Orlando City B Explained

Clubname:Orlando City B
Current:2023 Orlando City B season
Upright:0.8
Fullname:Orlando City B
Nickname:Lions, OCB
Stadium:Osceola County Stadium
Kissimmee, Florida
Capacity:5,400
Owner:Orlando City SC
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Manager:Manuel Goldberg
League:MLS Next Pro
Season:2023
Position:5th, Eastern Conference
Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals
Website:http://www.orlandocitysc.com/ocb
American:true
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Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osceola County Stadium.[1]

The club played in multiple leagues, beginning with the United Soccer League, the second tier of the US soccer pyramid in 2016 and 2017,[2] before electing to forgo the 2018 season and join the newly formed third division, USL League One, in its inaugural 2019 season.[3] After another season on hiatus in 2021, the team became an inaugural member of MLS Next Pro.

History

United Soccer League

On June 30, 2015, Orlando City SC announced that they would operate a USL club starting in 2016[4] in the Central Florida area. The team would be their direct USL affiliate, and Orlando City and Louisville City (their USL affiliate club for 2015) had negotiated a "long-term formal partnership" to replace their affiliation arrangement.[5]

Orlando City also announced that Anthony Pulis would coach the new team. Pulis was a player for Orlando City SC's USL club from 2011 to 2014 and is the son of Tony Pulis, manager of numerous English Premier League sides.[5] On August 11, 2015, Arizona United announced that Rob Valentino would retire from playing[6] to take the assistant coach role for Orlando's new USL team.[7]

On October 15, 2015, the club was officially branded Orlando City B, with home games to be played in Melbourne at the Titan Soccer Complex on the campus of Eastern Florida State College.[8] In addition, OCB announced its first ever player signings: defenders Mikey Ambrose and Kyle Callan-McFadden, and midfielder Tony Rocha.

On August 12, 2016, in a game against New York Red Bulls II, Orlando City B participated in the first competitive match in North America to employ Video Assistant Referee technology.[9] They finished their debut season 8th in the Eastern Conference, the final qualifying spot for playoffs. They lost in the Conference Quarterfinal to New York Red Bulls II 4–0.[10]

In November 2016 it was announced that OCB would be moving to the newly opened Orlando City Stadium in time for the 2017 season.[11] The team finished the season in 9th place, two points short of the playoffs, but finished one place higher in the overall standings than their debut season.

On January 12, 2018, the organization declared its intention to forgo the 2018 season as they continued to assess their minor league participation, a move that had looked likely by this point with OCB only having one player under contract and lacking a manager following Anthony Pulis' departure for Saint Louis FC in November.[12]

USL League One

In June 2018, the club announced it was to become a founding member of USL's new third-tier league, USL League One, scheduled to begin play in 2019.[13] It was hoped the move would lead OCB to better act as an upward transitional stepping-stone between Orlando City's Development Academy and the senior MLS team. On October 3, 2018, Fernando De Argila was announced as head coach. He had previously been head coach and director of methodology at the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy.[14] After winning only three of the opening 19 games, De Argila was sacked in July 2019. Roberto Sibaja acted as interim head coach from the rest of the season as the team finished in last place.[15]

In May 2019, the team announced plans to relocate OCB as part of a wider vision to house all of Orlando City's development pyramid at the same location for the first time, creating a 20-acre training complex at Osceola Heritage Park to house the senior MLS team, OCB and Development Academy.[16] Orlando City B will play their matches at the new site starting in the 2020 season following the departure of minor league baseball team Florida Fire Frogs.[17] Ahead of the season it was announced Orlando City Academy Director Marcelo Neveleff would be the team's new head coach.[18]

In October 2020, the team announced it was withdrawing from USL1 at the end of the season with a possibility of an MLS reserve league launching in 2021.[19] [20] [21]

MLS Next Pro

After spending the 2021 season on hiatus, the club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team MLS Next Pro season starting in 2022.[22]

Location

Tim Holt, Orlando's vice president of development, said that they would be looking for a stadium in Central Florida in order to facilitate the training of emerging players with the MLS team. Holt was the president of USL until May 2015.[4] Eastern Florida State College's stadium was visited by team personnel as a possible location.[23]

On August 21, 2015, the VP for athletics at Eastern Florida State College claimed in a pitch to the Brevard County Tourist Development Council's Sports Commission that the college's Titan Soccer Complex and a stadium in Deland were among the finalists to host games for the USL team.[24] Said plan was approved and the Titan Sports Complex at ECSC was OCB's official home venue for the 2016 season.[8]

For the 2017 season in the USL, Orlando City B moved to Orlando City's newly built home stadium, Orlando City Stadium.

