 | |
| Full name | Association Football Club Mobile |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Azaleas, Wanderers |
| Founded | June 15, 2015 |
| Ground | Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex, Mobile, AL |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Head Coach | Steve Wieczorek |
| League | National Premier Soccer League |
| Website | Club website |
AFC Mobile is an American soccer club based in Mobile, Alabama, that formerly competed in the National Premier Soccer League. After a hiatus, the club has returned to the Gulf Coast Premier League for the 2024 season. [1]
AFC Mobile was founded in 2015 by Mobile and Baldwin County, Alabama, soccer enthusiasts in order to establish a semi-professional soccer team in the City of Mobile. [2] It was announced on January 3, 2017, that AFC Mobile would join the Gulf Coast Premier League for its inaugural Summer Season. [3] On November 12, 2019, it was announced that AFC Mobile would join the National Premier Soccer League in a newly formed Gulf Coast Conference that featured Mobile, Port City FC, Tallahassee SC, Pensacola FC, and NPSL mainstays the New Orleans Jesters and Jacksonville Armada. [4]
Prior to their debut season, AFC Mobile announced that it would play its inaugural season's home games at the Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex, located in the Bolton neighborhood of Mobile. [5] For its first two years, the team was managed by Nate Nicholas, a former player for the University of Mobile, former back-to-back state championship-winning coach at UMS-Wright Preparatory School, and current varsity men's coach at McGill–Toolen Catholic High School. [6]
After finishing the 2018 GCPL season, head coach Nate Nicholas stepped down. [7]
Ultimately, Spring Hill College's men's soccer coach Steve Wieczorek was named as Nicholas's replacement on January 7, 2019. [8]
The club's main rival is Port City FC (formerly Biloxi City FC), who play in Gulfport, Mississippi. The clubs compete for the fan-based Forgotten Coast Cup, which started in 2017 when they were both in the GCPL.
For their debut game on May 14, 2017, AFC Mobile more than quadrupled the highest ever attendance for the Gulf Coast Premier League. [9] In their second home game on June 10, 2017 against Biloxi City FC, AFC Mobile drew 924 to Archbishop Lipscomb Stadium, which topped the league's previous record. [10] On June 8, 2017, AFC Mobile became the first team in the Gulf Coast Premier League to break 1,000 people in attendance against CD Motagua of New Orleans. [11]
During their second season, AFC Mobile would go on to draw over 1,400 fans twice against the Gulf Coast Rangers and Port City FC. [12]
| Coaching Staff | |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Steve Wieczorek |
| Assistant coach | Brent Grube |
| Assistant coach |  Edward Dakwa |
| Assistant coach |  Desmond Ibie |
| Year | Conference | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Eastern Conference | GCPL | 6th, East | did not qualify | did not enter |
| 2018 | Eastern Conference | GCPL | 4th, East | did not qualify | did not enter |
| 2019 | Eastern Conference | GCPL | 2nd, East | Quarterfinals | did not enter |
| 2020 | Gulf Coast Conference | NPSL | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [13] | did not enter | |
Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team is in MLS Next Pro starting in 2024. Prior to joining MLS Next Pro, the club played in the National Independent Soccer Association and the Southeast Division of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.
The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
Jacksonville Armada U-23 are an American soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, and are part of the development system of the Jacksonville Armada FC of the North American Soccer League (NASL). They started play in 2016, replacing Jacksonville United FC in the NPSL. The team currently plays its home games at Southern Oak Stadium on the campus of Jacksonville University.
Detroit City FC (DCFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independent Soccer Association in 2020 and 2021. Detroit City plays its home matches at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit.
Miami Dutch Lions FC is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Lions competes in National Premier Soccer League, as a member of the Sunshine Conference. The club was founded in Conroe, Texas in 2011, before relocating to Olympia Heights, Florida in 2019. They are owned by Martin Kroeze.
Pensacola FC is an American professional soccer team based in Pensacola, Florida the men's side competes in the National Premier Soccer League and the women's side competes in the Women's Premier Soccer League. It formerly played in the Gulf Coast Premier League.
Jacksonville Armada FC is an American professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were founded in 2013 as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of American soccer, and played until the league folded in 2018. Armada FC then moved to the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, during the 2018 season before going on hiatus. They are set to resume play in MLS Next Pro in 2025.
Lansing United was an American amateur soccer club based in East Lansing, Michigan that competed in the Premier Development League and the National Premier Soccer League. The club's men's team folded after the 2018 season, with Lansing Ignite FC beginning play in USL League One. The club continued to field a women's team in United Women's Soccer.
Grand Rapids FC was an American soccer club based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose senior men's team played in USL League Two. The team was founded in 2014 and ceased operations in 2021. Its first season was in 2015. It was initially funded by a group of supporters who purchased memberships to cover the operating expenses, as well as by local sponsors.
AFC Ann Arbor is an American soccer club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan with a men's team that has played in USL League Two since 2020 and a women's team that has played in USL W League since 2020. The men's team played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2016 to 2019, and the women's team played in the United Women's Soccer during its inaugural 2019 season.
The Premier League of America (PLA) was an American soccer league consisting of teams in cities in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The league was a part of the United States Adult Soccer Association. It began its first season of play in 2015 as the Great Lakes Premier League, and at the end of the 2017 season its member clubs moved to form the Midwest Conference of the United Premier Soccer League.
The Gulf Coast Premier League (GCPL) is a United States Adult Soccer Association affiliated Amateur Elite League that includes teams from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The regular season of the GCPL runs May through July. On August 13, 2020, it was announced that the GCPL would be the first "amateur league affiliation" of the National Independent Soccer Association after Gaffa FC and Louisiana Krewe FC competed in the NISA 2020 Independent Cup.
Shreveport Rafters FC was a soccer team based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 2016, the team most recently played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national semi-professional league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Independence Stadium. The team's colors are blue, white, and yellow, based on the city's flag.
Syracuse FC is a soccer team based in Syracuse, New York. They debuted in the National Premier Soccer League in May 2017. The team colors are white, black, gold and maroon.
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a winter break but have switched to spring-to-fall which is more common in the United States.
California United Strikers FC is an American professional soccer club based in Orange County, California.
Nashville Soccer Club is an American men’s professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in Major League Soccer in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned by John Ingram, owner of Ingram Industries, along with investors and partial owners the Turner family of Dollar General Stores.
Cleveland SC is an American semi-professional soccer club based in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio region. Cleveland competes in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) as part of the Midwest Region's Great Lakes Conference. The club was established on February 19, 2018, taking over from the recently defunct AFC Cleveland as the city's representative in the NPSL.
The 2018 Gulf Coast Premier League season was the 3rd season of the GCPL.
Tallahassee Soccer Club is an American soccer club based in Tallahassee, Florida that competes in the National Premier Soccer League. It formerly played in the Gulf Coast Premier League.
Sports teams based in Alabama | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball |  | ||||||
| Basketball | |||||||
| Football | |||||||
| Hockey | |||||||
| Roller derby | |||||||
| Soccer | |||||||
| College athletics |
| ||||||