Miami FC

For the Football Club known as Miami FC from 2006 to 2010, see Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016).

Not to be confused with FC Miami City, Miami Fusion, or Inter Miami CF.

Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.

Miami FC

Full name	The Miami Football Club
Founded	May 20, 2015; 10 years ago (2015-05-20)
Stadium	Pitbull Stadium
Capacity	20,000
Owner	Riccardo Silva
CEO	Michael Williamson
Head Coach	Gastόn Maddoni
League	USL Championship
2024	12th, Eastern Conference Playoffs: DNQ
Website	miamifc.com
Home colors Away colors Third colors
Current season

The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 season. Following the demise of the NASL, the club participated in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) before moving to the USL Championship for the 2020 season. The team currently plays its home games at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of Florida International University.

History

North American Soccer League

The club was announced on May 20, 2015, as the 12th North American Soccer League franchise with plans to begin play in the 2016 season and later confirmed it would play out of Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium on the campus of Florida International University.^[1][2] The team, co-owned by media entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and former Italy national team defender Paolo Maldini, came only one year after former England national team star and Major League Soccer legend David Beckham announced his intent to launch an MLS team in the city.^[3][4]

In September 2015, Alessandro Nesta was appointed as the club's first coach.^{[citation needed]} On November 20, 2015, Italian sportswear company Macron were announced as the club's kit suppliers on a three-year deal.^[5]

Nesta resigned as coach following the completion of the 2017 season, on 17 November.^[6]

Miami FC 2 logo

National Premier Soccer League and 'Miami FC 2'

In January 2018, following the suspension and later cancellation of the 2018 NASL season, the organization announced the creation of "The Miami FC 2" in the National Premier Soccer League with 12 members of its 2017 NASL roster.^[7][8] The intention was for Miami FC's players to play with Miami FC 2 while waiting for the NASL's proposed winter schedule to take effect.^[9][10] The team hired Paul Dalglish as the new head coach on January 25.^[11] The team played its home matches at its former training grounds on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.^[12]

The team went on to dominate the regular season in the NPSL's Sunshine Conference. Only one loss to Jacksonville Armada FC in the regular season led the team to finish top of the table and in the conference playoffs the beat the Armada, 3–1, to win its first NPSL trophy.^[13][14] After advancing in the national playoffs, including winning the NPSL South Region, Miami FC 2 won the organization's first ever league championship when it defeated FC Motown, 3–1, for the NPSL National Championship on August 4.^[15]

For the 2019 NPSL season, the team returned to playing as Miami FC and repeated its previous year's success by finishing atop the regular season table and winning the Sunshine Conference over Miami United FC, 3–2.^[16] It won the South Region for a second straight year before becoming the first club to win a second NPSL National Championship when it defeated the New York Cosmos B, 3–1, and earning the organization's eighth trophy in three years.^[17][18]

Historical chart of Miami's regular season performance within the American soccer pyramid

National Independent Soccer Association

On November 15, 2018, the NPSL announced that Miami would be a founding member in a new professional league, commencing with the "NPSL Founders Cup" competition from August to November 2019, followed by a full league schedule in 2020 at either division 2 or 3 level.^[19][20][21] However, on July 24, 2019, it was announced that Miami would instead join the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the inaugural Fall 2019 season.^[22][23] The team went undefeated through seven games during the regular season, clinching the top playoff spot in the East Coast Conference. On November 9, Miami won the NISA East Coast Championship over Stumptown Athletic, its ninth trophy in three years.^[24][25]

USL Championship

On December 11, 2019, former USL Championship club Ottawa Fury FC announced that it had sold its franchise rights to the Miami FC ownership group, and the club would begin competition in the league beginning with the 2020 season.^[26][27]

Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, head coach and technical director Paul Dalglish left the team.^[28] On November 29, former Inter Miami CF assistant coach Anthony Pulis was named Miami FC's new head coach.^[29] In 2023, halfway through the season, Pulis stepped down as Head Coach. Lewis Neal was named Interim head coach for the remainder of the season.^[30] Antonio Nocerino, a former AC Milan and Orlando City SC player, became the next head coach.

Sponsorship

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2016–2019	Macron	—
2020–present		Helbiz[31]

