Antigua Barracuda were an Antiguan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team based in

St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda St. John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 22,219, St. John's is the commercial centre of the nation and the chief port of the island of Antigua. Hi ...

. Founded in 2010, the team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system from 2011 to 2013. The team played its home games at Stanford Cricket Ground (colloquially known as "Sticky Wicket Stadium") in

Osbourn Osbourn is a settlement in Antigua and Barbuda, home to V.C. Bird International Airport. Economy Osbourn contains the largest airport in Antigua and Barbuda, V. C. Bird International Airport. The head office of LIAT is located in Osb ...

, Saint George Parish until the 2013 season when they became a travelling team. The team's colours were sky blue, white and black.

History

The team was originally set to join the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

in 2011, but was later announced as being a founding member of USL Pro and its International Division after USL First and USL Second Division dissolved in 2010 to make way for the new league. The club's first official game took place in April 2010, a friendly against the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. Approximately 1,000 people attended the event. The club arranged two further friendlies with Montreal Impact, the first of which took place on 17 April 2010 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium with the second scheduled to be held on 4 September at Saputo Stadium in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. They also arranged exhibition matches against Jamaica's

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampe ...

and Harbour View for May. On August 20, 2010 Barracuda FC announced the cancellation of the friendly matches because of funding difficulties. Impact President

Joey Saputo Giuseppe "Joey" Saputo (born September 25, 1964) is a Canadian businessman and the president of CF Montréal soccer team he founded in 1992, and Saputo Stadium, named after his family's dairy products company Saputo Inc. He is also the chairman ...

subsequently made an accusation of a serious lack of professionalism on the part of the Antiguan club. On 23 September 2010,

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

s formally announced that Antigua Barracuda FC would join the newly formed USL Pro in 2011 alongside Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and

River Plate Puerto Rico A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

as founding members of the league's tentatively named Caribbean Division, which was later officially unveiled as the International Division. The team played its first competitive game on 17 April 2011, a 2–1 home loss to the

Los Angeles Blues Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship. The team plays its home games a ...

. The first competitive goal in franchise history was scored by Tamorley Thomas The 2013 season saw the club lose each of their 26 games, tying the North American professional sports record for futility, as well as being the one of only three times an association football club managed to have a winless season. The club withdrew from the USL Pro on 6 January 2014, due in part to the lack of a home venue and the accompanying financial reasons.

Stadium

* Stanford Cricket Ground;

Saint George Parish, Antigua and Barbuda Saint George is a civil parish of Antigua and Barbuda, located on the island of Antigua. It had a population of 7,976 in 2011. Populated places The parish contains the city of Piggotts. * Barnes Hill * Carlisle * Coolidge * Fitches Creek * ...

(2011–2012) Barracuda played their home games at the Stanford Cricket Ground in the village of Osbourn in Saint George Parish in

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

. The stadium was originally built to host the

Stanford 20/20 The Stanford 20/20 was a short-lived cricket tournament in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was held first in July and August 2006 in the West Indies at the Stanford Cricket Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, and then again in the s ...

cricket tournament in 2006, and was temporarily converted for soccer usage for Barracudas games. The stadium's nickname, "Sticky Wicket Stadium", came from the adjoining restaurant complex.

Players and staff

Coaches

* Tom Curtis, 2011 – 2012 * Fernando "Nando" Abraham, 2013 * Adrian Whitbread, 2013

Record

Year-by-year

References

External links

Official site
{{USL Championship Football clubs in Antigua and Barbuda Expatriated football clubs Former USL Championship teams Sport in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda 2010–11 in Antigua and Barbuda football 2011–12 in Antigua and Barbuda football 2012–13 in Antigua and Barbuda football 2013–14 in Antigua and Barbuda football Association football clubs established in 2011 Association football clubs disestablished in 2014 2001 establishments in Antigua and Barbuda 2014 disestablishments in North America