The Chico Rooks were an American

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, founded in 1993 by Dave Stahl and Eric Snedeker. The team was a member of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

(NPSL), the fourth tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

, until 2006. Initially, the team's management announced that they would spend the 2007 NPSL season on hiatus while they re-organised and consolidated their finances; the Rooks never returned to active competition and the franchise was cancelled by the NPSL at the end of the 2007 season. The Rooks were a stalwart of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

from their formation in 1993 until 2003, where upon they were founding members of the Men's Premier Soccer League (now the

). For many years they were California's oldest professional soccer club. The Rooks played their home matches at the University Stadium on the campus of

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...

in the city of

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

. The team's colors were black and white.

Final roster

Year-by-year

Honors

* MPSL Regular Season Champions 2004 * USL PDL Southwest Division Champions 2002 * USL D-3 Pro League Western Division Champions 2000 * USL D-3 Pro League Western Division Champions 1999

Coaches

* David Stahl (1993–2006)

Stadia

University Soccer Stadium, Chico University Soccer Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located on the campus of California State University, Chico in Chico, California, Chico, California. The stadium seats 2,500 and is home to the school's Association football, soccer teams. ...

Average Attendance

*1993: 1,012 *1994: 1,181 *1995: 1,490 *1996: 1,449 *1997: 1,933 *1998: 1,624 *1999: 1,709 *2000: 1,710 *2001: 2,109 *2002: 1,691 *2003: 1,656 *2004: 1,573

External links

Chico Rooks
(Web Archive) Soccer clubs in California National Premier Soccer League teams Sports in Chico, California USL Second Division teams 1993 establishments in California 2007 disestablishments in California {{California-footyclub-stub