Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Full name	Northern Colorado Hailstorm Football Club
Founded	January 12, 2021;3 years ago (2021-01-12)
Stadium	4Rivers Equipment Stadium
Capacity	2,500
Owners	Jeff and Casey Katofsky Ryan Spilborghs
Head coach	Éamon Zayed
2023	3rd out of 12 Playoffs: Semifinals
Website	https://www.hailstormfc.com/
Home colors Away colors Third colors
Current season

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC is an American professional soccer team based in Windsor, Colorado. The club was founded in 2021, and made its competitive debut in 2022. The team is owned by the Katofsky family and the Future Legends ownership group.

The club was a member of USL League One through the 2024 season. ^[1]

History

Soccer in Colorado

There are three other professional soccer teams in the state of Colorado. Colorado Rapids play in Major League Soccer, Colorado Springs Switchbacks play in USL Championship and Colorado Rapids 2 play in MLS Next Pro.

Inaugural season

Because USL League One had an uneven number of teams for the 2022 season, Northern Colorado played the first competitive match in its history in the U.S. Open Cup on April 6 of that year, against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Despite losing Irvin Parra to a red card in the 27th minute, the Hailstorm won 1–0 in extra time, with Jerry Desdunes scoring their first-ever goal in the 96th. ^[2] On April 9, 2022, Ethan Vanacore-Decker scored the first league goal for the Hailstorm play during their inaugural USL League One match which finished in a 1–1 draw with Richmond Kickers. ^[3] In just its fourth ever competitive match, the Hailstorm defeated Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake away from home by a score of 1–0 on April 20, 2022, to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup. ^{[4] [5]} The Hailstorm were eliminated from cup competition on May 11, 2022 by fellow League One opponents Union Omaha by a score of 2-0 in the round of 32. The Hailstorm played their first home game against North Carolina FC on June 8, 2022, after 10 games (including cup matches) on the road while awaiting a home venue in Colorado. The game took place at Jackson Stadium, on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado, since the completion of TicketSmarter Stadium was delayed. The game saw Irvin Parra score the Hailstorm's first home goal in spectacular fashion, making #2 on ESPN's top ten list that evening. ^[6] The Hailstorm would go on the finish the match in a 1-1 draw.

2024 USL Jägermeister Cup

During the 2024 season of USL League One, the United Soccer League would introduce the USL Jägermeister Cup (also known as the USL Cup). The inaugural edition would only be competed among USL League One teams. Despite heading into the tournament in bad form, the Hailstorm would surprise the league with a first-place finish in the West Group. They won seven of eight games and finished with 21 points. In the first stage of the knockouts, they matched up with their rivals Union Omaha. Despite an even split in the group stage, Hailstorm would win 2-0 to secure a place in the finals. Northern Colorado would meet Forward Madison in the final, defeating them 1(5)-1(4) thanks to a saved shot by goalkeeper Edward Delgado and becoming the inaugural USL Jägermeister Cup champions.

Ownership troubles

During the 2024 USL League One season, it would be revealed that owner Jeff Katofsky was under legal fire. His ongoing project, the Future Legends Complex, was behind on $13 million in payments. Kartofsky and the complex also had $11.3 million in open legal claims filed against them. ^[7] On October 16, 2024, Kartofsky would file for bankruptcy. ^[8] On November 14, 2024, it was announced by USL League One that Northern Colorado Hailstorm's franchise agreement had been terminated. ^[9] The club's ownership responded the same day, stating their intentions to continue playing at the Future Legends Complex in 2025. ^[10]

Stadium

The team will play their home games at TicketSmarter Stadium located at the Future Legends Complex, a 118-acre multi-sport complex that was scheduled to open in 2022. The complex is expected to have 10 baseball fields and 12 soccer pitches. ^[11] The team will share the complex with a minor-league baseball team, the Northern Colorado Owlz. ^[12] The Owlz and Hailstorm "will play in a secondary location while construction concludes." ^[13]

