Midwest United FC

This article is about Midwest United FC. For the now-defunct club GRFC, see Grand Rapids FC.

Midwest United FC is an American soccer club based in Grand Rapids, Michigan that fields teams in MLS NEXT and Elite Clubs National League and senior teams in the Great Lakes Division of USL League Two and USL W League. Midwest United FC is a youth academy affiliate of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew.^[1]

Midwest United FC

Full name	Midwest United Football Club
Founded	1990
Stadium	Midwest United FC Soccer Complex Grand Rapids, Michigan
Executive Director	Lewis Robinson
Head Coach	Joe White (Women) and Luke Ruff (Men)
League	USL W League, USL League Two, MLS NEXT, Elite Clubs National League
Website	https://midwestunitedfc.com/
Home colours Away colours

History

Midwest United FC was founded in 1990 under the moniker GRASA (Grand Rapids Area Soccer Association) and was the first youth select soccer club in Grand Rapids.^[2] The initial registration was 60 players from around the area.

In 1996, Grand Valley Premier SC was formed and was the area's only premier soccer club^{[clarification needed]} for the next 10 years. GRASA and Grand Valley Premier merged in 2007 to form Grand Rapids Crew Juniors, the first junior club affiliate of MLS franchise Columbus Crew. During its time as GR Crew Juniors the club earned a National Championship in 2011 for its U17 Boys.^{[citation needed]}

Grand Rapids Crew Juniors rebranded to Midwest United FC in June 2015.^[3] The U16 Girls team earned the title of US Soccer Development Academy National Champions in 2016.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, the ownership of the women's side Grand Rapids FC was transferred to Midwest United FC.^[4] Originally competing in United Women's Soccer, the club has since moved to USL W League. A men's team was added in 2022 to compete in USL League Two.

In 2024, the men's team qualified for the USL League Two playoffs for the first time since it joined the league.

Home Facility

The team's current home facility is the Midwest United FC Soccer Complex in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Players

Notable current & former players

• Bethany Balcer (2017) now with Seattle Reign FC and called up to the United States national team
• Maddie Pogarch (2017) now with Utah Royals and called up to the United States national U-23 team
• Maia Perez (2018–2021) formerly with Angel City FC
• Riley Tanner (2019–2022) now with Washington Spirit and called up to the Panama national team
• Dylan Sing (2023) now with Crown Legacy FC
• Brad Dunwell (2024-) formerly with Houston Dynamo FC, Oklahoma City Energy, Detroit City FC, Charlotte Independence

Head coaches

• Joe White (2023–present, USL W League)
• Luke Ruff (2023–present, USL League Two)
• Lewis Robinson (2017, 2020–2022)
• Chris Allen (2018)
• James Gilpin (2018–2019)

Honors

USL League Two

• • Playoffs Qualifiers: 2024

United Women's Soccer

• National championships (1): 2017
• Conference season championships (2)
  • Midwest Conference: 2017
  • Midwest North Conference: 2021
• Conference playoff championships (3)
  • Midwest Conference: 2017, 2018, 2021

Minor competitions

• UWS Stadium Showcase: 2020

Year-by-year

Year	Tier	League	Regular Season	Playoffs
2017	2	UWS	1st of 7, Midwest (8–1–1)	UWS champions
2018	2	UWS	2nd of 7, Midwest (7–1–2)	National semifinal
2019	2	UWS	4th of 6, Midwest (3–5–2)	Conference final
2020	2	UWS	Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic[5]
2021	2	UWS	1st of 5, Midwest North (9–0–1)	National semifinal
2022	4	USLW	2nd of 8, Great Lakes (7–3–2)	DNQ
2023	4	USLW	4th of 6, Great Lakes (5–5–2)	DNQ
2024	4	USLW	3rd of 7, Great Lakes (7–0–5)	DNQ
2025	4	USLW	4th of 6, Great Lakes (2–4–4)	DNQ

