Celtic FC America 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 ...

club based in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Originally known as Houston Hurricanes FC, the club was established in December 1992 when owner

Brendan Keyes Brendan Keyes is an Irish football manager and former player who currently owns and coaches Celtic FC America. Keyes also founded and operates the Texas Premier Soccer League. Football career Keyes began his playing career as a youth in Irelan ...

announced he was moving his Galveston Pirate SC franchise to Houston. In 2019, Keyes decided to go back to his roots and use his academy team name Celtic FC America for his first team. As of 2024, the team is likely defunct. The Celts' regular kit colors were green and white horizontally striped shirts with white shorts and socks which derive from the iconic

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...

of Glasgow, Scotland. CFCA play home games at Clear Springs Stadium in

League City, Texas League City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County, within the metropolitan area. The population was 114,392 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city of League City has a small portion ...

History

National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)

On December 24, 2012, 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. ...

announced that Galveston Pirate SC team owner

would relocate and re-brand his franchise for the

2013 NPSL season The 2013 National Premier Soccer League season was the 101st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 11th season of the NPSL. The season began in May 2013. FC Sonic Lehigh Valley were the defending champions, having won th ...

. The Pirates, who won the South Central Conference crown as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

will continue to play in local leagues and tournaments in Texas, while the first team Houston Hurricanes will take the place of the Galveston team in TPSL. In the 1990s Keyes played for the

Houston Hurricanes Houston ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat of Harris County, as well as the principal city of ...

(

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

); his boyhood idol Bobby Lennox played for the NASL's Hurricane club in 1978-79, two factors that played into Keyes resurrecting the Hurricane brand. The move received the blessing of NPSL Chairman Andy Zorovich and former Hurricane owner Joey Serralta. On the same day of the announcement of their relocation, the club also revealed their first player signing, which was 19-year-old

Mercer University Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...

player Justin Ross. The Celts then held tryouts in order to fill the rest of their roster before their TPSL debut in May 2013. The Hurricanes finished the 2013 NPSL season in last place in the South Central Conference. On November 11, 2013 owner Brendan Keyes announced that the club would not be participating in the NPSL the following season, instead focusing on growing the new TPSL.

Texas Premier Soccer League

In September 2013 the Hurricanes joined five other Texas-based clubs (BCS Bearkatz FC, Galveston Pirate SC,

Houston Dutch Lions Miami Dutch Lions FC is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Lions competes in National Premier Soccer League, as a member of the Sunshine Conference. The club was founded in Conroe, Texas in 2011, before ...

, Houston Leones FC, Houston Regals SCA) forming the new

Texas Premier Soccer League The Texas Premier Soccer League (TPSL) was a men's outdoor soccer league that was formed in 2013 consisting of amateur soccer club sides across the state. The TPSL was sanctioned by US Club Soccer, an affiliate member of the United States Soccer ...

. On May 19, 2018 the Hurricanes FC captured their first Texas Cup defeating Twin Cities FC by a score of 3-2. On January 26, 2019 Hurricanes FC officially rebranded as Celtic FC America. https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/sports/article/Soccer-Celtic-FC-America-looks-to-find-permanent-14083160.php https://www.tpsl.us/celtic.html By 2024, the website of the team was inactive and its social network accounts were shut down except an Instagram account which was last active in 2020.

Season-by-season

Coaching staff

Notable players

* Paul Byrne *

Gary Doherty Gary Michael Thomas Doherty (born 31 January 1980) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender, having previously also played as a forward. He gained international honours for the Republic of Ireland. He began his caree ...

* Evan Evimar Mariano * Colville Richards * Pratik Shinde

References

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/sports/article/Soccer-Celtic-FC-America-looks-to-find-permanent-14083160.php

External links

Celtic FC America websiteOfficial Twitter
{{Texas Premier Soccer League Soccer clubs in Houston 1992 establishments in Texas Defunct soccer clubs in Texas