Orlando City B

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Orlando City B
Orlando City B logo.svg
Full nameOrlando City B
Nickname(s)Lions, OCB
FoundedJune 30, 2015(8 years ago) (2015-06-30)
Stadium Osceola County Stadium
Kissimmee, Florida
Capacity5,400
Owner Orlando City SC
Head coachManuel Goldberg
League MLS Next Pro
2023 5th, Eastern Conference
Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osceola County Stadium. [1]

Contents

The club played in multiple leagues, beginning with the United Soccer League, the second tier of the US soccer pyramid in 2016 and 2017, [2] before electing to forgo the 2018 season and join the newly formed third division, USL League One, in its inaugural 2019 season. [3] After another season on hiatus in 2021, the team became an inaugural member of MLS Next Pro.

History

United Soccer League

On June 30, 2015, Orlando City SC announced that they would operate a USL club starting in 2016 [4] in the Central Florida area. The team would be their direct USL affiliate, and Orlando City and Louisville City (their USL affiliate club for 2015) had negotiated a "long-term formal partnership" to replace their affiliation arrangement. [5]

Orlando City also announced that Anthony Pulis would coach the new team. Pulis was a player for Orlando City SC's USL club from 2011 to 2014 and is the son of Tony Pulis, manager of numerous English Premier League sides. [5] On August 11, 2015, Arizona United announced that Rob Valentino would retire from playing [6] to take the assistant coach role for Orlando's new USL team. [7]

On October 15, 2015, the club was officially branded Orlando City B, with home games to be played in Melbourne at the Titan Soccer Complex on the campus of Eastern Florida State College. [8] In addition, OCB announced its first ever player signings: defenders Mikey Ambrose and Kyle Callan-McFadden, and midfielder Tony Rocha. [9]

On August 12, 2016, in a game against New York Red Bulls II, Orlando City B participated in the first competitive match in North America to employ Video Assistant Referee technology. [10] They finished their debut season 8th in the Eastern Conference, the final qualifying spot for playoffs. They lost in the Conference Quarterfinal to New York Red Bulls II 4–0. [11]

In November 2016 it was announced that OCB would be moving to the newly opened Orlando City Stadium in time for the 2017 season. [12] The team finished the season in 9th place, two points short of the playoffs, but finished one place higher in the overall standings than their debut season.

On January 12, 2018, the organization declared its intention to forgo the 2018 season as they continued to assess their minor league participation, a move that had looked likely by this point with OCB only having one player under contract and lacking a manager following Anthony Pulis' departure for Saint Louis FC in November. [13]

USL League One

In June 2018, the club announced it was to become a founding member of USL's new third-tier league, USL League One, scheduled to begin play in 2019. [14] It was hoped the move would lead OCB to better act as an upward transitional stepping-stone between Orlando City's Development Academy and the senior MLS team. On October 3, 2018, Fernando De Argila was announced as head coach. He had previously been head coach and director of methodology at the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy. [15] After winning only three of the opening 19 games, De Argila was sacked in July 2019. Roberto Sibaja acted as interim head coach from the rest of the season as the team finished in last place. [16]

In May 2019, the team announced plans to relocate OCB as part of a wider vision to house all of Orlando City's development pyramid at the same location for the first time, creating a 20-acre training complex at Osceola Heritage Park to house the senior MLS team, OCB and Development Academy. [17] Orlando City B will play their matches at the new site starting in the 2020 season following the departure of minor league baseball team Florida Fire Frogs. [18] Ahead of the season it was announced Orlando City Academy Director Marcelo Neveleff would be the team's new head coach. [19]

In October 2020, the team announced it was withdrawing from USL1 at the end of the season with a possibility of an MLS reserve league launching in 2021. [20] [21] [22]

MLS Next Pro

After spending the 2021 season on hiatus, the club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team MLS Next Pro season starting in 2022. [23]

Location

Tim Holt, Orlando's vice president of development, said that they would be looking for a stadium in Central Florida in order to facilitate the training of emerging players with the MLS team. Holt was the president of USL until May 2015. [4] Eastern Florida State College's stadium was visited by team personnel as a possible location. [24]

On August 21, 2015, the VP for athletics at Eastern Florida State College claimed in a pitch to the Brevard County Tourist Development Council's Sports Commission that the college's Titan Soccer Complex and a stadium in Deland were among the finalists to host games for the USL team. [25] Said plan was approved and the Titan Sports Complex at ECSC was OCB's official home venue for the 2016 season. [8] [9]

For the 2017 season in the USL, Orlando City B moved to Orlando City's newly built home stadium, Orlando City Stadium.