Historic record vs opponents

Legend
0–0–0	Win–loss-draw
0–0	Win–loss
*	No games played

Opponent	League	Playoffs	MI Cup	Played	Total	GF	GA	GD	Win %
AFC Ann Arbor	3–2–1	*	*	6	3–2–1	9	11	–2	.583
Chicago KICS	1–0	*	*	1	1–0	3	1	+2	1.000
Cleveland Force SC	1–1	*	*	2	1–1	2	2	0	.500
Connecticut Fusion	*	0–1	*	1	0–1	1	2	–1	.000
Corktown AFC	2–0	0–0–1 (1–0 PKs)	*	3	2–0–1	11	7	+4	.833
Detroit City FC	6–0	*	*	6	6–0	17	6	+11	1.000
Detroit Sun FC	4–2	1–0–1 (1–0 PKs)	*	8	5–2–1	15	11	+4	.688
FC Indiana	2–0	1–0	*	3	3–0	16	1	+15	1.000
Flint City AFC	1–3–1	*	*	5	1–3–1	14	13	+1	.300
Fort Wayne United FC	4–0	*	*	4	4–0	19	1	+18	1.000
Genesee FC	1–0	*	*	1	1–0	7	0	+7	1.000
Indiana Elite FC	1–0	*	*	1	1–0	12	0	+12	1.000
Indiana Union[B]	3–1–1	0–1	*	6	3–2–1	31	14	+17	.583
Indy Eleven	0–1	*	*	1	0–1	0	1	–1	.000
Kalamazoo FC	3–1–1	*	*	5	3–1–1	13	7	+6	.700
Kings Hammer FC	1–0–1	*	*	2	1–0–1	3	0	+3	.750
Inferno Rush	*	0–1	*	1	0–1	3	4	–1	.000
Lansing United	1–3–2	2–0	*	8	3–3–2	18	15	+3	.500
Long Island Rough Riders	*	0–0–1 (1–0 PKs)	*	1	0–0–1	2	2	0	.500
Michigan Legends FC	2–0–3	*	*	5	2–0–3	14	7	+7	.700
Motor City FC	*	*	0–1	1	0–1	1	3	–2	.000
Muskegon Risers SC	2–0	*	*	2	2–0	8	2	+6	1.000
Racing Louisville FC	0–1	*	*	1	0–1	2	3	–1	.000
Santa Clarita Blue Heat	*	1–0	*	1	1–0	3	1	+2	1.000
St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC	*	1–0	*	1	1–0	3	1	+2	1.000
Toledo Villa FC	1–0	*	*	1	1–0	4	0	+4	1.000
Total	39–15–10	6–3–3 (3–0 PKs)	0–1	77	45–19–13	231	114	+117	.700

• Note: Table includes all competitive matches and does not include friendlies.
• Updated to end of 2023 season.

1. ^
   ^B Indy Premier SC was renamed Indiana Union in 2019.

Player records

Goals Rank Player Goals Years 1 Marti Corby 29 2017–2022 2 Bethany Balcer 19 2017 Stephanie Currie 2019– 4 Avery Lockwood 12 2017, 2020–2022 5 Jen Blitchok 11 2019– 6 Cindy Lay 9 2018 7 Riko Sagara 7 2017, 2019 Grace Labadie 2017–2021 Elle Otto 2021– 10 Jordian Morris 6 2018 Kendra Longoria 2018–2020 Anna Bennett 2021–

Appearances Rank Player Apps Years 1 Marti Corby 54 2017–2022 2 Grace Labadie 36 2017–2021 3 Stephanie Currie 35 2019– 4 Clare Carlson 33 2017–2019, 2021 Macey Wierenga 2020– 6 Sadie Misiewicz 32 2017–2020 7 Avery Lockwood 31 2017, 2020–2022 Jen Blitchok 2019– 9 Paige Eli 29 2017–2022 10 Olivia Albert 28 2019, 2021–

• Note: Table includes all competitive matches and does not include friendlies.
• Updated to end of 2023 season
• Reference:^[6]