Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride
Full name Orlando Pride
Founded October 20, 2015 (2015-10-20)
Stadium Orlando City Stadium
Orlando, Florida
Capacity 25,500
Owner Flávio Augusto da Silva (majority)
Phil Rawlins (minority)
Head Coach vacant
League National Women's Soccer League
Website Club website

The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top level of women's soccer in the U.S., for the 2016 season.[1][2] The tenth team to be added to the league, they are affiliated with the men's team Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer.[3] They play their home games at Orlando City Stadium. The Pride hold the record for hosting the largest attendance in National Women's Soccer League history, with 23,403 on hand to witness the Pride's inaugural home game, a 3–1 victory over the Houston Dash on April 23, 2016.[4]

A NWSL record crowd of 23,403 at the Florida Citrus Bowl on April 23, 2016 of the franchise's first Home Game.

History

Following the 2015 NWSL season, it was rumored that the Orlando City SC ownership group would be adding an expansion team to the women's professional league.[5] On October 20, 2015, a press conference was held at Lake Eola Park where Phil Rawlins unveiled the team name, logo, and colors.[6] Former head coach of the Australia and U.S. national teams Tom Sermanni was announced as head coach.[7]

On October 26, 2015, the Pride announced that they had made the first player acquisitions in team history; they acquired forward Alex Morgan and Kaylyn Kyle from Portland Thorns FC in exchange for the Pride's No. 1 picks in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft and the 2016 NWSL College Draft as well as an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and also acquired Sarah Hagen from FC Kansas City and FCKC's second-round College Draft pick in exchange for the Pride's 2017 second-round College Draft pick.[8]

In 2017 the Pride qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history as they finished the regular season in third place with a record of 11-7-6. Orlando went to Portland for the semi-final and lost to the thorns 4-1.

Following a disappointing 2018 season where the Pride finished in 7th place, head coach Tom Sermanni and the Orlando Pride mutually parted ways after 3 seasons. Sermanni had a record of 24-29-14 during his three years in Orlando. [9]

Team name, crest, and colors

The name Orlando Pride was announced on October 20, 2015 by founder and president Phil Rawlins. He noted that the name "captures how we all feel about the City of Orlando, as well as firmly tying into the Lions family."[6] The team colors are purple and light blue. The logo features an illustration of the famous fountain at Lake Eola Park.[10][11]

Stadium

The team currently plays at Orlando City Stadium

The team plays its home games in Orlando City Stadium, in Orlando, Florida, which opened for the 2017 NWSL season. Previously the team played at Camping World Stadium, where they had played their home matches from 2016 season. The stadium has a 25,500 seating capacity.

Camping World Stadium (formerly Orlando Stadium, Tangerine Bowl, Florida Citrus Bowl and Orlando Citrus Bowl) is an outdoor-sports stadium in Downtown Orlando. The stadium has a seating capacity of 60,219. The playing surface is large enough for use in international soccer matches, and was a venue for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In 1996, Olympic soccer matches in both the men's and women's competitions were held at the stadium.[12]

Broadcasting

As of 2017, Orlando Pride games are streamed exclusively by Go90 for American audiences and via the NWSL website for international viewers.[13] As part of a three-year agreement with A&E Networks, Lifetime broadcasts one NWSL Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons.[14][15] The Pride will be featured in the nationally-televised Game of the Week on April 15,[16] April 22,[17] June 24, July 22, August 12, September 2, and September 9, 2017.[18]

In 2016, games were broadcast locally on the Bright House Sports Network.[19] In April of the same year, a livestream of a Pride match simulcast on the Facebook page of Alex Morgan had a live broadcast audience of 489,999 during the first half.[20] It was the first professional sports broadcast on the social networking website.[21]

Year-by-year

Season NWSL regular season Position NWSL
Playoffs		 Avg. Attendance
P W L D GF GA Pts
2016 20 6 13 1 20 30 19 9th Did not qualify 8,785
2017 24 11 6 7 45 31 40 3rd Semi-finals 6,186
2018 24 8 10 6 30 36 30 7th Did not qualify 4,837

Head coaches

  • NWSL Regular Season & Playoffs.
CoachNationalityStartEndGamesWinLossDrawWin %
Tom Sermanni  Scotland October 20, 2015 September 14, 2018 69 25 30 14 036.23

