# Miami FC

Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 season. Following the demise of the NASL, the club participated in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) before moving to the USL Championship for the 2020 season. The team currently plays its home games at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of Florida International University.

## History
### North American Soccer League

The club was announced on May 20, 2015, as the 12th North American Soccer League franchise with plans to begin play in the 2016 season and later confirmed it would play out of Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium on the campus of Florida International University. The team, co-owned by media entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and former Italy national team defender Paolo Maldini, came only one year after former England national team star and Major League Soccer legend David Beckham announced his intent to launch an MLS team in the city.
In September 2015, Alessandro Nesta was appointed as the club's first coach. On November 20, 2015, Italian sportswear company Macron were announced as the club's kit suppliers on a three-year deal.
Nesta resigned as coach following the completion of the 2017 season, on 17 November.

### National Premier Soccer League and 'Miami FC 2'

In January 2018, following the suspension and later cancellation of the 2018 NASL season, the organization announced the creation of "The Miami FC 2" in the National Premier Soccer League with 12 members of its 2017 NASL roster. The intention was for Miami FC's players to play with Miami FC 2 while waiting for the NASL's proposed winter schedule to take effect. The team hired Paul Dalglish as the new head coach on January 25. The team played its home matches at its former training grounds on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.
The team went on to dominate the regular season in the NPSL's Sunshine Conference. Only one loss to Jacksonville Armada FC in the regular season led the team to finish top of the table and in the conference playoffs the beat the Armada, 3–1, to win its first NPSL trophy. After advancing in the national playoffs, including winning the NPSL South Region, Miami FC 2 won the organization's first ever league championship when it defeated FC Motown, 3–1, for the NPSL National Championship on August 4.
For the 2019 NPSL season, the team returned to playing as Miami FC and repeated its previous year's success by finishing atop the regular season table and winning the Sunshine Conference over Miami United FC, 3–2. It won the South Region for a second straight year before becoming the first club to win a second NPSL National Championship when it defeated the New York Cosmos B, 3–1, and earning the organization's eighth trophy in three years.

### National Independent Soccer Association

On November 15, 2018, the NPSL announced that Miami would be a founding member in a new professional league, commencing with the "NPSL Founders Cup" competition from August to November 2019, followed by a full league schedule in 2020 at either division 2 or 3 level. However, on July 24, 2019, it was announced that Miami would instead join the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the inaugural Fall 2019 season. The team went undefeated through seven games during the regular season, clinching the top playoff spot in the East Coast Conference. On November 9, Miami won the NISA East Coast Championship over Stumptown Athletic, its ninth trophy in three years.

### USL Championship

On December 11, 2019, former USL Championship club Ottawa Fury FC announced that it had sold its franchise rights to the Miami FC ownership group, and the club would begin competition in the league beginning with the 2020 season.
Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, head coach and technical director Paul Dalglish left the team. On November 29, former Inter Miami CF assistant coach Anthony Pulis was named Miami FC's new head coach. In 2023, halfway through the season, Pulis stepped down as Head Coach. Lewis Neal was named Interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Antonio Nocerino, a former AC Milan and Orlando City SC player, became the next head coach.

## Sponsorship

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 2016–2019 | Macron | — |
| 2020–present | Macron | Helbiz |

## Record
### Year-by-year

| Season | League | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts. | Overall | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Top goalscorer | Top goalscorer | Manager |
| Season | League | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts. | Overall | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Name | League | Manager |
| 2016 | NASL | Spring | 11th | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 7th | did not qualify | 3R | Darío Cvitanich | 9 | Alessandro Nesta |
| 2016 | NASL | Fall | 5th | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 31 | 27 | 33 | 7th | did not qualify | 3R | Darío Cvitanich | 9 | Alessandro Nesta |
| 2017 | NASL | Spring | 1st | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 11 | 36 | 1st | Semifinals | QF | Stefano Pinho | 17 | Alessandro Nesta |
| 2017 | NASL | Fall | 1st | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 17 | 33 | 1st | Semifinals | QF | Stefano Pinho | 17 | Alessandro Nesta |
| 2018 | NPSL | Sunshine Conference | 1st | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 5 | 27 | 1st | Champions | 2R | Jaime Chavez | 9 | Paul Dalglish |
| 2019 | NPSL | Sunshine Conference | 1st | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 5 | 27 | 1st | Champions | 1R | Miguel González | 13 | Paul Dalglish |
| 2019–20 | NISA | East Coast Conference | 1st | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 14 | 1st | Champions | 1R | Dylan Mares | 5 | Paul Dalglish |
| 2020 | USLC | Group H, Eastern Conference | 3rd | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 34 | 16 | 24th | did not qualify | Cancelled | Romario Williams | 8 | Nelson Vargas Paul Dalglish |
| 2021 | USLC | Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference | 4th | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 55 | 40 | 54 | 8th | Conference Quarterfinals | Cancelled | Christiano François | 11 | Paul Dalglish |
| 2022 | USLC | Eastern Conference | 6th | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 47 | 32 | 55 | 9th | Conference Quarterfinals | 3R | Kyle Murphy | 10 | Anthony Pulis |
| 2023 | USLC | Eastern Conference | 9th | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 44 | 41 | 20th | did not qualify | 3R | Joaquín Rivas | 10 | Anthony Pulis Lewis Neal |
| 2024 | USLC | Eastern Conference | 12th | 34 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 26 | 89 | 11 | 24th | did not qualify | 3R | Frank López | 7 | Antonio Nocerino Marcello Alves |

