New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. Founded in 2018, the team currently plays in the

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, p ...

, the second division of American soccer.

History

Former teams

The state of New Mexico gained its first professional soccer team in the 1990s, the

New Mexico Chiles The New Mexico Chiles were an American soccer club established in 1990 which competed in the American Professional Soccer League. In 1991, the team merged with the New Mexico Roadrunners and moved to the USISL until its disestablishment in 1996. ...

of the American Professional Soccer League and later the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. The team was runner-up for the league title in 1995 and attracted an average home attendance of 3,854, but was folded by its owners in 1996. The Chiles was replaced the following season by the

Albuquerque Geckos Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, who entered USISL's Division 3 with new owners and played at a new soccer stadium shared with the collegiate

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athlet ...

. The Geckos won the Division 3 championship and were promoted to the second division A-League in 1998, but struggled to win matches and were unable to pay players and creditors. The team had an average attendance of 1,200 and announced their move to

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

in October 1998. A semi-professional team, the Albuquerque Sol, was established in 2014 to capitalize on the area's interest in soccer. The team's owners stated that their goal was to earn a USL expansion team within a few years and eventually move to Major League Soccer (MLS). The Sol commissioned a study in 2016 to analyze a potential downtown

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

with 10,000 seats to support a USL expansion in 2018 and a MLS expansion by 2024. The stadium study identified three potential locations in downtown Albuquerque for a stadium, which would cost $24–45 million.

USL launch and inaugural season

On June 6, 2018, the USL announced an expansion club from Albuquerque that would begin play in March 2019. The club announced its name, New Mexico United, and colors on October 9, 2018, following fan suggestions that generated 226 total names. The team played its opening match on March 9, 2019, with 12,896 fans in attendance at

Isotopes Park Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, previously known only as Isotopes Park, is a minor league baseball stadium located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is the home field of the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League, the Tr ...

Devon Sandoval Devon Sandoval (born June 16, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. Early career The son of Diana and Greg Sandoval and native of Albuquerque, Sandoval attended Eldorado High School in New Mexico, wh ...

scored the team's first-ever goal in a 1–1 draw against

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

. New Mexico United enjoyed popular success in its inaugural season, leading the USL Championship in average attendance and selling out Isotopes Park with 15,023 spectators on May 5, 2019. In the

2019 U.S. Open Cup The 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 106th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. It is the oldest ongoing competition in the United States, and was contested by 84 teams from leagues in the U.S. syst ...

, the team defeated two MLS clubs (the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

and

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

) before losing in the quarterfinals to Minnesota United FC; for the match in Minnesota, the club organized a

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

from Albuquerque that carried 180 away fans.

2020 season

In March 2020, the USL Championship postponed the 2020 season with the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, after New Mexico United had played one game. The season restarted in July 2020 with a modified format, placing teams into eight smaller regional groups. The club was placed in Group C with Four Corners opponents

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E Ra ...

and

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...

, and nearby

El Paso Locomotive FC El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. Club crest and colors The Locomotive brand was unveiled on October 4, 2018, beatin ...

. Due to statewide health orders and quarantine requirements, New Mexico United played all 15 of their regular season matches and both of their playoff matches away from home, earning the local nickname the "Road Warriors." The team ended the regular season with a record of 8 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses; a sixteenth planned match against

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, is an American semi-professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a ...

was postponed, and eventually cancelled, due to cases of COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley organization. The club qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs by coming second in their group. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals, they defeated

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 ...

in extra time, with Chris Wehan scoring the winning goal in the 101st minute. In the Conference Semifinal, the club lost to El Paso Locomotive 3-5 on penalties, after drawing 1-1 at the end of extra time. In March 2020, the club launched the Somos Unidos Foundation, a charitable nonprofit arm of the New Mexico United organization.

