 | |||
| Full name | Orlando City B | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Lions, OCB | ||
| Founded | June 30, 2015 (9 years ago) (2015-06-30) | ||
| Stadium | Osceola County Stadium Kissimmee, Florida | ||
| Capacity | 5,400 | ||
| Owner | Orlando City SC | ||
| Head coach | Manuel Goldberg | ||
| League | MLS Next Pro | ||
| 2023 | 5th, Eastern Conference Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals | ||
| Website | http://www.orlandocitysc.com/ocb | ||
 Current season | |||
Orlando City B (orOCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays inMLS Next Pro. Owned byOrlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility inKissimmee, the club plays its home games atOsceola County Stadium.[1]
The club played in multiple leagues, beginning with theUnited Soccer League, the second tier of theUS soccer pyramid in 2016 and 2017,[2] before electing to forgo the 2018 season and join the newly formed third division,USL League One, in its inaugural 2019 season.[3] After another season on hiatus in 2021, the team became an inaugural member ofMLS Next Pro.
On June 30, 2015,Orlando City SC announced that they would operate a USL club starting in 2016[4] in the Central Florida area. The team would be their direct USL affiliate, and Orlando City andLouisville City (their USL affiliate club for 2015) had negotiated a "long-term formal partnership" to replace their affiliation arrangement.[5]
Orlando City also announced thatAnthony Pulis would coach the new team. Pulis was a player forOrlando City SC's USL club from 2011 to 2014 and is the son ofTony Pulis, manager of numerousEnglish Premier League sides.[5] On August 11, 2015, Arizona United announced thatRob Valentino would retire from playing[6] to take the assistant coach role for Orlando's new USL team.[7]
On October 15, 2015, the club was officially branded Orlando City B, with home games to be played inMelbourne at the Titan Soccer Complex on the campus ofEastern Florida State College.[8] In addition, OCB announced its first ever player signings: defendersMikey Ambrose andKyle Callan-McFadden, and midfielderTony Rocha.[9]
On August 12, 2016, in a game againstNew York Red Bulls II, Orlando City B participated in the first competitive match in North America to employVideo Assistant Referee technology.[10] They finished their debut season 8th in the Eastern Conference, the final qualifying spot for playoffs. They lost in the Conference Quarterfinal to New York Red Bulls II 4–0.[11]
In November 2016 it was announced that OCB would be moving to the newly openedOrlando City Stadium in time for the 2017 season.[12] The team finished the season in 9th place, two points short of the playoffs, but finished one place higher in the overall standings than their debut season.
On January 12, 2018, the organization declared its intention to forgo the 2018 season as they continued to assess their minor league participation, a move that had looked likely by this point with OCB only having one player under contract and lacking a manager following Anthony Pulis' departure forSaint Louis FC in November.[13]
In June 2018, the club announced it was to become a founding member of USL's new third-tier league,USL League One, scheduled to begin play in 2019.[14] It was hoped the move would lead OCB to better act as an upward transitional stepping-stone between Orlando City's Development Academy and the seniorMLS team. On October 3, 2018,Fernando De Argila was announced as head coach. He had previously been head coach and director of methodology at theSoccer Institute at Montverde Academy.[15] After winning only three of the opening 19 games, De Argila was sacked in July 2019. Roberto Sibaja acted as interim head coach from the rest of the season as the team finished in last place.[16]
In May 2019, the team announced plans to relocate OCB as part of a wider vision to house all of Orlando City's development pyramid at the same location for the first time, creating a 20-acre training complex at Osceola Heritage Park to house the senior MLS team, OCB and Development Academy.[17] Orlando City B will play their matches at the new site starting in the 2020 season following the departure ofminor league baseball teamFlorida Fire Frogs.[18] Ahead of the season it was announced Orlando City Academy Director Marcelo Neveleff would be the team's new head coach.[19]
In October 2020, the team announced it was withdrawing from USL1 at the end of the season with a possibility of an MLS reserve league launching in 2021.[20][21][22]
After spending the 2021 season on hiatus, the club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-teamMLS Next Pro season starting in 2022.[23]
Tim Holt, Orlando's vice president of development, said that they would be looking for a stadium inCentral Florida in order to facilitate the training of emerging players with the MLS team. Holt was the president of USL until May 2015.[4]Eastern Florida State College's stadium was visited by team personnel as a possible location.[24]
On August 21, 2015, the VP for athletics atEastern Florida State College claimed in a pitch to theBrevard County Tourist Development Council's Sports Commission that the college'sTitan Soccer Complex and a stadium in Deland were among the finalists to host games for the USL team.[25] Said plan was approved and the Titan Sports Complex at ECSC was OCB's official home venue for the 2016 season.[8][9]
For the 2017 season in the USL, Orlando City B moved to Orlando City's newly built home stadium,Orlando City Stadium.
For the 2019 season in USL League One, the team moved toMontverde Academy.[26]
In 2020, as part of a club-wide move, the team relocated again, this time to the new Orlando City training facility at Osceola Heritage Park alongside both the senior MLS team and Development Academy. Matches are played at the complex's newly converted 5,400 seatOsceola County Stadium.[1]
| Executive | |
|---|---|
| Chairman and majority owner | Mark Wilf |
| General manager | Luiz Muzzi |
| Coaching staff | |
| Head coach | Manuel Goldberg |
| Goalkeeper coach | Marcos Machado |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Vander Salas |
| Year | Division | League | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Position | Playoffs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||
| 2016 | 3 | USL | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 49 | 35 | 8th | 19th | First round |
| 2017 | 2 | USL | 32 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 37 | 36 | 42 | 9th | 18th | DNQ |
| 2018 | On Hiatus | |||||||||||
| 2019 | 3 | USL1 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 23 | 52 | 16 | N/A | 10th | DNQ |
| 2020 | USL1 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 29 | 6 | 11th | |||
| 2021 | On Hiatus | |||||||||||
| 2022 | 3 | MLSNP | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 40 | 53 | 25 | 9th | 18th | DNQ |
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win%[nb 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Pulis |  Wales | June 30, 2015 | November 20, 2017 | 63 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 72 | 89 | 030.16 |
| Fernando De Argila |  Spain | October 3, 2018 | July 25, 2019 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 33 | 015.79 |
| Roberto Sibaja(interim) |  Costa Rica | July 25, 2019 | December 20, 2019 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 011.11 |
| Marcelo Neveleff |  Argentina | December 20, 2019 | October 16, 2020 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 29 | 006.67 |
| Martín Perelman | Argentina | March 9, 2022 | March 11,2024 | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 40 | 53 | 025.00 |
| Total | 130 | 30 | 32 | 68 | 145 | 223 | 023.08 | |||
