FC Naples is a professional American

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 ...

club based in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Founded in January 2024, the club began play in 2025, as part of

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

, the third 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 ...

. Their home stadium is at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in

Collier County, Florida Collier County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East N ...

. The club is the first professional soccer club in Southwest Florida. La Barra 239 is the supporters' group.

History

FC Naples is the first fully professional soccer club to be based in Naples. The club's official name, crest, and branding were revealed on June 15, 2024. Roberto Moreno is the club president and co-founder. Formerly a CFO of the fitness and apparel brand

Zumba Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001. It currently has 200,000 locations, with 15 million people taking classes weekly, and is locat ...

, Moreno first became a minority stake investor for EFL League One

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

in April 2021. In January 2022 he invested in Belgian lower side Patro Eisden, and Bundesliga 2 club Preussen Munster the following year. Moreno considered buying 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 ...

. Although a deal never happened, he formed a connection with USL deputy CEO Justin Papadakis. After Papadakis made a trip to Naples and visited the Paradise Coast Sports Complex, he was convinced of a new location for a new USL franchise. Nico Cantor is also a part owner of the club. He contributes to CBS Sports' UEFA Champions League and Europa League coverage and hosts The Golazo! Show. On July 17, 2024, FC Naples announced Matt Poland as their first head coach. First round of tryouts were held on September 7, 2024. Despite being in their inaugural season, Naples already have two derbies, the Battle for Paradise with Sarasota Paradise and the Derby of the Gulf with

Inaugural Season

FC Naples started off their inaugural 2025 season very well. They drew 1-1 with the Chattanooga Red Wolves in their first ever match with the teams first ever goal being scored by Andres Ferrin. Following this the team collected wins against the likes of

Forward Madison FC Forward Madison FC is an American professional soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in 2019. The team competes in USL League One, the third division of the United States soccer l ...

Spokane Velocity Spokane Velocity FC is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Spokane, Washington. The Velocity compete in USL League One, the third tier of the United States soccer league system, U.S. soccer pyramid, and play home ...

and Texoma FC. However they were eliminated from the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

on penalty kicks against the

and suffered their first league defeat against

One Knoxville SC One Knoxville Sporting Club is an American soccer team based in Knoxville, Tennessee, that competes in USL League One, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. They play their home matches at Covenant Health Park, a multi-use st ...

. They did recover from this earning a 1-0 victory over

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in their first ever

USL Cup The USL Cup is an annual soccer competition in men's domestic American soccer. The USL Cup is currently known as the USL Jägermeister Cup after its title sponsor, Jägermeister. The competition is open to all clubs in USL Championship and US ...

match because of a goal from

Karsen Henderlong Karsen Henderlong (born September 24, 2000) is an American Association football, soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for FC Naples in USL League One. Having played College soccer in the United States, college socc ...

Stadium

Built in 2020, Paradise Coast Sports Complex Stadium serves as the club's current home, and holds up to 5,000 spectators. The field surface is

synthetic turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

Identity

On February 19, 2024, FC Naples announced a fan outreach initiative in which it would seek input on club branding from local residents. The club's badge is meant to be representative of Naples as a whole, and the city's defining relationship with the sea. Itself in the shape of a lightning whelk, it is adorned in gold with of shapes of a boat keel at its bottom and an art deco shell crown pattern at its top. The 'A' in the 'FC Naples' wordmark is stylized in the shape of pier pilings. The club's signature shade of deep blue is representative of the waters along which the city of Naples is located. The club announced that

Hummel International Hummel International Sport & Leisure A/S, commonly known as Hummel (stylized hummel), is a German-founded Danish manufacturing company of sportswear brand based in Aarhus. It is owned by Thornico. The company currently manufactures apparel for foo ...

will be their kit supplier. Physicians Regional Healthcare System is their primary kit sponsor, along with paradisecoast.com as their back sponsor, PFS Wealth Management as their sleeve sponsor and Tide Cleaners as their short sponsor.

Current roster

References

{{Florida Sports Association football clubs established in 2024 USL League One teams Sports in Naples, Florida Soccer clubs in South Florida 2024 establishments in Florida Soccer clubs in Florida FC Naples