Phoenix FC was an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix. The team was a member of the

USL Professional Division 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, pl ...

, the third 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 ...

. The team's colors were red and white.

History

On June 18, 2012, BDR Sports LLC was incorporated in the State of Arizona to bring a professional soccer team to Phoenix. On July 2, 2012, the USL Pro awarded a franchise to the BDR group for the 2013 season. On July 15, the team announced they had hired David Robertson, Director of Boy's Coaching at Sereno Soccer Club, as head coach. He is a former

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, Aberdeen and Leeds United player. He also managed

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

and Montrose in the Scottish Third Division. The team name ("Phoenix City FC") and colors were announced the same day. On August 28, the team selected Umbro as the team's official football uniform and equipment supplier. On September 7, the team renamed itself "Phoenix FC", introduced its logo and selected "Wolves" as their nickname. On September 27, 2012, former Aberdeen striker

Darren Mackie Darren Graham Mackie (born 5 January 1982) is a Scottish former footballer who, most recently, played for Inverurie Loco Works as a player/coach. Mackie was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and previously played as a striker for Abe ...

signed a one-year contract with Phoenix FC, becoming their first player signing. On December 11, 2012, Phoenix FC and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

announced a stadium agreement for 2013. Phoenix FC would play home games at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium beginning in April 2013. As part of the deal, the seating capacity was meant to be expanded by more than 4,000 additional seats, taking the total capacity to over 5,000 seats. However, due to the position of stadium lights poles on the east side of the stadium, the capacity was revised to just over 3,400.

2013 Season

Phoenix FC opened their only season with a 2–0 loss to the Los Angeles Blues on March 23, 2013. They won their home opener at

Sun Devil Soccer Stadium Sun Devil Soccer Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. It is home to the Arizona State Sun Devils Women's Soccer team. The stadium opened in 2000 and features chair-back bleachers and ...

on March 30, 2013. They defeated

VSI Tampa Bay FC VSI Tampa Bay FC was an American soccer team based in Plant City, Florida. They played in USL Pro, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, in the 2013 season. VSI Tampa Bay FC were owned by VisionPro Sports Institute and were affiliated ...

1–0 on a goal by Netinho before a sold-out, standing room crowd of 4,198. The team finished the 2013 season with 5 wins, 14 losses and 7 ties. Donny Toia lead the team in scoring with six goals and was a nominee for USL Pro Rookie of the Year.

Demise

USL Pro revoked the Phoenix franchise rights from BDR Sports LLC on November 1, 2013, citing multiple violations of the franchise agreement, such as failing to pay its players on time and submitting misleading and inaccurate financial statements. On December 16, 2013, USL Pro awarded the franchise rights for Phoenix FC to American Soccer Marketing LLC, owned by former interim Team President Tim Donald. On March 12, 2014, American Soccer Marketing announced that it could not continue operating the team in the USL Pro league. They were replaced with Arizona United SC (now Phoenix Rising FC) the next day.

Year-by-year

Players

Roster

Phoenix FC Team Roster

Front Office

* Tim Donald – ''President'' * Eric Cornwall – ''Chairman'' * Rui Filipe Bento – ''General Manager'' * Shawn Dietrich – ''Director of Operations'' * David Robertson – ''Head Coach''

Stadiums

(2013 – 9 games) * GCU Soccer Stadium (2013 – 1 game) *Reach 11 Soccer Complex (2013 – 3 games)

References

{{United Soccer Leagues 2012 establishments in Arizona Association football clubs established in 2012 Association football clubs disestablished in 2014 Defunct soccer clubs in Arizona Soccer clubs in Arizona Sports in Phoenix, Arizona Former USL Championship teams 2014 disestablishments in Arizona Defunct sports teams in Arizona