FC Kansas City

FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions, having won titles in 2014[1] and 2015.[2] After the 2017 season, the NWSL re-acquired owner Elam Baer's membership interest and subsequently ceased the team's operations.[3]

This article is about the defunct team last played in 2017. For the current team founded in 2020, see Kansas City NWSL team.

FC Kansas City
Full nameFC Kansas City
Nickname(s)FCKC, "The Blues"
FoundedNovember 21, 2012 (2012-11-21)
DissolvedNovember 20, 2017 (2017-11-20)
GroundSwope Soccer Village
Capacity3,557
LeagueNational Women's Soccer League
WebsiteClub website

History

Establishment and inaugural season
Main article: 2013 FC Kansas City season

In November 2012, it was confirmed that a Kansas City-based women's professional soccer team had been accepted into a new women's professional soccer league, later named National Women's Soccer League.[4] The KC ownership group was composed of Chris Likens, his two sons Brad and Greg Likens, and Brian Budzinski, the same owners of the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League.[5][6]

On December 12, 2012, FC Kansas City announced that Vlatko Andonovski, a former professional player and head coach of the Kansas City Kings of the PASL and Missouri Olympic Development Program (ODP), would be head coach of the team.[7] On January 11, 2013, a new logo was unveiled for the team that features the team's colors: blue, white and black. According to a team-issued press release, "the new logo also represents the ever-flowing qualities that make up the game of women's professional soccer."[8][9]

On January 14, 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Nicole Barnhart (USA), Lauren Cheney (USA), Renae Cuéllar (MEX), Marylin Diaz (MEX), Becky Sauerbrunn (USA), Desiree Scott (CAN), and Lauren Sesselmann (CAN) were named to the team.[10][11][12][13] On January 18, the team selected Kristie Mewis, Erika Tymrak, Whitney Berry, and Nia Williams in the 2013 NWSL College Draft.[14] The team signed Sinead Farrelly, Jen Buczkowski, and Leigh Ann Robinson as free agents.[15] During the February 7, 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft, the Blues selected Courtney Jones, Bianca Henninger, Merritt Mathias, Casey Nogueira, Tina DiMartino, and Casey Berrier.[16] Frances Silva was drafted in the 2014 NWSL College Draft. She was the 19th overall pick.

The Blues finished second during the regular season with an 11–6–5 record earning a berth to the playoffs. Post-season, the team swept the majority of the league's annual awards with Lauren Holiday receiving Golden Boot and League MVP honors, Erika Tymrak the recipient of the Rookie of the Year, and Becky Sauerbrunn winning Defender of the Year. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski won Coach of the Year.[17] Four players were also named to the league's Best XI: Nicole Barnhart, Leigh Ann Robinson, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Lauren Holiday.[18]

New ownership

In January 2017, it was announced that FCKC had been purchased by Elam Baer, the CEO of Minneapolis-based North Central Equity, LLC.[19] Jean-Yves Viardin was named the new general manager and Vlatko Andonovski remained as head coach.[20] NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush stated, "Elam is committed to strengthening FC Kansas City’s roots throughout the entire Kansas City metropolitan area and beyond. Elam and his partners will look to build off of what has been started by the Likens family, whose support of and many contributions to the establishment and growth of the league will never be forgotten."[20] Less than a year later, however, mismanagement and absentee ownership forced the league to re-acquire Baer's NWSL membership interest in order to cease the team's operations in November 2017.[3] All of the team's player contracts, draft picks, and other player-related rights would be transferred to the expansion team Utah Royals FC.[21]

Players and coaches

Current squad
As of August 3, 2017.[22]
No. Position Player Nation
2 Forward Shea Groom  United States
3 Defender Becca Moros  United States
4 Defender Becky Sauerbrunn (captain)  United States
5 Defender Alex Arlitt  United States
6 Defender Katie Bowen  New Zealand
7 Midfielder Mandy Laddish  United States
8 Forward Amy Rodriguez  United States
9 Midfielder Lo'eau LaBonta  United States
10 Midfielder Yael Averbuch  United States
11 Midfielder Desiree Scott  Canada
13 Defender Brittany Taylor  United States
14 Forward Sydney Leroux  United States
15 Midfielder Erika Tymrak  United States
17 Defender Sydney Miramontez  United States
18 Goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart (vice-captain)  United States
19 Goalkeeper Cat Parkhill  United States
21 Midfielder Caroline Flynn  United States
25 Forward Brittany Ratcliffe  United States
31 Defender Christina Gibbons  United States
44 Forward Maegan Kelly  Canada
88 Midfielder Alexa Newfield  United States

Head coach

Retired numbers
FC Kansas City retired numbers
No. Nat. Player Position Career No. retirement
12Lauren HolidayFW/MF2013–2015August 27, 2015[23]

Year-by-year
See also: National Women's Soccer League attendance
Year League Regular Season Playoffs Avg. Attendance
2013 NWSL 2nd Place Semi-Finals 4,626
2014 NWSL 2nd Place Champions 2,018
2015 NWSL 3rd Place Champions 3,091[24]
2016 NWSL 6th Place Did not qualify 3,162[25]
2017 NWSL 7th place Did not qualify 1,788

