Austin Bold FC (ABFC) was an American professional

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 located in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut 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 ...

in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

leaving

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

at the end of the season but may have to wait until 2023, depending on the construction of their stadium. the team remains inactive.

Stadium

The club played at Bold Stadium on the grounds of the

race track, located between the amphitheater and the grand plaza. The first goal in the stadium was scored by Kleber Giacomazzi in a 1–0 win against

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 ...

on March 30, 2019.

Ownership

Bobby Epstein, chairman of the Circuit of the Americas, has led the ownership group after becoming majority owner in 2017. He became involved in a public relations battle with Anthony Precourt, the primary owner of

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

, who had been sanctioned by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

to create a franchise in Austin after selling his stake in the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

amid controversy. Epstein was criticized for his tactics, including hiring petition campaigners who are accused of lying to the public. In December 2021, a new ownership group was approved by the

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

. The new ownership group consists of Donnie Nelson, Neil Leibman, and Epstein. The team did not participate in the 2022

as it sought relocation to another city in Texas.

Sponsorship

Players and staff

Roster

Staff

* Rick Abbott – acting general manager * Brandon Brock - Director, Ticket Sales * Catherine Ryland – team administrator * Marcelo Serrano - sporting director * Ryan Thompson – head coach * Vacant – assistant coach * Michael Alcaraz – goalkeeper coach * Ally Furey – head athletic trainer * Sarah Khalifa – assistant athletic trainer / assistant performance coach

Team records

Year-by-year

1. Top scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

* Includes USL regular season, USL playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Average attendance

Honors

Minor

* Copa Tejas (Division 2) ** Winners (1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{Austin Former USL Championship teams 2018 establishments in Texas Sports clubs and teams in Austin, Texas Association football clubs established in 2018 Soccer clubs in Texas