Team Roster

As of October 6, 2018[22]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player Nation
2 Forward Sydney Leroux  United States
3 Defender Toni Pressley  United States
4 Defender Shelina Zadorsky  Canada
5 Midfielder Emily Van Egmond  Australia
6 Forward Chioma Ubogagu  United States
7 Midfielder Christine Nairn  United States
8 Forward Danica Evans  United States
9 Midfielder Camila Pereira  Brazil
10 Forward Marta Vieira da Silva  Brazil
11 Defender Ali Krieger  United States
12 Midfielder Kristen Edmonds  United States
13 Forward Alex Morgan  United States
14 Defender Alanna Kennedy  Australia
15 Forward Rachel Hill  United States
16 Defender Carson Pickett  United States
17 Midfielder Dani Weatherholt  United States
19 Defender Poliana  Brazil
21 Defender Mônica Alves  Brazil
24 Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris  United States
28 Goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer  United States


Staff

Executive
Owner and chairman Flávio Augusto da Silva
Chief executive officer Alex Leitão
Coaching staff
Head coach vacant
Assistant coach Khano Smith
Goalkeeping coach Lloyd Yaxley

[23][24]

All-time Orlando Pride goalscorers

As of December 5, 2017:[25]

No. Name Active years Total caps League (NWSL) goals Friendly goals Total
1United States Alex Morgan2016–present3013619
2Brazil Marta2017–present4117017
3United States Kristen Edmonds2016–present579615
4United States Jasmyne Spencer2016–2017487512
4United States Chioma Ubogagu2017–present418412
6United States Rachel Hill2017–present36707
6Australia Alanna Kennedy2017–present45707
8United States Sydney Leroux2018–present20606
9Brazil Camila2017–present33415
10United States Sarah Hagen2016–201724224
11United States Christina Burkenroad2016–201715033
11United States Toni Pressley2016–present45213
11United States Lianne Sanderson201612213
11United States Dani Weatherholt 2016–present54301
15United States Danica Evans 2017–present15112
15Australia Steph Catley 2016–201737112
15Brazil Mônica 2016–present41022
15United States Carol Rodrigues*20174022
19United States Tabby Tindell*20171011
19United States Christin Nairn201820101
19United States Allie Wisner*20162011

Note:

Bold signifies current Orlando Pride player.

* signifies that the player was on trial and never was officially part of the club.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tenorio, Paul (October 20, 2015). "Orlando City set to announce National Women's Soccer League franchise". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ Murray, Caitlin (September 14, 2015). "MLS's Orlando City set to expand into NWSL for 2016". The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kassouf, Jeff (October 20, 2015). "Orlando Pride named 10th NWSL team for 2016". The Equalizer. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Orlando Pride rolls to 3–1 win before record crowd in home debut". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  5. ↑ "Report: Orlando City SC to announce NWSL expansion". Sports Illustrated. September 14, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Orlando Pride women's soccer team to join NWSL in 2016". Bay News 9. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ Wahl, Grant (October 20, 2015). "Former USWNT manager Sermanni to coach new Orlando team in NWSL". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Orlando Pride Acquires Alex Morgan, Kaylyn Kyle and Sarah Hagen". Orlando Pride. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Orlando Pride and Head Coach Tom Sermanni Mutually Part Ways". September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  10. ↑ Etzler, Allen (October 20, 2015). "Orlando City Officially Awarded NWSL Expansion Team, Names Club Orlando Pride". The Mane Land. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ Rothschild, Ty (October 20, 2015). "Behind The Scenes: Creating The Orlando Pride Logo". Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ "World Cup Champion USWNT to face Brazil at Orlando Citrus Bowl on October 25". Orlando City SC. August 10, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ "NWSL, go90 announce exclusive streaming partnership". Black and Red United (SBNation). Vox Media. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Lifetime To Air National Women's Soccer League Games As A+E Networks Kicks in For Equity Stake". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  15. ↑ "A+E Networks, National Women's Soccer League Ink Major Deal". Variety. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  16. ↑ "S2017 E1 Portland Thorns FC vs. Orlando Pride". Lifetime. April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  17. ↑ "S2017 E2 Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit". Lifetime. April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  18. ↑ Forrester, Nick (March 30, 2017). "NWSL announces 2017 broadcast schedule on Lifetime". Excelle Sports. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Bright House will broadcast four upcoming Orlando Pride soccer matches". Orlando Weekly. June 23, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Alex Morgan Broadcast Her Team's Last Game Via Facebook Live". Sport Techie. April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  21. ↑ Kantrowitz, Alex (April 27, 2016). "Facebook Quietly Live-Streamed Its First Professional Sports Broadcast Over The Weekend". Buzzfeed. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Orlando Pride Roster". Orlando City SC. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Orlando Pride Staff". Orlando Pride. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Board of Directors". Orlando City SC. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  25. ↑ Ltd, Simplestream. "National Women's Soccer League". www.nwslsoccer.com.
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