The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional

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

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in

USL League Two 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 syst ...

, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the

Sportsplex at Matthews The Sportsplex at Matthews is a large sports complex and park in Matthews, North Carolina, southeast of Charlotte, featuring 12 full-sized soccer fields anchored by a 2,300-seat stadium. The stadium currently seats 5,000 as it has been expanded ...

. The team's colors are orange, white and blue.

History

Founded in 1991 as the Charlotte Eagles Soccer Club, the team turned professional when it entered the

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 ...

in 1993. The Eagles enjoyed a brief spell in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

before financial troubles caused them to return to the lower level. The Eagles are a division of Missionary Athletes International (MAI), an organization which undertakes

sports ministry A sports ministry is a religious-sponsored organization that use sport to promote links between the religion and the broader population. Notable sports ministries include Athletes in Action (a ministry of Cru) and Fellowship of Christian Athlet ...

to share the message of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

through the environment of soccer. They are a sister organisation of the

side

Southern California Seahorses Southern California Seahorses are an American soccer team based in La Mirada, California. Founded in 2001, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the cam ...

, and also field a women's team – the

Charlotte Lady Eagles Charlotte Lady Eagles is an American women's soccer team, founded in 2000. Between 2002 and 2015 the Lady Eagles were a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, and a memb ...

– in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). ...

Back to the PDL

In 2016 The Charlotte Eagles were profiled by Britain's ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper. The piece highlighted the team's policy of discrimination against openly gay and bisexual players.

Stadiums

Media

The Eagles receive written coverage from Charlotte's major daily newspaper ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

''. Highlights are often shown on local news broadcasts. All games are shown live on the Charlotte Eagles official YouTube page. Harrison Raby is the play-by-play voice for home broadcasts.

Players and staff

Staff

* David Urban – president * Cliff Wright – executive director * Michael Kovach – head coach * Drew Yates – assistant coach

Notable former players

Head coaches

* Brian Davidson (1993–1996) *

Mark Steffens Mark Luther Steffens (born June 9, 1953 in Huntington, New York, United States) is an American soccer coach. Playing career A native of Huntington, New York and also raised in Syosset, New York, Steffens attended The King's College in New York ...

(1997–2014) * Dave Dixon (2014–2017) * Luke Helmuth (2017–2018) * Garrett Bireline (2018-2020) * Michael Kovach (2020–present)

Achievements

USISL Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

** South Atlantic Division Champions: 1996 *

USL D-3 Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

** Champions: 2000 ** Atlantic Division Champions: 1999 * USL Pro Soccer League ** Southern Division Champions: 2004 *

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

** Champions: 2005 ** Regular Season Champions: 2008 *

USL PRO 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 ...

** Championship Finalist: 2013 * Premier Development League ** Champions: 2017 ** Eastern Conference Champions: 2017 ** South Atlantic Division Champions: (2) 2015, 2016 * Hank Steinbrecher Cup ** Runner-up: 2018 *

Southern Derby The Southern Derby is a fan-based U.S. professional soccer cup competition between USL Championship (USLC) teams based in the South-Atlantic region of the United States ( North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.). It was founded in 2000. ...

** Champions: (4) 2001, 2012, 2013, 2014

Record

Year-by-year

References

External links

* {{Charlotte, North Carolina Association football clubs established in 1991 Soccer clubs in North Carolina Former USL Championship teams Former USL Second Division teams A-League (1995–2004) teams USISL teams 1991 establishments in North Carolina USL League Two teams Christian sports organizations