Greater Lowell United FC

Greater Lowell United FC
Full name	Greater Lowell United Football Club
Nickname(s)	GLUFC, Lowell Dragons
Founded	2013 (2013)
Ground	Cawley Memorial Stadium Lowell, Massachusetts
Capacity	6,000
Owner	Manny Andrade
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors

Greater Lowell United FC is an American soccer club based in Lowell, Massachusetts. GLUFC's first-team began play in the North Atlantic Conference of the NPSL in 2014.

The team plays its NPSL home games on an artificial-turf field at historic Cawley Memorial Stadium, located in the Belvidere section of Lowell. In 2014, the NPSL team also played in Bedford and Lawrence, but Cawley is now the permanent home to GLUFC's top team. The junior team plays BSSL matches at Greater Lowell Technical High School.

History

Greater Lowell NPLS Football Club was founded in 2013 as Greater Lowell United FC, an expansion team to join the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) for the 2014 season. GLUFC also fielded two junior teams that season, one in the Massachusetts State Soccer League (MSSL) and one in the Bay State Soccer League (BSSL). The club dropped the MSSL team after the 2014 season but kept a team in the BSSL. In 2015, GLUFC's junior team is only competing in the second half of the 2015 BSSL season.

GLUFC's top team has played two seasons in the NPSL, a national amateur league that includes reserve teams from North American Soccer League (NASL) clubs. In 2014, the team won one game, drew one game and lost 10 games. GLUFC struggled early on under Coach Jason Moore, a former Major League Soccer (MLS) No. 1 draft pick, but rebounded under Coach Daniel Hristov, who replaced Moore after the second game of the season. Shortly after Hristov's arrival, the 2014 team beat the Rhode Island Reds, 2–0, in Bedford, and drew 0–0 with New York Athletic Club in Lawrence. However, Hristov and the club parted ways for the 2015 NPSL season, which saw Luis Costa arrive as head coach. Costa's sides performed well in several matches but failed to achieve results, losing 9 games and drawing one before Costa departed the club with two games left to play. Hayden Barbosa, an assistant coach at Daniel Webster College, coached the final two games, both of which were losses, but one of which was an impressive 2–1 decision dropped to eventual undefeated NPSL champions New York Cosmos reserves in New York.

Barbosa will take over as coach of the NPSL team for the 2016 season, which will likely begin in May. The NPSL team will begin training in April. The NPSL schedule runs for 12 games from May through July. The junior team's BSSL schedule features a split season with spring and fall sessions. In 2015, GLUFC is only participating in the fall session.

GLUFC consistently has the highest attendance numbers in its conference of the NPSL and doubled attendance from 2014 to 2015. The club has a presence on social media, with more than 3000 likes on Facebook and more than 900 followers on Twitter.

In 2015, as goalkeeper Sam Manning earned a spot in the soccer team at Millersville University.

The name was changed to Greater Lowell NPLS Football Club.

Ownership

In the summer of 2013, Lowell locals Tim Melican and Manny Andrade founded GLUFC and began as co-owners of the club. In 2015, Melican left the club altogether and forfeited his ownership share. Andrade is now sole owner of the club. The club also has a board of directors made up of several residents of the Greater Lowell area.

Head coach

Hayden Barbosa will serve as head coach of GLUFC's National Premier Soccer League team in 2016.

Colors and crest

The club's home colors are black and green, while on the road the team wears green and white. The motto Magnus Viridis (Big Green) is prevalent on the club's coat of arms.

External links

• Official website
• YouTube