# Real Monarchs

Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake training facility in Herriman, Utah, playing out of Zions Bank Stadium. As with Real Salt Lake, the club is owned by David Blitzer and Ryan Smith.
In 2017, the Real Monarchs won the USL Regular Season Championship, the equivalent in the second division of the Supporters Shield. In 2019, the Real Monarchs won their first outright USL Championship, defeating two-time champions Louisville City FC 3–1 at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky. The Monarchs are the second MLS reserve team, after New York Red Bulls II to win the second division title, and the first to do so as USL Championship Western Conference champion.

## History

RSL Academy coach Freddy Juarez was named Head Coach on December 23, 2014. The Monarchs played the LA Galaxy II to a scoreless draw in their USL debut on March 22, 2015 in Carson, California.
At the end of the 2016 season, Freddy Juarez was promoted to be an assistant coach for the Monarchs' parent team, Real Salt Lake and Mike Petke was brought in as his replacement along with Mark Briggs and Jamison Olave as his assistants. On March 29, 2017, Petke was promoted to Real Salt Lake's head coach following the dismissal of Jeff Cassar, and Briggs was announced as his replacement.
On June 19, 2017, the Real Monarchs broke the All-Time USL Record with nine consecutive victories by beating Reno 1868 2–1 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The club won their first ever trophy on October 7, 2017, claiming the USL's regular season title with a 1–1 draw against Whitecaps FC 2.
The 2018 Season finished with a first round playoff exit after Head Coach Mark Briggs was replaced by interim coach Jamison Olave.
Prior to the 2019 season, Martin Vasquez was named head coach. Vasquez resigned from the head coaching position on July 1, 2019. Jamison Olave took over once again as interim coach.
On July 13, 2019, Douglas Martinez Jr. recorded the club's first ever hat trick in a 5-0 win over Tacoma Defiance at Zions Bank Stadium.
On November 9, 2019, Monarchs won the 2019 Western Conference Championship and advanced to the USL Championship finals for the first time in club's history by defeating the El Paso Locomotive FC 2–1 in extra time. On November 17, Real Monarchs won their first USL Championship, defeating two-time champions Louisville City FC 3–1 at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The Monarchs were the second MLS reserve team, after New York Red Bulls II to win the second division title.

### MLS Next Pro

The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team MLS Next Pro season starting in 2022.

## Stadium

In 2018, the Real Monarchs began playing home matches at Zions Bank Stadium, a 5,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Herriman. The stadium is adjacent to the training facilities and academy for Real Salt Lake.
the Real Monarchs played their first three seasons at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, the 20,000-seat home of Real Salt Lake.

## Players and staff
### Current roster

    As of July 18, 2024
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 21 | FW | Axel Kei | Ivory Coast |
| 24 | GK | Max Kerkvliet | United States |
| 30 | MF | Owen Anderson | United States |
| 32 | DF | Zackery Farnsworth | United States |
| 33 | DF | Tommy Silva | United States |
| 34 | MF | Luca Moisa | United States |
| 36 | MF | Jesús Barea | Spain |
| 37 | DF | Luis Rivera | United States |
| 38 | MF | Jude Wellings | United States |
| 39 | MF | Aiden Hezarkhani | United States |
| 40 | MF | Omar Marques | United States |
| 41 | DF | Juan Gio Villa | United States |
| 52 | DF | Maximus Jennings | United States |
| 55 | DF | Gio Calderon | United States |
| 67 | DF | Wesley Charpie | United States |
| 72 | FW | Zavier Gozo | United States |
| 76 | MF | Liam O'Gara | United States |
| 77 | DF | Ruben Mesalles | United States |
| 81 | MF | Griffin Dillon | United States |
| 88 | MF | Izzy Amparo | United States |
| 88 | FW | Antonio Riquelme | United States |
| 92 | MF | Noel Caliskan | Germany |
| 99 | GK | Trace Alphin | United States |
| — | FW | Prince Abban | Ghana |
| — | DF | Loic Adjalala | Benin |
| — | DF | Kevin Bonilla | United States |
| — | FW | Grayson Carter | United States |
| — | GK | William Mackay | United States |
| — | FW | Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos | Brazil |

