Celtic FC America is 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 ...

club based in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. Originally known as Houston Hurricanes FC, the club was established in December 1992 when owner

Brendan Keyes Brendan Keyes is an Irish football manager and former player who currently owns and coaches Celtic FC America. Keyes also founded and operates the Texas Premier Soccer League. Football career Keyes began his playing career as a youth in Irelan ...

announced he was moving his Galveston Pirate SC franchise to Houston. In 2019, Keyes decided to go back to his roots and use his academy team name Celtic FC America for his first team. The Celts' regular kit colors are green and white horizontally striped shirts with white shorts and socks which derive from the iconic

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

of Glasgow, Scotland. CFCA play home games at Clear Springs Stadium in

League City, Texas League City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Galveston County, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 112,129. The city of League City has a small portion north of Clear Creek within Harris C ...

History

National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)

On December 24, 2012, 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 ...

announced that Galveston Pirate SC team owner

would relocate and re-brand his franchise for the

2013 NPSL season The 2013 National Premier Soccer League season was the 101st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 11th season of the NPSL. The season began in May 2013. FC Sonic Lehigh Valley were the defending champions, having won t ...

. The Pirates, who won the South Central Conference crown as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

will continue to play in local leagues and tournaments in Texas, while the first team Houston Hurricanes will take the place of the Galveston team in TPSL. In the 1990s Keyes played for the

Houston Hurricanes The Houston Hurricanes were a soccer club that competed in the United Soccer Leagues from 1996 to 2000. Description and history The Hurricanes were a Division III (D-3) franchise, and their Major League Soccer affiliation was with the Kansas Ci ...

(

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

); his boyhood idol

Bobby Lennox Robert Lennox, MBE (born 30 August 1943, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for Celtic and was a member of their 1967 European Cup-winning team, known as the Lisbon Lions. He earned ten internation ...

played for the NASL's Hurricane club in 1978-79, two factors that played into Keyes resurrecting the Hurricane brand. The move received the blessing of NPSL Chairman Andy Zorovich and former Hurricane owner Joey Serralta. On the same day of the announcement of their relocation, the club also revealed their first player signing, which was 19-year-old

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

player Justin Ross. The Celts then held tryouts in order to fill the rest of their roster before their TPSL debut in May 2013. The Hurricanes finished the 2013 NPSL season in last place in the South Central Conference. On November 11, 2013 owner Brendan Keyes announced that the club would not be participating in the NPSL the following season, instead focusing on growing the new TPSL.

Texas Premier Soccer League

In September 2013 the Hurricanes joined five other Texas-based clubs (BCS Bearkatz FC, Galveston Pirate SC,

Houston Dutch Lions Miami Dutch Lions FC is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Lions competes in National Premier Soccer League, as a member of the Sunshine Conference. The club was founded in Conroe, ...

, Houston Leones FC, Houston

Regals SCA Houston Regals is a men's American soccer club based in Houston, Texas that played in the national soccer league . After a one-year hiatus, the club announced their return to the NPSL for the 2015 season in December 2014. The club again compe ...

) forming the new

Texas Premier Soccer League The Texas Premier Soccer League (TPSL) was a men's outdoor soccer league that was formed in 2013 consisting of amateur soccer club sides across the state. The TPSL was sanctioned by US Club Soccer, an affiliate member of the United States Soccer ...

. On May 19, 2018 the Hurricanes FC captured their first Texas Cup defeating Twin Cities FC by a score of 3-2. On January 26, 2019 Hurricanes FC officially rebranded as Celtic FC America. https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/sports/article/Soccer-Celtic-FC-America-looks-to-find-permanent-14083160.php https://www.tpsl.us/celtic.html

Season-by-season

Coaching staff

Notable players

* Paul Byrne *

Gary Doherty Gary Michael Thomas Doherty (born 31 January 1980) is an Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender, having previously also played as a forward (association football), forward. He gained international hon ...

* Evan Evimar Mariano * Colville Richards * Pratik Shinde

References

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/sports/article/Soccer-Celtic-FC-America-looks-to-find-permanent-14083160.php

External links

Celtic FC America websiteOfficial Twitter
{{Texas Premier Soccer League Soccer clubs in Houston 1992 establishments in Texas Sports in Houston