Sacramento Republic FC

Sacramento Republic FC
Full name Sacramento Republic Football Club
Nickname(s) The Quails
Founded 2012 (2012)
Stadium Papa Murphy's Park
Capacity 11,569
Owner Sac Soccer & Entertainment Holdings, LLC
Chairman and CEO Kevin Nagle
Head Coach Simon Elliott
League United Soccer League
2017 8th, Western Conference
Playoffs: Conference Semifinals
Website Club website

Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional football team based in Sacramento, California. It plays in the Western Conference of the United Soccer League. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the team started play in 2014 at Hughes Stadium, a 20,231 seat stadium. They moved mid-season to their current home at Papa Murphy's Park. Since then, Republic FC won the 2014 USL championship and made the playoffs three times. With fan support and attendance, the team prepared an expansion bid for Major League Soccer, which was submitted in January 2017. On May 15, 2017, MLS bid proponent Sac Soccer & Entertainment Holdings, led by Kevin Nagle, officially acquired Sacramento Republic FC from President and Co-Founder Warren Smith.[1] The team is working with the city of Sacramento to build a $226 million stadium in the large Railyards urban infill project.[2]

History

On December 3, 2012, USL Pro announced that a Sacramento expansion team would join the league for the 2014 season.[3] On July 15, 2013, Predrag "Preki" Radosavljević was announced as head coach of the new franchise.[4] The official name of the team and team shield were decided by fan vote. On July 18, 2013, the franchise officially announced the team name Sacramento Republic FC during the first annual Sacramento Soccer Day.[5] As of April 2015, the team had sold more than 9,500 season-tickets.[6]

2014: First-year Championship

Republic huddle before second half of a friendly against Atlas FC

Republic FC made their home debut on April 26, 2014 at Hughes Stadium, losing 2-1 to the Harrisburg City Islanders, before a sellout crowd of 20,231.[7] This figure nearly doubled the previous USL regular season single game attendance record of 10,697.[8] The following match, a 2-1 win over Orange County Blues FC, drew a slightly smaller crowd of 17,414. Eventually, all their home games were sellouts except this one.[9]

Republic FC inaugurated their new 8,000 seat, soccer-specific stadium, Bonney Field at Cal Expo, on June 20, 2014. They defeated the Colorado Rapids Reserve team 4-3. Mike Fucito scored the winning goal in the 84th minute.[10]

On July 27, 2014 the team broke the USL regular season attendance record of 112,748 previously set by Orlando City SC. Their total attendance was 182,107 (158,107 regular season; 24,000 in the playoffs).[11]

Republic FC finished the regular season in 2nd place behind Orlando City SC with a 17 Win, 4 Tie and 7 Loss record. They defeated the Wilmington Hammerheads 4-1 in the Quarterfinals. Rodrigo López scored a hat trick, including the game winner in stoppage time, to defeat LA Galaxy II 3-2 in the Semifinals. Sacramento won the USL Championship by defeating the Harrisburg City Islanders 2-0 on goals from Octavio Guzman and Thomas Stewart. López was named the Championship MVP.[12][13] Preki was named Coach of the Year. Nemanja Vuković was named Defender of the Year. Both López and Vuković were named to the All-League First Team.[14]

2015–present

Republic FC's second season saw them play in an expanded Bonney Field. 2015 also saw the business arm of the NFL side San Francisco 49ers and also NBA side Sacramento Kings venture into soccer, investing in Sacramento Republic in January 2015 with future plans should the club venture into the MLS as a franchise.[15]

Sacramento lost their first game of the season 4-2 away to Seattle Sounders FC 2.[16] They soon picked up form and saw them beat Sonoma County Sol and Chula Vista FC 4-2 and 7-3 respectively in the US Open Cup to reach the Fourth Round two years running.[17][18][19] On July 7, the Republic announced that Head-Coach Preki would be leaving and was being replaced by Paul Buckle.[20] Buckle's first game with the Republic was a friendly with Premier League side Sunderland on July 14, which Sacramento won 1-0.[21]

Sacramento placed fourth in the USL Western Conference standings after a season-concluding draw with conference champions Orange County Blues.[22][23] The Republic qualified for playoffs for the second consecutive year, losing to LA Galaxy II 1-0 in the first round.[24]