Record

Year-by-year

Season	League	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts.	Overall	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Top goalscorer		Manager
														Name	League
2016	NASL	Spring	11th	10	1	4	5	7	15	7	7th	did not qualify	3R	Darío Cvitanich	9	Alessandro Nesta
		Fall	5th	22	9	6	7	31	27	33
2017		Spring	1st	16	11	3	2	33	11	36	1st	Semifinals	QF	Stefano Pinho	17
		Fall	1st	16	10	3	3	28	17	33
2018[a]	NPSL	Sunshine Conference	1st	12	8	3	1	30	5	27	1st	Champions	2R	Jaime Chavez	9	Paul Dalglish
2019		Sunshine Conference	1st	10	9	0	1	48	5	27	1st	Champions	1R	Miguel González	13
2019–20[b]	NISA	East Coast Conference	1st	6	4	2	0	19	6	14	1st	Champions		Dylan Mares	5
2020	USLC	Group H, Eastern Conference	3rd	16	4	4	8	20	34	16	24th	did not qualify	Cancelled	Romario Williams	8	Nelson Vargas[c] Paul Dalglish
2021		Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference	4th	32	16	6	10	55	40	54	8th	Conference Quarterfinals	Cancelled	Christiano François	11	Paul Dalglish
2022		Eastern Conference	6th	34	15	10	9	47	32	55	9th	Conference Quarterfinals	3R	Kyle Murphy	10	Anthony Pulis
2023		Eastern Conference	9th	34	11	8	15	43	44	41	20th	did not qualify	3R	Joaquín Rivas	10	Anthony Pulis[d] Lewis Neal
2024		Eastern Conference	12th	34	3	2	29	26	89	11	24th	did not qualify	3R	Frank López	7	Antonio Nocerino[e] Marcello Alves
2025		Eastern Conference	12th	2	0	0	2	1	4	0	24	TBD	2R	Francisco Bonfiglio	2	Gastόn Maddoni

Average attendance

Year	Reg. Season	Playoffs
2016	5,427	–
2017	5,172	7,115
2019[f]	569	1,309
2020[g]	N/A	–
2021[h]	699	–
2022	1,144	–
2023	1,432	–
2024	1,075	–

Stadium

Name	Location	Years
Pitbull Stadium	Miami, Florida	2016–2017, 2019,[i] 2020–present
Cobb Stadium	Coral Gables, Florida	2017; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup[34]
St. Thomas University Soccer Field	Miami Gardens, Florida	2018
Florida International University Soccer Stadium	Miami, Florida	2018; 2 matches in U.S. Open Cup[35][36] 2022;1 match in U.S. Open Cup 2023; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup[37] 2024; 1 match in U.S. Open Cup,[38] 4 matches in USL Championship
Buccaneer Field	Miami Shores, Florida	2019

Players and staff

Current roster

Miami FC President and co-owner, Riccardo Silva (center) with Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (left) and former head coach, Alessandro Nesta (right)

As of July 9, 2025^[39]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  USA Jonathan Ricketts 3 DF  VEN Alejandro Mitrano 4 DF  PUR Nicolás Cardona 5 MF  ARG Diego Mercado 6 DF  TOG Tulu 7 MF  USA Allen Gavilanes 8 MF  ARG Matías Romero 9 FW  ARG Francisco Bonfiglio 10 MF  ARG Sebastián Blanco 11 MF  ARG Deian Verón 12 GK  GER Rafael Martell 13 MF  USA Daltyn Knutson 16 MF  PUR Gerald Díaz 17 FW  PUR Ricardo Rivera 18 FW  ARG Tobías Zárate

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  USA Michael Lawrence 21 DF  NGA Bolu Akinyode 22 MF  ARG Francesco Celeste 23 MF  USA Tobias Mas ([A]) 25 MF  ARG Nacho Jiménez 26 FW  ARG Lucas Melano 27 MF  USA Aaron Acloque 28 GK  USA Bill Hamid 29 FW  USA Kevin Hoyos 30 MF  ARG Cristian Vázquez 31 GK  URU Felipe Rodriguez ([A]) 33 FW  BRA Lucas DePaula ([A]) 34 DF  USA Victor Arana ([A]) 35 FW  JAM Brandon Bent ([A]) 93 DF  DOM Danco

1. ^
   USL Academy Contract

Staff

As of March 9, 2025^[40]

Position	Staff	Nation
Head coach	Gastόn Maddoni	Argentina
Assistant coach	Matias Farao	Argentina
Goalkeeper coach	Cristian Blanco	Argentina
Strength & performance coach	Lucas Vaeza	United States

Individual records

Top goalscorers

As of match played October 26, 2024

(Appearances listed in parentheses next to total)

	Name	Years	League	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Total
1	Ariel Martínez	2016–2019, 2021	21 (101)	9 (14)	1 (7)	31 (122)
2	Jaime Chavez	2016–2018	24 (63)	1 (5)	3 (6)	28 (74)
3	Dylan Mares	2017–2018, 2019	21 (56)	4 (12)	2 (9)	27 (77)
4	Miguel González	2019–2020	21 (31)	4 (7)	0 (1)	25 (39)
5	Stefano Pinho	2017	17 (27)	0 (1)	4 (3)	21 (31)
6	Kyle Murphy	2022–2023	16 (62)	0 (1)	1 (3)	17 (66)
6	Mohamed Thiaw	2019–2020	15 (30)	2 (7)	0 (1)	17 (38)
7	Darío Suárez	2018–2019	10 (24)	4 (12)	2 (4)	16 (40)
8	Joaquín Rivas	2022–2023	14 (42)	1 (1)	0 (1)	15 (44)
8	Vincenzo Rennella	2016–2018	14 (39)	0 (1)	1 (8)	15 (48)
8	Kwadwo Poku	2016–2017	13 (49)	0 (1)	2 (5)	15 (55)

Most appearances

As of match played October 26, 2024

(Goals scored listed in parentheses next to total)

