Northern Virginia FC

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Not to be confused with Northern Virginia United FC.

Northern Virginia FC
Northern Virginia FC logo.png
Full nameNorthern Virginia Football Club
Founded1998; 24 years ago (1998) as Northern Virginia Royals
StadiumCropp Metcalfe Park, Leesburg, Virginia
LeagueUSL League Two
20213rd, Mid Atlantic Division
Playoffs: DNQ
WebsiteClub website

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

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]

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[]

Logo History

Year-by-year[]

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
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

Head coaches[]

  • Brazil (1998–2007)
  • United States John Pascarella (2007–2008)
  • United States (2009–2010)
  • England Richie Burke (2011–2012)[14]
  • United States (2013–2014)
  • England Richie Burke (2014–2015)
  • England Brian Welsh (2014–2015)
  • England Ian Bishop (2016)
  • United States (2017)
  • United States (2018–2019)
  • United States (2021–)

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. ^ a b c "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. ^ "Northern Virginia FC Announced as Newest Club to Join USL W League". www.uslwleague.com. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  14. ^ Royals Hire Burke as PDL Coach

External links[]

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