AFC Lancaster Lions is an American professional development

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

, which competes in the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was found ...

(UPSL). The team plays their home matches at

Lancaster Catholic High School Lancaster Catholic High School is a Catholic co-educational high school located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg secondary schools. Academics Timothy Hamer has been the school's pre ...

History

The American Soccer League granted a team to Lancaster for the 2015-16 season.

Brian Ombiji Brian Ombiji (born August 17, 1982, in Eldoret) is a retired Kenyan footballer. Career College Ombiji attended Mother of Apostles Seminary for high school, and played for Kenyan club AFC Leopards, before moving from his native Kenya to the Unit ...

, a veteran of the

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

and youth soccer programs in

South Central Pennsylvania South Central Pennsylvania is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the fourteen counties of Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder, and York. Portions of west ...

, is the primary owner of the AFC Lancaster Lions. Additional investors include Daniel Savage, Angelo Disomma, Dean Kline, and Jenn Hood.Lancaster gets its own professional soccer team
/ref> The main ASL rival of the AFC Lions is the

Philadelphia Fury The Philadelphia Fury was an American soccer team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that last competed in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The club formerly competed in the American Soccer League and is currently owned by ...

, named for a previous club by the same name that played in the original

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. The AFC Lions plan to establish an U-23, comprising athletes from colleges and universities throughout Lancaster County. They are also cooperating with the Penn Manor Soccer Club to develop youth soccer programs. In addition to the ASL, the Lions hope to form a women's team that would rival the

Lancaster Inferno FC Lancaster Inferno is a top level amateur women's soccer club based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2008, the club fields a first team that plays in United Women's Soccer (UWS), a national pro-am league at the second tier of the American So ...

of the

United Women's Soccer United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWS) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the fold ...

for local talent. in March of 2019, AFC Lancaster Lions joined the

UPSL The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was foun ...

, a nationally recognized semi-professional soccer league to begin play for the 2019 spring season. The Lions are a member of the Northeast Conference - American Division of the

Championship.

Logo and colors

The colors of the AFC Lancaster Lions are red, blue, yellow, and white. The crest features the motto, '' Unos pro omnibus, ones pro uno'' (sic), a Latin phrase meaning, "One for all, all for one". The heraldic imagery of a lion, a red rose, and the contour of the shield likely recall traditional English insignia. For example, the

Royal Arms of England The royal arms of England are the Coat of arms, arms first adopted in a fixed form at the start of the age of heraldry (circa 1200) as Armorial of the House of Plantagenet, personal arms by the House of Plantagenet, Plantagenet kings who ruled ...

features a red shield charged with three golden lions on display, with blue as an accent color. The Pennsylvania city of Lancaster was named for

Lancaster, Lancashire Lancaster (, ) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England, standing on the River Lune. Its population of 52,234 compares with one of 138,375 in the wider City of Lancaster local government district. The House of Lancaster was a bran ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, whose official symbol was the

Red Rose of Lancaster The Red Rose of Lancaster (blazoned: ''a rose gules'') was the heraldic badge adopted by the royal House of Lancaster in the 14th century. In modern times it symbolises the county of Lancashire. The exact species or cultivar which it represents i ...

. The soccer balls arranged at the top of the crest are also English in style, with outlines similar to those found on the shield for

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

, a renowned

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club. The logo also includes two crossed hickory logs, a more local reference since Lancaster city was first named "Hickory Town". The design also shares many elements in common with the civic flag of

, itself featuring two red roses and English royalty colors. Finally, the years 1730 and 2015 finish the logo, commemorating the founding of the city and of the club, respectively.

References

External links

AFC Lancaster Lions
(official website)
United Premier Soccer League
(official website) {{Soccer in the United States Association football clubs established in 2015 Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania 2015 establishments in Pennsylvania American Soccer League (2014–2017) teams