Swope Park Rangers

Last updated

Swope Park Rangers
Swope Park Rangers logo.svg
Full nameSwope Park Rangers KC
Nickname(s)Rangers, SPR
FoundedOctober 22, 2015;4 years ago (2015-10-22)
Stadium Children's Mercy Park
Kansas City, Kansas
Capacity18,467
Owner Sporting Club
Head Coach Paulo Nagamura
League USL Championship
2019 18th, Eastern Conference
Playoffs: DNQ
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

The Swope Park Rangers are a USL Championship club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. The Rangers play their home games at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

USL Championship Professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada

The USL Championship (USLC), is a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation as a Division II Professional League since 2017, placing it under Major League Soccer in the hierarchy. The USL is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Sporting Kansas City Association football club in Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American professional soccer club in Kansas City, Kansas, with its main office and historic location in Kansas City, Missouri. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS), having returned in 2015 after spending ten seasons in the Eastern Conference.

Major League Soccer Professional soccer league in the United States and Canada

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 24 teams—21 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada and constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues in both countries. The league plans to expand to 29 teams with the additions of Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC in 2020, Austin FC in 2021, Sacramento Republic FC and a St. Louis franchise in 2022, with further plans to expand to 30 teams at a later date.

Contents

History

On October 22, 2015, the team was officially announced as the USL's 30th franchise, as were the Swope Park Rangers name, color scheme and logo. The Rangers replaced Oklahoma City Energy FC as SKC's USL affiliate, and are named after a nickname for SKC reserve squad in 2008. [1] [2] The team will be Sporting Kansas City's third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with Orlando City SC and Oklahoma City Energy FC. [3] Canadian Marc Dos Santos, who led Ottawa Fury FC to the NASL Soccer Bowl in 2015, was named the first head coach of the Rangers on November 20, 2015. [4]

Orlando City SC (2010–14) former association football club (2010–14)

Orlando City SC was an American professional soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, United States, that was the precursor to Orlando City SC. The team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid from 2010 to 2014, until discontinuing in favor of Orlando's Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise in 2015 which is owned by the same principals.

Marc Dos Santos Footballer

Marc Dos Santos is a Canadian-Portuguese soccer manager who is currently the head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. He was previously the head coach of Montreal Impact in D2 Pro League, was North American Soccer League Coach of the Year in 2015, when he led the Ottawa Fury FC them to the North American Soccer League Championship Final after a first-place finish in the Fall Season, coached at Swope Park Rangers of United Soccer League, San Francisco Deltas of NASL and assistant coach of Los Angeles FC. Prior to that, he focused on youth initiatives in Brazil with FC Primeira Camisa (U-20's) and SE Palmeiras (U-15's), culminating with a Copa do Brasil Sub-15 championship and a technical director position with Desportivo Brasil. The Montreal native was first hired by the Montreal Impact in January 2007 to lead the club's reserve team, Trois-Rivieres Attak FC, in the Canadian Soccer League. After leading the squad to titles in their initial two seasons – first as 2007 Open Canada Cup champions, then as 2008 CSL National Division champions – Dos Santos was added to the Impact's technical staff as an assistant coach in June 2008 and became head coach in May 2009. During his tenure, the Impact won the inaugural Canadian Championship in 2008 to claim the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League. Dos Santos then led Montreal through three different leagues in consecutive campaigns, winning the USL First Division title in 2009 before transitioning into USSF Division 2 in 2010 and the North American Soccer League in 2011.

Ottawa Fury FC Canadian association football team

Ottawa Fury Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the USL Championship and plays its home games at TD Place Stadium.

The Rangers finished their inaugural season in 2016 with a 14–10–6 record and finished fourth in the Western Conference. The side advanced to the 2016 USL Cup Final, becoming just the second team in USL history to do so in its inaugural season. The Rangers beat LA Galaxy II, Orange County SC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5–1 to New York Red Bulls II at Red Bull Arena. Goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas and winger Tyler Pasher were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season.

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxys professional reserve squad

LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team currently competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the United States soccer league system. The team were runners up in the 2015 edition of the USL championship in which the Los Dos lost to the Rochester Rhinos.

Orange County SC American soccer team

Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California suburb of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team plays in the second USL Championship.

Whitecaps FC 2 reserve squad of Vancouver Whitecaps

Whitecaps FC 2 was a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that served as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of MLS. The team played its home games at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium and competed in the second tier United Soccer League.

Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, Marc Dos Santos departed to take over at newly founded NASL club the San Francisco Deltas. His assistant for the 2016 campaign, Nikola Popovic, took the reins ahead of the 2017 season. The side continued to have success as Popovic led the team to a 17–8–7 record in the West and another fourth-place finish. Sporting KC also signed four more players from SPR during 2017 in Amer Didic, James Musa, Kharlton Belmar and Kevin Oliveira. Popovic resigned as head coach on November 17, 2017 after leading Swope Park to their second consecutive conference championship. [5]

North American Soccer League association football league, began in 2011

The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer based in the United States. The league was named for, but had no connection to, the original North American Soccer League. The later NASL was founded in 2009, and began play in 2011 with eight teams, following a 2010 season that saw NASL and USL teams play in a combined temporary Division II league.

