The Pennsylvania Stoners 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 ...

team based in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

. Founded in 2007, the team played in 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 ...

(NPSL), a national amateur league at 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 ...

, in the Eastern Keystone Division. The team played its home games at the Zephyr Sports Complex on the campus of Whitehall High School in nearby

Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania Whitehall Township is a township with home rule status in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The township's population was 26,738 as of the 2010 census. Whitehall Township is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan region, which h ...

, where they had played since 2009. The team's colors were royal blue and white. The Stoners name was derived from Pennsylvania's official nickname, The Keystone State. A previous incarnation of the Stoners was a member of the American Soccer League from 1979 to 1983.

History

The original Stoners were members of the American Soccer League from 1979 to 1983, during which time the team registered a win-loss-tie record of 76-49-25. The Stoners won the league championship in 1980. Due to increasing competition from other soccer leagues, and decreasing attendance, the team, along with the rest of the league, folded in 1983. The team was resurrected in 2007 as the Pennsylvania Stoners, and competed in the

(NPSL). The team originally played its home games at

J. Birney Crum Stadium J. Birney Crum Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is the largest high school stadium in Pennsylvania and the 14th largest in the nation with a capacity of 15,000. The stadium serves as the home football field for eac ...

in Allentown. In 2008, the team captured the NPSL league championship. In 2009, the Stoners began playing their home matches at

Whitehall-Coplay School District Whitehall-Coplay School District is a public school district in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It serves the borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countri ...

's Zephyr Sports Complex in nearby Whitehall. The team folded after the 2009 season. In 2010, the

FC Sonic Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley United (also referred to as LVU) is an American soccer team based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Rocc ...

brought NPSL soccer back to the Lehigh Valley.

Players

Current roster

''as at June 7, 2009''

Individual honors

*Coach of the Year - Willie Ehrlich (1979, 1980) *MVP -

George Gorleku George Gorleku is a retired soccer defender (football), defender from Ghana. He played professionally in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League and Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League. Gorleku attended Eastern ...

(1980) *Goalkeeper of the Year:

Scott Manning Scott Manning (15 May 1958 – 16 June 2006) was a Canadian athlete and aerobatic pilot of the world's smallest jet, the BD-5J. He grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, and earned a degree in environmental studies at the University of Waterloo in ...

(1980) *Goalkeeper of the Year: Tom Reynolds (1981) *All-Star Team: Ken McDonald (1981) *All-Star Team: Jeff Tipping (1981)

Year-by-year

Honors

* NPSL Champions 2008 * NPSL North Division Champions 2008 * ASL Champions 1980 * ASL National Division Champions 1980

Head coaches

* Willie Ehrlich (1979–80) *

Gary Hindley Gary Hindley (born May 8, 1947) is an American soccer coach. He has coached youth soccer, high school, college and professional teams. He won Coach of the Year honors in 1984 in the United Soccer League, 1991 American Professional Soccer League a ...

(1982–83) * Todd Ervin (2008) * David Weitzman (2009)

Stadiums

(2008) *Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School in

(2009)

References

External links

2007 establishments in Pennsylvania 2009 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Amateur soccer teams in Pennsylvania American Soccer League (1933–1983) teams Association football clubs established in 2007 Association football clubs disestablished in 2009 National Premier Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-footyclub-stub