Colors and crest

Republic FC's colors are old glory red, maple and egg shell. The club crest is a classic shield that honors the Bear Flag, taking several colors from the flag itself. The crest also carries an image of a California grizzly bear, which is found on the state's flag and is California's official state animal, along with a nautical star, which is representative of, and in the same color as, the star on the Bear Flag. Below the bear is the motto of the city of Sacramento, "Urbs Indomita," in Latin meaning "The Indomitable City."[25]

Kit

The club released the design of their inaugural home and away shirts on December 5, 2013. The kit manufacturer was Italian sportswear company Lotto, with UC Davis Children’s Hospital as the shirt sponsor through the 2016 season. The home kit’s dominant color is the club’s signature color “Old Glory Red,” and the away shirt is primarily white. Both Lotto kits featured a diagonal stripe of dark maroon, with the club crest positioned on the left side of the wearer’s chest. The club’s motto, “Urbs Indomita,” was printed on the right sleeve.[26] The third kit, unveiled before the 2015 season and US Open Cup, featured horizontal eggshell and white stripes and a star over the crest to commemorate the previous season's USL Championship.[27]

On November 21, 2015, Republic FC announced a new partnership with Nike and unveiled new home and away kits for the 2016 USL season. The home kit is once again "Old Glory Red," while the away kit is now white and gray. Both designs omit the diagonal stripe in favor of vertical patterns. The new designs feature "Urbs Indomita" written on the back neckline.[28]

UC Davis Children's Hospital, the kit sponsor since the club's inception and one of Republic FC's first corporate partners, renewed their sponsorship on July 22, 2016 for USL play beyond the year 2016. Moreover, UC Davis Health Systems announced it would become the shirt sponsor in MLS should Republic receive an expansion bid.[29]

Kit manufacturers and shirt partners

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt partner
2014–2015 Italy Lotto United States UC Davis Children’s Hospital
2016 United States Nike
2017– United States UC Davis Health

Supporters

Tower Bridge Battalion

Republic FC draws fans from a large region of Northern California, with many fans traveling from the eastern areas of the bay and as far north as Redding to watch matches.

The club's independent supporters' group is called the Tower Bridge Battalion.[30] The group gets their name from the Tower Bridge, a central structure in downtown Sacramento that connects Sacramento proper to West Sacramento. The Tower Bridge Battalion occupies one area of the team's home stadium. Several chants have been coordinated for the Tower Bridge Battalion, which they yell throughout the match. Common instruments used by the Battalion are large drums, megaphones, and other noise-making items. The group has several coordinators that help to keep the crowd in unison during the match.[31][32]

The Tower Bridge Battalion have been central in organizing fan support of a Major League Soccer expansion team in Sacramento. On September 19, 2014, the Battalion led a crowd of thousands through the streets in downtown Sacramento designed to showcase the area's fanbase for MLS officials.[33][34]

Stadium

When the club was originally proposed, officials had planned on using Hughes Stadium, a 20,311 seater, open, multi-purpose stadium at Sacramento City College.[35] On November 14, 2013, however, it was announced that Republic FC planned to play in a new 8,000 seat soccer-specific stadium being built on the grounds of Cal Expo.[36] The proposed stadium would be funded and owned by Ovations Food Service and, if approved, was expected to be completed in time for the first match of the 2014 USL season.[37] Because the new stadium at Cal Expo was not completed in time for the start of 2014 season matches, the club played its initial 2014 matches at Hughes Stadium.[35] The new stadium was named Bonney Field, following a sponsorship deal for naming rights with Bonney Plumbing, Heating, Air and Rooter Service.

On June 20, 2014, the club played its inaugural match at the completed Bonney Field against the Colorado Rapids Reserves, winning the match 4-3. The game drew a sellout crowd of 8,000, significantly lower than the regular crowds at Hughes Stadium due to the smaller size of Bonney, but this number still remains very high for regular season USL Pro matches.

In January 2015, expansion efforts at Bonney Field began to increase the seating at the stadium.[38] Capacity for 2015 was expanded to 11,442,[39] with added seats in the north endline and east sideline. In March 2017, Papa Murphy's Holdings, Inc. acquired the naming rights to the stadium, and Bonney Field was renamed Papa Murphy’s Park.

