Cocoa Expos was 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. The team was a member 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 ...

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

(PDL), 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 2007, when the team left the league and the franchise was terminated. The team played its home matches at the

Cocoa Municipal Stadium Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

the city of

Cocoa, Florida Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida. The population was 19,041 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–Titusville, Florida, Titusvil ...

, approximately 45 miles from

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. The team's colors were blue and white. The team also had a sister organization, the Cocoa Expos Women, which played in the women's

USL W-League 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, pl ...

, but which also folded at the end of 2007.

Year-by-year

Honors

* USL PDL Southeast Division Champions 2005 * USL PDL Southeast Division Champions 2003 * USL PDL Southeast Division Champions 2001 * USISL PDL National Championship Runner-up 1997 * USISL PDL Southeast Division Champions 1997 * USISL Premier League Eastern/Southern Division Champions 1996 * USISL Premier League Eastern Division Champions 1995 * USISL Premier League Southeast Division Champions 1994

Competition history

After joining the league in 1994 the Expos became one of the most successful and popular teams in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. In their first three seasons, from 1994 to 1997, the team lost only three regular season games, and played in the Conference Championship game four times, in 1995, 1997, 2001, and 2004. During their 2001 preseason the Expos played former the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

franchise

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

and lost only 1–0. In the year 2005 the Expos qualified for the

Lamar Hunt 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 ...

for the third time. However, their final season in 2007 proved to be disastrous, the team losing 13 of 15 matches and scoring just one goal all season.

Coaches

* Chris Ramsey 1991–1992 *

Alan Dicks Alan Dicks (born 29 August 1934) is an English retired footballer and football manager. He managed Bristol City for thirteen years and managed clubs in four countries on three continents. Born in London, he signed for Chelsea at the age of 17 ...

1994 *

Gerry Queen Gerald Queen (born 15 January 1945) is a Scottish retired footballer who played as a forward. Born in Glasgow, he began his senior career with St Mirren, having played at amateur level with Johnstone Burgh. He made 63 appearances in three yea ...

2001–2006Cocoa's pro soccer team kicks off new season
/ref> * Udo Schenatzky 2007

Stadia

2003–07

Average attendance

* 2007: 197 * 2006: 197 * 2005: 209

References

;Specific {{reflist

External links

Cocoa Expos
Defunct soccer clubs in Florida Sports in Brevard County, Florida Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct Premier Development League teams USISL teams 1993 establishments in Florida 2007 disestablishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 1993 Association football clubs disestablished in 2007