South Bend Lions Football Club 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 ...

club based in

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, that plays 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 American semi-professional soccer league. The club was established on November 18, 2019 and will begin their first professional season in 2020, participating in the league's Great Lakes Division.

History

On November 18, 2019, it was announced by

that South Bend Lions FC would be the newest team to join the league for their 2020 season, joining the Great Lakes Division. The logos and colors for the club were also unveiled at a press conference held in

's County-City Building. Ritchie Jeune was introduced as the club's owner while Thiago Pinto, the head coach of Bethel University's soccer team, was introduced as the club's technical director. During the press conference, Jeune stated that South Bend was one of "three or four different locations" that his team visited before deciding to form a team in the city.

Ownership

The club's owner is Ritchie Jeune, who is also the principal owner of

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, in England's

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

, Shantou Lions FC, a club based in China, and

Pickering FC Pickering Football Club, commonly known as Pickering FC, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Pickering, Ontario. The club was founded in 1984 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 20 ...

in Canada's

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

Management team

Current Roster

Statistics and records

Season-by-season

Youth development

During the club's opening press conference, it was announced that they would be opening an under-18 side which would help provide players for the first-team.

References

External links

* {{Indiana Sports Soccer clubs in Indiana Association football clubs established in 2019 2019 establishments in Indiana USL League Two teams Sports in South Bend, Indiana