West Michigan Edge was an American soccer team based in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Founded in 1995, the team played in the

USL Premier Development League 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 sy ...

(PDL), 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 pro ...

, until 2008, when the franchise folded and the team left the league. The team played its home games at EK Stadium on the campus of East Kentwood High School in nearby

Kentwood, Michigan Kentwood is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 54,304 as of the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the northwest by Grand Rapids and is the third most-populated municipality in the Grand Rapids metropolitan ...

. The team's colors were red, white and blue. The club also fielded a team in the USL’s Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

umbrella.

History

The team played as Grand Rapids Explosion from 1995 to 1998, before changing names to West Michigan Explosion prior to the 1999 season, and adopting their final moniker in 2000.

Year-by-year

Head coaches

Joey Barone Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

(2005–2006) * Mark Bell (2007) * {{flagicon, USA

Stephen Herdsman Stephen Herdsman (born October 6, 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica), is a former American soccer defender now coaching three time national champion Midwest United FC of Grand Rapids, MI. As well now coaching for Cornerstone University of the NAIA of Gran ...

(2008)

Stadia

Holland Municipal Stadium Holland Municipal Stadium was a 5,322-seat American football stadium located in Holland, Michigan. Built in 1979, Hope College purchased Holland Municipal Stadium from the City of Holland in 2012 and renamed the facility, where the Flying Dutch ...

;

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black R ...

(2004) * Stadium at Forest Hills Central High School;

(2005–2007) * Stadium at

Mona Shores High School Mona Shores High School is a public high school in Norton Shores, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9-12 for Mona Shores Public Schools. History Mona Shores Public Schools was formed by merging five K-8 school districts into one K-12 distr ...

;

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expan ...

1 game (2005) * Stadium at

Cornerstone University Cornerstone University is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Cornerstone University has undergraduate and graduate programs, two seminaries ( Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Asia Biblical Theological Seminary based ...

;

4 games (2007) * East Grand Rapids Memorial Field;

2 games (2007) * Stadium at

Crestwood Middle School Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

;

1 game (2007) * EK Stadium;

(2008)

Average Attendances

*2008: 125 *2007: 89 *2006: 298 *2005: 412

External links

West Michigan Edge
Soccer clubs in Michigan Sports in Grand Rapids, Michigan USISL teams Defunct Premier Development League teams 1995 establishments in Michigan 2008 disestablishments in Michigan Association football clubs established in 1995 Association football clubs disestablished in 2008