Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC) is an American soccer club from

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Lo ...

competing in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a pre-professional women's soccer league in the United States which began play in May 2022. It was announced on June 8, 2021 by the United Soccer League with eight founding clubs. It follows the USL W-League, a simi ...

Eastern Premier Soccer League The Eastern Premier Soccer League (EPSL) is a United States Adult Soccer Association and a National Independent Soccer Association affiliated Amateur Elite League that includes teams from the Eastern United States. Currently the league has members ...

and the

Major Arena Soccer League 3 The Major Arena Soccer League 3 (MASL3) is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League and MASL2. History Established in the summer of 2020, MASL3 is the third tier of indoor so ...

. The club's women's team was known as the Northern Virginia Majestics, who played in the women's

USL W-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

, and fielded a team in the USL’s

Super-20 League The Super Y League is a youth soccer league with teams from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1999, the Super Y League is dedicated to the progression of future professional players and has steered the course for development of elite c ...

, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

umbrella. Throughout their recent history, NVFC previously enjoyed minor league affiliation with

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

, the nearby

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

franchise.

History

Professional

Northern Virginia FC was founded in 1998 and joined the USISL D-3 Pro League as an expansion franchise in 1998, entering the team under the name Northern Virginia Royals. They ended their first season in 7th place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-12-1 record. In their second season, they improved, winning 10 of their 18 regular season games, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division and also qualified for their first

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

campaign in 1999, where they were upset in the first round by Florida

PDL PDL is an initialism for: Politics * Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania * Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former political party in Italy * Pole of Freed ...

side

Cocoa Expos Cocoa Expos was an American soccer team, founded in 1993. 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 and the fra ...

5-3. In the playoffs they beat divisional rivals

South Carolina Shamrocks The South Carolina Shamrocks were an United States, American soccer team that played in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Shamrocks played the 1998 and 1999 seasons at Greer, SC, Greer City Stadium, then called Shamrock Stadium. Year-by-year Coac ...

2-1 in the first round before falling 4-0 to Charlotte in the conference semi-final. The 1998 season and the Royals were featured in the book "Unlucky: A Season of Struggle in Minor League Professional Soccer" by Dave Ungrady, who trained and played briefly for the Royals as well The D-3 Pro League became the USL Pro Select League in 2003, and the Royals finished bottom of the 3-team Southern Division, with just 6 wins for the year. The USL Pro Select League became the USL Second Division in 2005, and dispensed with divisions in favor of a single-table format; for the Royals, this proved to be yet another disastrous season.

Move to PDL

After finishing bottom of the league in the USL Second Division, the Royals management took the decision to self-relegate themselves to the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

for the 2006 season. The Royals won their first match in the amateur PDL 3-1 over

West Virginia Chaos West Virginia United (formerly West Virginia Chaos and West Virginia Alliance FC) is an American soccer team based in Charleston, West Virginia. Founded in 2003, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. ...

, ultimately finishing fourth in the Mid Atlantic Division in their debut 2006 season. The Northern Virginia Royals were inducted into the USL Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007.

Partnership with D.C. United

In 2015, the Royals rebranded as Evergreen FC and partnered with

club

and formed a joint PDL team called D.C. United U-23, who combined their NPSL side with the Royals, to play in the PDL, finishing fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Evergreen Hammers

After the 2015 season, the Royals transferred their operations and relocated to Loudon County, Virginia in 2016 playing under the Evergreen FC banner as the Evergreen Hammers.

Northern Virginia FC

For the 2021 season, Evergreen which was already part of the Northern Virginia FC club, renamed the

club to the Northern Virginia banner. NoVa FC had already operated teams under that name in the lower level

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was foun ...

and

. On 27 August 2021, NoVa FC announced they would be reviving the women's program with a new side in the

beginning in 2022.

Logo history

Year-by-year

Professional/USL League Two

Eastern Premier Soccer League

Major Arena Soccer League 3

Honors

League

* Eastern Premiere Soccer League ** Mid-Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champion (1): 2021-22 ** Playoff Champion (1): 2021-22 *

**East Division Regular Season Champion (1): 2022 ** Playoff Champion (1): 2022

Cups

*'
Metropolitan DC-Virginia Soccer Association
'' **'
MDCVSA State Cup
'' (1): 2021 * US Adult Soccer Association Region I ** National Amateur Cup Region I (1): 2022 * US Adult Soccer Association **

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). In 1923, U.S. ...

(Runner-Up): 2022

Head coaches

Silvino Gonzalo Cuevas del Silvino is a limestone cave system in Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; t ...

(1998–2007) *

John Pascarella John Pascarella (born 1966) is an American soccer coach who is currently on the staff of Forward Madison FC in USL League One. Playing career Raised in Vineland, New Jersey, Pascarella played prep soccer at Vineland High School together with ...

(2007–2008) * Tom Torres (2009–2010) *

Richie Burke Richie Burke (born 26 November 1962) is an English former professional footballer and former manager of Washington Spirit competing in the National Women's Soccer League. He has extensive coaching experience in Scotland and the United States. ...

(2011–2012)Royals Hire Burke as PDL Coach
/ref> *

Grady Renfrow Places United States *Grady, Alabama, an unincorporated community *Grady, Arkansas, a city *Grady, Mississippi, an unincorporated community *Grady, New Mexico, a village *Grady, Oklahoma, an unincorporated community *Grady, Virginia, an unincorporat ...

(2013–2014) *

(2014–2015) * Brian Welsh (2014–2015) * Ian Bishop (2016) *

(2017) *

Paul Ngend Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

(2018–2019) *

(2021–)

References

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Association football clubs established in 1998 USL League Two teams Sports in Northern Virginia Leesburg, Virginia Soccer clubs in Virginia D.C. United USL Second Division teams 1998 establishments in Virginia