 | |||
| Full name | Valley United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 | ||
| Dissolved | 2022 | ||
| Stadium | Bell Bank Park Mesa, Arizona | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| LLC Members | Majority-Troy Pearce, Yuval Raichman, Adrian Gaitan, Marcelo Piana | ||
| Chairman | Troy M Pearce (Managing Member) | ||
| Head Coach | Danny De Olivera | ||
| League | National Independent Soccer Association | ||
Valley United FC was an American professionalsoccer club based inPhoenix, Arizona that played in theNational Independent Soccer Association, in the 3rd tier of theUS soccer pyramid, from 2022.[1]
Valley United FC was founded in 2020 asAtletico Olympians FC and joinedUPSL in the same year, as played in the Southwest Conference,Arizona Division.[2] In the summer of 2021, the team also participated in2021 NISA Independent Cup, as played in Southwest Region. In September 2021, the team rebranded as "Valley United Football Club" and was accepted into the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the 2022 season.[3] Valley United FC was the first Latino-owned club in the nascent league.[4] At the time of their founding, VUFC was one of three professional soccer teams in Arizona alongsideUSL Championship sidePhoenix Rising FC and USL1 clubFC Tucson. The club's reserve team,Valley United FC U23 participated in the Southwest Region of theNISA Nation, at an amateur soccer league sanctioned by theUS Amateur Soccer Association.
The club participated in the2022 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup competition, falling 0-1 in the second round to cross-town rivalPhoenix Rising in extra time.[5]
On May 17, 2022, the team announced that they were working through "internal roster issues at the club" which resulted in the resignation of Head Coach Adrian Gaitan and General Manager Yuval Raichman and Danny De Olivera was promoted to the team's head coach.[6][7][8] The issues, identified as alleged violations of United States Immigration law, involved six players, who were released from the club. The roster violations resulted in a forfeit of six league matches. The team went on to play three more matches before suspending operations for the season on July 26, 2022. To promote "sporting integrity," all VUFC results were removed, ultimately resulting in a forfeit of the entire season.[9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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 Sports teams based inArizona | ||
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| Australian rules football |  | |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Football | ||
| Hockey | ||
| Pickleball |
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| Roller derby | ||
| Rugby |
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| Soccer |
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| College athletics (NCAA Division I) | ||
| College athletics (NAIA) | ||
| College athletics (NJCAA) |
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