 | |||
| Nickname | The Flamingos | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | May 17, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-05-17) | ||
| Stadium | Breese Stevens Field | ||
| Capacity | 9,333 | ||
| Owner | Big Top Events | ||
| COO | Conor Caloia | ||
| Coach | Matt Glaeser | ||
| League | USL League One | ||
| 2025 | USL League One, 10th of 14 | ||
| Website | forwardmadisonfc | ||
 Current season | |||
Forward Madison FC is an American professionalsoccer team based inMadison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in2019. The team competes inUSL League One, the third division of theUnited Statessoccer league system, and plays their home matches atBreese Stevens Field. It is the sister club ofRally Madison FC, who compete in the women's amateurUSL W League.
In January 2018, it was announced that Big Top Events, which owns theMadison Mallards and has operatedBreese Stevens Field since 2015, were planning to bring a soccer franchise to Madison which would begin in early 2019.[1] As part of the plan, Big Top Events looked to have $2 million invested into renovating the stadium, pending a contract renegotiation with the City of Madison.[2] Big Top Events wished to have a longer-term lease, along with an increase in the number of concerts at the stadium, more employees at the venue, and $1.6 million from the city for facility upgrades.[3]
On May 15, 2018, the Madison City Council approved a new ten-year contract with Big Top Events. As part of the agreement, the city agreed to pay $1.3 million toward facility improvements.[4] This included an expansion of the stadium for a seating capacity of 5,000.[5] Following this, Madison was officially announced as the fourth founding member ofUSL League One on May 17, 2018.[6] The professional league, which is the third division in theUS soccer league system, began in March 2019.[7][8] Madison became the first team based in theMidwestern United States to join the league, and is the only current outdoor professional soccer team inWisconsin.[9] Following the announcement,Peter Wilt was appointed as managing director of the team.[10] Wilt is well known for founding new clubs; Madison was the sixth team Wilt helped launch, having previously been involved in the formation of teams such asChicago Fire andIndy Eleven.[11][12]
In June 2018, Madison Pro Soccer began a "Name Your Club" online voting contest to recommend a name for the team.[13][14] Names under consideration spanned from traditional football names like "Madison United FC" to such whimsical choices as "Holsteins", "MadisonCurds", and "77 Square Miles SC". On July 16, it was announced that the final vote was between the names "Forward Madison FC/SC" and "AFC Madison".[15] Forward Madison FC was announced as the official name on November 18, 2018, along with the logo and team colors, at an event at theWisconsin Historical Society.[16] "Forward" is the state motto of Wisconsin.[17]
On September 27, 2018,Daryl Shore was announced as the first head coach of Madison.[18][19] He will also serve as the technical director of the team.[20][21] Shore had previously worked in various roles at Chicago Fire with Peter Wilt, and served as the interim coach ofReal Salt Lake in 2017.[22][23] In September 2018,Don Smart was the team's first player signing, which was announced on October 24.[24]
On December 7, 2018, the club announced a one-year affiliation agreement withMinnesota United FC ofMajor League Soccer.[25]
Following the club's inaugural season, Peter Wilt left to take a position with the league, developing supporters groups and assisting teams with their fan engagement.[26]
On March 5, 2020, the Forward Madison FC announced a one-year affiliation agreement with theChicago Fire FC ofMajor League Soccer.[27]
On December 1, 2020,Carl Craig was announced as the head coach and technical director. Craig had previously served as the head coach ofNASL clubMinnesota United.[28] Following a 9th-place finish in 2021, Craig was dismissed.[29]
Leading up to the 2022 season,Matt Glaeser was hired as head coach and technical director.[30] In an email to season ticket holders before the final game of the 2022 season,COO Conor Caloia confirmed that Glaeser would return for the 2023 season.[31]
The team started receiving national attention in January 2019, during thepolar vortex, when the social media intern tweeted a photo of aplastic flamingo stuck in the snow accumulating on the field.[32] Within a few days, the snow became deep enough to cover the entire flamingo.[33] This second tweet wentviral, ending up with over 22 thousand likes, and 7.8 thousand retweets.[34] "Full mingo" has become a catchphrase for the team.[33][35]
Forward Madison has continued to have a strong digital media presence, which the club uses to promote itself to fans outside of the Madison area, billing itself as "the world's second favorite team".[35][36]
On May 4, 2019, Forward Madison unveiled its dairy cow mascot, named "Lionela Bessi" following a fan vote.[37][38] The club announced a retirement party for Bessi to be held at their 2024 home opener on April 13, 2024.[39]
The club adopted Bessi's calf as a mascot as well. A second fan vote ended up with the name "Rose Cowbelle", after the University of Wisconsin alumna and pro playerRose Lavelle.[40]
The team plays their matches atBreese Stevens Field in Madison, which was expanded from a grandstand capacity of 3,740 to 5,000.[41] The stadium, which was built in 1925, is the city's oldest sports park. It is owned by the City of Madison and has been operated since 2015 by Big Top Events.[5] The venue has been designated as a city landmark since 1995, and in 2015 was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[42] The stadium hosts theEast High School soccer and football teams, theMadison Radicalsultimate team, as well as other sport competitions, concerts, and community events.[3]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the club moved its2020 USL League One season games toHart Park inWauwatosa, seventy-five miles away.[43][44]
