FC Kansas City announced on Tuesday that the National Women’s Soccer League champions will play their 2015 season at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.
“Along with securing Coach Vlatko [Andonovski] to a long-term contract and continuing to strengthen our squad through some player moves, establishing a collaborative relationship with Sporting KC was a major off season priority for our organization.” Huw Williams, FCKC Director of Soccer Operations said. “Sporting KC’s success as a franchise speaks for itself; their brand and vision represents our city in a very favorable manner. Establishing a relationship with them will only help our organization attain some of the lofty goals we have set out for ourselves.”
Swope Soccer Village will serve as FC Kansas City’s training ground and the site of the team’s home NWSL matches. The world-class facility opened as Sporting Kansas City’s official training ground in 2007 and recently underwent a $15.5 million expansion.
“Attracting this team realizes the promise and potential of Swope Soccer Village for both recreation and economic development in south Kansas City,” said Troy Schulte, City Manager of the City of Kansas City, Missouri. “We especially thank Mayor Pro Tem and Fifth District Councilmember Cindy Circo for her vision and determination in guiding this project. We look forward to many exciting games at the complex, and we welcome the women of FC Kansas City as a tenant.”
Swope Soccer Village is located in the heart of historic Swope Park and its nine fields have served as a training site for a distinguished list of teams, including the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams, Manchester United, Manchester City, AS Roma, CD Guadalajara, Club America, Montpellier, Newcastle United and Stoke City.
Most recently, Swope Soccer Village has attracted numerous championship-level events to the region. In 2014, the state-of-the-art complex hosted the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships, as well as the Big 12 Soccer Championship, in addition to high-caliber youth soccer programming.
"Sporting looks forward to hosting our friends from FC Kansas City at the Swope Soccer Village this season," said Sporting Kansas City Chief of Staff Greg Cotton. "Sporting will work closely with FC Kansas City to deliver high-level fan experience as the Blues push for a repeat of their NWSL championship.”
The NWSL is a nine-team women's professional soccer league featuring national team players from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The nine clubs are the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC, Sky Blue FC, Washington Spirit and the Western New York Flash.
