Appalachian Football Club is an American soccer team based in
Boone, North Carolina, that currently plays in the
National Premier Soccer League, on the fourth tier of the
United States soccer league system. The team plays its home games at the
ASU Soccer Stadium.
History
On May 26, 2020,
Appalachian State discontinued varsity sports including
men's soccer due to the financial impact of 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 ...
. As a result of the men's soccer team being cut, head coach Jason O'Keefe and a soccer executive Michael Hitchcock joined up with a group of local business owners to create the team.
On November 5, 2020, Appalachian FC joined the
National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), considered the fourth tier of the
United States soccer pyramid and roughly equal to
USL League Two. Appalachian FC played their first game on May 1, 2021, ending in a 1–1 draw with Metro Louisville FC. Appalachian FC finished the 2021 season third in their conference and advanced to the
Southeast Conference playoffs. They finished the season with a 2–1 loss to Georgia Storm in the semifinals on July 14, 2021.
In just their second season, Appalachian FC finished the 2022 regular season as the #1 seed in the Southeast Conference playoffs. Appalachian FC would ride that momentum through the playoffs, winning the Southeast Conference championship 6-2 against North Alabama Soccer Coalition on July 16, 2022. Appalachian FC would go on to win their 2022 NPSL East Region semifinal matchup 2-1 against the Alexandria Reds before falling to Keystone Conference and eventual National Champion,
FC Motown 3-0. Head Coach, Dale Parker, would earn NPSL Coach of the Year honors as a result of the team's 2022 campaign.
As a result of their success in 2022, Appalachian FC earned a berth into the
2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament. On March 22, 2023, Appalachian FC would make club history earning their first U.S. Open Cup victory against
NC Fusion U-23s. The contest would remain tied through stoppage and extra time before ultimately being decided by penalty kicks. Appalachian FC's U.S. Open Cup run would end in the second round at the hands of
USL League One side,
Charlotte Independence.
Colors and crest
The club colors are black and gold. The club crest was designed by award-winning designer Christopher Payne, who has developed brand identities for several football clubs in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
including
Lexington SC,
Flower City Union,
Monterey Bay FC, and
Eastleigh Football Club. The crest draws inspiration from the
cryptozoological mythology and
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
of
Sasquatch sightings in North Carolina and across the
Appalachia
Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
n
Mountains.
Year-by-year
References
External links
*
{{North Carolina Sports
2021 establishments in North Carolina
Association football clubs established in 2021
National Premier Soccer League teams
Soccer clubs in North Carolina
Boone, North Carolina