Forward Madison FC's inaugural 2019 season saw an average home attendance of 4,292, the highest inUSL League One.[45][46]
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The team's logo features a flamingo, as the city's official bird is theplastic flamingo lawn ornament.[47] It was designed at Madison-based graphic design firm Planet Propaganda.[48]
The club's light blue color comes from theMadison flag, as does the white sash. At the bottom of the badge, Roman numerals spell out608, the city's area code.[49]
| Kit manufacturer | Period | Shirt sponsor | Sleeve sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|
 Hummel | 2019 | Dairyland Insurance | — |
| 2020–2025 | Just Coffee Co-op |
Forward Madison FC has become known for creating "bold, interesting jerseys year after year".[50] Those jerseys have also been a huge retail success; in their inaugural season, Forward Madison earned twice as much from shirt sales as the rest of USL League One combined. In 2021, team COO Conor Caloia revealed that 20 percent of the club's gross revenue comes from merchandise, as compared to 8-10% for most other teams.[51]
Forward Madison's home jerseys feature a sky blue field with white sash, a reference tothe city's flag (which itself references the geography of the city on an isthmus). A sublimated flamingo design appears on the home shirt, and sublimated pink flamingos dot the club's inaugural white away jersey.[47]
On March 14, 2020, Forward Madison unveiled its second-ever change shirt. The design features diagonal pink stripes, with names of 900 season ticket holders in the white space between.[52] The shirt was designed by members of the supporters group The Flock, in what is believed to be a first for professional sports.[53]
The club's original pink-patterned third jersey, worn inU.S. Open Cup appearances, was selected as the best world soccer jersey in satellite radio channelSiriusXM FC's 2019 "Kit of the Year" competition. It defeated theChicago Red Stars home kit with over 200,000 votes.[54][55] A new third kit, featuring a swirling pattern of navy blue, sky blue, and pink, was unveiled on May 23, 2020.[56][57] Called the "Drip Kit", it was inspired by team designer Cassidy Sepnieski's experiments withhydro dipping.[58]
On June 23, 2021, Forward Madison unveiled a new third kit for 2021, including a fully reversible jersey. Dubbed the "Beach/Club" jersey, it is black with hot pink flamingos on one side, and pink with a hand-drawnAloha shirt-style design on the other featuring flamingoes, palm trees, and theWisconsin State Capitol.[59] They wore the shirt at their next match, playing in the black side for the first half and reversing it to the pink side for the second half. The team believes this was the first time such a change had been pre-planned for a competitive match, as opposed to needing to address clash issues arising during one. The gimmick had been cleared with the USL ahead of time, after the league consulted theLaws of the Game and found no prohibition against it.[51]
Later that year, Forward Madison held an unveiling ceremony in Madison andLondon for the release of an additional shirt to be worn only for friendlies, known as the "Friends With Benefits" shirt. Also designed by Cassidy Sepnieski, the shirt is covered with checkers of team colors pink, sky blue, and dark blue in fading gradients, with one of the squares being aQR code. Fans away from Madison can scan that code to purchase a beer for a fan at Breese Stevens Field. Fans in attendance at a home match can redeem one of the purchased beers and are given the name, location, and social handles of the purchaser so they can reach out to thank them.[60][61] The club's stated intention with this shirt is "to connect the global soccer community through kits and beer".[62]
         2019–2020 |     2021–2022 |     2023–present |
    2019 |    2020 |    2021 |    2022 |
  2019 |    2020 |     2021 |    2021 |    2021 |
The club recognizes six independentsupporters groups, each with a different focus.[63]The Flock is the first and largest group, and the Independent Supporters' Association for the club.[64] The other groups areLa Barra 608, by and for Latino fans,Forward Union with a focus on community service,Featherstone Flamingos, an inclusive group that celebrates Black culture (named forDon Featherstone, creator of the plastic lawn flamingo),Accessimingos, the first supporters group in North America focused on fans with disabilities,[65] andMingo Ladies for supporters who identify as women. A portion of members of the Flock also run a group centered around civic engagement called "Pink Tape".[66]
The club also has an international membership program calledMingos Worldwide, which comes with a scarf bearing their promotional slogan "The World's Second Favorite Team".[36][17]
Alternative rock actThe Racing Pulses wrote the song "Go, Forward!" for Forward Madison FC. The official music video for the song was released in 2020. It was filmed at Breese Stevens Field and featuresMandela Barnes.[67][68][69][70]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Coaching staff | |
|---|---|
 Matt Glaeser | Head Coach and Technical Director |
| Jim Launder | Assistant Coach |
 Patrick Nyarko | Assistant Coach |
| Sport management and organization | |
| Conor Caloia | Chief Operating Officer |
 Matt Cairns | Sporting Director |
| Keith Tiemeyer | Director of Soccer Operations & Development |
| Aaron Hohlbein | Academy Director |
| MLS Next coaches | |
| Laurie Bell | U19 Head Coach |
| Ryan Buda | U16 Head Coach |
| Lee Ferderer | U15 Head Coach |
| Aaron Hohlbein | U13 and U14 Head Coach |
| Ownership | |
| Jim Kacmarcik | Majority partner and governor |
| Conor Caloia | Minority partner and alternate governor |
| Steve Schmitt | Minority partner |
All records as of October 25, 2025 (2025-10-25).
