Sporting Kansas City II
| Logo | |||
| Full name | Swope Park Rangers KC | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Rangers, SPR | ||
| Founded | October 22, 2015 | ||
| Stadium | Shawnee Mission District Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 7,500 | ||
| Owner | Sporting Club | ||
| Head Coach | Paulo Nagamura | ||
| League | United Soccer League | ||
| 2017 | 4th, Western Conference Playoffs: Championship Final | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
|
| |||
The Swope Park Rangers are a United Soccer League (USL) club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. The Rangers play their home games at Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas.
History
On October 22, 2015, the team was officially announced as the USL's 30th franchise, as were the Swope Park Rangers name, color scheme and logo. The Rangers replaced Oklahoma City Energy FC as SKC's USL affiliate, and are named after a nickname for SKC (then the Kansas City Wizards)'s reserve squad in 2008.[1][2] The team will be Sporting Kansas City's third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with Orlando City SC and Oklahoma City Energy FC.[3] Canadian Marc Dos Santos, who led Ottawa Fury FC to the NASL Soccer Bowl in 2015, was named the first head coach of the Rangers on November 20, 2015.[4]
The Rangers finished their inaugural season in 2016 with a 14-10-6 record and finished fourth in the Western Conference. The side advanced to the 2016 USL Cup Final, becoming just the second team in USL history to do so in its inaugural season. The Rangers beat LA Galaxy II, Orange County SC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5-1 to New York Red Bulls II at Red Bull Arena. Goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas and winger Tyler Pasher were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season.
Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, Marc Dos Santos departed to take over at newly founded NASL club the San Francisco Deltas. His assistant for the 2016 campaign, Nikola Popovic, took the reins ahead of the 2017 season. The side continued to have success as Popovic led the team to a 17-8-7 record in the West and another fourth-place finish. Sporting KC also signed four more players from SPR during 2017 in Amer Didic, James Musa, Kharlton Belmar and Kevin Oliveira. Popovic resigned as head coach on November 17, 2017 after leading Swope Park to their second consecutive conference championship.[5]
Location
The team plays at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas.[1][2]
The Rangers have also played matches at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas and Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.
Current roster
As of April 4, 2018.[6]
|}
- ^ Signed to first team contract with MLS affiliate Sporting Kansas City.
- ^ Sporting Kansas City Academy player.
Year-by-year
- As of 13 November 2017
| Year | USL Regular season | Position | Playoffs | Top Scorer 1 | U.S. Open Cup | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Conf. | Overall | Player | Goals | |||
| 2016 | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 45 | 36 | 48 | 4th | 9th | Runners-up |  Mark Anthony Gonzalez
|
9 | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) |
| 2017 | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 37 | 58 | 4th | 5th | Runners-up |  Kharlton Belmar
|
15 | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) |
^ 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.
Head Coaches
- Includes USL Regular season, USL Play-offs and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
| Coach | Nationality | Start | End | Games | Win | Loss | Draw | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Dos Santos | Canada
|
November 20, 2015 | November 21, 2016 | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 50.00 |
| Nikola Popovic[7][8] |  Serbia
|
November 21, 2016 | November 17, 2017 | 36 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 55.56 |
| Paulo Nagamura[9] |  Brazil
|
December 4, 2017 | Present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Average Attendance
| Year | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,753 | 2,329 |
| 2017 | 1,015 | 1,724 |
Staff
Paulo Nagamura – Head Coach
Chris Martinez – Assistant Coach- Gavin McInerney – Goalkeeper Coach
- Joey Harty – Fitness Coach
Honors
References
- ^ a b "Sporting Kansas City Awarded USL's 30th Franchise". United Soccer League. October 22, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "USL expands to Kansas City in 2016 with debut of Swope Park Rangers". October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ "Vermes, Besler Excited By Rangers' Introduction". United Soccer League. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Dos Santos Introduced as Swope Park Rangers' Coach". United Soccer League (USL). Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Swope Park Rangers and head coach Nikola Popovic mutually agree to part ways". Sporting Kansas City. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ https://www.sportingkc.com/players/squad/spr
- ^ "Nikola Popovic and Alec Dufty join Swope Park Rangers technical staff". Sporting Kansas City.
- ^ "Nikola Popovic introduced as Swope Park Rangers head coach". Patrik Bergabo. Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
- ^ "Paulo Nagamura named Swope Park Rangers head coach". Sam Kovzan. Sporting Kansas City. December 4, 2017.
External links
| Baseball |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Football | ||
| Hockey | ||
| Roller derby | ||
| Soccer | ||
| College athletics | ||