Union Omaha Soccer Club 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 ...

team based in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. In 2020, the team made its debut in

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

(USL1).

History

In 2019, USL1 awarded a franchise to Alliance Omaha Soccer Holdings to begin play in the 2020 season, with former head coach at the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

, Jay Mims, announced as the club's first manager. Union Omaha finished

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

in second place to qualify for the USL1 championship game. However, the match was canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the team's roster. By defeating the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

2–0 in the second to last match of the 2021 season, the Owls became the USL League One regular-season champions and clinched the top seed for the playoffs. Union Omaha then finished the season winning their first ever championship, beating defending champion

Greenville Triumph SC Greenville Triumph SC is a professional soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and league officials began ...

3–0 in the final. Union Omaha made a deep run in the

2022 U.S. Open Cup The 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. After the 2020 and 2021 competitions were suspended and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United St ...

, entering in the second round and advancing to the quarterfinals as the last remaining third division team in the competition. In April, the Owls defeated

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 ...

club

Chicago Fire FC (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in a penalty shootout in the third round, becoming the first USL1 team to defeat an MLS team in U.S. Open Cup history. After defeating fellow USL1 side

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC is an American professional soccer team based in Windsor, Colorado. The club was founded in 2021, and made its competitive debut in 2022. The team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyr ...

, Omaha played

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

of MLS in the Round of 16 and won 2–1. They were the first third division team since Orlando City in 2013 to advance to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. The club's run in the competition ended with a 6–0 defeat to hosts

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 ...

in the quarterfinals; approximately 700 fans traveled from Omaha to attend the match 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 ...

Crest

The team's name and crest were developed through fan engagement including town halls, workshops, interviews, and online polls to reflect the entire Omaha region. In a bid to stay true to the roots of both the state and city, the team announced on October 3, 2019, the new name as a nod to the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, with the

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extrem ...

, a species of owl native to Nebraska, being the prominent focal point of the club's crest. The logo was designed by

Matthew Wolff Matthew Brandyn Wolff (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional golfer. He was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University, and won the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship. Wolff picked up his first win on the PGA Tour a ...

. The star above the crest represents Union Omaha's one

title, and was added following their 2021 title win.

Stadium

The team plays in

Werner Park Werner Park is a minor league ballpark located just west of Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb in Sarpy County southwest of Omaha. Opened in 2011, it is owned by Sarpy County. It is the home of the Omaha Storm Chasers (the Triple A affiliate of th ...

, a

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

south west of Omaha in the suburb of Papillion. The Sarpy County owned stadium was opened in 2011, and is shared with the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at Wer ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. The ballpark cost $36 million to construct and is located near 126th Street and Highway 370, less than west of Papillion in unincorporated Sarpy County. Werner Park received additional locker rooms, field enhancements, and offices to accommodate the soccer operations. During the

, the team hosted

at Caniglia Field, located on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Sponsorship

Players

Staff

Current staff

Statistics and records

Year-by-year

Head coaches record

* Includes Regular Season, Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Average attendance

Honors

*USL League One playoffs **Winners:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

*USL League One regular season **Winners:

Player honors

References

External links

Official website
{{Nebraska Sports USL League One teams Association football clubs established in 2019 2019 establishments in Nebraska Sports in Omaha, Nebraska Soccer clubs in Nebraska