	Name	Years	League	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Total
1	Ariel Martínez	2016–2019, 2021	101 (21)	14 (9)	7 (1)	122 (31)
2	Bolu Akinyode	2021–2023	92 (2)	2 (0)	4 (0)	98 (2)
3	Paco Craig	2021–2023	91 (6)	2 (0)	3 (0)	96 (6)
4	Mario Daniel Vega	2016–2018	75 (0)	6 (0)	8 (0)	89 (0)
5	Mason Trafford	2016–2018	69 (0)	6 (0)	9 (0)	84 (0)
6	Rhett Bernstein	2016–2018	66 (2)	6 (0)	6 (1)	78 (3)
7	Dylan Mares	2017–2018, 2019	56 (21)	12 (4)	9 (2)	77 (27)
8	Jaime Chavez	2016–2018	63 (24)	5 (1)	6 (3)	74 (28)
9	Callum Chapman-Page	2019, 2021–2023	63 (5)	8 (1)	2 (0)	73 (6)
10	Aedan Stanley	2022–2023	64 (0)	1 (0)	4 (0)	69 (0)
10	Mark Segbers	2022–2023	64 (2)	1 (0)	4 (0)	69 (2)

Managerial records

As of match played October 26, 2024

Name	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W	Honours	Notes
Alessandro Nesta	September 1, 2015[41]	November 17, 2017[6]	71	35	17	19	111	78	049.30	(1) NASL Spring Season (1) NASL Fall Season
Paul Dalglish	January 25, 2018[42]	November 13, 2019[43]	45	36	5	4	143	30	080.00	(2) NPSL Sunshine Conference Championship (2018, 2019) (2) NPSL South Region Championship (2018, 2019) (2) NPSL Championship (2018, 2019) (1) NISA East Coast Championship
Nelson Vargas	November 14, 2019[44]	August 10, 2020	3	0	0	3	4	11	000.00
Paul Dalglish	August 10, 2020[45]	November 15, 2021[28]	46	20	10	16	71	64	043.48		[j]
Anthony Pulis	November 29, 2021[29]	June 20, 2023[47]	54	19	18	17	74	63	035.19
Lewis Neal (interim)	June 20, 2023	November 9, 2023[48]	19	9	1	9	24	21	047.37
Antonio Nocerino	November 14, 2023[49]	October 16, 2024[50]	33	3	2	28	27	82	009.09
Marcello Alves (interim)	October 16, 2024	January 23, 2025	2	0	0	2	1	11	000.00
Gastόn Maddoni	January 23, 2025[51]	present	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—

Club culture

Miami FC draw the bulk of their support from the suburbs in the south and west of Miami.^{[citation needed]}

The club's mascot is Golazo, a seven-foot-tall Kingfisher bird with blue and orange feathers.^[52]

Rivalries

The closest team geographically was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with games between the two sides often labelled the FL Clásico.^[53] Fixtures with the other two teams in Florida, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Jacksonville Armada are also keenly contested. These four teams competed for the Coastal Cup over the course of the 2016 season.

After the 2016 season Tampa Bay left the NASL for the United Soccer League and Fort Lauderdale ceased operations because of financial issues. That left Jacksonville as Miami FC's only in-state rival in the NASL. Miami did however face Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Rowdies by a score of 2–0.

When the NASL cancelled the 2018 season, Miami and Jacksonville continued their rivalry in the NPSL in both 2018 and 2019 as both clubs continued operation. The two teams would meet again in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, which saw Miami FC winning 3–1. The team also began a rivalry against Miami United FC dubbed "Magic City Clasico". The teams met in the Second Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup where United shocked FC, 3–1, to advance.^[54] They would also meet in the 2022 Edition of the U.S. Open Cup, which Miami FC won 3–0.

They also have a local rivalry with MLS team Inter Miami, who they have played twice the US Open Cup in 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, Miami and USL League One side FC Naples formed the Alligator Alley Derby, named after Interstate 75 in Florida between Naples and Fort Lauderdale.^[55] The two teams are set to play their first match against one another in the 2025 USL Cup.

Supporters group

Dade Brigade are the official supporters group of Miami FC and they occupy the east stand of Pitbull Stadium which is known as the Brigade End for home games.^[56] They are named for Miami-Dade County.

Honors

North American Soccer League

• Spring championship (1): 2017
• Fall championship (1): 2017

National Premier Soccer League

• Sunshine Conference Championship (2): 2018, 2019
• South Region Championship (2): 2018, 2019
• National Championship (2): 2018, 2019

National Independent Soccer Association

• East Coast Championship (1): 2019

Notes

1. Competed as Miami FC 2
2. Only competed in Fall 2019 portion of the season
3. Until August 10, 2020
4. Until June 20, 2023
5. Until October 16, 2024
6. Only includes National Independent Soccer Association attendances
7. Games were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic
8. First seven home matches were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were not used to find the average
9. One regular season National Independent Soccer Association match & the 2019 NISA East Coast Championship^[32][33]
10. During the 2021 USL Championship season Dalglish tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to perform his duties as head coach. Assistant coach Andy Thomson ran the squad for three matches between July 7 and July 17 and earned a record of 3-0-0.^[46] However, USL does not acknowledge this and still lists Dalglish as the head coach during this time.