| Clubname: | North Carolina FC |
| Upright: | 0.65 |
| Fullname: | North Carolina FC |
| Nickname: | RailHawks |
| Founded: | (as Carolina RailHawks) |
| Stadium: | WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina |
| Capacity: | 10,000 |
| Owner: | Steve Malik |
| Chrtitle: | Sporting Director |
| Chairman: | John Bradford |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | John Bradford |
| League: | USL Championship |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | Playoffs: Champions |
| Website: | http://www.NorthCarolinaFC.com/ |
| American: | true |
| Current: | 2024 North Carolina FC season |
| Pattern B1: | _blackstripes3 |
| Pattern So1: | _ncarolina19h |
| Leftarm1: | 191970 |
| Body1: | 191970 |
| Rightarm1: | 191970 |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000060 |
| Pattern B2: | _redshoulders |
| Pattern Sh2: | _adidasred |
| Pattern So2: | _3_stripes_white |
| Leftarm2: | 800000 |
| Body2: | FFFFFF |
| Rightarm2: | 800000 |
| Shorts2: | FFFFFF |
| Socks2: | FF0000 |
North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks.
On December 6, 2016, the RailHawks announced a name change to North Carolina Football Club in pursuit of becoming a Major League Soccer franchise. The club's home attendance record had been broken earlier that year when 10,125 attended a match against West Ham United of the English Premier League.[1]
The team has played its home games at the 10,000-seat WakeMed Soccer Park since 2007. The team's colors are Atlantic blue, cardinal red, and Southern gold.
On January 26, 2006, the expansion of the USL to Cary, North Carolina, was announced at a press conference at SAS Soccer Park, since renamed WakeMed Soccer Park.[2] [3] After a few changes in the 2008 off-season, the RailHawks ownership group consisted of Wellman Family Limited partnership (Selby and Brian Wellman), HTCFC. INC (Bob Young former CEO of Red Hat, presently founder and CEO of LULU.com), Singh Holdings (Dr. H. Paul Singh) and Boris Jerkunica. After the 2010 season, Traffic Sports USA took ownership.
On October 11, 2006, former Rochester Rhinos defender Scott Schweitzer was named the first head coach of the RailHawks. Schweitzer played collegiately at North Carolina State University and retired from play prior to the 2006 season. On December 5, 2006, the RailHawks named the first players to sign with the franchise. Among the signings were two former UNC Tar Heel players, Chris Carrieri and Caleb Norkus, as well as several other players with Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, and foreign playing experience.
The club launched their inaugural season on April 21, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,327 at SAS Soccer Park when they drew 1–1 with the Minnesota Thunder in their first official regular season match. Midfielder Kupono Low scored the first goal in franchise history when he blasted a 24-yard left-footed shot past Thunder keeper Joe Warren in the 8th minute of the inaugural match.[4] On May 8, 2007, the RailHawks earned their first franchise victory 2–0 against Chivas USA in an exhibition match.
On August 14, 2007, with a 3–0 victory over the Charleston Battery, the RailHawks secured their first piece of silverware, the 2007 Southern Derby Cup, with one match remaining in the contest. The RailHawks finished their first USL-1 season in 8th place in the league table, securing the league's final playoff spot on the last day of the regular season with a 2–0 victory away over fellow expansion franchise the California Victory. The RailHawks were eliminated from the playoff quarterfinals by the eventual league champion Seattle Sounders.