#### Average attendance

| Year | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
| 2016 | 5,427 | – |
| 2017 | 5,172 | 7,115 |
| 2019 | 569 | 1,309 |
| 2020 | N/A | – |
| 2021 | 699 | – |
| 2022 | 1,144 | – |
| 2023 | 1,432 | – |
| 2024 | 1,075 | – |

## Stadium

| Name | Location | Years |
| Pitbull Stadium | Miami, Florida | 2016–2017, 2019, 2020–present |
| Cobb Stadium | Coral Gables, Florida | 2017; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup |
| St. Thomas University Soccer Field | Miami Gardens, Florida | 2018 |
| Florida International University Soccer Stadium | Miami, Florida | 2018; 2 matches in U.S. Open Cup 2022;1 match in U.S. Open Cup 2023; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup 2024; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup, 4 matches in USL Championship |
| Buccaneer Field | Miami Shores, Florida | 2019 |

## Players and staff
### Current roster

    As of February 11, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | USA | Jonathan Ricketts |
| 3 | DF | VEN | Alejandro Mitrano |
| 4 | DF | PUR | Nicolás Cardona |
| 5 | MF | ARG | Diego Mercado |
| 6 | DF | TOG | Tulu |
| 7 | MF | USA | Allen Gavilanes |
| 8 | MF | ARG | Matías Romero |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Francisco Bonfiglio |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Sebastián Blanco |
| 11 | MF | ARG | Deian Verón |
| 12 | GK | GER | Rafael Martell |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | MF | USA | Daltyn Knutson |
| 16 | MF | PUR | Gerald Díaz |
| 17 | FW | PUR | Ricardo Rivera |
| 18 | FW | ARG | Tobías Zárate |
| 19 | FW | USA | Michael Lawrence |
| 21 | DF | NGA | Bolu Akinyode |
| 22 | MF | ARG | Francesco Celeste |
| 26 | FW | ARG | Lucas Melano |
| 28 | GK | USA | Bill Hamid |
| 29 | FW | USA | Kevin Hoyos |
| 30 | MF | ARG | Cristian Vázquez |
* ^ USL Academy Contract

### Staff

    As of March 9, 2025
| Position | Staff | Nation |
| Head coach | Gastόn Maddoni | Argentina |
| Assistant coach | Matias Farao | Argentina |
| Goalkeeper coach | Cristian Blanco | Argentina |
| Strength & performance coach | Lucas Vaeza | United States |

## Individual records
### Top goalscorers

    As of match played October 26, 2024
(Appearances listed in parentheses next to total)
| | Name | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | Ariel Martínez | 2016–2019, 2021 | 21 (101) | 9 (14) | 1 (7) | 31 (122) |
| 2 | Jaime Chavez | 2016–2018 | 24 (63) | 1 (5) | 3 (6) | 28 (74) |
| 3 | Dylan Mares | 2017–2018, 2019 | 21 (56) | 4 (12) | 2 (9) | 27 (77) |
| 4 | Miguel González | 2019–2020 | 21 (31) | 4 (7) | 0 (1) | 25 (39) |
| 5 | Stefano Pinho | 2017 | 17 (27) | 0 (1) | 4 (3) | 21 (31) |
| 6 | Kyle Murphy | 2022–2023 | 16 (62) | 0 (1) | 1 (3) | 17 (66) |
| 6 | Mohamed Thiaw | 2019–2020 | 15 (30) | 2 (7) | 0 (1) | 17 (38) |
| 7 | Darío Suárez | 2018–2019 | 10 (24) | 4 (12) | 2 (4) | 16 (40) |
| 8 | Joaquín Rivas | 2022–2023 | 14 (42) | 1 (1) | 0 (1) | 15 (44) |
| 8 | Vincenzo Rennella | 2016–2018 | 14 (39) | 0 (1) | 1 (8) | 15 (48) |
| 8 | Kwadwo Poku | 2016–2017 | 13 (49) | 0 (1) | 2 (5) | 15 (55) |

