Miami Dutch Lions FC is an American professional

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 the

Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...

. The Lions competes in

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

, as a member of the Sunshine Conference. The club was founded in

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2021, the population was 98,081, up from 56,207 in 2010. Since 2007, the ...

in 2011, before relocating to

Olympia Heights, Florida Olympia Heights is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,873 at the 2020 census. Geography Olympia Heights is located west-southwest of downtown Miami at (25.726379, -80.345073). It is b ...

in 2019. They are owned by Martin Kroeze.

History

Miami Dutch Lions FC was formed on November 17, 2011, as Texas Dutch Lions FC, and played their inaugural season in the

USL Premier Development League 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 ...

in 2012, finishing 4th in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference. The

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

of the club began training in 2011, with only one location in

. In 2012, the academy expanded to its second training location to service players in The Woodlands. On April 1, 2013, Texas Dutch Lions FC changed their official name to Houston Dutch Lions FC. The club has been using the new title for several months, but it was not official until April 1. The club signed a new head coach for the 2013 season, a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

player

Hans van Arum Hans van Arum (born 23 December 1966) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player, appearing as a striker in over 200 games in the Eredivisie with Vitesse, Willem II and RKC Waalwijk. Van Arum was head coach for AGOVV Apeldoorn in ...

, on February 12, 2013. On February 18, 2014, the Houston Dutch Lions FC announced the signing of Marco Pruis as their new head coach for the

2014 PDL season The 2014 USL Premier Development League season was the 20th season of the PDL. The regular season began on May 3 and ended July 20. The regular season was followed by a postseason tournament of conference winners to determine the league's champion ...

. Since the 2016 season, the club joined the

, in which the team also played during the

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 ...

and 2018 season. During the 2016 season, the Dutch Lions FC played in the South Central Conference Playoffs (which they won). Due to several new teams, the 2017 NPSL season was divided into the Lone Star Conference (in which the Lions participated) and the Heartland Conference. In the 2018 NPSL season, the Lone Star Conference had 9 teams compete, the Dutch Lions FC fell to Laredo Heat SC on July 14, 2018, in a thrilling 4–3 final. In November 2019, the club announced that it would relocate its NPSL side to

for the 2020 season, and would focus on its youth programs.

Colors and badge

The Miami Dutch Lions FC crest is a modified version of

Dayton Dutch Lions Dayton Dutch Lions is an American association football, soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the ...

's logo, featuring the white and blue field, with an orange lion centered on the crest. The script above the vector lion reads the club's name. The home shirt consists of an orange shirt, orange shorts & orange socks. Away the team plays in a white shirt.

Home ground

* Carl Barton Jr Soccer Park;

(2011–2013) * Houston Dutch Lions FC Soccer Facility; Conroe, Texas (2013–2019) *

Tropical Park Stadium Tropical Park Stadium is a 7,000-seat stadium located in Olympia Heights, Florida, a CDP near Miami, Florida, USA. The stadium is located in Tropical Park and is the home field of Miami Dade FC and FC Miami City. Also, many local high-school foot ...

;

(2019–2021) *

Ted Hendricks Theodore Paul Hendricks (born November 1, 1947), nicknamed "the Mad Stork", is a former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker for 15 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland/Los Angeles ...

Stadium;

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area ...

(2021–present)

Training ground

* Houston Dutch Lions FC Soccer Facility; Conroe, Texas (October 2013 – 2019). The fields are the training grounds of the teams: USL Premier Development League, National Premier Soccer League, Houston Football Association, and the club's youth academy. After the fields opening up in October 2014, the club opened a unique club house in May 2015. The club house consists of dressing rooms, club house for fans with A/C, restrooms and a banquet room. The top floor has 4 offices and two banquet rooms for the office staff. Just before the 2018 NPSL season, the club build seats in front of the club house, which added about 200 seats to the Soccer Facility.

Club culture

International partnerships

The Houston Dutch Lions FC share in the partnership of their ownership group and sister club, Dayton Dutch Lions, with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

champions,

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

. On January 17, 2011, the Dutch Lions Group signed a five-year contract to foster development of players, academy teams, training practices, and possibly facilitate loans or transfers of players between teams. In the 2014 season, the Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC were added (joined the PDL). As of the summer of 2015, the Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions FC joined the Dutch Lions FC group. On May 5, 2016, the Dutch Lions FC announced the signing of

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

for their Dutch Lions FC NPSL squad. Early 2017, the club announced CHI St. Luke's Woodlands Hospital as their sponsor.

Game history

Staff

;Executive staff ;Coaching staff NPSL 2021 season ;Coaching staff NPSL 2018 season

Head coaches

Robert Maaskant Robert Patrick Maaskant (; born 10 January 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager, who played as a midfielder. Club career Maaskant played for Go Ahead Eagles, Emmen, Motherwell, Zwolle and Excelsior. Managerial ca ...

(2012) *

(2013) * Marco Pruis (2014–2020) * Robert Stoutenburg (2020 - Present)

Year-by-year

NPSL 2016 Playoffs: On Saturday, July 9, 2016, the Dutch Lions FC beat

FC Wichita FC Wichita is a soccer club based in Wichita, Kansas that plays in USL League Two's Heartland Conference. The club was a member of the Heartland Conference in the National Premier Soccer League, a national semi-professional league at the fourth ...

5–0 at home in the South Conference semifinal (the division final four was played in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

). The

Liverpool Warriors Liverpool Warriors are an American soccer club based in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex affiliated with Liverpool F.C. They previously fielded a team in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). They played their games at various high school sta ...

fell 4–1 that same day to the

Tulsa Athletic Tulsa Athletic is an American soccer team and are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. 2013 was their inaugural season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), which is a national league at the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. ...

. The South Central Conference title went to the Dutch Lions FC after the team beat the Tulsa Athletic 1–2 in the final on Sunday, July 10. What followed was the Regional Playoffs semifinal vs

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team began play in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) in Spring 2020. Prior to joining the NISA ...

, which the Lions lost 4–0.

2017 U.S. Open Cup The 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 104th edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. FC Dallas entered the competition as the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sporting Kansas City. First ...

: On May 10, 2017, the Dutch Lions FC hosted the

NTX Rayados The NTX Rayados are a soccer team based in Dallas,Texas that currently competes in North Texas Premier Soccer League. History NTX Rayados plays North Texas Premier Soccer Association, Division 1A since 2011. The team won the NTPSA Division 1A ...

and beat them 3–1. One week later, the team fell home against

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

side

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio F ...

1–2 in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

. 2018 NPSL season: The club boosted another winning season in the NPSL, winning 9 games and losing 4 games. Goals scored are 49, and goals conceded was 17.

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive. * 2012: 120 * 2013: 150 * 2014: 175 * 2015: 200 * 2016: 275 * 2017: 315 * 2018: 275

References

Dutch Lions FC win 2016 South Central Conference Title

External links

* {{Official website, https://mdlfc.com
Miami Dutch Lions FC profile on NPSL site

2011 establishments in Texas 2013 establishments in Texas 2019 establishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 2011 Association football clubs established in 2013 Association football clubs established in 2019 Conroe, Texas Dutch Lions FC Hialeah, Florida National Premier Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Miami Soccer clubs in Texas Sports in Miami-Dade County, Florida Sports in the Houston metropolitan area The Woodlands, Texas