### Out on loan

| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 47 | MF | Damien Barker John (at Huntsville City FC) | United States |

### Technical & coaching staff

| Title | Name |
| General manager | Vacant |
| Assistant General manager | Tony Beltran |
| Head coach | Mark Lowry |
| Assistant coach | Vacant |
| Assistant coach | Vacant |
| Goalkeeping coach | Nick Rimando |
| Video analyst | Preston Gayton |
| Strength and Conditioning Coach | Ryan Thamm |
| Head athletic trainer | Kyle "Simi" Simkovich |
| Head team physician | Stephen Kirk |
| Team administrator | |
| Logistics coordinator | Kasia Kampf |
| Kit man | Randy Butts |
Last updated: March 11, 2021 Source: Real Monarchs

### Head coaches

    As of October 4, 2020
Real Monarchs Coaching Stats :
| Coach | Start | End | Games | Win | Loss | Tie | Win % |
| Freddy Juarez | December 23, 2014 | December 6, 2016 | 60 | 18 | 28 | 14 | 30.00% |
| Mike Petke | December 22, 2016 | March 29, 2017 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Mark Briggs | March 29, 2017 | August 23, 2018 | 56 | 35 | 11 | 10 | 62.50% |
| Jámison Olave (interim) | August 23, 2018 | January 21, 2019 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 27.27% |
| Martín Vásquez | January 21, 2019 | July 1, 2019 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 40.00% |
| Jámison Olave (interim) | July 1, 2019 | November 20, 2019 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 60.87% |
| Jámison Olave | November 20, 2019 | present | 100 | 25 | 66 | 9 | 29.50% |

## Honors

* USL Championship Cup
** Winners: 2019
* USL Regular Season
** Winners: 2017
* Western Conference
** Winners (Regular season): 2017
** Winners (Playoffs): 2019
* Four Corners Cup
** Winners: 2019

## All-time top goalscorers

* Players in bold are still active with Real Monarchs; includes all competitive matches.
* Includes regular season and playoffs.
    As of November 12, 2019
| Rank | Player | Years | Goals |
| 1 | Chandler Hoffman | 2017–2018 | 29 |
| 2 | Maikel Chang | 2018–present | 18 |
| 3 | Douglas Martinez | 2019–2021 | 17 |
| 4 | Sebastián Velásquez | 2017–2018 | 16 |
| 5 | Jack Blake | 2018–2020 | 13 |
| 6 | Kalen Ryden | 2018–2020 | 9 |
| 6 | Ricardo Velazco | 2015–2017 | 9 |
| 6 | Max Rauhofer | 2015 | 9 |
| 9 | Charlie Adams | 2016–2018 | 8 |
| 10 | Daniel Haber | 2017 | 7 |

## Record

'Year-by-year'
| Year | Division | League | Regular season W–L–T | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Avg. attendance |
| 2015 | 3 | USL | 7–13–8 12th, Western | Did not qualify | Third Round | 4,968 |
| 2016 | 3 | USL | 10–14–6 11th, Western | Did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | 2,528 |
| 2017 | 2 | USL | 19–5–6 1st, Western | Conference Quarter-finals | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | 2,195 |
| 2018 | 2 | USL | 19–12–3 4th, Western | Conference Quarter-finals | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | 1,731 |
| 2019 | 2 | USLC | 16–10–8 4th, Western | Champions | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | 1,983 |
| 2020 | 2 | USLC | 3–11–2 14th, Western 4th, Group C | Did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | N/A |
| 2021 | 2 | USLC | 5–20–7 14th, Western | Did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | N/A |
| 2022 | 3 | MLSNP | 6–14–4 10th, Western | Did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | N/A |
| 2023 | 3 | MLSNP | 8–15–5 12th, Western | Did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS reserve team) | N/A |

## Broadcasting

Starting in 2022, every Real Monarchs match is available via stream through MLS Next Pro on their website. In 2023, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, select matches are available via MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.

## Supporters

The Wasatch Legion is the official Supporters Group for the Monarchs. The group stands behind the North Goal at Zions Bank Stadium.