As part of team owners’ efforts for the club to join MLS as an expansion team, Republic FC has announced intentions to build a 20,000 seat soccer-specific stadium in Downtown Sacramento.[40] In August 2015, Republic FC announced the hiring of HNTB Corp as lead architects of the stadium project, which will be on the former site of the Sacramento Railyards. (HNTB previously designed two Northern California venues, Raley Field in Sacramento and Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.)[41]

The concept design of the new stadium, based in part on fan input from a web survey and a series of workshops, was unveiled on December 1, 2015.[42][43] Though designed with a closed bowl, the stadium will have separate stands on different sides to create a unique character for each one, an homage to classic English stadia like St James' Park. To meet the designer's stated goal of creating MLS's best home court advantage, the seating will feature the steepest grade in the MLS in and an untiered east side reminiscent of Westfalenstadion's Yellow Wall.[44] On December 1, the evening of the design unveil, the Sacramento City Council voted 8-0 to approve a term sheet promoting construction of the 25,000-seat venue, with a target 2018 completion date if the club is accepted into MLS. The stadium is estimated to cost $226 million, and will be privately financed.[45]

Players and technical staff

First team roster

As of April 9, 2018.[46]

No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Josh Cohen  United States
2 Defender Shannon Gomez  Trinidad and Tobago
3 Defender Josh Turnley  United States
4 Defender Mitchell Taintor  United States
5 Defender Justin Schmidt  United States
7 Midfielder Hayden Partain  United States
8 Forward Wilson Kneeshaw  England
9 Forward Christian Eissele  United States
10 Midfielder Keven Alemán  Canada
11 Midfielder Luis Espino  Mexico
12 Defender Carlos Rodriguez  Mexico
14 Defender Cole Seiler  United States
16 Midfielder Adam Moffat  Scotland
18 Goalkeeper Rafael Díaz  Dominican Republic
20 Midfielder Villyan Bijev  Bulgaria
21 Defender Emrah Klimenta  Montenegro
22 Defender Jeremy Hall  Puerto Rico
23 Midfielder Jure Matjašič  Slovenia
24 Midfielder Jaime Villarreal  United States
26 Defender Elliott Hord  United States
31 Forward Cameron Iwasa  United States
32 Midfielder Roberto Hategan  United States
40 Forward Quincy Butler  United States

Technical staff

As of February 1, 2018.

Position Name
General Manager United States Todd Dunivant
Head Coach New Zealand Simon Elliott
Head Assistant Coach United States Benjamin Ziemer
Assistant Coach United States Antonio Sutton
Assistant Coach/Goalkeepers England Simon Sheppard
Strength & Conditioning Coach United States Luke Rayfield
Head Athletic Trainer United States John Duncan
Head of Sports Science United States Jesse Saenz

Team records

Year-by-Year

As of October 4, 2018
Season United Soccer League Play-offs US Open Cup Top Scorer
P W L D GF GA Pts Pos Player Goals
2014 28 17 7 4 49 28 55 2nd Champions 4R Northern Ireland Thomas Stewart 11
2015 28 13 8 7 43 31 46 4th, Western Conference 1R 4R Mexico Rodrigo Lopez 10
2016 30 14 6 10 43 27 52 1st, Western Conference QF 3R United States Cameron Iwasa 12
2017 32 13 12 7 45 43 46 8th, Western Conference SF 5R United States Sammy Ochoa 8
2018 32 17 7 8 44 31 59 3rd, Western TBD 5R United States Cameron Iwasa 16

Head Coaches

  • Includes USL Regular season, USL Play-offs and U.S. Lamar Hunt Open Cup
Sacramento Republic FC Coaching Stats
CoachNationalityStartEndGamesWinLossDrawWin %
Preki[47]  United States July 15, 2013 July 11, 2015 56 33 16 7 058.93
Paul Buckle  England July 12, 2015 February 1, 2018 65 30 17 18 046.15
Simon Elliott  New Zealand February 1, 2018 Present 36 20 8 8 055.56

Average Attendances

Sacramento Republic FC Average Attendances
YearReg. SeasonPlay-offs
2014 11,293 (USL Record) 8,000
2015 11,329 (USL Record) 11,442
2016 11,514 10,926
2017 11,569 —

