Austin Aztex FC was an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

, and in USL Division of the

USSF D2 Pro League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

, the second tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...

. In October 2010, the Aztex were relocated to

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

and became Orlando City after Orlando USL's rights were purchased by Phil Rawlins. The team was resurrected in 2011 by minority owner David Markley as the

Austin Aztex The Austin Aztex were a soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2011 as a member of the Premier Development League, the team played the 2015 season in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States soccer p ...

, which began play in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

in 2012 and moved to

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

in 2014. The team played its home games at Nelson Field, and House Park in Austin. The team's colors were red and white. Their head coach was Englishman and former Everton midfielder

Adrian Heath Adrian Paul Heath (born 11 January 1961) is an English football manager and former player. He most recently served as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United until October 2023. As a player, he is best known for his six season ...

History

The club was owned by English-born Austin businessman Phil Rawlins. Originally from the UK, Rawlins serves on the board of English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Austin and Stoke had a formal partnership which included sharing training information and players, with Austin acting as a potential player resource for Stoke. Immediately after announcing their intention to join USL1, the Aztex purchased the 2008

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will feature ...

expansion side Austin Stampede and rebranded it as Austin Aztex U23. Wolfgang Suhnholz was named coach of the U23 team, which commenced play in 2008. On August 8, 2008, the Aztex announced the 2008 PDL Goalkeeper of the Year and former Austin Aztex U23 player, Miguel Gallardo, as their first professional signing for the 2009 season. Gallardo was signed with the team through 2011. The Aztex began their inaugural season as a professional team by playing 4 MLS teams in preseason exhibition matches. The first three games were held in Austin at Nelson Field while the fourth MLS match was in

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is a soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, United States. It is the home of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Utah Royals of the National Women' ...

on the MLS opening weekend. A fifth exhibition match was scheduled against the CONCACAF semi-finalist

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

in between their home and away series against

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. On May 19, 2010, Austin played the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

in front of 6,051 fans, their largest home crowd in franchise history. On October 22, 2010, an article was published that indicated that the team was likely to move to Orlando, Florida, for the 2011 season. Austin Aztex Likely to Announce Move to Orlando, Florida This was confirmed on October 25, as the team became

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

Players

Final roster

Staff

– Head Coach *

Bobby Murphy Robert Cornelius Murphy (born July 19, 1988) is an American Internet entrepreneur and software engineer. He is the co-founder and the CTO of the American multinational technology company Snap Inc., which he created (as Snapchat Inc.) with E ...

– Assistant Coach * David Winner – Goalkeeping Coach * Shermin Patel – Athletic Trainer

Year-by-year

Head coaches

(2009–2010)

Stadiums

* Nelson Field;

(2009) * House Park;

(2010)

References

{{Austin, Texas Austin Aztex Soccer clubs in Texas Association football clubs established in 2008 USL First Division teams 2008 establishments in Texas 2010 disestablishments in Texas