Vermont Green Football 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

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

that began play 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 ...

in the 2022 season. The club mission is centered on

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

with the goal of becoming a

net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

soccer club. They are also a member of

One Percent for the Planet One Percent for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual revenue to environmental causes to protect the environment. Founded by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathe ...

, donating 1% of the club's annual revenues to approved environmental partners. VGFC's environmental mission has drawn coverage from

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and the ''

Men in Blazers ''Men in Blazers'' is the largest independent association football-focused media company in North America, covering the sport year-round through daily podcasts, digital and YouTube videos, a monthly program on NBC’s Peacock network, Twitch str ...

'' podcast.

History

Prior to the Green, the

area was home to USL League Two club,

Vermont Voltage Vermont Voltage was an American soccer team based in St. Albans, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northeast Division of ...

, which played from 1997 until 2014. The club was officially announced as

's newest team on October 12, 2021. One of the club's co-founders is

Matthew Wolff Matthew Brandyn Wolff (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional golfer. He was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University, and won the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship. Wolff picked up his first win on the PGA Tour at ...

, a graphic designer known for his work on soccer logos and jerseys. Wolff designed Vermont Green FC's logo, which was unveiled in February 2022. The club played its first match on May 16, 2022, defeating

Boston City FC Boston City FC is an American men's soccer club based in Boston, Massachusetts that competes in the Northeast Division of USL League Two. The club was founded in 2015; their inaugural season was 2016. The club's colors are red, navy, and white, ...

4–0. Norwegian Eythor Bjorgolfsson scored their first goal on a penalty late in the first half. On May 28, 2022, Vermont Green FC won in their home opener, in front of a crowd of 1,001 people. Portuguese midfielder Rodrigo Vaza scored his first goal for the club and the first home VGFC goal in history. On July 17, 2022, the Green defeated

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium ...

1–0 in front of a capacity crowd of 2,500 to clinch a playoff spot in their first season of play. After upsetting hosts

Lionsbridge FC Lionsbridge Football Club, or Lionsbridge FC, is an American soccer club based in Newport News, Virginia. The club was founded in 2017, and play in USL League Two. The club's colors are blue, black and white, and the club is named for the Lions B ...

in the opening round, VGFC were eliminated by eventual national runner up Long Island Roughriders. Interest in Vermont Green continued to grow in the leadup to their second season. In the spring of 2023, it was announced they had sold out of season tickets for the upcoming season with a total 1,250 sold. Five of the team's seven home league matches were sellouts. On the field, the Green won ten matches and finish 3rd in USL League Two's Northeast Division. The Green were eliminated from USL League Two playoff contention after a 1–1 draw at Pathfinder FC in their penultimate match, ultimately finishing two points behind

for the final playoff spot. In addition to their league schedule, the team also played friendlies against

CS Mont-Royal Outremont Club Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal boroughs of Mount Royal and Outremont. Since 2013, the club has competed in Ligue1 Québec. Their women's team has competed in the women's divi ...

of Ligue1 Quebec, Kingston Stockade of the National Premier Soccer League, and local side Juba Star FC. After the season, the Green were recognized as the 2023 USL League Two Organization of the Year, chosen from the league’s 122 clubs across the US and Canada. On December 11, 2023, it was announced that Vermont Green qualified for the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

for the first time. Vermont Green won the

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

match against

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 ...

team

Lexington SC Lexington Sporting Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2021 as an expansion side in USL League One (the third division of the United States soccer league system), the clu ...

4-3. In round two, VGFC hosted again. Despite leading early on a goal by Israeli forward Yaniv Bazini, they were eventually defeated 2-1 by

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

side

Carolina Core FC Carolina Core FC is an American professional soccer team that is located in High Point, North Carolina. It is an independent team and currently participates in MLS Next Pro. History On November 10, 2022, MLS Next Pro announced that a new indep ...

in front of sellout crowd. In 2024, it was announced that the club would begin an annual match against the reigning champion of the Canadian

Ligue1 Québec Ligue1 Québec (L1QC) is a Semi-professional sports, semi-professional men's Association football, soccer league in Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2011 as the Première ligue de soccer du Québec, the league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Asso ...

, to be known as the Maple Cup. In May, the club announced they would form a women's team. Coached by

Sam Mewis Samantha June Mewis (born October 9, 1992) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a midfielder. Mewis is the editor-in-chief and podcast host of ''The Women's Game'' from ''Men in Blazers''. Raised i ...

, they hosted a friendly match against

side

FC Laval FC Laval (formerly CS Fabrose) is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Laval, Quebec that plays in Ligue1 Québec. In 2021, CS Fabrose merged with youth clubs CS Chomedey and Delta Laval to form FC Laval. History CS Fabrose The ...

on June 22, 2024 as a preview to the Maple Cup, winning the match on

penalty kicks A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. T ...

after a 1-1 draw in regulation. On July 13, 2024, Vermont Green clinched its second ever postseason berth after coming from behind in the second half to beat Western Mass Pioneers 3-1 in an away game. They finished the regular season with a 9-2-2 record, good enough for 3rd place in the Northeast Division.

Stadium

The club plays their home matches at

Virtue Field Virtue Field is an on-campus stadium at the University of Vermont. It is home to the Vermont Catamounts men's and women's lacrosse teams, as well as the men's and women's soccer teams. Since 2022, it has also served as the home field for USL Le ...

, a 2,500-seat stadium on the campus of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. The stadium includes sorted

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

and

portable toilet A portable or mobile toilet (colloquial terms: thunderbox, porta-john, porta-potty or porta-loo) is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require ...

s that collect waste for reuse as fertilizer. The club's founders have stated that their ultimate goal is to build their own dedicated stadium at some point in the future with more environmentally-friendly features, such as solar power and natural fibers for the pitch.

Players

Technical staff

* Adam Pfeifer – Sporting Director * Chris Taylor – Head Coach * Lee Williamson – Assistant Coach * Jed Sass - Assistant Coach * Hannah Tremel – Athletic Trainer *

– Women's team coach

Notable former players

* Yaniv Bazini – 2024 * Gerardo Castillo - 2024 *

Reid Fisher Reid Robert Fisher (born May 26, 2004) is an American soccer player who plays for Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro. Early life Fisher played youth soccer with Slammers FC. College career In 2022, Fisher began attending San Diego State University ...

- 2024 * Francesco Montali - 2024 * Nate Jones – 2023 *

Giorgio Probo Giorgio Probo (born 19 July 1999) is an Italian footballer who plays for Canadian Premier League club HFX Wanderers FC. Early life Probo played youth football with Atalanta, later playing with Virtus Bergamo. College career In 2021, he began ...

– 2023 * Gevork Diarbian – 2023 *

Diba Nwegbo Patrick "Diba" Nwegbo (born 1 January 2002) is a footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, he has represented Nigeria at youth level. Career Youth & College Nwegbo was born in the Acworth, Georgia to Nigerian parents. He at ...

– 2022 * Eythor Bjørgolfsson – 2022 * Owen O'Malley – 2022 * Nate Silveira – 2022

Year by year

References

External links

* {{Vermont Sports Soccer clubs in Vermont 2021 establishments in Vermont Association football clubs established in 2021 Sports clubs and teams in Burlington, Vermont