| Season | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | USL Cup | Top scorer | Average attendance | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Player | Goals | ||||||
| 2019 | USL1 | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 26 | 43 | 4th | Semifinals | Third round | — |  Don Smart | 9 | 4,292 |
| 2020 | USL1 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 14 | 21 | 7th | Did not qualify | Cancelled | Michael Vang | 4 | 504 | |
| 2021 | USL1 | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 9th | Did not qualify | Cancelled | Jake Keegan | 6 | 2,761 | |
| 2022 | USL1 | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 34 | 44 | 33 | 9th | Did not qualify | Third round |  Jeremiah Streng | 7 | 3,877 | |
| 2023 | USL1 | 32 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 38 | 40 | 43 | 6th | Quarterfinals | Second round | Christian Chaney | 11 | 4,310 | |
| 2024 | USL1 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 35 | 18 | 39 | 3rd | Semifinals | Second round | Runners-up | Christian Chaney | 12 | 4,083 |
| 2025 | USL1 | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 43 | 35 | 10th | Did not qualify | Second round | Group 3: 5th | Derek Gebhard | 11 | 3,991 |
| 2026 | USL1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Group 4: TBD | — | — | — |
| Total | 186 | 61 | 67 | 58 | 223 | 219 | 250 | ||||||||
All records as of October 25, 2025 (2025-10-25). Includes regular season, playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, USL Cup. Excludes friendlies. Games going to penalty kicks marked as draws.
| Name | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daryl Shore | September 27, 2018 (2018-09-27) | October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) | 48 | 19 | 13 | 16 | 59 | 45 | 039.58 |
| Carl Craig | December 1, 2020 (2020-12-01) | November 4, 2021 (2021-11-04) | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 32 | 34 | 028.57 |
| Matt Glaeser | December 3, 2021 (2021-12-03) | Present | 138 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 167 | 177 | 034.06 |
All statistics as of October 25, 2025 (2025-10-25). Players currently under contract by Forward Madison FC are inbold.
Competitive matches only, includes appearances as substitute. Numbers in parentheses indicate goals scored.
| Rank | Player | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | USL Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Gebhard | 2021– | 133 (26) | 3 (1) | 4 (0) | 12 (2) | 152 (29) |
| 2 |  Jake Crull | 2023–2025 | 81 (4) | 3 (0) | 5 (0) | 14 (0) | 103 (4) |
| 3 | Eric Leonard | 2019–2022 | 95 (1) | 1 (0) | 4 (0) | 0 (0) | 100 (1) |
| 4 |  Mitch Osmond | 2022–2025 | 80 (1) | 3 (0) | 2 (0) | 10 (1) | 95 (2) |
| 5 |  Nazeem Bartman | 2022–2025 | 79 (11) | 1 (0) | 5 (2) | 7 (0) | 92 (13) |
| 6 |  Bernd Schipmann | 2023–2025 | 73 (0) | 3 (0) | 1 (0) | 13 (0) | 90 (0) |
| 7 | Aiden Mesias | 2023–2025 | 71 (6) | 0 (0) | 5 (0) | 12 (0) | 88 (6) |
| 8 | Timmy Mehl | 2023–2025 | 66 (0) | 2 (0) | 4 (0) | 11 (0) | 83 (0) |
| 9 | Connor Tobin | 2019–2021 | 69 (3) | 1 (0) | 3 (0) | 0 (0) | 73 (3) |
| 10 | Stephen Payne | 2023–2024 | 54 (3) | 3 (0) | 3 (0) | 9 (0) | 69 (3) |
Competitive matches only. Numbers in parentheses indicate appearances made.
