The 2021 Richmond Kickers season was the club's 29th season of existence, their third season in USL League One, and their 17th season in the third tier of American soccer. The Kickers were led by second-year head coach, Darren Sawatzky, and looked to improve on their 4th-place finish in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated vaccination rollout, the season began on April 17, 2021. The season concluded on October 30, 2021. Due to the pandemic, the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

was truncated and subsequently canceled due to the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

. The Kickers finished the USL League One regular season in 5th place, qualifying them for the USL League One Playoffs, making it their first appearance in the playoffs since 2016. There, the Kickers were eliminated in the first round against FC Tucson.

Background

The 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season, originally slated to begin on March 28, 2020, did not begin until July 25, 2020. The season originally was slated to end on September 30, 2020, but concluded on October 24, 2020. The 28-match season was abbreviated to 16 matches, and the playoffs were reduced from a four-team playoff, to a single game championship. During the truncated season, the Kickers had a good turn of fortune, finishing fourth in the league table, and having a winning a record. It was the Kickers' best regular season performance since 2014. Despite the record, the club on the final day of the season failed to reach the USL Championship Game after losing at home to Chattanooga. Striker,

Emiliano Terzaghi Emiliano Franco Terzaghi (born 6 March 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL League One club Richmond Kickers. Career Terzaghi played in his native Argentina from 2011, with spells at clubs including; Banf ...

, scored 10 goals during the season, which was the best performance by a striker for the Kickers since

Yudai Imura is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder. Career Professional Imura signed with Richmond Kickers in March 2015 through the club's open tryout. Honors Individual * USL All-League Second Team: 2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, Fro ...

in 2016. Terzaghi had a 0.63 goals per game average, which was the best performance by a striker for Richmond since Robert Ssejjemba in 2006. On October 30, 2020,

Matt Spear Matthew Spear (born December 2, 1970 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former soccer coach who is currently the President of the Richmond Kickers. Spear attended Davidson College where he was a four-year starter (1988–1992) on t ...

stepped down as the club's president to focus on family reasons. Spear had been the club's president since 2019.

Transfers

Transfers in

Transfers out

Competitive

Exhibitions

USL League One

Standings

Results by matchday

Match results

U.S. Open Cup

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only one team from USL League One (league champions), qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open Cup. However in July 2021, the Open Cup was canceled.

USL-1 Playoffs

Statistics

Appearances and goals

''Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.''

Top scorers

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Oalex Anderson Oalex Anderson (born 11 November 1995 in Barrouallie) is a Vincentian professional footballer who plays for North Carolina FC in USL League One and the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national team. Anderson is known by the nickname "Bounty" ...

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Juan Pablo Monticelli Juan Pablo Monticelli Jiménez (born August 26, 1997) was an American soccer player who played as a defender. Career Orlando City B Prior to the 2020 season, Monticelli joined USL League One club Orlando City B, signing a professional contr ...

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Top assists

Hernán González Hugo Hernán González (born 9 March 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sport Club São Paulo. Career Richmond Kickers In February 2020, González was signed by the Richmond Kickers of USL League One. He mad ...

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Disciplinary record

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Zacarías Morán Dante Zacarías Morán Correa (born 22 February 1996) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Richmond Kickers in USL League One. Club career Morán started his career in the system of River Plate, joining in ...

, , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - , 17 , , MF , , align="left", Jonathan Bolanos , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - !colspan="3", Total !! 2 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 2 !! 0 !! 0

References

{{2021 in American men's soccer Richmond Kickers seasons

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

Kickers Kickers is a youth brand created in 1970 in France that produces a wide range of footwear and clothing. Kickers was bought in 2007 by the Royer group. Kickers are primarily popular amongst British school children, with Kickers 'Lo' style shoe ...