In November 2009 the RailHawks announced their intent to leave the USL First Division to become the co-founders of a new North American Soccer League, which would begin play in 2010. The league, which had yet to be sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation or the Canadian Soccer Association, also comprised the Atlanta Silverbacks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Vancouver Whitecaps and a brand new team led by St. Louis Soccer United.[5]
After lawsuits were filed and heated press statements exchanged, the USSF declared they would sanction neither league for the coming year, and ordered both to work together on a plan to temporarily allow their teams to play a 2010 season. The interim solution was announced on January 7, 2010, with the USSF running the new USSF D-2 league comprising clubs from both USL-1 and NASL.[6] The RailHawks reached the final of the USSF D-2 playoffs, but fell to the Puerto Rico Islanders.[7] After the 2010 season, the NASL and USL split, but the RailHawks faced sale by Selby Wellman on December 31, 2010. The RailHawks name was sold on eBay and was purchased by Traffic Sports USA, who assumed operations of the club.[8] The NASL received provisional sanctioning in 2011 and full sanctioning in 2012.[9]
The RailHawks won the regular season in 2011 but fell to the NSC Minnesota Stars in the semifinals of playoffs.[10] The club hired Colin Clarke as coach after Martin Rennie left for the Vancouver Whitecaps.[11] In 2012, the RailHawks finished 4th in the regular season and fell to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the playoff semifinals, while reaching the fourth round of the US Open Cup.[12]
In 2013 the NASL's format changed to a split season, and though the RailHawks finished with the most points in the league, they finished 2nd in both the Spring and Fall seasons and did not make the Soccer Bowl. However, they defeated MLS teams LA Galaxy and Chivas USA to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.[12] In 2014, the RailHawks again defeated Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy to reach quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, but fell just short of reaching the NASL playoffs.
In 2015, the club saw a change in ownership as local businessman Steve Malik took over the team from Traffic Sports. During a press conference on October 30, 2015, the ambitious local owner said, “Our goal is to take the RailHawks to the highest level through additional investment in marketing, players and staffing. We are excited to lead our community in working together to give the Triangle a world-class soccer team.”
New faces in the front office were matched with the new faces on the field. The RailHawks had a big year in 2016 with the addition of forwards Omar Bravo and Matt Fondy. Bravo, the biggest signing in club history, provided senior leadership and immense experience to the team, as he left C.D. Guadalajara as the team's all-time leading scorer. Though the RailHawks missed the playoffs again, with a 7W-5D-10L record, they again made an impressive Open Cup run, reaching the fourth round where they lost a tight 1–0 game to the New England Revolution of MLS. In the third round, the RailHawks eliminated the Charlotte Independence with a 5–0 win that saw Carolina score five extra-time goals in the thrilling match. The score set a US Open Cup record for the most goals scored by a single team in extra time.
Also in 2016, West Ham United became the first Premier League team to visit the Triangle region of North Carolina when they came to WakeMed Soccer Park on July 12, 2016. The game ended in a 2–2 draw in front of a record-breaking crowd of 10,125.
On November 16, 2017, the club announced it would be leaving the NASL to join the USL for the 2018 season.[13] The club announced, on October 17, 2018, that head coach Colin Clarke would not be returning to the club after seven seasons and that the club has begun searching for a new head coach.[14]
Dave Sarachan, the former U.S. Men's National Team coach, was named as the fourth head coach in club history on December 17, 2018.[15] They clinched a spot in the USL Championship Playoffs on September 30, 2019.[16]
On January 10, 2021, club chairman Steve Malik announced that the club would make a "strategic move" to USL League One, the third-division of the United States soccer league system.[17] Along with the move to USL League One, coach Dave Sarachan and North Carolina parted ways.[18] In their final season in USL League One, North Carolina FC defeated rivals Charlotte Independence on penalties 1-1 (5-4) to win the 2023 USL League One Finals, securing their first title in franchise history.
On August 7, 2023, the club announced they were exercising their option to rejoin the USL Championship beginning in the 2024 season.[19]
The North Carolina FC badge features elements from the flag of North Carolina. The lower right point of the star represents the Research Triangle, a geographical region that includes Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. The initials "FC" (Football Club) lies between two airplane wings, alluding to North Carolina's official slogan: "First in Flight." NCFC's primary colors include "Atlantic blue", "cardinal red", and "Southern gold".[20]
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–2008 | Umbro | Novozymes |
| 2009–2013 | BlueCross BlueShield of NC | |
| 2013–2016 | Adidas | |
| 2017–2018 | Circle K | |
| 2019 | Aetna | |
| 2020 | Dreamville Festival[21] Aetna | |
| 2021–2023 | WakeMed Dreamville Festival |
North Carolina FC play their home games at WakeMed Soccer Park (formerly known as SAS Soccer Park), a soccer-specific stadium shared by the North Carolina Courage, a team in the National Women's Soccer League also owned by Steve Malik.
