The Indiana Invaders was an American
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team based in
South Bend, Indiana,
United States. Founded in 1998, the team played in the
USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the
American Soccer Pyramid
The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...
, in the Great Lakes Division of the Central Conference.
The team played its home games at the soccer-specific Indiana Invaders Soccer Complex since 2003. The team's colors were blue, gold and black.
The team was part of the larger Invaders FC soccer club, which organizes more than 25 boys and girls youth soccer teams in northern Indiana. The club also 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 cl ...
, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the
United Soccer Leagues umbrella.
Players
Notable former players
''This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.''
*
Clint Dempsey
*
Brent Brockman
Brent Brockman (born March 5, 1988, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American professional soccer player who last played for F.C. New York.
Career
College
Brockman attended Northern York High School where he was the 2 time Mid Penn Colon ...
*
Conner Cappelletti
Conner Cappelletti (born January 17, 1989) is an association football coach and former player. Previously the head coach at Lane United FC, Lane United, Lane Community College, and North Alabama SC, he is an assistant coach for USL League One c ...
*
Mubarike Chisoni
*
Bright Dike
Chinedu "Bright" Dike (born 2 February 1987) is a retired footballer who played as a forward. Born in the United States, he represented the Nigeria national team.
Career
College and amateur
Born in Edmond, Oklahoma, Dike attended Edmond No ...
*
Shaun Francis
*
Kevin Goldthwaite
Kevin Goldthwaite (born December 9, 1982) is a former American soccer player who last played as a defender for Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer.
Career
College
After graduating from Christian Brothers High School (Sacramento, California ...
*
Brad Knighton
Bradley Burton Knighton (born February 6, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player.
College and amateur soccer
Knighton played four years of college soccer at UNC-Wilmington as well as for Indiana Invaders in the USL Premier Dev ...
*
Nathan Micklos
*
Steven Perry
Steven Perry (born September 7, 1988 in Edmond, Oklahoma) is an American soccer player.
Career
Perry played college soccer at the University of Notre Dame between 2007 and 2010. At college he was named - 2010 First Team All-Big East, 2010 Seco ...
*
Brian Plotkin
Brian Plotkin (born August 3, 1984 in Lisle, Illinois) is the head Coach of the Army Black Knights men's soccer team and is a retired professional soccer player.
Career
College and Amateur
Brian Plotkin played college soccer for Indiana Universi ...
*
Alec Purdie
*
Jeff Rowland
*
Kwame Sarkodie
Kwame Sarkodie (born April 27, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player.
Career
College and amateur
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Sarkodie played college soccer at the University of Cincinnati. While at college Sarkodie also played in th ...
*
Minori Sato
is a Japanese former football player.
Club career
Sato started his professional career in the J2 League. In 2010, after a trial with the Primera División de México club Puebla FC, he signed a 4-year contract. The same year he was sent on loa ...
*
Jack Stewart
*
Ryan Stewart
*
Hideaki Takeda
is a former Japanese football player.
Career
On 7 March 2012, it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract with Estonian Meistriliiga side JK Nõmme Kalju. Takeda made the league debut for the club on 10 March 2012, in a goalless dra ...
*
Michael Tanke
Michael Tanke (born August 18, 1989 in Merrillville, Indiana) is an American former soccer player and current coach.
Career
College and amateur
Tanke attended Niles High School, in Niles, Michigan, where he was named to the All-State First Te ...
*
Phil Tuttle
Phil Tuttle (born October 19, 1987, in Hooksett, New Hampshire) is an American soccer player.
Career
College and Amateur
Tuttle is a product of the University of Notre Dame, where during his five years he appeared in 33 games, starting 29 and p ...
*
Lance Watson
Lance Watson (born October 6, 1983 in Nederland, Texas) is an American soccer player.
Career
College and amateur
Watson played college soccer at the University of New Mexico from 2002 to 2005. He finished his career with 22 assists, good enough ...
Year-by-year
Head coach
*
Mario Manta (2003–2011)
Stadium
* Indiana Invaders Sports Complex;
South Bend, Indiana (2003–Present)
Average attendance
Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
* 2005: 443
* 2006: 499
* 2007: 336
* 2008: 282
* 2009: 583
* 2010: 488
References
External links
Official website
Association football clubs established in 1998
USL League Two teams
Sports in South Bend, Indiana
Soccer clubs in Indiana
USISL teams
1998 establishments in Indiana
Association football clubs disestablished in 2011
2011 disestablishments in Indiana
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