2021 season

In May 2021, New Mexico United began its competitive season with a 1-0 loss away to

. On August 21, then 17-year-old

Cristian Nava Cristian Nava (born September 2, 2003) is an American association football, soccer player who plays for New Mexico United in the USL Championship as an academy player. Career Youth On January 25, 2021, Nava joined the New Mexico United academ ...

became the first New Mexico United Academy player to sign a professional contract with the club.

Club crest and colors

The New Mexico United crest is a simple yellow shield with four black lines that represent the Zia symbol, found on the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occasi ...

and used with permission from the Zia people. The crest also has a black diamond with the number "18", representing the year the club was founded. The yellow-and-black color scheme was colored to reference the state flag while differentiating itself from other local clubs.

Sponsorship

Stadium

The club plays at

Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, previously known only as Isotopes Park, is a minor league baseball stadium located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is the home field of the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League, the Trip ...

, known as only Isotopes Park in 2019 and nicknamed The Lab, a baseball stadium that is primarily home to the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an e ...

of the Pacific Coast League. New Mexico United will play at the facility until a soccer-specific stadium is built. The Isotopes will remain the primary tenant and the USL team will schedule its home games during away games for the Isotopes. The stadium seats 13,500 spectators for baseball games. In February 2020, New Mexico United announced that it would develop a home stadium and community culture center after being awarded $4.1 million in capital outlay funds by the state legislature. A public poll of Albuquerque residents conducted in January 2021 found strong support for the construction of the stadium and culture center complex. On July 25, 2021, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller announced a stadium financing plan that would involve selling $50 million in public bonds to fund part of the $65–75 million construction cost. The team agreed to commit $10 million in upfront costs, and another $22 million in rent over the next 25 years. The plan was forwarded to the City Council, which agreed to put it to a public vote on November 2. The ballot measure was rejected by a 2–1 margin.

Rivalries

New Mexico United has rivalries with

, with whom they contest the Derby Del Camino Real, and

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle Eng, owner of an advert ...

The Magic Minute

There is a tradition among New Mexico United fans where they loudly cheer continuously from the 19:12 through the 20:18 minute marks. This is known as the Magic Minute. 19:12 commemorates the year New Mexico became a state of the United States (1912), and 20:18 commemorates the year that the New Mexico United club was founded (2018).

Players and staff

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under

FIFA eligibility rules As the governing body of association football, FIFA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether an association football player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognised internatio ...

. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Technical staff

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! style="background:#000; color:#fcf000; border:2px solid #fcf000;" scope="col", Title ! style="background:#000; color:#fcf000; border:2px solid #fcf000;" scope="col", Name , -

Front office

Ownership

The club's majority owner and team president is New Mexico resident, Peter Trevisani. The club's other owners have ties to New Mexico and include investor Ian McKinnon, TEAM8, Ed Garcia, Ben Spencer, and Jason Harrington.

Team records

Year-by-year total

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" ! rowspan="2" scope="col" , Season ! colspan="7" class="unsortable" , Results ! rowspan="2" , League ! colspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" , Top Scorer ! rowspan="2" , Club Captain , - ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Player ! , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 40 , 13 , 15 , 12 , 69 , 71 , 54 , 10th, Western ,

Kevaughn Frater Kevaughn Frater (born 14 December 1994) is a Jamaican footballer who plays as a forward for USL Championship club New Mexico United. Club career Frater was part of the Harbour View squad since he was sixteen years old, before signing on loan ...

, 17 , rowspan="3" ,

Josh Suggs Joshua Taylor Suggs (born April 26, 1989 in Las Cruces, New Mexico) is an American Association football, soccer player who currently plays for New Mexico United in the USL Championship. He can play as either a left back or as a centre half. Care ...

, - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, 17 , 9 , 4 , 4 , 25 , 18 , 31 , 2nd, Group C , Chris Wehan , 7 , - ,

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, 32 , 12 , 10 , 10 , 44 , 40 , 46 , 5th, Mountain , Chris Wehan , 10 , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, 34 , 13 , 12 , 9 , 49 , 40 , 51 , 5th, Western ,

Justin Portillo Justin Jose Portillo (born September 9, 1992) is an American association football, soccer player who currently plays for FC Tulsa. Career Portillo was raised in New Orleans and played at Coastal Carolina University, becoming the school's all-time ...

