Full name | Central Valley Fuego Football Club | ||
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Founded | August 12, 2020 | ||
Stadium | Fresno State Soccer Stadium | ||
Capacity | 1,000 | ||
Owners | Juan and Alicia Ruelas [1] | ||
Head coach | Jermaine Jones | ||
League | USL League One | ||
2023 | USL League One, 12th of 12 Playoffs: DNQ | ||
Website | Club website | ||
Central Valley Fuego FC, also known as CV Fuego FC or simply Fuego FC, is an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. [2] The team was founded in 2020, and played its inaugural season in 2022. The team competes in USL League One, the third tier of the US soccer league system and plays its home matches at Fresno State Soccer Stadium.
Central Valley Fuego FC became the twelfth professional club in California and the only one in Fresno after Fresno FC withdrew from USL Championship in 2019, [3] the club was announced on December 8, 2020 [4] and the logo was unveiled on January 21, 2021. [5] The team's name is a nod to the former Fresno Fuego that played in USL League Two from 2003 to 2019. [6]
Fuego colors are black and red. The club's logo is based on a shield shaped like the head of a spade, representing the agricultural laborers of California's Central Valley. Across the top of this shield is the name of the team, while below lie three diagonal stripes of black-green-black which represent agriculture and growth. In base are red flames which represent the team's name and the passion for soccer of the local population. [5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Front Office Staff | |||
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Managing Partner | Juan Gerardo Ruelas Jr. | ||
Vice President of Fútbol | Technical Staff | ||
Head Coach | Jermaine Jones | ||
Sporting Director | Adam Smith | ||
First Assistant & Fitness Coach | Edison Gonzalez | ||
Assistant Coach | Mike Elias | ||
Goalkeeper Coach | Miguel Martinez |
Season | USL League One | Playoffs | US Open Cup | Top Scorer 1 | Head Coach | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Player | Goals | ||||
2022 | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 8th | Did not qualify | R3 | Christian Chaney | 10 | Martín Vásquez |
2023 | 32 | 6 | 21 | 5 | 36 | 61 | 23 | 12th | Did not qualify | R2 | Alexis Cerritos | 9 | Martín Vásquez (3–10–1) Adam Smith (1–6–2) Edison Gonzalez (2–5–2) |
^ 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.
Coach | Nationality | Start | End | Games | Win | Loss | Draw | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jaime Ramirez [10] | United States | January 1, 2022 | February 1, 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Milton Blanco (interim) [11] | United States | February 2, 2022 | April 14, 2022 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67 |
Martín Vásquez [12] | United States | April 14, 2022 | July 3, 2023 | 44 | 13 | 24 | 7 | 29.55 |
Adam Smith (interim) [13] | England | July 3, 2023 | August 30, 2023 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 11.11 |
Edison Gonzalez (interim) [14] | United States | August 30, 2023 | November 5, 2023 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 22.22 |
Jermaine Jones [15] | United States | November 6, 2023 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
KSEE is a television station in Fresno, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CBS affiliate KGPE. The two stations share studios on McKinley Avenue in eastern Fresno; KSEE's transmitter is located on Bear Mountain.
Fresno Football Club U-23, formerly Fresno Fuego FC, was an American soccer team based in Fresno, California, United States. Founded in 2003, the team played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club drew an average home attendance of 3,951 in 2016, including league matches, divisional playoffs and exhibitions against professional clubs.
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Milton Blanco is an American former soccer player who is not the assistant coach for Central Valley Fuego FC in USL League One.
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Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March 17, 2018. The team folded on October 29, 2019, after the ownership group was unable to secure construction of a soccer-specific stadium. On December 19, 2019, team ownership announced that it was searching for a new location in California for the 2021 USL Championship season. On February 1, 2021, the team's franchise rights were transferred to Monterey Bay FC, an expansion USL Championship team based in Monterey County, California.
Adam Smith is currently serving as the Sporting Director for USL League 1 team, Central Valley Fuego FC. Smith has held coaching positions at Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer, Fresno FC and Sacramento Republic. Prior to joining Fuego, Smith took the role of CEO and Director of Football at USL League 2 team Ventura County Fusion. Fusion had previously been on a two-year hiatus from the league due to Covid shutdowns, but returned to win the National Championship in 2022. During the 2021 season, Smith took an interim position as First Team Coach at Detroit City FC. This was to provide short-term help to the Head Coach and General manager, Trevor James. Detroit went onto win the NISA Legends tournament that same season.
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Deshawon Nembhard is a Belizean footballer who plays as a defender for Central Valley Fuego in USL League One.
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The 2022 Central Valley Fuego FC season was the first season in the club's existence. It marks the return of professional soccer to Fresno since USL Championship club Fresno FC dissolved in October 2019. The club will play its first season in USL League One in the third division of the American soccer pyramid. They will play their home games at Fresno State Soccer Stadium on the campus of Fresno State University.
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