| Rank | Player | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | USL Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Gebhard | 2021– | 26(133) | 1(3) | 0(4) | 2(12) | 29(152) |
| 2 | Christian Chaney | 2023–2024 | 16(48) | 1(3) | 2(2) | 4(9) | 23(62) |
| 3 | Nazeem Bartman | 2022–2025 | 11(79) | 0(1) | 2(5) | 0(7) | 13(92) |
| 4 |  Juan Galindrez | 2024–2025 | 7(46) | 0(2) | 2(4) | 1(13) | 10(65) |
| Don Smart | 2019–2020 | 9(43) | 0(1) | 1(3) | 0(0) | 10(47) | |
| 6 | Devin Boyce | 2024–2025 | 6(43) | 1(2) | 0(3) | 2(14) | 9(62) |
| 7 |  Lucca Dourado | 2025 | 8(22) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(2) | 8(24) |
| Paulo Jr. | 2019–2020 | 8(43) | 0(1) | 0(2) | 0(0) | 8(46) | |
| 9 | Jeremiah Streng | 2022 | 7(30) | 0(0) | 0(2) | 0(0) | 7(32) |
| 10 | Jake Keegan | 2021 | 6(23) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 6(23) |
| Aiden Mesias | 2023–2025 | 6(71) | 0(0) | 0(5) | 0(12) | 6(88) | |
| Wolfgang Prentice | 2023 2024 | 4(30) | 0(2) | 0(2) | 2(9) | 6(43) |
Competitive matches only. Numbers in parentheses indicate appearances made.
| Rank | Player | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | USL Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Gebhard | 2021– | 12(133) | 0(3) | 0(4) | 0(12) | 12(152) |
| 2 | Paulo Jr. | 2019–2020 | 9(43) | 0(1) | 2(2) | 0(0) | 11(46) |
| 3 | Don Smart | 2019–2020 | 8(43) | 0(1) | 1(3) | 0(0) | 9(47) |
| 4 | Nazeem Bartman | 2022–2025 | 7(79) | 0(1) | 0(5) | 0(7) | 7(92) |
| Devin Boyce | 2024–2025 | 2(43) | 1(2) | 3(3) | 1(14) | 7(62) | |
| Jayden Onen | 2023 | 6(26) | 0(0) | 1(1) | 0(0) | 7(27) | |
| Cyrus Rad | 2021–2022 | 6(40) | 0(0) | 1(1) | 0(0) | 7(41) | |
| 8 | Christian Chaney | 2023–2024 | 5(48) | 0(3) | 0(2) | 1(9) | 6(62) |
| Stephen Payne | 2023–2024 | 5(54) | 1(3) | 0(3) | 0(9) | 6(69) | |
| 10 | Matheus Cassini | 2022 | 5(26) | 0(0) | 0(2) | 0(0) | 5(28) |
| Jake Crull | 2023–2025 | 4(81) | 0(3) | 0(5) | 1(14) | 5(103) | |
| Wolfgang Prentice | 2023 2024 | 4(30) | 0(2) | 0(2) | 1(9) | 5(43) |
Competitive matches only. Numbers in parentheses indicate appearances made.
| Rank | Player | Years | League | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | USL Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernd Schipmann | 2023–2025 | 27(73) | 2(3) | 0(1) | 4(13) | 33(90) |
| 2 |  Brian Sylvestre | 2019 | 5(16) | 0(1) | 2(3) | 0(0) | 7(20) |
| 3 | Phil Breno | 2021–2022 | 5(39) | 0(0) | 1(2) | 0(0) | 6(41) |
| 4 |  Raiko Arozarena | 2022 | 4(16) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 4(16) |
| Chris Brady | 2020 2021 | 4(9) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 4(9) |
| Player | Years |
|---|---|
| Connor Tobin | 2019–2021 |
| Jake Keegan | 2021 |
| Mitch Osmond | 2022–2025 |
| Year | Pos. | Player | Competition | Honor | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | DF |  Christian Díaz | USL League One | First Team All-League | [72] |
| FW | Paulo Jr. | USL League One | Second Team All-League | ||
| 2020 | GK | Chris Brady | USL League One | Young Player of the Year | [73] |
| DF | Connor Tobin | USL League One | Second Team All-League | [74] | |
| 2021 | MF |  Aaron Molloy | USL League One | First Team All-League | [75] |
| DF | Connor Tobin | USL League One | Second Team All-League | ||
| 2022 | DF | Mikey Maldonado | USL League One | Second Team All-League | [76] |
| 2023 | DF | Jake Crull | USL League One | Second Team All-League | [77] |
| 2024 | MF | Devin Boyce | USL League One | First Team All-League | [78] |
| DF | Mitch Osmond | USL League One | First Team All-League | ||
| MF | Jimmie Villalobos | USL League One | Second Team All-League | ||
| 2025 | FW | Derek Gebhard | USL League One | Second Team All-League | [79] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Forward Madison FC | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Seasons (7) | |
| Key personnel |
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