Sporting Kansas City II is a

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...

club affiliated with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at

Rock Chalk Park Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, as well as

Swope Soccer Village Swope Soccer Village is a soccer complex located within Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri, first dedicated in 2007 with further renovations completed in 2014. The facility is a public-private partnership between the City of Kansas City's parks ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. They were formerly known as the Swope Park Rangers. The club is headquartered alongside Sporting Kansas City at

Children's Mercy Park Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandotte County, Kansas. It opened during t ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

History

On October 22, 2015, the team was officially announced as the USL's 30th franchise, as were the Swope Park Rangers name, color scheme and logo. The Rangers replaced

Oklahoma City Energy FC Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. History Oklahoma City businessma ...

as SKC's USL affiliate, and was named after a nickname for SKC reserve squad in 2008. The team is

's third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with Orlando City SC and

. Canadian

Marc Dos Santos Marc Dos Santos (born May 26, 1977) is a Canadian soccer coach who is an assistant coach for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer. He was previously the head coach of Montreal Impact in D2 Pro League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, was North ...

, who led

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were diss ...

to the NASL Soccer Bowl in 2015, was named the first head coach of the Rangers on November 20, 2015. The Rangers finished their inaugural season in 2016 with a 14–10–6 record and finished fourth in the Western Conference. The side advanced to the 2016 USL Cup Final, becoming just the second team in USL history to do so in its inaugural season. The Rangers beat

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United Sta ...

Orange County SC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship. The team plays its home games ...

and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5–1 to

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yo ...

at Red Bull Arena. Goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas and winger

Tyler Pasher Tyler Pasher (born 27 April 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Birmingham Legion in the USL Championship. Club Youth Pasher became a member of the Woolwich Soccer Association, of which his father Jeff wa ...

were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season. Following the conclusion of the 2016 season,

departed to take over at newly founded NASL club the

San Francisco Deltas The San Francisco Deltas were an American professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 2016, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2017. The franchise played its home games at Ke ...

. His assistant for the 2016 campaign, Nikola Popovic, took the reins ahead of the 2017 season. The side continued to have success as Popovic led the team to a 17–8–7 record in the West and another fourth-place finish. Sporting KC also signed four more players from SPR during 2017 in Amer Didic,

James Musa James Mzamo Musa (born 1 April 1992) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Early life Born in Plymouth, England, of South African Xhosa, Zimbabwean shona and ...

Kharlton Belmar Kharlton Belmar (born December 1, 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Richmond Kickers in USL League One. Born in the United States, he represents the Grenada national team. Career College and amateur Belmar spent his ...

and Kevin Oliveira. Popovic resigned as head coach on November 17, 2017, after leading Swope Park to their second consecutive conference championship. On September 30, 2019, the club announced that it would re-brand as Sporting Kansas City II ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season.

MLS Next Pro

The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team

season starting in 2022. Former Sporting Kansas City player

Benny Feilhaber Benny Feilhaber (; born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is currently head coach of MLS Next Pro side Sporting Kansas City II, an affiliate of Sporting Kansas City. A midfielder, Feilhaber played fo ...

was named the team's head coach for the 2022 season.

Location

The team is headquartered out of

in Kansas City, Kansas. For the 2022 season they will split matches between Rock Chalk Park at the

in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as return to

in Kansas City, Missouri. When the team was known as Swope Park Rangers they played at

in Kansas City, Missouri as permanent home venue for the 2016 and 2017 USL seasons, although occasional matches were played at Children's Mercy Park during those first two seasons. For the 2018 season, the Rangers moved to

Shawnee Mission District Stadium Shawnee Mission District Stadium is a multi-purpose sport stadium located in Overland Park, Kansas. The facility is primarily used by Shawnee Mission North High School, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School and Shawnee Mission East High School. In ...

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

for home USL matches. The move to Shawnee Mission South District Stadium was in response to new USL stadium standards, requiring seating for at least 5,000 fans, that were not met by Swope Soccer Village. The 7,500-seat Shawnee Mission South District Stadium had received $6 million in improvements between fall 2016 and spring 2017. After just two home matches into the season, the Rangers announced that all home matches would be moved to Children's Mercy Park for the remainder of the 2018 USL season. The move came just days after allegations were reported that there had been issues with the quality of the artificial-turf field at Shawnee Mission South.

Players and staff

Roster

Technical staff

- head coach * Ike Opara – assistant coach * Wan Kuzac Wan Kamal — assistant team administrator

Year-by-year

1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only. 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

* Includes USL regular season, USL playoffs

Average attendance

Honors

* USL Cup **''Runners-up'' (2):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Western Conference **Winners (Playoffs):

References

External links

*
Sporting Kansas City II
at USL Championship {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#A7BCD6; color:#0C2340; {{box-shadow border, a, #0C2340, 2px , list1 = {{United Soccer League {{Kansas Sports Association football clubs established in 2015 Soccer clubs in Kansas City, Missouri Former USL Championship teams Sporting Kansas City 2015 establishments in Missouri Reserve soccer teams in the United States Sports teams in the Kansas City metropolitan area MLS Next Pro teams