# 2025 Forward Madison FC season

The 2025 Forward Madison FC season is the seventh season in the soccer team's history, where they compete in USL League One of the third division of American soccer.

## Overview

Forward Madison enters the 2025 season on the heels of what was arguably their best season. In 2024, the team finished 3rd in the USL League One table, their highest finish ever, and reached the semifinals of the USL League One playoffs. Additionally, they were runners-up in the inaugural USL Cup, losing on penalties in the final. The team returns over half of the 2024 roster, including All-USL League One First Team defender and Defender of the Year nominee Mitch Osmond, Goalkeeper of the Year nominee Bernd Schipmann, and All-League One First Team midfielder Devin Boyce, though they did lose club all-time leading goalscorer Christian Chaney to Charlotte Independence. The large core of players returning from the previous year's successful season had Forward Madison considered to be an early preseason favorite to win the 2025 USL League One title. Various power rankings placed Forward Madison in the top half of the league leading up to the start of the season.
The schedule for both the 2025 USL League One season and the 2025 USL Cup were announced on December 19th. In the regular season, Forward Madison will play each team twice, with the exception of Richmond Kickers, Union Omaha, Westchester SC, and Texoma FC, each of whom they will play three times. Forward Madison will be facing USL Championship clubs Indy Eleven and Birmingham Legion FC in the USL Cup; this marks the first time that Forward Madison have played a competitive match against a team in USL Championship since 2019, when they defeated El Paso Locomotive FC and lost to Saint Louis FC in the 2019 U.S. Open Cup, and the first time the team has ever hosted a USL Championship club.
In January, Forward Madison announced a partnership with Brazilian club Amazonas, who were competing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B at the time of the announcement. It was the first partnership between a USL League One club and a Brazilian club. As part of this partnership, Amazonas sent forward Adrien Graffin on loan to Madison.

## Club
### Roster

| No. | Pos. | Name | Date of birth (age) | Since | On loan from |
| 1 | GK | Bernd Schipmann | (1994-07-05) July 5, 1994 (age 30) | 2023 | |
| 2 | DF | Michael Chilaka | (2000-02-05) February 5, 2000 (age 25) | 2024 | |
| 4 | DF | Mitch Osmond | (1994-03-11) March 11, 1994 (age 31) | 2022 | |
| 5 | DF | Timmy Mehl | (1995-08-31) August 31, 1995 (age 29) | 2023 | |
| 6 | MF | John Murphy | (2000-04-19) April 19, 2000 (age 24) | 2024 | |
| 8 | MF | Devin Boyce | (1996-09-08) September 8, 1996 (age 28) | 2024 | |
| 10 | MF | Aiden Mesias | (1999-10-23) October 23, 1999 (age 25) | 2023 | |
| 12 | FW | Garrett McLaughlin | (1997-11-10) November 10, 1997 (age 27) | 2024 | |
| 16 | DF | Jake Crull | (1997-10-03) October 3, 1997 (age 27) | 2023 | |
| 17 | FW | Derek Gebhard | (1995-10-15) October 15, 1995 (age 29) | 2021 | |
| 19 | FW | Juan Galindrez | (1994-07-04) July 4, 1994 (age 30) | 2024 | |
| 24 | FW | Nazeem Bartman | (1993-08-13) August 13, 1993 (age 31) | 2022 | |
| 25 | DF | Ferrety Sousa | (1990-12-25) December 25, 1990 (age 34) | 2024 | |
| — | DF | Laurie Bell | (1992-09-01) September 1, 1992 (age 32) | 2025 | |
| — | FW | Nico Brown | (1998-08-11) August 11, 1998 (age 26) | 2025 | Lexington SC |
| — | MF | José Carrera-García | (1995-07-20) July 20, 1995 (age 29) | 2025 | |
| — | MF | Jackson Dietrich | (1996-09-27) September 27, 1996 (age 28) | 2025 | |
| — | MF | Chris Garcia | (2003-01-13) January 13, 2003 (age 22) | 2025 | |
| — | FW | Adrien Graffin | (2004-01-02) January 2, 2004 (age 21) | 2025 | Amazonas |
| — | GK | Wallis Lapsley | (1997-04-14) April 14, 1997 (age 27) | 2025 | |
| — | DF | Eddie Munjoma | (1998-07-18) July 18, 1998 (age 26) | 2025 | |

