Reno 1868 FC was 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

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. Founded in 2015, the team made its debut 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 ...

in March 2017 and ceased operations after the 2020 season.

History

Previously, northern Nevada has had three other professional minor league soccer teams: Reno Rattlers, Northern Nevada Aces, and

Nevada Wonders Nevada Wonders were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, until 2005, when the team left the league and ...

. Nevertheless, Reno now has a large youth soccer base and growing popularity of the sport. On September 16, 2015,

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

announced that they would expand to

starting in 2017. The club would be owned by Herbert Simon. To generate interest and increased fan involvement with a successful acquisition of a team, the new "USL Reno 2017" team would be named through a contest. Over 5,300 entries were submitted during a lengthened initial contest portion, followed by fans choosing from amongst the top six names: Reno FC, FC Reno, Reno Silver FC, Reno City FC, Reno United, or Reno 1868. The fans response refined the contest down to three finalists—Reno FC, Reno United, and Reno 1868—with the winner being Reno 1868 Football Club, a nod to the founding year of the City of Reno. On June 29, 2016, Reno 1868 announced a two-year partnership with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

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 ...

. It was also stated that San Jose would have control over the technical side of the club. The team hired Earthquakes Assistant Coach Ian Russell as Head Coach on November 22, 2016. On February 10, 2018, San Jose and Reno announced an extension of their affiliate partnership deal through the end of the 2019 season, with an option for the 2020 season. The club won their first playoff match on October 20, 2018, in an away match at

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

. On November 6, 2020, the club announced it was ceasing operations as a result of the financial and operational impacts of 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 ...

Colors and crest

The colors of Reno 1868 FC were Nevada cobalt blue, silver grey, and light gold, all colors featured on the

flag of Nevada The flag of the U.S. state of Nevada consists of a cobalt blue field with a variant of the state's emblem in the upper left-hand corner. The emblem constitutes a silver star (a reference to the state's nickname, the Silver State), with the stat ...

. "With all home matches played on green grass, all of the colors of the flag will be represented on matchdays in Reno." Similar to the naming of the club, the color choices were fan-driven. Reno 1868's crest was released on May 25, 2016, with the first kit being released on June 11, 2016. SpineNevada, a local spine care facility, was the kit sponsor for the first two years before Reno Orthopedic Clinic ("ROC") took over sponsorship in 2019.

Kit suppliers and sponsors

Stadium

Reno 1868 FC played its home matches at

Greater Nevada Field Greater Nevada Field is a Minor League Baseball venue located in Reno, Nevada, in the Western United States. Opened on April 17, 2009, it is the home of the Triple-A Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League. Greater Nevada Field is on the north ban ...

, also home to the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Greater Nevada Field (formerly known as Aces Ballpark) is a 9,013-seat natural grass stadium.

Team records

Year-by-year

1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

* Includes USL Regular season, USL Play-offs and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Average attendance

References

External links

Reno 1868 FC
at United Soccer League {{United Soccer Leagues Association football clubs established in 2015 Former USL Championship teams Soccer clubs in Nevada 2015 establishments in Nevada 2020 disestablishments in Nevada Association football clubs disestablished in 2020