School;

(2022–present)

References

External links

Official website

Twitter

Instagram
{{Ohio Sports Association football clubs established in 2021 Sports in Akron, Ohio 2021 establishments in Ohio Soccer clubs in Ohio