San Francisco Deltas defunct American soccer club

The San Francisco Deltas were an American professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 2016, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2017. The franchise played its home games at Kezar Stadium located at the south-east end of Golden Gate Park.

James Musa New Zealand association footballer

James Mzamo Musa is a New Zealand footballer who currently plays for Phoenix Rising FC in the USL Championship.

The club has announced that it will re-brand as Sporting Kansas City II ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season. [6]

Location

The team plays at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. [1] [2]

Childrens Mercy Park soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas

Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway and it opened during the 2011 season of Major League Soccer on June 9, 2011 with a match against the Chicago Fire. The stadium has a seating capacity of 18,467 seats, which can expand to 25,000 for concerts. Most SKC games attract around 21,000 because of different stadium modes. The stadium is Sporting Kansas City's third home venue; then known as the Kansas City Wizards, the team played in Arrowhead Stadium from 1996 to 2007 and CommunityAmerica Ballpark from 2008 to 2010. In 2013, the stadium hosted the MLS All-Star Game, the United States men's national soccer team, and the MLS Cup, three of the most prestigious matches in the United States, and is the only stadium to host all three in the same year.

The Rangers used the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri as permanent home venue for the 2016 and 2017 USL seasons, although occasional matches were played at Children's Mercy Park during those first two seasons. For the 2018 season, the Rangers moved to Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas for home USL matches. The move to Shawnee Mission South District Stadium was in response to new USL stadium standards, requiring seating for at least 5,000 fans, that were not met by Swope Soccer Village. The 7,500-seat Shawnee Mission South District Stadium had received $6 million in improvements between fall 2016 and spring 2017. After just two home matches into the season, the Rangers announced that all home matches would be moved to Children's Mercy Park for the remainder of the 2018 USL season. The move came just days after allegations were reported that there had been issues with the quality of the artificial-turf field at Shawnee Mission South. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Current roster

As of June 5, 2019. [11]

No.PositionPlayerNation
13 Forward Gianluca Busio ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
16 Defender Graham Smith ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
18 Goalkeeper Eric Dick ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
19 Forward Erik Hurtado ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
23 Forward Tyler Freeman ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
24 Midfielder Gedion Zelalem ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
26 Defender Jaylin Lindsey ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
31 Goalkeeper Brooks Thompson Flag of the United States.svg  United States
33 Defender Rennico Clarke Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica
39 Midfielder Jerome Ngom Mbekeli (on loan from MFK Vyškov)Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon
42 Defender Luis Olivera (on loan from Atenas)Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
43 Defender Mark Segbers Flag of the United States.svg  United States
44 Midfielder Camden Riley Flag of the United States.svg  United States
45 Goalkeeper John Pulskamp Flag of the United States.svg  United States
47 Midfielder Tucker Lepley ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
48 Defender Kaveh Rad ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
49 Midfielder Will Little Flag of the United States.svg  United States
50 Defender Dylan Hooper ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
53 Forward Killian Colombie Flag of France.svg  France
54 Forward Josh Chong ( [B] )Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
63 Forward Tucker Stephenson Flag of the United States.svg  United States
64 Midfielder Jake Davis ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
67 Goalkeeper Max Trejo ( [B] )Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
70 Forward Zé Pedro Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
75 Midfielder Wan Kuzain ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
77 Midfielder Camilo Benítez Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador
79 Forward William Opoku Mensah Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
84 Midfielder Jahon Rad ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
85 Midfielder Felipe Hernandez ( [A] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
91 Forward Ethan Vanacore-Decker Flag of the United States.svg  United States
92 Midfielder Alexsander (on loan from Athletico Paranaense)Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
95 Midfielder Rassambek Akhmatov Flag of France.svg  France
96 Forward Wilson Harris Flag of the United States.svg  United States
98 Midfielder Ayyoub Allach Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
99 Goalkeeper Gavin Krenecki ( [B] )Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1. ^ Signed to first team contract with MLS affiliate Sporting Kansas City.
  2. ^ Sporting Kansas City Academy player.

Year-by-year

As of October 20, 2019
Year USL Regular seasonPositionPlayoffsTop Scorer 1 U.S.
Open Cup
PWLDGFGAPtsConf.OverallPlayerGoals
2016 30141064536484th, Western9th Runners-up Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mark Anthony Gonzalez 9Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team)
2017 3217875537584th, Western5th Runners-up Flag of the United States.svg Kharlton Belmar 15Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team)
2018 34151185253537th, Western11th Conference Semifinals Flag of Guinea.svg Hadji Barry 17Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team)
2019 34620846802618th, Eastern36thDid not qualify Flag of the United States.svg Wilson Harris 12Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team)

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

Head coaches

CoachNationalityStartEndGamesWinLossDrawWin %
Marc Dos Santos Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg CanadaNovember 20, 2015November 21, 20163417116050.00
Nikola Popovic [12] [13] Flag of Serbia.svg SerbiaNovember 21, 2016November 17, 2017362097055.56
Paulo Nagamura [14] Flag of Brazil.svg BrazilDecember 4, 2017present70223216031.43

Average Attendance

YearReg. SeasonPlayoffs
20161,7532,329
20171,0151,724
2018881–
2019505–

Staff

Honors

Related Research Articles

Paulo Nagamura Brazilian footballer

Paulo Roberto Corradi Nagamura is a retired Brazilian footballer, and current manager of United Soccer League side, Swope Park Rangers.

