League: USL Division 2
Location: Richmond, VA
Coach: Leigh Cowlishaw
Website: www.richmondkickers.com
Stadium: University of Richmond Stadium (cap 9,000)
Avg Attendance: 2,262
Notable Wins:
1995 USISL Premier League Champions
1995 U.S. Open Cup Champions
2002 USL-1 Division Runner-Ups
2005 USL-1 Division Runner-Ups
2006 USL-2 Regular Season Champions
2006 USL-2 Divison Champions
Notable Players:
Robert Ssjjemba - Ugandan forward who previously played for D.C. United appearing mostly for the reserve team, USL Division 2 MVP
Mike Burke - third on the Kickers' all-time points list with 75
Ronnie Pascale - USL-2 Goalkeeper of the Year last season with a 0.99 GAA
Kevin Knight - the most tenured member of the Kickers' roster going on his 8th year with Richmond, will serve as Captain this upcoming season
Nowaf Jaman - new signing for 2007 from the Cincinnati Kings, USL-2 Rookie of the Year last season, a striker notching 4 goals and 8 assists in his first year
Notable Former Players:
Brain Carroll - stint consisted of 8 games on loan with the Kickers in 2003
Bryan Namoff - also spent much of his time on loan with Richmond, but not that much
Dwayne DeRosario - returned from playing in Germany for FSV Zwickau to score 17 goals in 35 Richmond appearances makes DeRo a legend at yet another club, Dwayne was here from 1999-2000 before heading to San Jose and then Houston
Richie Williams - 5'5" midfield demon started with Kickers and end with them in 2004 before he took his Red Bulls post; capped 20 times by the US National team
David Testo - had 28 caps with Richmond, notching 6 goals before moving onto the Columbus Crew
Brian Kamler - played for Richmond in its inaugural years before being drafted by D.C. United at the beginning of MLS in 1996
Clyde Simms - presently starting center mid for D.C. United after a full year in 2004 with the Kickers; at Richmond, appeared in 28 games scoring 3 goals before being signed as a discovery player
Rob Ukrop - his number was recently retired by the Kickers, MVP of the memorable 1995 season in which Richmond won the then named USISL and Open Cup championship
Blurb:
Founded in 1993, the Kickers have survived the contraction and expansion fever of late 20th century American soccer. In 2006, the Kickers decided to move from USL-1 to USL-2 on their own terms claiming cost-saving measures to preserve the integrity of the franchise. Despite the self-imposed "demotion" and in the midst of the USL turbulence, they have carved a rather fine history of soccer accolades. We should not forget to mention the rich crop of "alums" that the Kickers have helped produce. A big reason for that is their feeder squad, the Richmond Kickers Future. The Kickers senior team in turn acts as a pseudo-feeder team to D.C United. It is a career path shared by current D.C. roster members Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, and Brian Carroll and former members Jeff Causey, Richie Williams, and Brian Kamler. A lot of their success can also be attributed to their head coach Leigh Cowlishaw, a former University of Richmond and Richmond Kicker player who helped the hometown team win the 1995 USISL Championship and the U.S. Open Cup. He appeared 94 times for the Kickers, tallying 19 goals and 11 assists. As talked about before, the Richmond Kickers Future develops and fosters young talent for the Kickers senior team. Players like Malcolm Cephas, Cristian Neagu, Stephen Shirley (now with the Kansas City Wizards), and most importantly, Dominic Oduro (FC Dallas striker hopeful) all played several years with an increasingly solid Future squad. Altogether, the club is starting gain a real rabid following (with two supporter clubs: the Corner Kicks and the Side Kicks) and with annual friendlies against D.C. United it looks to get back to USL-1 status sooner rather than later. The Kickers open their 2007 USL Division 2 championship defense on April 21st against the Cincinnati Kings.
Here is an article on one of the craziest games I have ever seen in person: the final result of this Open Cup match was Ocean City Barons 8, Richmond Kickers 4. Check it out here.
2007 Season Signings
Tell me what you think about the Team America Spotlight of the Week at BonnWM3@hotmail.com. Have suggestions on next week's Spotlight, let me know
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