Miami 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 ...

team based in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

that competes in the

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 ...

, the second 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 ...

. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 season. Following the demise of the NASL, the club participated in 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. ...

(NPSL) and the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) before moving to the

for the 2020 season. The team currently plays its home games at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

History

North American Soccer League

The club was announced on May 20, 2015, as the 12th North American Soccer League franchise with plans to begin play in the 2016 season and later confirmed it would play out of Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium on the campus of Florida International University. The team, co-owned by media entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and former Italy national team defender Paolo Maldini, came only one year after former England national team star and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

legend David Beckham announced his intent to launch an MLS team in the city. In September 2015, Alessandro Nesta was appointed as the club's first coach. On November 20, 2015, Italian sportswear company Macron were announced as the club's kit suppliers on a three-year deal. Nesta resigned as coach following the completion of the 2017 season, on 17 November.

National Premier Soccer League and 'Miami FC 2'

In January 2018, following the suspension and later cancellation of the 2018 NASL season, the organization announced the creation of "The Miami FC 2" in the National Premier Soccer League with 12 members of its 2017 NASL roster. The intention was for Miami FC's players to play with Miami FC 2 while waiting for the NASL's proposed winter schedule to take effect. The team hired Paul Dalglish as the new head coach on January 25. The team played its home matches at its former training grounds on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. The team went on to dominate the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

in the NPSL's Sunshine Conference. Only one loss to Jacksonville Armada FC in the regular season led the team to finish top of the table and in the conference playoffs the beat the Armada, 3–1, to win its first NPSL trophy. After advancing in the national playoffs, including winning the NPSL South Region, Miami FC 2 won the organization's first ever league championship when it defeated FC Motown, 3–1, for the NPSL National Championship on August 4. For the 2019 NPSL season, the team returned to playing as Miami FC and repeated its previous year's success by finishing atop the regular season table and winning the Sunshine Conference over Miami United FC, 3–2. It won the South Region for a second straight year before becoming the first club to win a second NPSL National Championship when it defeated the New York Cosmos B, 3–1, and earning the organization's eighth trophy in three years. Miami FC Historic League Performance

National Independent Soccer Association

On November 15, 2018, the NPSL announced that Miami would be a founding member in a new professional league, commencing with the " NPSL Founders Cup" competition from August to November 2019, followed by a full league schedule in 2020 at either division 2 or 3 level. However, on July 24, 2019, it was announced that Miami would instead join the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the inaugural Fall 2019 season. The team went undefeated through seven games during the regular season, clinching the top playoff spot in the East Coast Conference. On November 9, Miami won the NISA East Coast Championship over Stumptown Athletic, its ninth trophy in three years.

USL Championship

On December 11, 2019, former

club

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were di ...

announced that it had sold its franchise rights to the Miami FC ownership group, and the club would begin competition in the league beginning with the 2020 season. Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, head coach and technical director Paul Dalglish left the team. On November 29, former

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...

assistant coach Anthony Pulis was named Miami FC's new head coach. In 2023, halfway through the season, Pulis stepped down as Head Coach. Lewis Neal was named Interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Antonio Nocerino, a former

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and Orlando City SC player, became the next head coach.

Sponsorship

Record

Year-by-year

Average attendance

Stadium

Players and staff

Current roster

Staff

Individual records

Top goalscorers

''(Appearances listed in parentheses next to total)''

Most appearances

''(Goals scored listed in parentheses next to total)''

Managerial records

Club culture

Miami FC draw the bulk of their support from the suburbs in the south and west of Miami. The club's mascot is ''Golazo'', a seven-foot-tall Kingfisher bird with blue and orange feathers.

Rivalries

The closest team geographically was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with games between the two sides often labelled the FL Clásico. Fixtures with the other two teams in Florida, the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

and Jacksonville Armada are also keenly contested. These four teams competed for the Coastal Cup over the course of the 2016 season. After the 2016 season Tampa Bay left the NASL for the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

and Fort Lauderdale ceased operations because of financial issues. That left Jacksonville as Miami FC's only in-state rival in the NASL. Miami did however face Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Rowdies by a score of 2–0. When the NASL cancelled the 2018 season, Miami and Jacksonville continued their rivalry in the NPSL in both 2018 and 2019 as both clubs continued operation. The two teams would meet again in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, which saw Miami FC winning 3–1. The team also began a rivalry against Miami United FC dubbed "Magic City Clasico". The teams met in the Second Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup where United shocked FC, 3–1, to advance. They would also meet in the 2022 Edition of the U.S. Open Cup, which Miami FC won 3–0. They also have a local rivalry with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

team Inter Miami, who they have played twice the US Open Cup in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. In 2024, Miami and

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

side FC Naples formed the Alligator Alley Derby, named after Interstate 75 in Florida between Naples and Fort Lauderdale. The two teams are set to play their first match against one another in the 2025 USL Cup.

Supporters group

Dade Brigade are the official supporters group of Miami FC and they occupy the east stand of Pitbull Stadium which is known as the Brigade End for home games. They are named for

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

Honors

North American Soccer League

* Spring championship (1):

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 ...

* Fall championship (1):

National Premier Soccer League

* Sunshine Conference Championship (2):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* South Region Championship (2):

* National Championship (2):

National Independent Soccer Association

* East Coast Championship (1):

Notes

References

External links

*
2018 Miami FC 2 (NPSL) Match Reports2019 Miami FC (NPSL) Match Reports
{{Florida Sports 2015 establishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 2015 North American Soccer League (2011–2017) teams National Premier Soccer League teams National Independent Soccer Association teams USL Championship teams Soccer clubs in Florida Soccer clubs in Miami Soccer clubs in South Florida