Stumptown AC, formerly Stumptown Athletic, was an American professional soccer team that played in the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is previously in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season for ...

(NISA). The club was based in

Matthews, North Carolina Matthews is a town in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte. The population was 29,435 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, a suburb of Charlotte.

History

Founding

Following an initial bid in late 2017, the team was first announced by the National Independent Soccer Association on October 23, 2018 with plans to begin play in the inaugural 2019–20 season. Originally referred to in league press releases simply as "Charlotte", the name Stumptown Athletic was officially unveiled in June 2019. The name came from an early nickname for Matthews derived from the fact that farmers cut down so many trees to clear land that the town was left full of

tree stump After a tree has been cut and has fallen, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the roots still in the ground. Stumps may show the age-defining rings of a tree. The study of these rings is known as dendr ...

s. The team was originally owned by Christopher Clarke of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, a lawyer specializing in

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-hi ...

, and Casey Carr, a former

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

player with the

DePaul Blue Demons The DePaul Blue Demons are the athletic teams that represent DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference. DePaul's Athletic Director is DeWayne Pe ...

and an entrepreneur based out of Mecklenburg County. Carr also served as the club's president and GM in its first season. On July 21, 2019 the club appointed

Mark Steffens Mark Luther Steffens (born June 9, 1953, in Huntington, New York, United States) is an American soccer coach. Playing career A native of Huntington, New York and also raised in Syosset, New York, Steffens attended The King's College in New Yor ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. Steffens previously coached the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles is an American amateur soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the ...

and served as an assistant for the

Charlotte Lady Eagles The Charlotte Eagles (formerly the Charlotte Lady Eagles) is an American women's soccer team that plays in the USL W League. Owned by Missionary Athletes International (MAI), it is a sister club to the namesake men's team, and the Southern ...

. In August, Stumptown announced former

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "''Reggae Boyz''", represents Jamaica in men's international Association football, football. The team's first match was against Haiti national football team, Haiti in 1925. The squad is under ...

player

Michael Binns Michael George Binns (born 12 August 1988) is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. At international level, he made 17 appearances for the Jamaica national team. Club career Binns played for Portmore United i ...

and Jared Odenbeck as their first signings. During the Fall 2019 showcase, Stumptown competed within the East Coast Conference and finished second in their group. In the championship game the team fell to

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

, 3–0. After two matches in the Spring 2020 season, NISA announced a suspension of play due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Eventually, the entire Spring Season was cancelled outright.

NISA takeover and folding

Following a hiatus during the Fall 2020 season, Clarke tried to sell the club. Unable to find a new buyer, the league itself took over ownership and operations of the team under a new logo and the revised name Stumptown AC on March 3, 2021. Soccer executive Fred Matthes and former

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

assistant coach

Rod Underwood Rod Underwood (born in New Orleans, United States) is an American former soccer player and coach. Playing career Underwood began playing soccer at the college level with Furman University in 1985. He became the first African American to play socc ...

were announced as the new team president and head coach, respectively. The Spring 2021 season was a difficult one for Stumptown. With league ownership requiring a shoestring budget, bills went unpaid during the season. The broadcast company went unpaid and nearly refused to air the team's final game. Player paychecks were frequently late, and on at least one occasion players were paid by the opposing team before a game. The league searched for a new owner throughout the 2021 season, and put the team on hiatus after the season ended. Underwood left the club and on December 3, 2021 was named head coach of regional rival

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 ...

. Following the league's failure to secure new ownership, the hiatus became permanent and Stumptown AC folded.

Supporters

The club's supporters' group was the QC Royals. Founded in 2015 to support other minor league soccer clubs, the Royals moved on to support

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

after Stumptown folded.

Stadium

The team used both

CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex The CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex is a soccer complex containing two stadiums located in Pineville, North Carolina, near the South Carolina state line. The complex is owned by the Charlotte Soccer Academy and sponsored by OrthoCarolina, a regional ...

in Pineville and the

Sportsplex at Matthews The Sportsplex at Matthews is a large sports complex and park in Matthews, North Carolina, southeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, featuring 12 full-sized soccer fields anchored by a 2,300-seat stadium. The stadium currently seats 5, ...

as home venues in 2019-20, and played all of its home games in the Sportsplex at Matthews during the Spring 2021 season.

Crest history

Stumptown Athletic logo.png, Stumptown Athletic
(2019–2020) Stumptown AC logo blue.svg, Stumptown AC
(2021–2022)

Year-by-year

References

External links

* {{North Carolina Sports 2018 establishments in North Carolina Association football clubs established in 2018 Soccer clubs in North Carolina Sports clubs and teams in Charlotte, North Carolina National Independent Soccer Association teams Matthews, North Carolina