Memphis 901 FC

Memphis 901 FC

Full name	Memphis 901 FC
Founded	January 8, 2018;7 years ago (2018-01-08)
Dissolved	November 13, 2024;3 months ago (2024-11-13)
Stadium	AutoZone Park Memphis, Tennessee
Capacity	10,000
Owner	Peter Freund Craig Unger Tim Howard
Sporting director	Caleb Patterson-Sewell
Coach	Stephen Glass
League	USL Championship
2024	3rd, Western Conference Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals
Website	memphis901fc.com
Home colors Away colors
Current season

Memphis 901 FC was an American professional soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. ^{[1] [2]}

On November 13, 2024, it was announced that the team would be folding after they were unable to secure funding for a new soccer-specific stadium at the fairgrounds site. The USL Championship franchise rights were transferred to Santa Barbara Sky FC, based in Santa Barbara, California. ^{[3] [4]}

Colors and badge

The club's name referred to the local area code for the Memphis area. ^[5] On September 1, 2018, Memphis 901 FC unveiled their logo, which uses concentric lines styled like neon signs to form a LP record; the lines are a reference to Beale Street, which has several buildings that use neon signage. ^[6]

Sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2019–2021	Nike	Terminix [7]
2022–2023	Puma
2024	Charly [8]	Cancer Kickers [9]

Stadium

The club played at AutoZone Park, a baseball stadium that is also home to the minor league Memphis Redbirds. For its matches, the stadium's dirt infield was replaced with sod, and a pitch was laid along the first baseline. ^[10] The club also played at Mike Rose Soccer Complex for a U.S. Open Cup game against Hartford Athletic on May 29, 2019, and for a U.S. Open Cup game against Orlando City SC on June 12, 2019. ^[11]

On October 18, 2022, the club announced plans for a new soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of 10,000. The stadium was planned to open in time for the 2025 USL Championship season and would have been constructed at the current site of the Mid-South Coliseum, which closed in 2006. ^{[12] [13]}

Ownership

The club was owned by Peter Freund, principal owner of Trinity Sports Holdings, Craig Unger, and former United States men's national soccer team goalkeeper Tim Howard. ^[14] Trinity Sports Holdings' portfolio includes minor league baseball clubs Memphis Redbirds, the Charleston RiverDogs and the Williamsport Crosscutters. Unger also served as president, general manager, and part owner of the Redbirds. The consortium also purchased a majority holding in English fifth-tier club, Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. ^[15]

Club culture

Rivalries

Memphis competed in the Southern Harm derby against rivals Birmingham Legion. ^[16]

Supporters

The Bluff City Mafia supported Memphis 901. Founded in August 2018, before Memphis' inaugural season, they were known for their march from a local Irish pub to AutoZone Park before every home game. ^{[17] [18]}

Before every home game, the Bluff City Mafia invited local celebrities and officials to take part in what had become known as the Guitar Smash, an homage to Memphis' musical roots. ^[19]

Players and staff

Final roster

As of August 1, 2024 ^[20]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Tyler Deric 2 DF   TOG Tulu 3 DF   USA Carson Vom Steeg 4 MF   USA Emerson Hyndman 5 MF   ARG Samuel Careaga (on loan from Lanús) 6 MF   AUS Zach Duncan 7 FW   USA Noe Meza 8 DF   BRA Lucas Turci 9 MF   BRA Luiz Fernando 10 MF   BRA Bruno Lapa 11 FW   BRA Marlon Santos 14 DF   USA Akeem Ward 15 FW   JAM Neco Brett

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF   USA Alvaro Quezada 19 DF   USA Oscar Jimenez 20 FW   USA Nighte Pickering 21 MF   AUS Panos Armenakas 22 GK   CAN Triston Henry 23 MF   TRI Leston Paul 26 GK   USA Aren Seeger 44 DF   USA Nick DePuy (on loan from Huntsville City) 47 GK   USA Taylor Bailey 77 FW   USA Dylan Borczak 91 DF   FRA AB Cissoko 99 MF   ESP Jon Bakero

1. ^
   USL Academy Contract

Staff

As of February 27, 2022 ^[21]

Technical staff
Sporting director	Caleb Patterson-Sewell
Manager	Stephen Glass
Assistant manager	Caleb Patterson-Sewell
Director of Sports Science	Leandro Spinola
Athletic trainer	Langston Smith

