The partnership between MLS and USL continues to grow, as Sporting Kansas City announced the creation of new reserve team.
Sporting KC announced the formation of Swope Park Rangers, which will be the 11th team owned and operated by an MLS club. The Rangers will kick off with 27 other teams across the U.S. and Canada in 2016, the sixth season of the USL.
“This is a great opportunity to fill in an important piece between the Sporting KC Academy and our senior team as part of the long-term vision for our organization,” Sporting KC head coach and technical director Peter Vermes said. “We were fortunate to have a mutually beneficial affiliation with OKC Energy FC the past two years. Moving forward, the USL will offer a great level of play and we’re looking forward to building the Swope Park Rangers roster.”
Rangers home games will be played on Championship Field at Swope Soccer Village, which is a nine-field soccer complex and is also the training ground site for the MLS side.
“We are excited to welcome Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers KC to the USL for the 2016 season,” USL President Jake Edwards said. “Sporting Kansas City is consistently one of the top organizations in MLS and has a fantastic locally-based ownership group that is committed to building the soccer culture throughout the Kansas City region. We expect that commitment to result in a highly successful club, playing in historic Swope Park, which will be embraced by local fans. We are also excited about the rivalry that we expect to develop between the Swope Park Rangers KC and Saint Louis FC, as we continue to grow the USL’s presence in the central U.S.”
Sporting KC currently has five players who have played in the USL during recent seasons, and the franchise has had different affiliations in that span, including one with Orlando City before it moved to MLS and most recently with Oklahoma City Energy.
What do you think of Sporting KC’s new USL club? Like the name of Swope Park Rangers? How do you think the team will fare in its first season?
Share your thoughts below.
Ever heard of Glasgow Rangers? Any football (soccer) fan will know them as the number one Scottish club.
Any report on where they’ll be “Ranging”?
Despite the dumb name, props to them for not tagging a “II” at the end. The “II” USL teams got pitiful attendance (in the hundreds, and sometimes even less) last season. RSL named their team “Real Monarchs” and got 3000 fans/game.
Should have checked the stats before posting–Monarchs got 4700 fans/game. The 7 “II” teams (including FC Montreal) combined got 9381 fans/game. Top USL attendance was Sacramento, with 11,300 fans/game.
Do you really think someone decides to go to a game based on whether the team is called “MLS Team II” instead of some other name? I know i went to a few RBNY II games this year but I wouldn’t have gone to any more if the team had been called something else.
Glad you went to some of their games. I hope it was fun. But how else do you explain a SLC USL team playing in the same stadium as its MLS team doing so much better than the others? Only Portland II comes close at 3000. NYRB II attendance was 595/game. I know the USL team is an investment in the future, but that’s a pretty serious drain on resources.
probably in Swope Park, where their facility and stadium are at, as their name would indicate.
back when MLS had a reserve league, wizards reserve team played in Swope Park, and fans of Wizards coined them the “Swope Park Rangers” on message boards like Big Soccer which you can search and see the posts from back then.
Why do you think its dumb?
I’m just not a fan of “Rangers” or, worse, “Wanderers”. IMO, a mascot name should be something inspiring–Giants, United, Bulldogs, Trojans, etc. Rangers fits ok with the Texas baseball team. Texas is big, and there are still ranchers who do some ranging. Haven’t been to KC many times, but I never would have thought “Rangers” when someone said KC. I do like the grassroots aspect of the name, wasn’t aware of that.
You should also post a picture of our new log, because it kicks ass.
Logo that is.