Swope Park Rangers
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Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro 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 ...
of
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 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 ...
in
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 in
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 in
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 the ...
.


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 as SKC's USL affiliate, and was named after a nickname for SKC reserve squad in 2008. The team is
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 ...
's third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with
Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...
and Oklahoma City Energy FC. Canadian Marc Dos Santos, who led Ottawa Fury FC to the NASL
Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...
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,
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 at ...
and
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteration the team played its h ...
en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5–1 to New York Red Bulls II at Red Bull Arena. Goalkeeper
Adrian Zendejas Adrián Zendejas Rodríguez (born August 30, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Championship club Miami FC, on loan from Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer. Career Youth Zendejas grew up playing ...
and winger Tyler Pasher were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season. Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, Marc Dos Santos 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
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,
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 MLS Next Pro season starting in 2022. Former Sporting Kansas City player Benny Feilhaber was named the team's head coach for the 2022 season.


Location

The team is headquartered out of Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. For the 2022 season they will split matches between Rock Chalk Park 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 ...
in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as return to Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri. When the team was known as Swope Park Rangers they played at Swope Soccer Village 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 in Overland Park, Kansas 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

* Benny Feilhaber - head coach *
Ike Opara Ikenna Martin "Ike" Opara (;born February 21, 1989) is an American former soccer player who is currently an assistant coach for Sporting Kansas City II in MLS Next Pro. Career College and amateur Opara played college soccer at Wake Forest Uni ...
– 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):
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 ...


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