, 8 , TBA , - ! colspan="8" , All-time results ! colspan="3" , All-time records ! , - , — , 123 , 47 , 41 , 35 , 151 , 187 , 169 , — , Chris Wehan , 37 , — 1. Top Scorer includes all competitive matches. 2. Points assigns the same point values to knockout matches as the same result would receive in the league. 3. All-time results includes all competitive matches.

USL Championship

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" ! rowspan="2" scope="col" , Season ! colspan="8" class="unsortable" ,

! rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" , Play-offs ! colspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" , Top Scorer , - ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! class="unsortable" , Player ! class="unsortable" , , - ,

, 34 , 11 , 13 , 10 , 59 , 57 , 46 , 10th, Western , Conference Play-In Round ,

, 14 , - ,

, 15 , 8 , 3 , 4 , 23 , 17 , 27 , 2nd, Group C , Conference Semifinal , Chris Wehan , 6 , - ,

, 32 , 12 , 10 , 10 , 44 , 40 , 46 , 5th, Mountain , ''Did not qualify'' , Chris Wehan , 10 , - ,

, 34 , 13 , 12 , 9 , 49 , 40 , 51 , 5th, Western , Conference Quarterfinals ,

, 8 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from regular season league matches only.

USL Cup Playoffs

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" ! rowspan="2" scope="col" , Season ! colspan="8" class="unsortable" , USL Cup Playoffs ! colspan="2" , Top Scorer , - ! ! ! ! ! ! !Entered !Exited !Player ! , - ,

, 1 , 0 , 0 , 1 , 1 , 2 , colspan="2" , Conference Play-In Round ,

, 1 , - ,

, 2 , 1 , 1 , 0 , 2 , 1 , Conference Quarterfinal , Conference Semifinal , Chris Wehan / Romeo Parkes , 1 , - ,

, colspan="10" , DNQ , - ,

, 1 , 0 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 2 , Conference Quarterfinals , Conference Quarterfinals , – , – 1. Following statistical convention, wins in extra time are recorded as wins. Wins in penalty shootouts are recorded as draws, and shootout goals are not counted as goals for or against.

U.S. Open Cup

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" ! rowspan="2" scope="col" , Season ! colspan="8" class="unsortable" , U.S. Open Cup ! colspan="2" , Top Scorer , - ! ! ! ! ! ! !Entered !Exited !Player ! , - ,

, 5 , 2 , 2 , 1 , 9 , 12 , Second Round ,

Quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, 3 , - ,

, colspan="10" , ''Cancelled '' , - ,

, colspan="10" , ''DNQ / Cancelled'' , - ,

, 2 , 1 , 0 , 1 , 6 , 2 , Second Round ,

Third Round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

Jerome Kiesewetter Jerome Julien Kiesewetter (born February 9, 1993) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for USL Championship side New Mexico United. Born in Germany, he represented the United States national team. Club career In May 2012, Ki ...

, 2 1. Following statistical convention, wins in extra time are recorded as wins. Wins in penalty shootouts are recorded as draws, and shootout goals are not counted as goals for or against. 2. The 2020 U.S. Open Cup was suspended on March 13, 2020, due to the

. On August 14, the 2020 edition was cancelled. 3. The USSF confirmed on March 29, 2021, that the previous season's Conference finalists would participate. As Western Conference losing semifinalists, New Mexico United did not qualify. On July 20, 2021, the USSF cancelled the 2021 edition of the tournament.

Head coaches

* Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies. {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-left: lem;" ! Coach !! Nationality !! Start !! End !! Matches !! Win !! Loss !! Draw !! Win % , - , Troy Lesesne , , , , - ,

Zach Prince Zach Prince (born March 30, 1988 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a retired American soccer player who spent his entire professional career as a midfielder with the Charleston Battery in the United Soccer League. He is currently the head coach for ...