Team records

Year-by-year

As of November 13, 2024

Season	USL Championship								Play-offs	U.S. Open Cup	Top scorer 1		Head coach
	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Pts	Pos			Player	Goals
2019	34	9	18	7	37	52	34	15th, Eastern 30th, Overall	Did not qualify	4th Round	Brandon Allen	10	Tim Mulqueen
2020	15	4	7	4	24	31	16	11th, Eastern 4th, Group G	Did not qualify	Cancelled	Cal Jennings	9	Tim Mulqueen (2–6–4) Ben Pirmann (2–1–0)
2021	32	14	10	8	47	42	50	7th, Eastern 4th, Central	Conference Quarterfinals	Cancelled	Kyle Murphy	20	Ben Pirmann
2022	34	21	8	5	67	33	68	2nd, Eastern 3rd, Overall	Conference Semifinals	2nd Round	Phillip Goodrum	21	Ben Pirmann
2023	34	14	10	10	59	53	52	4th, Eastern 5th, Overall	Conference Quarterfinals	Round of 32	Rodrigo da Costa	15	Stephen Glass
2024	34	14	9	11	52	41	51	3rd, Western 8th, Overall	Conference Quarterfinals	Round of 32	Bruno Lapa	11	Stephen Glass

^ 1. Top scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

• Includes USLC regular season, USLC playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Loss	Draw	Win %
Tim Mulqueen	United States	August 15, 2018	September 15, 2020	49	13	25	11	026.53
Ben Pirmann (Interim) [22]	United States	September 15, 2020	April 8, 2021	3	2	1	0	066.67
Ben Pirmann [23]	United States	April 8, 2021	November 17, 2022	70	36	21	13	051.43
Stephen Glass [24]	Scotland	November 22, 2022	November 13, 2024	75	31	19	25	041.33

Average attendance

Year	Reg. season	Playoffs
2019	6,623	—
2020	N/A	—
2021	4,075	—
2022	3,634	6,037
2023	3,344	3,587
2024	2,951	—

^{[25] [26]} Attendance records taken from USL Championship match reports and collated by Soccer Stadium Digest, 2022.

References

1. "Memphis Joins the USL for 2019 Season". United Soccer League (USL). Retrieved January 8, 2018.
2. "USL awards Memphis expansion team for 2019" . Retrieved January 8, 2018.
3. Moore, Raven; Davis, Deja (November 13, 2024). "901 FC leaving Memphis for Santa Barbara: USL". WREG.com . Retrieved January 16, 2025.
4. "United Soccer League announces transfer of Memphis 901 FC's USL Championship rights to Santa Barbara SKY FC". USLChampionship.com. USL Championship . Retrieved November 13, 2024.
5. Burgess, Katherine (September 1, 2018). "Pro soccer team reveals new, Memphis-focused identity". The Commercial Appeal . Retrieved June 15, 2023.
6. Nichols, Meagan (September 1, 2018). "Memphis pro soccer club unveils 901-centric name, sells out AutoZone Park". Memphis Business Journal . Retrieved June 15, 2023.
7. "Terminix Announced As Memphis 901 FC Front-Of-Jersey Sponsor". www.memphis901fc.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
8. "Memphis 901 FC Partners with CHARLY as Club's Exclusive Apparel Provider".
9. "Memphis 901 FC Unveils 2024 Home Kit with Cancer Kickers Soccer Club as Front Jersey Sponsor".
10. Giannotto, Mark (August 31, 2018). "Memphis, AutoZone Park get set for first 'test run' with pro soccer". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
11. "2019 Schedule". memphis901fc.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
12. "Memphis 901 FC Announces Plans for a New Soccer Specific Stadium". Memphis 901 FC. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
13. Davis, Corey (February 13, 2023). "City seeks designer for proposed $52M stadium for Memphis 901 FC, with Mid-South Coliseum torn down". Memphis Business Journal . Retrieved June 22, 2023.
14. "Front Office". Memphis 901 FC. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
15. "Trinity Sports Holdings Adds East London Football Club". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
16. "A brief introduction to Birmingham vs. Memphis, AKA Southern Harm". uslchampionship.com. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
17. "About". Bluff City Mafia. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
18. "Bluff City Mafia readies for return to Memphis 901 FC match traditions". localmemphis.com. June 15, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
19. Arila, John (July 16, 2019). "901 FC Enlists Local Hoops Legend Hardaway for Guitar Smash". USL Championship. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
20. "Team Roster". Memphis 901 FC. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
21. "Technical Staff". memphis901fc.com. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
22. "Memphis 901 FC Dismisses Head Coach Tim Mulqueen". memphis901fc.com. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
23. "Memphis 901 FC Names Ben Pirmann Head Coach". memphis901fc.com. April 8, 2021. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
24. "Memphis 901 FC Tabs Former MLS, Scottish Premiership Manager Stephen Glass as new Head Coach". memphis901fc.com. November 22, 2022.
25. "2022 USL Championship Attendance". Soccer Stadium Digest. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
26. Morrissey, John. "USL Championship Attendance Tracker". www.usltactics.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.

External links

• Official website