Club Captains

Sacramento Republic FC Club Captains
DatesPlayerNationality
2014–2015 Justin Braun  United States
2016–2017 Danny Barrera  Colombia
2018 Jeremy Hall  Puerto Rico

Honors

United Soccer League

References

  1. ↑ Brisendine, Steve. "Sacramento ownership group, Republic FC reach agreement for unified MLS bid". MLS. Major League Soccer. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Lillis, Ryan; Kaiser, Dale. "Sacramento council OKs preliminary term sheet for soccer stadium". The Sacramento Bee. McClatchy Corp. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Sacramento lands minor league soccer franchise". Sacramento Bee. December 3, 2012. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Preki resurfaces as the man to help lead Sacramento toward MLS". Major League Soccer. July 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ "New soccer franchise to be called Sacramento Republic FC". Sacramento Bee. July 18, 2013. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Republic FC reaches season ticket cap at 9,500", Sacramento Bee, June 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Republic FC loses home opener before sellout crowd at Hughes Stadium" Archived April 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine., Sacramento Bee, April 27, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC opener sells out, sets league record" Archived May 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine., Sacramento Bee, April 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Sacramento pleases large crowd with win " Archived May 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine., Sacramento Bee, May 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Republic FC thrills sell-out crowd at new Bonney Field", Soccer America, June 21, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC sets USL attendance record", Sacramento Bee, July 28, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Championship might indicate MLS readiness for Republic FC". Sacramento Bee. September 27, 2014. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Republic FC Claims USL PRO Championship". United Soccer Leagues (USL). September 27, 2014. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  14. ↑ "USL PRO Awards Winners Announced". United Soccer Leagues (USL). September 26, 2014. Archived from the original on October 4, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC strengthens bid for MLS franchise with new investors from NBA, NFL". SB Nation. 31 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Cup Draw: US Open Cup". Sacramento Republic. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  20. ↑ "Republic Announce Preki Accepts Position in UK". Sacramento Republic FC. July 7, 2015. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. .
  21. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. July 14, 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "2015 Standings". United Soccer League. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. September 22, 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  24. ↑ "Match Report: Sacramento Republic". Sacramento Republic. September 26, 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  25. ↑ "Know Your Crest". Sacramento Republic FC. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Republic FC Unveils Inaugural Season Kit with UC Davis Children's Hospital". Sacramento Republic FC. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC Unveil Third Kit for 2015 Season". Sacramento Republic FC. May 7, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC and Nike Partner on 2016 Kit". Sacramento Republic FC. November 21, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Sacramento Republic soccer makes big sponsorship deal with UC Davis". Sacramento Bee. July 22, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Tower Bridge Battalion ready for supporting role at Republic FC's home opener". April 23, 2014 – via Sacramento Bee.
  31. ↑ "Millennials kick up soccer's popularity".
  32. ↑ https://sports.vice.com/article/sacramento-is-already-an-mls-city
  33. ↑ http://latestnewsfootball.com/sacramento-republic-fc-fans-turnout-for-mls/
  34. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC fans turnout for MLS".
  35. 1 2 "Play and Practice Location". Sacramento Republic FC. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  36. ↑ "New 8,000-seat soccer stadium at Cal Expo planned to open by March". Sacramento Bee. November 14, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Cal Expo, Ovations Fanfare and Sacramento Republic FC Jointly Announce Request to Extend Negotiations on Proposed Multi-use Facility". CalExpo. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Bonney Field Expansion Project Begins". CBS Sacramento. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Austin Stuns Republic FC". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  40. ↑ "Sacramento soccer franchise has ambitious goal". Sacramento Bee. November 28, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC hires architect for MLS Stadium". Sacramento Bee. August 19, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Sacramento Republic FC wants fan input for downtown stadium". Sacramento Bee. August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Concept designs unveiled for new Sacramento MLS stadium". Sacramento Republic FC. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  44. ↑ "A stadium built for the world's game". Sacramento Republic FC. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Sacramento council OKs preliminary term sheet for soccer stadium". Sacramento Bee. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  46. ↑ "2018 Roster". Sacramento Republic FC. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  47. ↑ Rivera, Kristopher (19 July 2013). "A Great Show of Support". Sacramento Bee.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.