| Club: | Richmond Kickers |
| Season: | 2018 |
| Chrtitle: | Owner |
| Chairman: | RKYSC |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Leigh Cowlishaw [1] David Bulow [2] |
| Stadium: | City Stadium |
| League: | USL |
| League Result: | East: 11th Overall: 22nd |
| Cup1: | USL Playoffs |
| Cup1 Result: | TBD |
| Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Fourth round |
| League Topscorer: | Shriver Cordovés (7) |
| Season Topscorer: | Shriver Cordovés (7) |
| Highest Attendance: | 7,356 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,957 |
| Average Attendance: | 4,894 |
| Pattern La1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_alt |
| Pattern B1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_alt |
| Leftarm1: | F52313 |
| Body1: | F52313 |
| Rightarm1: | F52313 |
| Shorts1: | F52313 |
| Socks1: | F52313 |
| Pattern La2: | _shoulder_stripes_red_stripes_alt |
| Pattern B2: | _shoulder_stripes_red_stripes |
| Pattern Ra2: | _shoulder_stripes_red_stripes_alt |
| Leftarm2: | 000000 |
| Body2: | 000000 |
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| American: | true |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2018 Richmond Kickers season was the club's 26th season of existence. It was also the club's 11th season playing in the second tier of American soccer, and their seventh straight season in the United Soccer League, since renamed the USL Championship.
The Kickers failed to improve on their 2017 campaign, and saw the team failed to qualify for the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time in club history. It was the fourth season in the club's history where they failed to qualify for the postseason. The Kickers finished with six wins, their fewest since 1994, and 24 losses, their most ever. During the season, the Kickers saw their long-time head coach, Leigh Cowlishaw step down from the post, and David Bulow take up coaching duties for the second half of the 2018 season.
On September 11, 2018, the Kickers announced that due to financial issues associated with competing in the main USL, they would self-relegate themselves and become a founding member of USL League One, a new third-tier professional league operated by USL's parent company, United Soccer League (not to be confused with the former name of its top league).[3]
See main article: 2017 Richmond Kickers season.
The club is looking to improve off of a historically poor season. During the 2017 campaign, the Kickers finished with an 8–16–8 record, causing them to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2003. The Kickers amassed a club low 25 goals in the 32-match season. The club finished 14th out of 15 teams in the USL's Eastern Conference, and finished 26th in the 30-team league. The Kickers also suffered a second round exit in the U.S. Open Cup, losing to amateur outfit, Christos FC. It was the Kickers' shortest spell in the Open Cup since 2009.
As of March 16, 2018.[4]
| Name | Nat | Position | Since | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||||||
| 1 | Trevor Spangenberg |  | GK | 2018 | 21 April 1991 | Puerto Rico FC | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Kent Dickey | | GK | 2018 | 7 March 2000 | Richmond Strikers | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Travis Worra | | GK | 2018 | 9 April 1993 | D.C. United (loan) | 23 | 0 |
| 50 | Zachery Tashjy | | GK | 2018 | 21 March 1995 | Catholic University Cardinals | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders | ||||||||
| 2 | William Yomby |  | CB | 2009 | 18 June 1981 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 216 | 9 |
| 3 | Austin Yearwood | | LB | 2018 | 12 August 1994 | Charlotte Independence | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Conor Shanosky | | CB | 2016 | 13 December 1991 | Louisville City | 52 | 4 |
| 10 | Scott Thomsen | | LB | 2018 | 31 December 1993 | Orlando City B | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Mallan Roberts |  | CB | 2017 | 6 June 1992 | FC Edmonton | 30 | 1 |
| 18 | Alex Lee |  | RB | 2013 | 15 January 1990 | FC Dallas | 103 | 2 |
| 31 | Braeden Troyer | | LB | 2015 | 19 March 1993 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 83 | 0 |
| 55 | Mekeil Williams | RB | 2018 | 24 July 1990 | Colorado Rapids | 0 | 0 | |
| Midfielders | ||||||||
| 4 | Fred Sekyere |  | LM | 2015 | 31 March 1986 | Charlotte Eagles | 79 | 3 |
| 7 | Neil Hlavaty | | AM | 2018 | 27 December 1986 | Myrtle Beach Mutiny | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Finnlay Wyatt | LM | 2017 | 18 January 1995 | Longwood Lancers | 11 | 0 | |
| 11 | Matt Bolduc | | RM | 2017 | 12 October 1994 | Harrisburg City Islanders | 14 | 2 |
| 12 | Evan Lee | | DM | 2017 | 23 November 1993 | Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops | 14 | 0 |
| 14 | Yudai Imura |  | AM | 2015 | 25 June 1991 | Tokyo Musashino City | 67 | 13 |
| 17 | Oscar Umar | | CM | 2017 | 20 February 1993 | West Chester United | 14 | 0 |
| 24 | Koby Osei-Wusu | | CM | 2018 | 26 December 1995 | George Washington Colonials | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Brandon Eaton | | CM | 2017 | 31 October 1994 | VCU Rams | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | Raul Gonzalez | | RM | 2017 | 23 September 1994 | Memphis Tigers | 24 | 2 |
| 42 | Sam Bacon | | CM | 2018 | 3 July 1999 | Richmond Strikers | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards | ||||||||
| 16 | Heviel Cordovés |  | ST | 2018 | 10 November 1989 | Charleston Battery | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Brian Shriver | | ST | 2018 | 5 August 1987 | Jacksonville Armada | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Dane Kelly |  | ST | 2018 | 9 February 1991 | D.C. United (loan) | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Bruno Miranda |  | ST | 2018 | 10 February 1998 | D.C. United (loan) | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Luiz Fernando |  | RW | 2016 | 23 June 1997 | Flamengo | 50 | 3 |
| 92 | Giuseppe Gentile | | ST | 2018 | 18 October 1992 | Puerto Rico FC | 0 | 0 |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | December 4, 2017 | [5] | |||||
| 3 | Free | December 15, 2017 | [6] | ||||
| 21 | Free | January 11, 2018 | [7] | ||||
| 92 | Feee | January 23, 2018 | [8] | ||||
| 42 | Academy signee | February 7, 2018 | [9] | ||||
| 45 | Academy signee | February 7, 2018 | |||||
| 55 | Free | February 16, 2018 | [10] | ||||
| 1 | Free | February 28, 2018 | [11] | ||||
| 7 | Free | March 12, 2018 | [12] | ||||
| 10 | Free | March 12, 2018 | |||||
| 24 | Free | March 12, 2018 | |||||
| 28 | Free | April 13, 2018 | [13] | ||||
| Free | June 1, 2018 | [14] |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Free | August 1, 2017 | |||||
| 1 | October 31, 2017 | ||||||
| 7 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 10 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 16 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 20 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 22 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 24 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 28 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 35 | Free | October 31, 2017 | |||||
| 70 | Free | October 31, 2017 |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Start | End | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | FW | Dane Kelly | D.C. United | March 15, 2018 | October 31, 2018 | ||
| 32 | FW | Bruno Miranda | Universidad de Chile | March 15, 2018 | October 31, 2018 | ||
| 48 | GK | Travis Worra | D.C. United | March 15, 2018 | October 31, 2018 |
See main article: 2018 USL season.
See main article: 2018 U.S. Open Cup.
|- |}
| No. | Pos. | Player | width=80 | USL | width=80 | USL Cup | width=80 | U.S. Open Cup | width=80 | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | MF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| 21 | FW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||||
| 16 | FW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| 14 | MF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| 17 | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 24 | MF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 27 | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 29 | FW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Own Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 10 | 0 | 4 | 14 | ||||||