The St. Petersburg Kickers FC are an amateur 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 from St. Petersburg, Florida that compete in the Florida Suncoast Soccer League (FSSL). They are notable as the first team from Florida to win the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

History

Founded by Kurt Herbach in 1957, the Kickers won their first national title, the Over-30 championship, in 1967. By 1989, the team had won eleven Florida Suncoast Soccer League championships and four Florida State Cups. The club's most prestigious victory came on the national stage winning the

1989 National Challenge Cup The 1989 National Challenge Cup was the 76th edition of the national soccer championship of the United States. The St. Petersburg Kickers (FSSL) won the cup 2–1 against New York Greek American Atlas (HASL) at St. Louis Soccer Park in Fenton, ...

(now known as US Open Cup). In 1997, the team moved to Land o' Lakes, Florida, eventually taking the name of Florida Kickers FC. That year the club won both the National Amateur Cup and the National Over-30 championship. In 2008, it won its third national amateur championship.

Honors

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

winners: 1 (1989) * National Amateur Cup winners: 3 (1990, 1997, 2008) * National Amateur Cup runners-up: 1 (2003) *Participations in

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Coaches

* Steve Gogas (1972-) * Chris McMaster * Wim Suurbier (1994)

Notable players

Fred Armstrong Fred Armstrong is a retired American professional soccer goalkeeper. Armstrong played for the St. Petersburg Kickers in 1977. At the time, he had entered Florida Tech in order to play collegiate soccer. However, the NCAA denied his request as ...

Derek Backman Derek Backman (born January 6, 1966) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder who played in the USISL. Backman played for the Arcadia Shepherds in his native South Africa before moving to the United States in 1983 to attend the College of Boca Raton. ...

Matt Clare Matt Clare (born May 25, 1988 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an American soccer player who last played for Florida Tropics SC in the Major Arena Soccer League. Career Youth and Amateur Clare, who did not play college soccer, played with elite ...

* Garth Pollonais *

Andrew Restrepo Andrew Restrepo (born October 8, 1970) is a retired American soccer defender who played one season with the MetroStars in Major League Soccer. He is currently a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Tampa men's team. Restrepo played ...

Joey Valenti Joey Valenti (born August 29, 1968) is a retired American soccer midfielder who played on the U.S. team at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship. Valenti attended A. P. Leto High School in Tampa, Florida where he was a 1986 Parade Magazine Hi ...

Tanner Wolfe Tanner Wolfe (born September 17, 1985 in Dunedin, Florida) is an American association football, soccer player who plays for Tampa Marauders, Tampa Maraunders. Career College and amateur Wolfe played his collegiate career at Stetson University f ...

* J.P. Reyes

References

External links

Florida Suncoast Soccer League
Association football clubs established in 1957 1957 establishments in Florida Soccer clubs in Florida Sports in Tampa, Florida Sports in St. Petersburg, Florida Florida Tropics SC U.S. clubs in CONCACAF Champions' Cup U.S. Open Cup winners {{Florida-footyclub-stub