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position |
| Matt Glaeser | Head coach and technical director |
| Neil Hlavaty | Assistant coach |
| Jim Launder | Assistant coach |
| John Pascarella | Assistant coach |
| Aaron Hohlbein | Assistant coach |

### Front office staff

| Name | Position |
| Conor Caloia | Chief operating officer |
| Vern Stenman | President |
| Keith Tiemeyer | Director of Soccer Operations & Development |

## Player movement
### Returning players

| Date | Position | Player | Notes |
| | FW | Garrett McLaughlin | Under contract |
| December 9, 2024 (2024-12-09) | GK | Bernd Schipmann | Re-signed |
| December 11, 2024 (2024-12-11) | MF | John Murphy | Contract option exercised |
| December 13, 2024 (2024-12-13) | DF | Ferrety Sousa | Contract option exercised |
| December 16, 2024 (2024-12-16) | DF | Mitch Osmond | Re-signed |
| December 20, 2024 (2024-12-20) | FW | Juan Galindrez | Contract option exercised |
| December 23, 2024 (2024-12-23) | FW | Derek Gebhard | Contract option exercised |
| December 25, 2024 (2024-12-25) | DF | Jake Crull | Re-signed |
| December 27, 2024 (2024-12-27) | MF | Aiden Mesias | Re-signed |
| December 30, 2024 (2024-12-30) | FW | Nazeem Bartman | Contract option exercised |
| January 1, 2025 (2025-01-01) | DF | Michael Chilaka | Re-signed |
| January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03) | MF | Devin Boyce | Contract option exercised |
| January 8, 2025 (2025-01-08) | DF | Timmy Mehl | Re-signed |

### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Player | Last team | Type |
| January 13, 2025 (2025-01-13) | MF | Jackson Dietrich | Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC | Free transfer |
| January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17) | MF | Chris Garcia | El Paso Locomotive FC | Free transfer |
| January 22, 2025 (2025-01-22) | GK | Wallis Lapsley | Union Omaha | Free transfer |
| January 31, 2025 (2025-01-31) | FW | Adrien Graffin | Amazonas | Loan |
| February 4, 2025 (2025-02-04) | FW | Nico Brown | Lexington SC | Loan |
| February 12, 2025 (2025-02-12) | MF | José Carrera-García | Central Valley Fuego FC | Free transfer |
| March 11, 2025 (2025-03-11) | DF | Laurie Bell | | Free transfer |
| March 13, 2025 (2025-03-13) | DF | Eddie Munjoma | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Player | To | Type |
| November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | FW | Agustín Dávila | | Contract expired |
| November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | FW | Cherif Dieye | | Contract expired |
| November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | MF | Wolfgang Prentice | Oakland Roots SC | End of loan |
| November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | GK | Martin Sanchez | | Contract expired |
| November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18) | MF | Jimmie Villalobos | One Knoxville SC | End of loan |
| December 22, 2024 (2024-12-22) | FW | Mauro Cichero | | Retired |
| December 23, 2024 (2024-12-23) | DF | Stephen Payne | Westchester SC | Free transfer |
| March 12, 2025 (2025-03-12) | FW | Christian Chaney | Charlotte Independence | Free transfer |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| USL League One | March 15, 2025 (2025-03-15) | October 25, 2025 (2025-10-25) | Matchday 1 | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| U.S. Open Cup | March 20, 2025 (2025-03-20) | TBD | First round | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| USL Cup | April 26, 2025 (2025-04-26) | TBD | Group stage | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
Source: Competitions

### USL League One
#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: USL League One

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Stadium | A | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | H | A | H | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | A |
| Result | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Position | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Matches
### U.S. Open Cup

As a member of USL League One, Forward Madison FC will participate in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup. They will enter in the first round of the competition, taking place from March 18–20, 2025.

### USL Jägermeister Cup
#### Standings — Group 3

| Pos | Lg | Teamvte | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | USLC | Birmingham Legion FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | USL1 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | USL1 | Forward Madison FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | USLC | Indy Eleven | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | USL1 | One Knoxville SC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | USLC | FC Tulsa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: USL League One