GPS Portland Phoenix was 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 t ...

team based in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

. Founded in 2009, the team played 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 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 Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference. It has not played since 2019. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium on the campus of

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the others being Portland High Scho ...

. The team's colors were sky blue, white and black.

History

The Phoenix acquired their PDL franchise rights from the now-defunct

Cape Cod Crusaders Cape Cod Crusaders were an American soccer team based in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1994, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when ...

, the PDL national champions in 2002 and 2003 who left the league at the end of the 2008 season. They are part of the larger Maine Premier Soccer ("MPS") organization, which was founded in 2009 as a sister company to Massachusetts Premier Soccer, with a mission to develop aspiring professional soccer players and coaches in Maine. The team played its first official game on May 9, 2010, a 3–0 victory over the

Westchester Flames Westchester Flames is an American soccer team based in New Rochelle, New York, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games at City Park Stadium, ...

. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Chris Banks. Global Premier Soccer rebranded the team GPS Portland Phoenix in 2012.

Notable former players

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year

Honors

* USL PDL Northeast Division Champions 2011 * USL PDL Northeast Division Champions 2015 * USL PDL Northeast Division Champions 2016

Head coaches

* Alistair Bain (2010–2016)

Stadia

* Memorial Field at

;

(2010–?) * Stadium at Scarborough High School;

Scarborough, Maine Scarborough is a town in Cumberland County on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Maine. The town is a coastal resort area. Located about south of Portland, Scarborough is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine met ...

2 games (2010–2011) * Stadium at Windham High School;

Windham, Maine Windham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,434 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of South Windham and North Windham. It is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford, Maine Metropoli ...

1 game (2010)

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive. * 2010: 426 * 2011: 483 * 2012: 550 * 2013: 584 * 2014: 525 * 2015: 512

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portland Phoenix Fc Association football clubs established in 2009 Association football clubs disestablished in 2020 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in Maine Sports in Portland, Maine 2009 establishments in Maine 2020 disestablishments in Maine