Stadium

During the inaugural season, the Blues played their games at Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas. The stadium has a 6,150 seating capacity.[26][27] At that time, it was the third largest stadium in the NWSL after Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, home of the Portland Thorns and Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, New York, home of the Western New York Flash.[28] Sporting Kansas City, then called the Kansas City Wizards, played at the stadium in a match against the Colorado Rapids during the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.[29][30]

The team announced on January 8, 2014, that they would move to the Durwood Soccer Stadium on the UMKC campus to play there through 2015.[31]

However, for the 2015 season, FC Kansas City entered into a partnership with Sporting Kansas City to use their training grounds at Swope Soccer Village for training and play matches at the complex's championship field.[32] The stadium has seating for 1500, but was expanded to 3,557[33] using the bleachers FC Kansas City had purchased for use at Durwood Stadium for the previous season.[34]

April 11, 2015 FC Kansas City hosted Sky Blue FC at Sporting Park for its inaugural home match of the season, drawing a crowd of 8,489.[35]

Broadcasting
See also: National Women's Soccer League § Broadcasting

As of April 2017, FC Kansas City games were streamed exclusively by Go90 for American audiences and via the NWSL website for international viewers.[36] For the 2017 season, the Blues will be featured in three nationally-televised Lifetime NWSL Game of the Week broadcasts on June 3, August 16 and September 9.[37][38]

Ahead of the 2013 season, it was announced that games would be broadcast on the team's website and YouTube.[39] Eight games were broadcast locally on Time Warner Cable’s Metro Sports.[40] During the 2014 season, nine games were broadcast on the same channel.[41]

Supporters

FC Kansas City's official supporters group was called the KC Blue Crew.[42]

Honors
See also: NWSL awards

References
  1. "2014 NWSL CHAMPIONS: FC KANSAS CITY". National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). August 31, 2014. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  2. "FCKC NAMED 2015 NWSL CHAMPIONS IN 1–0 WIN OVER SEATTLE". National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  3. Linehan, Meg (November 20, 2017). "NWSL announces that FC Kansas City will cease operations". NWSL. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  4. "New women's soccer league links and news". Equalizer Soccer. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  5. "FC Kansas City To Launch This Spring". FC Kansas City. November 27, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  6. "Women's professional soccer coming to Kansas City". The Pitch News. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  7. "FC Kansas City Coaching Staff Announced". FC Kansas City. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  8. "FC Kansas City unveils new logo". Equalizer Soccer. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  9. "FC Kansas City Launches New Logo". OurSports Central. January 10, 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  10. "Wambach, Morgan also allocated to NWSL teams". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  11. "NWSL allocation easier said than done". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  12. "Player distribution sees NWSL take shape". FIFA. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  13. "New Women's League Allocates Players". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  14. "Eight Teams Make Selections at 2013 NWSL College Draft at NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis". U.S. Soccer. January 18, 2013. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  15. Lewis, Scott (February 9, 2013). "FC Kansas City officially announces the signing of Sinead Farrelly". NWSL News. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  16. "Results: Ochs taken first in NWSL Supplemental Draft". Equalizer Soccer. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  17. Kassouf, Jeff (August 27, 2013). "Holiday named 2013 NWSL MVP; KC sweeps awards". Equalizer Soccer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
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  20. "FC Kansas City is under new ownership". Fox Sports. January 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
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  22. "Roster". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  23. "Fc Kansas City to Retire Lauren Holiday's Number 12 Jersey". August 19, 2015. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  24. "9-10-15 NWSL Statistics.pdf". ussoccer.com. US Soccer. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  25. "9-25-16 NWSL Statistics.pdf". ussoccer.com. US Soccer. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  26. "Home / News / FC KANSAS CITY NAMES VENUE FOR 2013 SEASON FC KANSAS CITY NAMES VENUE FOR 2013 SEASON". FC Kansas City. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  27. "FC Kansas City announces venue". Equalizer Soccer. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  28. "FC Kansas City calls Shawnee Mission District Stadium home". Kansas City Business Journal. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  29. "FC Kansas City to Play at Shawnee Mission North". Down the Byline. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  30. "Kansas City Wizards Qualify for Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16". WIBW. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  31. "FC KANSAS CITY ANNOUNCES NEW HOME VENUE". FCKansasCity.com. FC Kansas City. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  32. "FC KANSAS CITY TO PLAY AT SWOPE SOCCER VILLAGE IN 2015". FC Kansas City. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  33. "Lloyd scores in return as Dash draw Kansas City". The Equalizer. July 20, 2015. Archived from the original on August 11, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  34. Bell, Thad (January 13, 2015). "FC Kansas City and Sporting KC partner". The Blue Testament. SB Nation. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  35. Rolstad, Skylar (April 12, 2015). "FC Kansas City loses 1-0 to Sky Blue FC at Sporting Park". Fansided. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  36. "NWSL, go90 announce exclusive streaming partnership". Black and Red United (SBNation). Vox Media. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  37. McDowell, Sam (February 2, 2017). "NWSL enters agreement with A+E Networks, which will broadcast matches on Lifetime". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  38. "NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime schedule". National Women's Soccer League. April 16, 2017. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  39. "FC Kansas City Announces Broadcast Partners". FC Kansas City. April 15, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  40. McDowell, Sam (May 17, 2013). "FC Kansas City will try to bounce back from first loss of season". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
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