FC Kansas City

Did You Know?

• The team won back-to-back NWSL championships in 2014 and 2015.
• Lauren Holiday won both the Golden Boot and League MVP honors in the 2013 season.
• After the 2017 season, all of FC Kansas City's player contracts and draft picks were transferred to the expansion team Utah Royals FC.

History

In late 2012, a Kansas City women's professional soccer team was approved to join what would become the National Women's Soccer League. The ownership group, also behind the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League, included Chris Likens, his sons Brad and Greg Likens, and Brian Budzinski. Vlatko Andonovski, a former pro player who had coached the Kansas City Kings and the Missouri Olympic Development Program, was named head coach in December 2012.

The team unveiled a blue, white, and black logo the following January, described as representing the flowing qualities of women's professional soccer. Through the NWSL Player Allocation in January 2013, the squad gained Nicole Barnhart, Lauren Cheney, Renae Cuéllar, Marylin Diaz, Becky Sauerbrunn, Desiree Scott, and Lauren Sesselmann. The 2013 College Draft brought Kristie Mewis, Erika Tymrak, Whitney Berry, and Nia Williams. Free agents Sinead Farrelly, Jen Buczkowski, and Leigh Ann Robinson were also signed.

Frances Silva was selected 19th overall in the 2014 College Draft. The Blues finished the regular season second with an 11-6-5 record, reaching the playoffs. After the season, Lauren Holiday earned both the Golden Boot and League MVP, Erika Tymrak was named Rookie of the Year, Becky Sauerbrunn took Defender of the Year, and Andonovski won Coach of the Year. Four players—Barnhart, Robinson, Sauerbrunn, and Holiday—made the league's Best XI.

Stadium

The Blues spent their first season at Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, a 6,150-seat venue that was then the league’s third largest. In January 2014, the team announced a move to Durwood Soccer Stadium on the UMKC campus for the next two years. For 2015, FC Kansas City teamed up with Sporting Kansas City, using Swope Soccer Village for training and its championship field for matches. The stadium’s normal capacity of 1,500 was boosted to 3,557 with bleachers from Durwood. The season’s home opener against Sky Blue FC on April 11, 2015, drew 8,489 fans to Sporting Park.

Broadcasting

FC Kansas City matches were available to U.S. viewers exclusively on Go90 starting in April 2017, while international fans could watch via the NWSL website. That season, the team appeared on three Lifetime NWSL Game of the Week broadcasts: June 3, August 16, and September 9. Before the 2013 season, the club streamed games on its website and YouTube, with eight games airing locally on Time Warner Cable’s Metro Sports. The same channel carried nine games in 2014.