### Most appearances

    As of match played October 26, 2024
(Goals scored listed in parentheses next to total)
| | Name | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | Ariel Martínez | 2016–2019, 2021 | 101 (21) | 14 (9) | 7 (1) | 122 (31) |
| 2 | Bolu Akinyode | 2021–2023 | 92 (2) | 2 (0) | 4 (0) | 98 (2) |
| 3 | Paco Craig | 2021–2023 | 91 (6) | 2 (0) | 3 (0) | 96 (6) |
| 4 | Mario Daniel Vega | 2016–2018 | 75 (0) | 6 (0) | 8 (0) | 89 (0) |
| 5 | Mason Trafford | 2016–2018 | 69 (0) | 6 (0) | 9 (0) | 84 (0) |
| 6 | Rhett Bernstein | 2016–2018 | 66 (2) | 6 (0) | 6 (1) | 78 (3) |
| 7 | Dylan Mares | 2017–2018, 2019 | 56 (21) | 12 (4) | 9 (2) | 77 (27) |
| 8 | Jaime Chavez | 2016–2018 | 63 (24) | 5 (1) | 6 (3) | 74 (28) |
| 9 | Callum Chapman-Page | 2019, 2021–2023 | 63 (5) | 8 (1) | 2 (0) | 73 (6) |
| 10 | Aedan Stanley | 2022–2023 | 64 (0) | 1 (0) | 4 (0) | 69 (0) |
| 10 | Mark Segbers | 2022–2023 | 64 (2) | 1 (0) | 4 (0) | 69 (2) |

### Managerial records

    As of match played October 26, 2024
| Name | From | To | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | %W | Honours |
| Alessandro Nesta | September 1, 2015 | November 17, 2017 | 71 | 35 | 17 | 19 | 111 | 78 | 049.30 | (1) NASL Spring Season (1) NASL Fall Season |
| Paul Dalglish | January 25, 2018 | November 13, 2019 | 45 | 36 | 5 | 4 | 143 | 30 | 080.00 | (2) NPSL Sunshine Conference Championship (2018, 2019) (2) NPSL South Region Championship (2018, 2019) (2) NPSL Championship (2018, 2019) (1) NISA East Coast Championship |
| Nelson Vargas | November 14, 2019 | August 10, 2020 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 000.00 | |
| Paul Dalglish | August 10, 2020 | November 15, 2021 | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 71 | 64 | 043.48 | |
| Anthony Pulis | November 29, 2021 | June 20, 2023 | 54 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 74 | 63 | 035.19 | |
| Lewis Neal (interim) | June 20, 2023 | November 9, 2023 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 24 | 21 | 047.37 | |
| Antonio Nocerino | November 14, 2023 | October 16, 2024 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 27 | 82 | 009.09 | |
| Marcello Alves (interim) | October 16, 2024 | January 23, 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 000.00 | |
| Gastόn Maddoni | January 23, 2025 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— | |

## Club culture

Miami FC draw the bulk of their support from the suburbs in the south and west of Miami.
The club's mascot is Golazo, a seven-foot-tall Kingfisher bird with blue and orange feathers.

### Rivalries

The closest team geographically was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with games between the two sides often labelled the FL Clásico. Fixtures with the other two teams in Florida, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Jacksonville Armada are also keenly contested. These four teams competed for the Coastal Cup over the course of the 2016 season.
After the 2016 season Tampa Bay left the NASL for the United Soccer League and Fort Lauderdale ceased operations because of financial issues. That left Jacksonville as Miami FC's only in-state rival in the NASL. Miami did however face Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Rowdies by a score of 2–0.
When the NASL cancelled the 2018 season, Miami and Jacksonville continued their rivalry in the NPSL in both 2018 and 2019 as both clubs continued operation. The two teams would meet again in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, which saw Miami FC winning 3–1. The team also began a rivalry against Miami United FC dubbed "Magic City Clasico". The teams met in the Second Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup where United shocked FC, 3–1, to advance. They would also meet in the 2022 Edition of the U.S. Open Cup, which Miami FC won 3–0.
They also have a local rivalry with MLS team Inter Miami, who they have played twice the US Open Cup in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, Miami and USL League One side FC Naples formed the Alligator Alley Derby, named after Interstate 75 in Florida between Naples and Fort Lauderdale. The two teams are set to play their first match against one another in the 2025 USL Cup.

### Supporters group

Dade Brigade are the official supporters group of Miami FC and they occupy the east stand of Pitbull Stadium which is known as the Brigade End for home games. They are named for Miami-Dade County.

## Honors
### North American Soccer League

* Spring championship (1): 2017
* Fall championship (1): 2017

### National Premier Soccer League

* Sunshine Conference Championship (2): 2018, 2019
* South Region Championship (2): 2018, 2019
* National Championship (2): 2018, 2019

### National Independent Soccer Association

* East Coast Championship (1): 2019