Sound FC is 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

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. Founded in 2006, the team most recently 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 syste ...

, 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 ...

History

2006–2009: Playoffs

The Tacoma team was introduced into the league at very short notice in 2006, when it was announced that the now-defunct

Spokane Shadow Spokane Shadow is an American soccer team, founded in 1996. The team competes in the National Premier Soccer League as well as the Evergreen Premier League, one of United States Adult Soccer Association's elite amateur leagues. From 1996 to 2005, ...

franchise was suspending operations for the season. During their first season, they were simply referred to as Tacoma FC. Under the leadership of Mike Jennings as head coach, Tacoma finished 5th in the Northwest table, 16 points off the leaders. Rory Agu was the top scorer with 5 goals, while Spencer Schomaker registered 3 assists. 2007 began with a new official name, the Tacoma Tide. By the end of the regular season, Tacoma sat in second place in the Northwest division. Rory Agu was again one of Tide's top marksmen with 7 goals, while MLS-bound

Ciaran O'Brien Ciaran Patrick O'Brien (born November 17, 1987) is an American soccer coach and former player. Early life and education O'Brien played center midfield for four years at Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington, where he earned NSCAA A ...

notched an impressive 7 goals and 5 assists. Tacoma was looking to build on their impressive sophomore season in 2008. The Conference Final saw them face divisional rivals

Vancouver Whitecaps Residency Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as ...

for a third time. Tacoma was on the receiving end of a 4–1 final score. Rory Agu and Spencer Schomaker ended the year as Tide's top marksmen, with 11 and 9 goals respectively, with Schomaker also contributing 5 assists.

2009–2010: Playoff-less seasons

O'Brien was replaced as head coach by former

Rochester 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 ...

and

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

midfielder

Greg Howes Greg Howes (born March 26, 1977 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American soccer player, most recently coach for Las Vegas Legends in the Professional Arena Soccer League. Career In 1995, Howes graduated from Franklin Pierce High School. He played ...

in 2009, and the change in leadership, combined with the excellence of the expansion teams in the Northwest, seemed to affect Tacoma on the field. A 4–3 loss to the

Kitsap Pumas Kitsap SC Pumas was an American soccer team based in Bremerton, Washington, United States. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. From its foundation in 2009 to 2016, the clu ...

on the final day of the season left the Tide in seventh place, a full 20 points behind divisional champions Kitsap, and out of the playoffs for the first time in three years. Rory Agu was again Tacoma's top scorer, hitting the net 11 times, while

Leighton O'Brien Leighton O'Brien (born March 14, 1976 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American soccer player who is serving as the Technical Director for the Pacific Northwest Soccer Club. O'Brien is noted most significantly for his tenure with the Seattle Sounder ...

provided 4 assists. 2010 began with a change in coaching with former Canadian national team player Gerry Gray replacing Greg Howes. 2010 also saw the team acquire several new players, as well as see some players return from other teams. Chris Sanders joined after a stint with FC Nuremberg and Mark Conrad joined from Kitsap Pumas. Raphael Cox rejoined the team after a year with Real Salt Lake and an MLS Championship. With the two playoff spots locked up by Kitsap and Portland the last game of the season against Kitsap was for pride only. The season was nonetheless an improvement from 2009 with the team finishing third and only narrowly missing out on a playoff spot.

2011

In August 2011, ownership of the team was reorganized as the club sought new investors.

2012–2019: Sounders U-23

On January 25, 2012, it was announced that the Tide will re-brand as Seattle Sounders FC U-23.

2020: Sound FC

On January 9, 2020, it was announced that the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

has decided to terminate its branding agreement with the club. The club then decided to affiliate with youth club Sound FC. On March 13, 2020, it was announced that Sound FC would not be participating in USL League Two for the 2020 season, with

Issaquah Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the "Issaquah Alp ...

-based Sounders youth affiliate

Eastside FC Eastside Football Club is a soccer club from Issaquah, Washington competing in the Northeast Division of USL League Two. They will begin play in the 2021 USL League Two season. Eastside FC was founded in 1970 as a youth soccer club. In 2016, t ...

taking the team's place in the league instead.

Staff

:''.''

Year-by-year

Honors

* USL PDL Northwest Division Champions 2008 * USL PDL Northwest Division Champions 2012

Head coaches

* Mike Jennings (2006) * Fran O'Brien (2007–2008) *

(2009) * Gerry Gray (2010–2011) *

Darren Sawatzky Darren Sawatzky (born February 22, 1973 in Seattle, Washington) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Richmond Kickers in USL League One. He spent four seasons in Major League Soccer, one season in ...

(2012–2018) * Jason Prenovost (2019–)

Stadia

* Sunset Chevrolet Stadium;

Sumner, Washington Sumner is a city in northern Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,621 at the 2020 census. Nearby cities include Puyallup to the west, Auburn to the north, and Bonney Lake to the east. History Sumner was founde ...

Franklin Pierce High School Franklin Pierce High School is a public high school in Clover Creek, Washington (the facility has a Tacoma mailing address). It is named after the fourteenth US President, Franklin Pierce, who was president when the Washington Territory was f ...

;

Cheney Stadium Cheney Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Originally built for baseball, the stadium is currently home to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, as well as professional soccer club Tacoma Def ...

;

Tumwater High School Tumwater High School is a secondary school in Tumwater, Washington serving grades 912 in Thurston County. It is one of two comprehensive high schools in the Tumwater School District. Tumwater High School generally draws students from the po ...

;

Tumwater, Washington Tumwater is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. It is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the state ca ...

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial USL2 website
{{Seattle Sports Seattle Sounders FC Association football clubs established in 2006 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in Washington (state) 2006 establishments in Washington (state)