Due to construction delays, caused by an months-long investigation into the possible presence of a historical site in June 2021, ^[14] the team obtained permission from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC, in Greeley, Colorado) to use their soccer facility, Jackson Stadium throughout the month of June, 2022. ^[15] Due the resumption of inter-collegiate soccer at UNC, the team then obtained permission from Colorado State University (CSU, in Fort Collins, Colorado) to use Canvas Stadium, an artificial turf college football stadium with a capacity of 40,000+ throughout the month of July, 2022. ^[16]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of May 9, 2024 ^[17]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Lalo Delgado 2 DF   USA Brecc Evans 4 DF   ESP David García 5 DF   ENG Johnny Fenwick 6 MF   GER Jackson Dietrich 7 MF   TRI Real Gill 8 MF   GHA Enock Kwakwa 10 FW   USA Irvin Parra 11 MF   USA Marky Hernández 12 GK   USA Russell Shealy 13 DF   NGA Lucky Opara

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF   JPN Haruki Yamazaki 15 MF   USA Patrick Langlois 16 MF   USA Destan Norman 19 FW   SCO Billy King 20 FW   USA Ethan Hoard 23 FW   USA Jake Keegan (on loan from One Knoxville) 27 DF   CUB Bruno Rendón 30 MF   USA Chelo Martinez 34 MF   USA Danny Robles 47 MF   USA McCain Clarke 66 DF   TRI Noah Powder

Front office and Technical staff

Front Office Staff [18]
President / General Manager	Jason Ficca
Assistant General Manager	James Hilepo
Director of Marketing and Communications	Damian Foley
Director of Partnerships and Sales
Digital Media Manager	Nathan Martinez
Technical Staff
Head coach	Éamon Zayed
Assistant coach	Colin Falvey
Goalkeeping coach	Tim Murray

Record

Year-by-year

As of October 28, 2023

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	10	9	42	38	42	7th	Did not qualify	R4	Irvin Parra	11	Éamon Zayed
2023	32	18	6	8	59	37	62	3rd	Semifinals	R3	Trevor Amann	26

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

Head coach records

• Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Loss	Draw	Win %
Éamon Zayed [19]	Libya	August 11, 2021	present	117	68	32	17	058.12

Honors

• USL Jägermeister Cup
  • Champions (1): 2024

References

1. Peterson, Colin (January 12, 2021). "Northern Colorado FC set to join USL League One in 2022". Burgundy Wave. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
2. "Cupsets Continue on Night Two of 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round".
3. "Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC Picks Up First League Point In Club History". Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
4. "Cupset! Hailstorm Move on to Round of 32". Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
5. USLLeagueOne com Staff (April 20, 2022). "Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC Stuns Real Salt Lake". USL League One. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
6. "Northern Colorado Hailstorm on TikTok". TikTok. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
7. https://www.kunc.org/news/2024-08-19/legends-in-limbo-a-sports-complex-in-windsor-faces-legal-troubles
8. https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2024/10/16/future-legends-developers-file-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/75700304007/
9. "United Soccer League Statement". USLLeagueOne.com. USL League One . Retrieved November 14, 2024.
10. "Statement from Ownership". Twitter.com. Northern Colorado Hailstorm . Retrieved November 14, 2024.
11. "Youth Baseball Tournament Venue & Complex | Home | Futurelegendscomplex.com". Future Legends Sports Complex. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
12. Howell, Chase (January 12, 2021). "Northern Colorado FC to join United Soccer League as expansion franchise in 2022". The Denver Post . Retrieved January 13, 2021.
13. "Future Legends Complex Announces Stadium Naming Rights and Ticket Sales Partnership with TicketSmarter". Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (Press release). March 31, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
14. "Future Legends developer: USDA forced months-long work stoppage". Loveland Reporter-Herald. June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
15. "'I'm over the moon': Northern Colorado Hailstorm host inaugural home game". Greeley Tribune. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
16. "Hailstorm FC to play at CSU's Canvas Stadium in July after opening the 2022 season in Greeley". OurSports Central. June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
17. "Team - Northern Colorado Hailstorm". hailstormfc.com. Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
18. "Front Office Staff". hailstormfc.com. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
19. "Hailstorm FC Announces Éamon Zayed As Club's First-Ever Head Coach". USLLeagueOne.com. USL League One. August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.