Jon Kempin American soccer player

Jonathan Kempin is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Columbus Crew SC. He previously appeared for Sporting Kansas City (SKC) and LA Galaxy and spent time on loan with Orlando City, OKC Energy, San Antonio Scorpions, Swope Park Rangers, LA Galaxy II, and Hartford Athletic.

Kharlton Belmar is an American soccer player who currently plays for Nashville SC in the USL Championship.

Swope Soccer Village soccer complex in Kansas City, Missouri

Swope Soccer Village is a soccer complex located within Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri, first dedicated in 2007 with further renovations completed in 2014. The facility is a public-private partnership between the City of Kansas City's parks department and Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer, with field reservations managed by the Heartland Soccer Association, a local youth soccer organization. Children's Mercy Victory Field is the home venue of the Swope Park Rangers of the United Soccer League, as well as Sporting Kansas City's five youth academy teams.

Kévin Renato Fortes Oliveira is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ottawa Fury in United Soccer League.

Amer Đidić is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for FC Edmonton.

Jaylin Lindsey US association football player

Jaylin Chad Lindsey is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

The 2016 Swope Park Rangers season is the club's inaugural year of existence, and their first season in the Western Conference of the United Soccer League, the third tier of the United States Soccer Pyramid.

Adrián Zendejas Rodríguez is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

Dakota Barnathan is an American professional soccer player with Ottawa Fury of the USL Championship.

Felipe Hernández is an American professional soccer player who plays for Sporting Kansas City in MLS.

The 2018 USL season was the eighth season of the United Soccer League and second under Division II sanctioning. The previous season, the USL had provisional Div. II sanctioning from the United States Soccer Federation along with the North American Soccer League, but was given full sanctioning for the 2018 season with a two-year deadline to meet the full requirements set by U.S. Soccer.

The 2018 Swope Park Rangers season is the club's third year of play and their third season in the Western Conference of the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States Soccer Pyramid. The Rangers moved from the Swope Park Soccer village to Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas. After complaints from fans about the high school stadium, the club moved to the first team's Children's Mercy Park.

Eric Dick association football player

Eric Dick is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.


Nikola Popovic is a football head coach. Popovic is known for a very attractive and effective style of play based on possession and high pressure. A UEFA Pro licensed coach – the highest UEFA license available – Popovic has coached in eight countries, speaks four languages.

The 2019 Swope Park Rangers season is the club's fourth year of play and their first season in the Eastern Conference of the newly renamed USL Championship, the top tier of United Soccer League. The second tier of the United States Soccer Pyramid. The Rangers will continue play at Children's Mercy Park after complications with Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas.

Texas United

Texas United is an American soccer club, founded in 2017, competing in the USL League Two., the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club plays its home games at AirHogs Stadium a professional minor league baseball stadium in Grand Prairie, TX. The club's colors are red, blue and white.

Camden Riley is an American soccer player who plays for Swope Park Rangers in the USL Championship. Riley stands 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) tall and weighs 175 pounds (79 kg).

Kaveh Rad is an American professional soccer player who plays for Swope Park Rangers in the USL Championship via the Sporting Kansas City Academy.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sporting Kansas City Awarded USL's 30th Franchise". United Soccer League. October 22, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "USL expands to Kansas City in 2016 with debut of Swope Park Rangers". October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Vermes, Besler Excited By Rangers' Introduction". United Soccer League. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Dos Santos Introduced as Swope Park Rangers' Coach". United Soccer League (USL). Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Swope Park Rangers and head coach Nikola Popovic mutually agree to part ways". Sporting Kansas City. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Sporting Club's USL Championship team to become Sporting Kansas City II". Sporting Kansas City. September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Swope Park Soccer Village Loses Both Its Marquee Tenants". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Swope Park Rangers to play 2018 home matches at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium | Sporting Kansas City". Sportingkc.com. January 18, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  9. ↑ Villanueva, Araceli (April 24, 2018). "Swope Park Rangers Home Games Moved to Children's Mercy Park". The Blue Testament. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  10. ↑ Smith, Chad C. (April 14, 2018). "Swope Park Rangers vs OKC Energy Postponed". The Blue Testament. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  11. ↑ "SPR Players | Sporting Kansas City". Sportingkc.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Nikola Popovic and Alec Dufty join Swope Park Rangers technical staff". Sporting Kansas City.
  13. ↑ "Nikola Popovic introduced as Swope Park Rangers head coach". Patrik Bergabo. Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Paulo Nagamura named Swope Park Rangers head coach". Sam Kovzan. Sporting Kansas City. December 4, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.