, , , Present

Average attendance

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-left: lem;" ! Year !! Reg. Season !! Playoffs !U.S. Open Cup , - , 2019 , 12,693 (1st in USL Championship) , Did not play at home , Did not play at home , - , 2020 , Did not play at home , Did not play at home , Cancelled , - , 2021 , 7,863 (2nd in USL Championship) , DNQ , Cancelled , - , 2022 , 10,455 (after 13 home matches) , TBD , 2,128 (1 match)

Player records

Most goals

* Players in bold are still active with New Mexico United; includes goals in all competitive matches **Includes regular season, playoffs, and domestic cup * ''As of July 23, 2022''. {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! Rank ! Player ! Nation ! Years active ! Goals , - , 1 , Chris Wehan , , 2019-2020, 2021–present , 34 , - , 2 ,

, , 2019–2021 , 25 , - , 3 ,

, , 2019 , 17 , - , 4 ,

Santi Moar Santiago "Santi" Moar Sánchez (born 5 September 1993) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a forward for New Mexico United in the USL Championship. Moar is most frequently utilized as a left winger. Playing career Youth and college Moar p ...

, , 2019 , 12 , - , 5 ,

Amando Moreno Amando Miguel Moreno Magaña (born September 10, 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for USL Championship club New Mexico United. Born in the United States, he represents the El Salvador national team. Caree ...

, , 2020–present , 11 , - , 6 , Neco Brett , , 2021–present , 7 , - , 7 , Daniel Bruce , , 2019–present , 5 , - , 8 ,

, , 2019–present , 4 , - , rowspan="3" , 10 , David Estrada , / , 2019-2020 , rowspan="3" , 3 , - , Andrew Tinari , , 2020-2021 , - ,

Ilija Ilić Ilija Ilić (born 26 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL League One club One Knoxville SC. Career Ilić began his career with the youth clubs of FK Čukarički and Red Star Belgrade, as well as a loa ...

, , 2021-present , -

Most appearances

* Players in bold are still active with New Mexico United; includes all competitive appearances, including substitute appearances **Includes regular season, playoffs, and domestic cup *''As of April 23, 2022'' {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! Rank ! Player ! Nation ! Years active ! Apps. , - , 1 ,

, , 2019–2021 , 79 , - , 2 ,

, , 2019–present , 76 , - , 3 , Daniel Bruce , , 2019–present , 76 , - , 4 , Chris Wehan , , 2019-2020, 2021–present , 74 , - , rowspan="2" , 5 ,

Juan Pablo Guzmán Juan Pablo Guzmán (born January 29, 1981) is a professional tennis player and coach from Argentina. In 2007, Guzmán won the ATP doubles title in Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands ...

, , 2019–2021 , rowspan="2" , 73 , - , Austin Yearwood , , 2019–present , - , 7 , Rashid Tetteh , , 2019–present , 69 , - , 8 , Justin Schmidt , , 2019–2021 , 60 , - , 9 , Cody Mizell , , 2019–2020, 2022 , 58 , - , 10 , Sam Hamilton , , 2019–present , 57

New Mexico United U23

On January 23, 2020, New Mexico United announced that it will field a U23 team in the

USL League Two 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 syst ...

for the 2020 season, intending for the U23 team to bridge the gap between the High Performance Youth Program and the first team. The club was scheduled to compete in the Mountain Division. However, on April 30, 2020, the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

announced the cancellation of the 2020 League Two season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The U23 team did not participate in the

2021 USL League Two season The 2021 USL League Two season is the 27th season of the USL League Two, the top pre-professional Association football, soccer league in the United States, since its establishment in 1995. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...

References

External links

* {{New Mexico Sports USL Championship teams 2018 establishments in New Mexico Sports in Albuquerque, New Mexico Association football clubs established in 2018 Soccer clubs in New Mexico