Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC, and commonly known as NoVa FC) is an American soccer club from Leesburg, Virginia competing in USL League Two, USL W League, Eastern Premier Soccer League and Major Arena Soccer League 3.
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| Full name | Northern Virginia Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 as Northern Virginia Royals | ||
| Stadium | Segra Field Leesburg, Virginia | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| League | USL League Two USL W League Eastern Premier Soccer League MASL3 | ||
| 2024 | 4th, Chesapeake Division Playoffs: DNQ | ||
| Website | http://www.novafc.org/ | ||
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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
editProfessional
editNorthern 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
editAfter 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
editIn 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
editAfter 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
editFor the 2021 season, Evergreen which was already part of the Northern Virginia FC club, renamed the USL League Two club to sit under the NoVa FC 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]
On 27 August 2021, NoVa FC announced they would be reviving the women's program with a new side in the USL W League beginning in 2022.[13]
Logo history
edit
Year-by-year
editProfessional/USL League Two
edit| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Virginia Royals | |||||
| 1998 | 3 | USISL D-3 Pro League | 7th, Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 1999 | USL D-3 Pro League | 4th, Atlantic | Conference Semifinals | 1st Round | |
| 2000 | 7th, Southern | did not qualify | 2nd Round | ||
| 2001 | 4th, Southern | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2002 | 4th, Southern | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2003 | USL Pro Soccer League | 3rd, Southern | did not qualify | did not qualify | |
| 2004 | 3rd, Southern | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2005 | USL Second Division | 9th | did not qualify | did not qualify | |
| 2006 | 4 | USL PDL | 4th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2007 | 7th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2008 | 5th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2009 | 7th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2010 | 5th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2011 | 2nd, South Atlantic | Conference Quarterfinals | did not qualify | ||
| 2012 | 7th, South Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2013 | 3rd, South Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2014 | 6th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup |
| D.C. United U-23 | |||||
| 2015 | 4 | USL PDL | 5th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| Evergreen FC | |||||
| 2016 | 4 | USL PDL | 7th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2017 | 7th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2018 | 6th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2019 | USL League Two | 8th, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| Northern Virginia FC | |||||
| 2021 | 4 | USL League Two | 3rd, Mid Atlantic | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2022 | 3rd, Chesapeake | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2023 | 2nd, Chesapeake | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2024 | 4th, Chesapeake | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
Eastern Premier Soccer League
edit| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Record (W-D-L) | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 5 | Eastern Premier Soccer League | 2nd, Mid-Atlantic | 6–0–1 | did not qualify | 2nd Round |
| 2021–22 | 1st, Mid-Atlantic | 12–0–1 | Champion | 4th Qualifying Round | ||
| 2022–23 | 1st, Mid-Atlantic | 10–0–0 | Champion | 4th Qualifying Round |
*Club entered in local qualifying round
Major Arena Soccer League 3
edit| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Record (W-L-T) | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | 3 | Major Arena Soccer League 3 | 1st, East | 10–0–0 | Champion |
| 2022–23 | Major Arena Soccer League 3 | 1st, East | 7–2–0 | Champion |
USL W League
edit| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Record (W-L-T) | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 | USL W League | 5th, Mid Atlantic | 1–7–2 | did not qualify |
| 2023 | USL W League | 3rd, Mid Atlantic | 6–0–5 | did not qualify | |
| 2024 | USL W League | 6th, Mid Atlantic | 4–8–0 | did not qualify |
Honors
editLeague
edit- Eastern Premier Soccer League
- Mid-Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champion (2): 2021–22; 2022–23
- Playoff Champion (2): 2021–22; 2022–23
- Major Arena Soccer League 3
- East Division Regular Season Champion (2): 2022; 2023
- Playoff Champion (2): 2022; 2023
- National Independent Soccer Association
- NISA Nation National Champion (1): 2023
Cups
edit- Metropolitan DC-Virginia Soccer Association
- MDCVSA State Cup (2): 2021, 2022
- National Independent Soccer Association
- NISA Independent Cup – Mid-Atlantic Region (Runner-Up): 2022
- US Adult Soccer Association Region I
- National Amateur Cup Region I (1): 2022
- US Adult Soccer Association
- National Amateur Cup (Runner-Up): 2022
Statistics
editCareer USL 2 Goal Leaders
edit| Rank | Player | Goals | Career span |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AJ Sheta | 13 | 2016- |
| 2 | JP Ayolmbong | 12 | 2022- |
| 3 | Vagner Marquis | 11 | 2022- |
| 4 | Tyler Clegg | 8 | 2018-2022 |
| 5 | KJ Nadeau | 7 | 2019- |
| 6 | Bernardo Majano | 6 | 2016-2019 |
| 6 | Martin Ngoh | 6 | 2021 |
| 8 | DJ Charlton | 5 | 2018-2019 |
| 9 | Luke Campbell | 4 | 2021- |
| 9 | Connor Coward | 4 | 2016-2017 |
| 9 | Jhonny de Souza | 4 | 2018- |
| 9 | John Emmons | 4 | 2017-2018 |
| 9 | Lewis Long | 4 | 2017 |
| 14 | Samuel Biyo | 3 | 2018 |
| 14 | Graydon Hester | 3 | 2016-2017 |
| 14 | Iliass Laghjibi | 3 | 2022- |
| 14 | Declan Quill | 3 | 2023- |
| 14 | Alton West | 3 | 2021- |
*Through 2023 USL 2 Season
Head coaches
edit
Silvino Gonzalo (1998–2007)
John Pascarella (2007–2008)- Tom Torres (2009–2010)
Richie Burke (2011–2012)[14]- Grady Renfrow (2013–2014)
- Richie Burke (2014–2015)
- Brian Welsh (2014–2015)
- Ian Bishop (2016)
- Grady Renfrow (2017)
- Paul Ngend (2018–2019)
- Grady Renfrow (2021–)
References
edit- ^ "Royals Owner Mo Sheta Inducted in USL Hall of Fame". Northern Virginia Royals.
- ^ Kuhns, Will (April 10, 1998). "Local Players, Coach Gonzalo make Royal Entrance to USISL". Washington Post.
- ^ "USL Pro Media Guide". United Soccer League. 2012.
- ^ "U.S. Open Cup: First-round result (June 10)". Soccer America. June 11, 1999.
- ^ Holroyd, Steve (December 28, 2017). "Putting the book in: American soccer literature to read this winter". The Philly Soccer Page.
- ^ Edwards, Bob (April 28, 1999). "Soccer". NPR.
- ^ a b c "Evergreen FC formerly Northern Virginia Royals". Northern Virginia Royals.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "D.C. United Under-23 team to compete in Premier Development League in 2015". D.C. United. February 19, 2015.
- ^ "Next-Level Soccer: Evergreen Hammers Host Final Game Saturday". Loudoun Now. June 22, 2016.
- ^ "UNVEILING THE SCHEDULE: USL League Two will kick off May 1". Front Row Soccer. February 25, 2021.
- ^ "EPSL Welcomes Northern Virginia FC". EPSL. August 26, 2020.
- ^ "Northern Virginia FC Announced as Newest Club to Join USL W League". www.uslwleague.com. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ^ Royals Hire Burke as PDL Coach