For the 2019 season in USL League One, the team moved to Montverde Academy.[25]

In 2020, as part of a club-wide move, the team relocated again, this time to the new Orlando City training facility at Osceola Heritage Park alongside both the senior MLS team and Development Academy. Matches are played at the complex's newly converted 5,400 seat Osceola County Stadium.[1]

Players and staff

See also: All-time Orlando City B roster.

Roster

[26]

Staff

Year-by-year

YearDivisionLeaguePositionPlayoffs
20163USL3098133549358th19thFirst round
20172USL321012103736429th18thDNQ
2018On Hiatus
20193USL1284420235216N/A10thDNQ
2020USL11513111029611th
2021On Hiatus
20223MLSNP2465134053259th18thDNQ

Head coaches

Name! style="background:#5E299A; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #F8E196;" scope="col" class="unsortable"
NationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Anthony PulisJune 30, 2015November 20, 2017
Fernando De ArgilaOctober 3, 2018July 25, 2019
Roberto Sibaja (interim)July 25, 2019December 20, 2019
Marcelo NeveleffDecember 20, 2019October 16, 2020
Martín PerelmanMarch 9, 2022March 11,2024
Total
  1. Web site: Orlando City SC to Expand Presence in Osceola County . www.orlandocitysc.com.
  2. Web site: Orlando City B Elects to Forgo 2018 USL Division II Season. January 12, 2018.
  3. Web site: MLS-owned team becomes fourth announced club in Southeast region. September 10, 2018.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. .
  7. .
  8. Web site: USL Welcomes Back Orlando City SC for 2016 . . October 15, 2015 . October 15, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151016014619/http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210423918 . October 16, 2015 . mdy-all .
  9. Web site: MLS, USL receive IFAB approval for live video assistant referee experiments . Borg . Simon . 12 August 2016 . MLSsoccer.com . 23 August 2016.
  10. News: OCB Season Ends in 4–0 Playoff Loss to New York. The Mane Land. 2018-11-17.
  11. News: OCB Moving to Downtown Venue for 2017. USLSoccer.com Staff. 2016-11-29. USL Championship. 2018-11-17. en-us.
  12. News: Orlando City B Opts Out of the 2018 USL Season. The Mane Land. 2018-11-17.
  13. News: Orlando City B Becomes USL Division III Founding Member. USLSoccer.com Staff. 2018-09-06. USL Championship. 2018-11-17. en-us.
  14. Web site: Orlando City B announces Fernando Jose De Argila Irurita as head coach Pro Soccer USA. www.prosoccerusa.com. en-US. 2018-11-17.
  15. Web site: Orlando City B Parts Ways with Fernando Jose De Argila Irurita . www.orlandocitysc.com.
  16. Web site: Orlando City Development Academy Set to Make Osceola Heritage Park Official Training Grounds . www.orlandocitysc.com.
  17. Web site: Reichard . Kevin . Fire Frogs to Depart Osceola County Stadium at End of Season . Ballpark Digest . 31 May 2019.
  18. Web site: Orlando City SC Appoints Marcelo Neveleff as OCB Head Coach . www.orlandocitysc.com.
  19. Web site: Orlando City B to Withdraw from USL League One . www.orlandocitysc.com.
  20. News: Rueter . Jeff . MLS to launch reserves league beginning play in 2021, sources say . The New York Times .
  21. Web site: Portland, Philadelphia and Orlando reserve teams to leave USL after 2020 . Major League Soccer.
  22. Web site: MLS NEXT Pro Unveils 21 Clubs for Inaugural Season . orlandocitysc.
  23. .
  24. .
  25. Web site: Orlando City B Joins USL Division III for Inaugural Season | Orlando City.
  26. Web site: OCB squad list . Orlando City Soccer Club.