Laredo Heat Soccer Club is 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

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

. The team competes in

USL League Two 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 ...

, 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 ...

, as a member of the Lone Star Division. The team plays its home games at the PEG Energy Stadium, where they have played since 2024. The team's colors are red, black and white. Founded in 2004, the team was a member of 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 ...

from 2004 to 2015. The club took a hiatus for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

History

2004

Laredo Heat initially joined the USL Premier Development League in 2004 as an expansion franchise, playing a limited 'exploratory' schedule of eight exhibition games against selected opponents, but only managed two wins, both over the Lafayette Swamp Cats, 4–0 and 5–0, the latter of which featured a hat trick from striker Nelson Mata-Meza. Former

Tampa Bay Mutiny The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The Mutiny were a charter member of MLS, playing from 1996 to 2001. Th ...

, D.C. United and US national team striker Roy Lassiter played for Laredo in their 2–1 loss to DFW Tornados, but did not get on the score sheet. He also played in a 1–1 draw against UNAM.

2016

The Heat decided to opt out of the PDL's 2016 season, citing the slow growth of the Mid-South Division as the reason.

2017

The Heat announced they will be part of an expansion team of the National Premier Soccer League in 2018.

2025

The Heat announced would return to USL League Two for the 2025 season, marking the club's return to the league after a 10-year hiatus. The Heat, who had previously competed in League Two from 2004 to 2015 and won the league title in 2007, will play their home matches at the new PEG Energy Stadium in Laredo, Texas, as part of the Lone Star Division.

Team

Technical staff

''Updated June 2024''

Notable former players

* Armando Begines, played for

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

and Querétaro F.C. * Roy Lassiter, played for L.D. Alajuelense, D.C. United,

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

and

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

* Lexton Moy, played for the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team () represents the Philippines in men's international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationally since 1913. Prior to World W ...

* Yaikel Perez, plays for the

Cuba national football team The Cuba national football team () represents Cuba in men's international football, and is controlled by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba (), which is a member of FIFA since 1932 and was a founding member of CONCACAF since 1961. It was also ...

* Javier Santana, plays for FC Tuggen and

Dominican Republic national football team The Dominican Republic national football team () represents the Dominican Republic in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Dominican Football Federation, Federación Dominicana de Fútbol (). The team is a m ...

Year-by-year

Events hosted by the Laredo Heat

*April 20, 2006: Laredo Heat vs

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

*May 24, 2006: Laredo Heat vs Chivas de Guadalajara *July 9, 2008: Laredo Heat vs Mexico U-20

Honors

* NPSL Lone Star Conference Champions 2018 * USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2011 * USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2011 * USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2010 * USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2009 * USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2008 * USL PDL Champions 2007 * USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2007 * USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2007 * USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2006 * USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2006

Stadiums

* Veterans Field;

(2004) * The Student Activity Center; Laredo (2005–2007) * Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex; Laredo (2008–2023) * PEG Energy Stadium; Laredo (2024–present)

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 * 2004: 1,300 * 2005: 542 * 2006: 705 (9th in PDL) * 2007: 737 (10th in PDL) * 2008: 974 * 2009: 1,228 (7th in PDL) * 2010: 989 (10th in PDL)

References

External links

Official Site
{{Laredo, Texas Association football clubs established in 2004 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in Texas Sports in Laredo, Texas 2004 establishments in Texas