For the 2019 season in USL League One, the team moved to Montverde Academy. [26]

In 2020, as part of a club-wide move, the team relocated again, this time to the new Orlando City training facility at Osceola Heritage Park alongside both the senior MLS team and Development Academy. Matches are played at the complex's newly converted 5,400 seat Osceola County Stadium. [1]

Players and staff

Roster

As of March 15, 2024 [27]
No.Pos.PlayerNation
23 FW Shakur Mohammed ( [A] )Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
27 FW Jack Lynn ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
28 DF Abdi Salim ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
29 DF Tahir Reid-Brown ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
30 DF Alex Freeman ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
32 MF Wilfredo Rivera Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico
33 MF Jeorgio Kocevski ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
34 FW Yutaro Tsukada Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
48 MF Diego Pareja Flag of the United States.svg  United States
49 MF Jhon Solís Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
50 GK Javier Otero ( [A] )Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
53 MF Imanol Almaguer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
54 DF Nabilai Kibunguchy Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
56 MF Colin Guske Flag of the United States.svg  United States}
59 FW Justin Ellis ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
61 DF Yeiler Valencia Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
61 DF Jackson Platts ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
62 MF Thomas Bowe ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
64 DF Manuel Cocca Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
65 MF Cristian Medina Flag of the United States.svg  United States
68 DF Thomas Williams ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
91 GK T. J. Jeffreys ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
95 MF Favian Loyola ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
96 MF Zakaria Taifi Flag of the United States.svg  United States
97 FW Majed Abdullah ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
99 GK Carlos Mercado Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1. ^
    Orlando City SC first team player.
  2. ^
    Signed to Orlando City SC Academy contract.

Staff

Executive
Chairman and majority owner Mark Wilf
General managerLuiz Muzzi
Coaching staff
Head coachManuel Goldberg
Goalkeeper coach Marcos Machado
Strength and conditioning coachVander Salas

Year-by-year

As of September 18, 2022
YearDivisionLeaguePWDLGFGAPtsPositionPlayoffs
Conf.Overall
2016 3 USL 3098133549358th19th First round
2017 2 USL 321012103736429th18thDNQ
2018On Hiatus
2019 3 USL1 284420235216N/A10thDNQ
2020 USL1 1513111029611th
2021On Hiatus
2022 3 MLSNP 2465134053259th18thDNQ

Head coaches

As of matches played September 18, 2022
All-time Orlando City B coaching stats
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin% [nb 1]
Anthony Pulis Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales June 30, 2015November 20, 2017631920247289030.16
Fernando De Argila Flag of Spain.svg  Spain October 3, 2018July 25, 20191934121633015.79
Roberto Sibaja (interim)Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica July 25, 2019December 20, 20199108719011.11
Marcelo Neveleff Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina December 20, 2019October 16, 20201513111029006.67
Martín Perelman Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina March 9, 2022March 11,20242465134053025.00
Total130303268145223023.08

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References

  1. 1 2 "Orlando City SC to Expand Presence in Osceola County". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  2. ↑ "Orlando City B Elects to Forgo 2018 USL Division II Season". January 12, 2018.
  3. ↑ "MLS-owned team becomes fourth announced club in Southeast region". September 10, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Tenorio, Paul (June 30, 2015), "Orlando City to own, operate USL franchise in 2016", Orlando Sentinel , retrieved July 31, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Orlando City SC announce plans to field USL team in 2016, ending Louisville affiliation, MLSsoccer.com, June 30, 2015, retrieved July 31, 2015.
  6. ↑ Rob Valentino To Retire and Coach With Orlando City SC USL Club, August 11, 2015, archived from the original on December 22, 2015, retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Tenorio, Paul (August 11, 2015), "Former Orlando City defender Rob Valentino named assistant coach of USL team", Orlando Sentinel .
  8. 1 2 "USL Welcomes Back Orlando City SC for 2016". United Soccer League. October 15, 2015. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Orlando City Announces Orlando City B, Signs Defenders Mikey Ambrose, Kyle Callan-McFadden, Midfielder Tony Rocha, October 15, 2015
  10. ↑ Borg, Simon (August 12, 2016). "MLS, USL receive IFAB approval for live video assistant referee experiments". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  11. ↑ "OCB Season Ends in 4–0 Playoff Loss to New York". The Mane Land. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  12. ↑ USLSoccer.com Staff (November 29, 2016). "OCB Moving to Downtown Venue for 2017". USL Championship. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Orlando City B Opts Out of the 2018 USL Season". The Mane Land. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  14. ↑ USLSoccer.com Staff (September 6, 2018). "Orlando City B Becomes USL Division III Founding Member". USL Championship. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Orlando City B announces Fernando Jose De Argila Irurita as head coach | Pro Soccer USA". www.prosoccerusa.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Orlando City B Parts Ways with Fernando Jose De Argila Irurita". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  17. ↑ "Orlando City Development Academy Set to Make Osceola Heritage Park Official Training Grounds". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  18. ↑ Reichard, Kevin (May 31, 2019). "Fire Frogs to Depart Osceola County Stadium at End of Season". Ballpark Digest.
  19. ↑ "Orlando City SC Appoints Marcelo Neveleff as OCB Head Coach". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  20. ↑ "Orlando City B to Withdraw from USL League One". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  21. ↑ Rueter, Jeff. "MLS to launch reserves league beginning play in 2021, sources say". The Athletic.
  22. ↑ "Portland, Philadelphia and Orlando reserve teams to leave USL after 2020". Major League Soccer.
  23. ↑ "MLS NEXT Pro Unveils 21 Clubs for Inaugural Season". orlandocitysc.
  24. ↑ Malone, Giles (July 1, 2015), Eastern Florida State Could Be Home To Orlando City Soccer Minor League Team , retrieved August 5, 2015.
  25. ↑ Berman, Dave (August 21, 2015), "Melbourne could get soccer team with Orlando City ties", Florida Today , Gannett Company.
  26. ↑ "Orlando City B Joins USL Division III for Inaugural Season | Orlando City".
  27. ↑ "OCB squad list". Orlando City Soccer Club.
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