Albuquerque Sol FC is an 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 ...

club based in

Albuquerque, New Mexico 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 ...

. Co-founded by Ron Patel and Larry Espinoza in 2013, the team plays in

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 syste ...

, the fourth tier of the

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

History

Inaugural season (2014)

On May 3, 2014, Albuquerque Sol F.C. opened its season on the road against the

Las Vegas Mobsters Las Vegas Mobsters is an American soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Founded in 2013, the team plays in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL), the fifth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Nevada Division. Their inaugural season wa ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The Sol lost its first ever game 1–0. The following week, they traveled to

Highlands Ranch, Colorado Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The po ...

for a two-match series against the

Real Colorado Foxes Real Colorado Foxes were an American soccer team based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Heartland Divi ...

. The first match resulted in a scoreless draw, but the second match featured the Sol's first ever goal (a tally from Ricardo Perez in the 60th minute) and first ever win, a 2–1 victory over the Foxes on Saturday, May 10. The Sol opened their home slate at Ben Rios Field on May 24, 2014 against the Midland/Odessa Sockers, a 1–2 loss before a crowd of 1,318. The 2014 edition of the Sol were competitive, obtaining a result in nine of their fourteen matches, but they were only able to secure 15 points and finished outside the USL PDL Mountain Division playoffs.

Early years (2015–2018)

On July 18, 2015, Albuquerque Sol F.C. played its first playoff game against FC Tucson at the

Kino Sports Complex Kino Sports Complex is a multiple-use sports complex in Tucson, Arizona. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox formerly utilized the complex's main ballpark, Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, for Cactus League games each March and had their ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. The Sol lost that game 2–1.

Post-Ron Patel era (2018–present)

On April 19, 2018, Ron Patel stepped down from Albuquerque Sol F.C. to pursue another in-state project. Co-founder and general manager Espinoza announced that he would double as President in an interim capacity with anticipation that a new full-time club manager would be filled by the end of the 2018 season.

Year-by-year

Club culture

Supporters

Albuquerque Sol FC's official supporters group is the Sol Mates. In addition to the Sol Mates, there is an unofficial supporters group, the Sandianistas, which formed shortly after the club's inception in late 2013. The supporters sit in the west end of Ben Rios Field for all home matches.

Rivalries

The Sol compete with FC Tucson in the

Southwestern Showdown The Southwestern Showdown is an annual rivalry series first held in 2014 between FC Tucson and Albuquerque Sol FC, soccer clubs in USL League Two. The club to gain the most league standings points over the course of all regular-season meetings i ...

, an annual series for the right to hold the "Golden Rattler" trophy for the following year. Albuquerque has also competed with FC Tucson and

for the Copa Frontera, a supporter-created trophy for clubs in the PDL Mountain Division with active supporter cultures.

Current roster

As of May 5, 2018

Retired numbers

*4 –

Patrick Grange Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

(

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

) At halftime of the Sol's home finale on July 12, 2014, the club retired its No. 4 jersey in commemoration of Grange's impact on local soccer as well as to raise awareness for ALS (

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

), the disease which claimed Grange's life in 2012.

Head coaches

* Chris Cartlidge (2014) * Matt Gordon (2015–2017) * Justin Sells (2018–present)

References

External links

* {{New Mexico Sports Soccer clubs in New Mexico USL League Two teams Association football clubs established in 2013 2013 establishments in New Mexico