The Northern Nevada Aces 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 ...

club founded in 2001 based in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. The team played for two seasons in the now defunct

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 ...

(later known as the ''USL Second Division''), the third 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 ...

. The Aces would become a founding member of the

Men's Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's 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 affiliated to the Uni ...

(later known as the ''National Premier Soccer League''), switching to the league to play two seasons from 2003-2004, before folding following the 2004 season.

History

The Northern Nevada Aces were founded in 2001 in

to begin play in the

, considered the third division of the

. They would play two seasons in the league, finishing 5th in 2001 and 6th in 2002, both in the Western Conference. The Aces would voluntarily drop down to the newly created amateur

, becoming a founding member in 2003 alongside two other former USL D-3 Pro clubs, the

Chico Rooks The Chico Rooks were an American soccer team, founded in 1993 by Dave Stahl and Eric Snedeker. The team was a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2006. Initially, the team's ma ...

and

Arizona Sahuaros Sporting Arizona FC is an American association football, soccer team based in Arizona. Founded in 1989, Sporting Arizona FC is Arizona's professional development club. The foundation of Sporting's development model is to bring international talen ...

. A neighboring new amateur team, the

Nevada Wonders Nevada Wonders were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, until 2005, when the team left the league and ...

, would debut in the fourth division

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 ...

(PDL), in

Carson City, Nevada Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...

in 2003. The Aces would finish 4th in the regular season in 2003, losing in the play-off semifinals to the neighboring Utah Salt Ratz 9-0. The club would drop to 9th place in the next season in 2004, folding following the season. The club's away colors were red and black with white trim.

Head coaches

Paul Aigbogun Paul Aigbogun is a Nigerian football manager. Career For the 2002 season, Aigbogun signed for American third division club Northern Nevada Aces, before spending the rest of his playing career in the United States with lower league sides Nevad ...

(2001-2002)

Year-by-year

References

National Premier Soccer League teams Defunct soccer clubs in Nevada Sports in Reno, Nevada Defunct United Soccer League teams Year of establishment missing Year of disestablishment missing 2001 establishments in Nevada Soccer clubs in Nevada Association football clubs established in 2001 2004 disestablishments in Nevada Association football clubs disestablished in 2004 {{Nevada-footyclub-stub