Richmond Kickers

The Richmond Kickers Professional Soccer Club was established in 1993 as a member of the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL).  While the USISL has gone through growing pains and name changes over the years, the Kickers remain a cornerstone of the ever-developing league.  Several significant people have been a part of this organization, some as players, some as staff.  All were essential to the Kickers becoming what they are today: a model for U.S. Soccer and a well-respected member of the United Soccer Leagues (USL).

Prior to the 2005 season, United Soccer Leagues announced that the organization and its member professional teams have restructured the two professional leagues, A-League and Pro Soccer League, under the USL umbrella to form a new two-tiered professional division.

The first two tiers of USL’s professional division will be officially referred to as the USL First Division and USL Second Division, eliminating the A-League name adopted by the then independent American Professional Soccer League in 1995.

Among the significant changes in place are the adoption of a single table by the USL Pro Divisions, and a primarily balanced schedule in which all teams will play each other home and away once, supplemented with an equal number of additional rivalry games.  To further emphasize regular season excellence, the regular season champion will be awarded the Commissioner’s Cup, which was utilized by the APSL prior to the league’s merger with USL before the 1997 season.  In the USL Second Division the top four team will advance to the playoffs and play a single elimination tournament to crown the champion.

In addition to the professional team, the Kickers established a youth league, a Super Y-League program, a PDL team (the Future) and a W-League team (the Destiny), following U.S. Soccer’s Theory of Vertical Integration.  This philosophy focuses on professional teams giving back to the community and working with local youth players to develop them to the best of their ability not just as athletes – as individuals.  Whether their goal is to become a future national team member, a professional athlete – or simply learn the sport and enjoy it recreationally – the professional team serves as the leader and pioneer in instruction and role modeling.   

The Richmond Kickers enter into their 17th season as a member of the United Soccer Leagues family since 1993. Over the past 16 seasons, Richmond has qualified for post-season play 13 times, including six Championship appearances. The Kickers reached the title match in 2007 for the fourth time in the past six seasons, narrowly missing their second consecutive league title after nine rounds of penalties. Richmond's five previous league Championship appearances (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006) include winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown in 2006. In 2008, the Kickers fell short of another Championship berth after falling 1-0 in overtime to the eventual champions, Cleveland City Stars.

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