Sky Blue FC

2006–2008: Establishment

Sky Blue FC was originally founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, playing in the USL W-League in 2007, a semi-professional league that served as part of the second division of women's soccer in the United States. Future governor of New JerseyPhil Murphy and his wife Tammy Murphy were co-founders of the team, alongside businessman Steven H. Temares, Francesco Prandoni and Thomas Hofstetter. The Murphys would later claim that their motivation in founding the club was as an example to their daughter, in order to prove that there was a viable pathway for women in the United States to play professional soccer. By September 2007, the club had been selected to fulfill the New York/New Jersey slot in Women's Professional Soccer and rebranded as Sky Blue FC. Following this move, the Jersey Sky Blue name initially remained in use for a feeder team in the W-League, although it later rebranded as the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues. Co-founder Thomas Hofstetter, who served as president of Sky Blue FC until 2013, also served as chairman of the feeder team until their folding in 2010. As of 2018, Phil Murphy was a majority shareholder of the team.