Miami Dutch Lions FC is 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 ...

club based in the

Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...

. The Lions competes in

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. ...

, as a member of the Sunshine Conference. The club was founded in

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

in 2011, before relocating to

Olympia Heights, Florida Olympia Heights is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is located in the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,873 at the 2020 census. Geography Olympia Heights is located west-s ...

in 2019. They are owned by Martin Kroeze.

History

Miami Dutch Lions FC was formed on November 17, 2011, as Texas Dutch Lions FC, and played their inaugural season in 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 ...

in 2012, finishing 4th in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference. The

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

of the club began training in 2011, with only one location in

. In 2012, the academy expanded to its second training location to service players in The Woodlands. On April 1, 2013, Texas Dutch Lions FC changed their official name to Houston Dutch Lions FC. The club has been using the new title for several months, but it was not official until April 1. The club signed a new head coach for the 2013 season, a former

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

player Hans van Arum, on February 12, 2013. On February 18, 2014, the Houston Dutch Lions FC announced the signing of Marco Pruis as their new head coach for the

2014 PDL season The 2014 USL Premier Development League season was the 20th season of the PDL. The regular season began on May 3 and ended July 20. The regular season was followed by a postseason tournament of conference winners to determine the league's champio ...

. Since the 2016 season, the club joined the

, in which the team also played during the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and 2018 season. During the 2016 season, the Dutch Lions FC played in the South Central Conference Playoffs (which they won). Due to several new teams, the 2017 NPSL season was divided into the Lone Star Conference (in which the Lions participated) and the Heartland Conference. In the 2018 NPSL season, the Lone Star Conference had 9 teams compete, the Dutch Lions FC fell to Laredo Heat SC on July 14, 2018, in a thrilling 4–3 final. In November 2019, the club announced that it would relocate its NPSL side to

for the 2020 season, and would focus on its youth programs.

Colors and badge

The Miami Dutch Lions FC crest is a modified version of

Dayton Dutch Lions The Dayton Dutch Lions are an American soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the USL Professiona ...

's logo, featuring the white and blue field, with an orange lion centered on the crest. The script above the vector lion reads the club's name. The home shirt consists of an orange shirt, orange shorts & orange socks. Away the team plays in a white shirt.

Home ground

* Carl Barton Jr Soccer Park;

(2011–2013) * Houston Dutch Lions FC Soccer Facility; Conroe, Texas (2013–2019) *

Tropical Park Stadium Tropical Park Stadium is a 7,000-seat stadium located in Olympia Heights, Florida, a census-designated place near Miami, Florida, United States. The stadium is located in Tropical Park and is the home field of Miami Dade FC and FC Miami City ...

;

(2019–2021) *

Ted Hendricks Theodore Paul Hendricks (born November 1, 1947), nicknamed "the Mad Stork," is a Guatemalan-American former professional football linebacker who played for 15 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, the Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland / Los Angel ...

Stadium;

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...

(2021–present)

Training ground

* Houston Dutch Lions FC Soccer Facility; Conroe, Texas (October 2013 – 2019). The fields are the training grounds of the teams: USL Premier Development League, National Premier Soccer League, Houston Football Association, and the club's youth academy. After the fields opening up in October 2014, the club opened a unique club house in May 2015. The club house consists of dressing rooms, club house for fans with A/C, restrooms and a banquet room. The top floor has 4 offices and two banquet rooms for the office staff. Just before the 2018 NPSL season, the club build seats in front of the club house, which added about 200 seats to the Soccer Facility.

Club culture

International partnerships

The Houston Dutch Lions FC share in the partnership of their ownership group and sister club, Dayton Dutch Lions, with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

champions,

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

. On January 17, 2011, the Dutch Lions Group signed a five-year contract to foster development of players, academy teams, training practices, and possibly facilitate loans or transfers of players between teams. In the 2014 season, the Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC were added (joined the PDL). As of the summer of 2015, the Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions FC joined the Dutch Lions FC group. On May 5, 2016, the Dutch Lions FC announced the signing of

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

for their Dutch Lions FC NPSL squad. Early 2017, the club announced CHI St. Luke's Woodlands Hospital as their sponsor.

Game history

Staff

;Executive staff ;Coaching staff NPSL 2021 season ;Coaching staff NPSL 2018 season

Head coaches

Robert Maaskant Robert Patrick Maaskant (; born 10 January 1969) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Helmond Sport. Club career Maaskant played for Go Ahead Eagles, Emmen, Motherwell, Zwolle and Excelsior. ...

(2012) * Hans van Arum (2013) * Marco Pruis (2014–2020) * Robert Stoutenburg (2020 - Present)

Year-by-year

NPSL 2016 Playoffs: On Saturday, July 9, 2016, the Dutch Lions FC beat FC Wichita 5–0 at home in the South Conference semifinal (the division final four was played in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

). The Liverpool Warriors fell 4–1 that same day to the

Tulsa Athletic Tulsa Athletic is an American soccer team and are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The 2023 NPSL National Champion, 2013 was their inaugural season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), which is a national league at the fourth tie ...

. The South Central Conference title went to the Dutch Lions FC after the team beat the Tulsa Athletic 1–2 in the final on Sunday, July 10. What followed was the Regional Playoffs semifinal vs

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team is in MLS Next Pro starting in 2024. Prior to joining MLS Next Pro, the club played in the National Indep ...

, which the Lions lost 4–0.

2017 U.S. Open Cup The 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 104th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. FC Dallas entered the competition as the 2016 U.S. Open Cup Final, defending champions, but were eliminated in the quart ...

: On May 10, 2017, the Dutch Lions FC hosted the

NTX Rayados The NTX Rayados are a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that currently competes in North Texas Premier Soccer League. History NTX Rayados plays North Texas Premier Soccer Association, Division 1A since 2011. The team won the NTPSA Division ...

and beat them 3–1. One week later, the team fell home against

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 ...

side

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 ...

1–2 in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. 2018 NPSL season: The club boosted another winning season in the NPSL, winning 9 games and losing 4 games. Goals scored are 49, and goals conceded was 17.

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive. * 2012: 120 * 2013: 150 * 2014: 175 * 2015: 200 * 2016: 275 * 2017: 315 * 2018: 275

References

Dutch Lions FC win 2016 South Central Conference Title

External links

* {{Official website, https://mdlfc.com
Miami Dutch Lions FC profile on NPSL site

2011 establishments in Texas 2013 establishments in Texas 2019 establishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 2011 Association football clubs established in 2013 Association football clubs established in 2019 Conroe, Texas Dutch Lions FC Hialeah, Florida National Premier Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Miami Sports in Miami-Dade County, Florida Sports in the Houston metropolitan area The Woodlands, Texas Soccer clubs in Florida