Northern Virginia Royals

Last updated

Northern Virginia FC
NVFC team logo.jpg
Full nameNorthern Virginia Football Club
Nickname(s)NoVa FC
Founded1998
Stadium Evergreen Sportsplex
Leesburg, Virginia
League USL League Two
2019 8th, Mid Atlantic Division
Playoffs: DNQ
Website Club website

Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC) are an American soccer club from Leesburg, Virginia competing in USL League Two.

Contents

The club's women's team was known as the Northern Virginia Majestics, who played in the women's USL W-League, and fielded a team in the USL’s Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella. Throughout their recent history, NVFC previously enjoyed minor league affiliation with D.C. United, the nearby Major League Soccer franchise. [1]

History

Professional

Northern Virginia FC was founded in 1998 and joined the USISL D-3 Pro League as an expansion franchise in 1998, entering the team under the name Northern Virginia Royals. [2] They ended their first season in 7th place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-12-1 record. [3] In their second season, they improved, winning 10 of their 18 regular season games, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division and also qualified for their first US Open Cup campaign in 1999, where they were upset in the first round by Florida PDL side Cocoa Expos 5-3. [4] In the playoffs they beat divisional rivals South Carolina Shamrocks 2-1 in the first round before falling 4-0 to Charlotte in the conference semi-final.The 1998 season and the Royals were featured in the book "Unlucky: A Season of Struggle in Minor League Professional Soccer" by Dave Ungrady, who trained and played briefly for the Royals as well [5] [6]

The D-3 Pro League became the USL Pro Select League in 2003, and the Royals finished bottom of the 3-team Southern Division, with just 6 wins for the year. The USL Pro Select League became the USL Second Division in 2005, and dispensed with divisions in favor of a single-table format; for the Royals, this proved to be yet another disastrous season.

Move to PDL

After finishing bottom of the league in the USL Second Division, the Royals management took the decision to self-relegate themselves to the USL Premier Development League for the 2006 season. [7] The Royals won their first match in the amateur PDL 3-1 over West Virginia Chaos, ultimately finishing fourth in the Mid Atlantic Division in their debut 2006 season.

The Northern Virginia Royals were inducted into the USL Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007. [7]

Partnership with D.C. United

In 2015, the Royals rebranded as Evergreen FC and partnered with Major League Soccer club D.C. United and formed a joint PDL team called D.C. United U-23, who combined their NPSL side with the Royals, to play in the PDL, finishing fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Division. [8] [9]

Evergreen Hammers

After the 2015 season, the Royals transferred their operations and relocated to Loudon County, Virginia in 2016 playing under the Evergreen FC banner as the Evergreen Hammers. [7] [10]

Northern Virginia FC

For the 2021 season, Evergreen which was already part of the Northern Virginia FC club, renamed the USL League Two club to the Northern Virginia banner. [11] NoVa FC had already operated teams under that name in the lower level United Premier Soccer League and Eastern Premier Soccer League. [12]

Year-by-year

as Northern Virginia Royals

YearDivisionLeagueRegular SeasonPlayoffsOpen Cup
1998 3 USISL D-3 Pro League 7th, AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
1999 3 USL D-3 Pro League 4th, AtlanticConference Semifinals1st Round
2000 3USL D-3 Pro League7th, SouthernDid not qualify2nd Round
2001 3USL D-3 Pro League4th, SouthernDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2002 3USL D-3 Pro League4th, SouthernDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2003 3 USL Pro Soccer League 3rd, SouthernDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2004 3USL Pro Soccer League3rd, SouthernDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2005 3 USL Second Division 9thDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2006 4 USL PDL 4th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2007 4USL PDL7th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2008 4USL PDL5th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2009 4USL PDL7th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2010 4USL PDL5th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2011 4USL PDL2nd, South AtlanticConference QuarterfinalsDid not qualify
2012 4USL PDL7th, South AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2013 4USL PDL3rd, South AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify
2014 4USL PDL6th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify

as D.C. United U23

YearDivisionLeagueRegular SeasonPlayoffsOpen Cup
2015 4USL PDL6th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify

as Evergreen Hammers FC

Year Level LeagueRegular seasonPlayoffs U.S. Open Cup
2016 4 USL PDL 7th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify
2017 4USL PDL7th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify
2018 4USL PDL6th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify
2019 4 USL League Two 8th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

as Northern Virginia FC

Year Level LeagueRegular seasonPlayoffs U.S. Open Cup
2021 4 USL League Two TBDTBD

Head coaches

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Northern Virginia FC are an American soccer club competing in USL League Two. In 2021, they rebranded from Evergreen FC to their current name.

References

  1. ↑ "Royals Owner Mo Sheta Inducted in USL Hall of Fame". Northern Virginia Royals.
  2. ↑ Kuhns, Will (April 10, 1998). "Local Players, Coach Gonzalo make Royal Entrance to USISL". Washington Post .
  3. ↑ "USL Pro Media Guide". United Soccer League . 2012.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Open Cup: First-round result (June 10)". Soccer America. June 11, 1999.
  5. ↑ Holroyd, Steve (December 28, 2017). "Putting the book in: American soccer literature to read this winter". The Philly Soccer Page.
  6. ↑ Edwards, Bob (April 28, 1999). "Soccer". NPR .
  7. 1 2 3 "Evergreen FC formerly Northern Virginia Royals". Northern Virginia Royals.
  8. ↑ Candeloro, Christian (May 15, 2015). "New York Red Bulls and D.C. United U23 Join PDL". Ocean City FC. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ "D.C. United Under-23 team to compete in Premier Development League in 2015". D.C. United. February 19, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Next-Level Soccer: Evergreen Hammers Host Final Game Saturday". Loudron Now. June 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ "UNVEILING THE SCHEDULE: USL League Two will kick off May 1". Front Row Soccer. February 25, 2021.
  12. ↑ "EPSL Welcomes Northern Virginia FC". EPSL . August 26, 2020.
  13. ↑ Royals Hire Burke as PDL Coach
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