Austin Aztex U23 was 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 ...
team based in
Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock is a city in Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 census.
The city straddles the Balcones Escarpment, Texas State Histor ...
,
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 ...
. Founded in 2007, the team played in the
USL Premier Development League
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 ...
(PDL),
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 ...
, until 2009, after which the franchise folded and the team left the league.
The team played its home games in
Dragon Stadium on the campus of
Round Rock High School. The team's colors were red and white.
The team was part of the official development system of the
Austin Aztex
The Austin Aztex were a soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2011 as a member of the Premier Development League, the team played the 2015 season in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States soccer p ...
USL First Division
The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...
franchise, which also has an affiliation with English
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...
.
History
The Aztex originally joined the PDL as a 2008 expansion franchise, and were initially named Austin Stampede, but were re-branded after their controlling shares were bought by Austin Football Holdings LLC, (AFH).
[ The team made its professional debut on 3 May 2008 in a 0–0 tie away to ]El Paso Patriots
El Paso Patriots was an American soccer team based in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1989, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the South ...
, and picked up its first victory in the next game, 2–0 at home to Houston Leones off goals by A. J. Godbolt and Robin Martinez. The Aztex enjoyed an auspicious beginning to their debut season, winning six of their next seven games, including a 4–0 thrashing of DFW Tornados that features a hat-trick from striker Andres Cuero. The team's positive early season form also saw them qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at the first time of asking, where they managed to hold USL1 side Atlanta Silverbacks
The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...
to a 2–2 tie before ultimately 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out; Jamie Watson and Willy Guadarrama scored Austin's goals. Austin's impressive form continued through June and early July with three more home victories, but in the final games of the regular the team stuttered, losing three on the bounce, including a 1–3 turnaround to El Paso Patriots
El Paso Patriots was an American soccer team based in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1989, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the South ...
, their worst defeat of the season. Nevertheless, the team's early and mid-season consistency kept them at the top of the Mid South Division, finishing the season as champions, three points ahead of second place Laredo Heat, and into the Southern Conference playoffs. A 2–1 victory over Southeast Division runners-up Bradenton Academics put the Aztex into the Conference final, where they were overrun by a resurgent Laredo Heat who, despite having been beaten twice by the Aztex during the regular season, put them away with a 3–1 scoreline. Also in 2008, the Aztex played an exhibition match at home against the popular Mexican team Tigrés, coming away on the wrong end of a respectable 2–1 scoreline. Jamie Watson and Andres Cuero were the Aztex's top scorers, with 7 and 5 goals respectively, and Watson topped the assists sheet too, with three to his name. Miguel Gallardo enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics in the PDL, with a goals-against average of 0.615 per game, and keeping 9 clean sheets in his 13 games.
Year-by-year
Honors
* USL PDL
** Mid South Division Champions: 2008
Head coaches
* Wolfgang Suhnholz (2008–2009)
Stadia
* Dragon Stadium; Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock is a city in Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 census.
The city straddles the Balcones Escarpment, Texas State Histor ...
(2008–2009)
* Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field; Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...
1 game (2009)
* Stadium at Bastrop High School; Bastrop, Texas
Bastrop () is a city and the county seat of Bastrop County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,688 according to the 2020 census. It is located about southeast of Austin and is part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
History
S ...
1 game (2009)
* Bobcat Soccer Complex; San Marcos, Texas
San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...
1 game (2009)
Average attendance
Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
* 2008: 1,166
* 2009: 240
See also
*Austin Lightning
Austin Lightning was an Amateur sports, amateur American soccer team. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2007, when the team left the league a ...
*Austin Aztex FC
Austin Aztex FC was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in USL First Division, and in USL Division of the USSF D2 Pro League, the second tier of the A ...
References
External links
*
{{USSoccer
Austin Aztex
Defunct Premier Development League teams
Association football clubs established in 2007
2007 establishments in Texas
2009 disestablishments in Texas
Association football clubs disestablished in 2009
Soccer clubs in Austin, Texas