The 2020 Hartford Athletic season was the club's second season of existence and their second in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

, the second tier of American soccer. This article covers the period from October 20, 2019, the day after Hartford's final match of the 2019 regular season, to the conclusion of the 2020 USLC Playoff Final, scheduled for November 12–16, 2020.

Season in review

Background, off-season and pre-season

Hartford finished its inaugural season in next to last place in the Eastern Conference, seven table positions and fourteen points out of the playoff spots. The club parted ways with head coach Jimmy Nielsen just seven days after the 2019 season's end and signed former Southampton U-23 coach

Radhi Jaïdi Radhi Ben Abdelmajid Jaïdi (; born 30 August 1975) is a Tunisian former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre back. He was previously head coach of the under-23 team at Southampton ...

to fill the vacancy on November 8. The club also parted ways with COO Donovan Powell five days later. The club began announcing roster moves in October, also, quickly announcing the return of four players from the 2019 roster ( Harry Swartz, Alex Dixon, Alex Davey, and Nicky Downs), with the return of Danny Barrera and Mads Jørgensen being announced in early November, and the return of Mike Novotny being announced in early December. New signings began in earnest in late November with the addition of Aiden Mesias, former

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

defender Sam Strong, Brazilian defender Gabriel Torres, 2019 Greenville Triumph center back Kevin Politz, Cal State Northridge products Dre Deas and Alex Lara, Dartmouth midfielder

Noah Paravicini Noah Tiberius Paravicini (born April 10, 1997) is a retired American professional association football, soccer player who last played for Charlotte Independence in the USL Championship. Career Youth, college and amateur Paravicini played youth ...

, and UT-Rio Grande Valley midfielder Arthur Rogers. In January, the club signed

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio FC ...

's all-time leading scorer Éver Guzmán, Brazilian defender Matheus Silva, and announced the return of forward Mac Steeves. In February, the club announced loan deals for goalkeeper Parfait Mandanda and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

U-23 midfielder Tyreke Johnson.

Roster

Competitions

Exhibitions

Match results

USL Championship

Standings — Group F

Match results

In the preparations for the resumption of league play following the shutdown prompted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Hartford's schedule was announced on July 2.

USL Cup Playoffs

U.S. Open Cup

As a USL Championship club, Hartford as enter the competition in the second round, to be played April 7–9. The

2020 U.S. Open Cup The 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was planned to be the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. Atlanta United FC was the defending champion after defeating Minnesota United FC in the 2019 U.S. Open Cu ...

was cancelled due to the

Statistics

Appearances and goals

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Season in review

Background, off-season and pre-season

Roster

Competitions

Exhibitions

Match results

USL Championship

Standings — Group F

Match results

USL Cup Playoffs

U.S. Open Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

Kits

See also

References