The soccer complex consists of a purpose-built main stadium, two lighted practice fields, and four additional fields. The main stadium and the 2 lighted fields (2 & 3) are all FIFA international regulation size (120 yards x 75 yards). The main stadium seats 10,000 with the expansions of 2012. Field 2 also has 1,000 permanent bleacher seats.
The park is on 150acres that the State of North Carolina has leased to Wake County. Money to build the soccer park came from $14.5 million in county-wide hotel room and prepared food and beverage taxes. The Town of Cary assumed responsibility for operations and maintenance in 2004 from the then Capital Area Soccer League, now North Carolina FC Youth. On January 26, 2006, the Town of Cary council amended its lease to allow it to sublet the property to Triangle Professional Soccer through the year 2011 for the exclusive promotion of professional soccer and lacrosse events at the complex. This deal was extended for the new ownership group through 2014.[22]
On December 6, 2016, along with a name change, North Carolina FC announced plans for a stadium seating 24,000.[23]
On July 13, 2018, the Daily Commercial News reported that the team is planning a $750 million stadium complex.[24]
Sahlen Packing Company acquired naming rights to the main stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on March 31, 2017, thus becoming Sahlen's Stadium. Sahlen's paid $400,000 over five years for the rights, with $100,000 going to the town of Cary and the rest to the North Carolina Courage organization.[25] On April 30, 2021, WakeMed renewed the agreement through 2023.[26]
The rivalry between the three clubs was further fueled by the fact that former RailHawks coach Scott Schweitzer earned a reputation among Battery supporters as the defender they loved to hate during his time as a player for Rochester Rhinos and current Atlanta Silverbacks owner Boris Jerkunica had a partial ownership stake in the RailHawks franchise.
With North Carolina FC moving to the USL for the 2018 season, old rivalries with Charleston, Charlotte Independence, and Richmond Kickers will be reborn,[27] along with potential new geographical rivalries with expansion clubs Nashville SC and Atlanta United 2.
North Carolina FC has two independent supporter groups, the Oak City Supporters and Renegados Soccer Supporters.[30]
John Bradford – sporting director[31] & head coach Mike McGinty – assistant coach Andrew Scheck – assistant coach Scott Schweitzer (2007–2008) Dave Sarachan (2019–2020) John Bradford (2021–present)See main article: List of North Carolina FC seasons. This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the club. For the full season-by-season history, see List of North Carolina FC seasons.
| Season | League | Position | Playoffs | USOC | Continental | Average attendance | Top goalscorer(s) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | League | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Conf. | Overall | Name | Goals | |||||
| 2019 | 2 | USLC | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 56 | 1.65 | 7th | 10th | PR | R4 | DNQ | 4,118 |  Robert Kristo | 11 |
| 2020 | USLC | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 21 | –4 | 19 | 1.27 | 10th | 21st | DNQ | NH | 3,515 | Andre Fortune II | 6 | ||
| 2021 | 3 | USL L1 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 30 | 50 | –20 | 25 | 0.89 | N/A | 12th | DNQ | NH | 1,741 | 3 players tied | 4 | |
| 2022 | USL L1 | 30 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 35 | 53 | –18 | 30 | 1.00 | 11th | DNQ | R2 | 1,874 | Garrett McLaughlin | 14 | |||
| 2023 | USL L1 | 32 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 63 | 1.91 | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=gold | W | R2 | 2,389 | Oalex Anderson | 17 | |