Hershey Wildcats were a 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 Hershey,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, that played in the

USL A-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 ...

between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by

Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cub ...

. The team played in

Hersheypark Stadium Hersheypark Stadium is a stadium located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on the grounds of Hersheypark. It opened on May 18, 1939. It is used as a sporting facility, concert venue and location for various other large functions (including a birthday gal ...

, located at

Hersheypark Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about east of Harrisburg, and west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of ...

, and received its name from the

Wild Cat Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...

roller coaster. In the Wildcats' 5-year history, the average attendance was 3,189 per game.

History

The Wildcats were moderately successful in their short existence, with Bob Lilley coaching the team for its entire five-year run, leading the Wildcats to the playoffs in each season. In 2001, Hershey reached the A-League finals but were defeated 2–0 by the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

. Less than a week after the championship match, in October 2001, Hershey Entertainment announced that the Wildcats were folding. Weak attendance, including a crowd of only 750 for the 2001 playoff semifinal, was a factor in the decision to fold the team. With the league unable to find a new owner for the club, the players became free agents. Notable players that played for the Wildcats and then went on to play in

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 ...

or other professional leagues include

Jon Busch Jon Busch (born August 18, 1976) is an American professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. Busch is currently the goalkeeping coach for USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He is best remembered for ...

and

Christof Lindenmayer Christof Lindenmayer is an American former professional soccer player who competed for the Columbus Crew (MLS) as well as the Hershey Wildcats (A-League) and the Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American soccer club, ...

Year-by-year

References

{{reflist Defunct soccer clubs in Pennsylvania A-League (1995–2004) teams 1997 establishments in Pennsylvania 2001 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania Defunct sports teams in Pennsylvania Association football clubs established in 1997 Association football clubs disestablished in 2001 Hershey, Pennsylvania

History

Year-by-year

See also

References