El Paso Locomotive FC

History

In February 2018, the United Soccer League announced El Paso as an expansion team for the 2019 USL Championship season, with the club to be run by MountainStar Sports Group. The first player signed was Omar Salgado in June 2018, and the first head coach, Mark Lowry, was announced the following month; Lowry had previously coached NASL's Jacksonville Armada FC. In their debut 34-game season, El Paso Locomotive FC qualified for the USL Championship play-offs and reached the Western Conference finals, losing 2–1 to the Real Monarchs.

After the COVID-19 pandemic caused the USL to suspend the 2020 season in March, the league returned in July with a modified format of four-team groups. El Paso again advanced to the Western Conference finals in the shortened season, falling to Phoenix Rising FC 4–2 in a shootout. The 2021 season returned to a 32-game schedule, and El Paso qualified for their third straight playoffs but lost 1–0 to the Oakland Roots in the first round. Despite the early exit, Coach Lowry and six players were named to the USL Copa XI, and the club won the Copa Tejas Trophy as the best Division II team in Texas, as well as the inaugural Copa Tejas Shield as the most successful club in the state.

Lowry left the club on November 15, 2021. In December 2021, John Hutchinson was hired as head coach for the 2022 season. That year, El Paso failed to make the playoffs for the first time, finishing eighth in the Western Conference, and Hutchinson stepped down to return to Australia. Brian Clarhaut was hired as head coach in January 2023.

After a 34-game season, El Paso finished seventh in the Western Conference, qualified for the playoffs, and lost 1–0 to Orange County SC in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Club crest and colors

The Locomotive brand was unveiled on October 4, 2018, chosen over finalists Lagartos, Estrellas, Stars, and Tejanos. The crest is shaped like Mission Style buildings and uses West Texas Sky blue, Desert Dusk blue, and High Noon Sun. Eleven vertical stripes represent the players and resemble a locomotive front, while The Star on the Mountain sits atop the crest, which is shaped in the silhouette of the Franklin Mountains.