Annapolis Blues FC

Soccer club

Annapolis Blues FC

Full name	Annapolis Blues Football Club
Founded	June 2022; 22 months ago (June 2022)
Stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, Maryland
Capacity	34,000
Owners	Michael Hitchcock Kyle Beckerman Alex Yi
Head coach	Colin Herriot
League	National Premier Soccer League
2023	Regional Semifinal
Website	Club website
Current season

Annapolis Blues FC is an American soccer club. It currently competes in the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the National Premier Soccer League, considered the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system.

The team's home field is the Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

History

In June 2022, the National Premier Soccer League announced a new expansion team would be placed in Annapolis for the 2023 season.^[1] The ownership effort was led by former DC United front office member Michael Hitchcock, former United States men's national soccer team player Kyle Beckerman, and former FC Dallas player Alex Yi.^[2] The latter two are Maryland locals while Hitchcock owns multiple NPSL teams including Appalachian FC and 2021 national champion Denton Diablos FC. During the summer the team held an online poll where fans could choose between four potential team names and crests; Annapolis Blues FC, Annapolis Kraken SC, Annapolis Seawolves SC, and Annapolis Yard FC. The name Annapolis Blues FC was announced on August 16 after over 1,200 votes had been cast.^[3] It was also announced around this time that the team would play its home games at the Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.^[4]

The Blues announced Colin Herriot as the team's first head coach on December 13.^[5]

The team's first game was a pre-season friendly against Philadelphia Union Development Squad on Wednesday, May 10 at Memorial Stadium. The Community Shield match saw 3,915 fans and raised money to support local charity Rebuilding Together Anne Arundel County.^[6] Following three away games to start the season, Annapolis played its first regular season home game on Saturday, June 3 against FC Frederick and set an NPSL attendance record with 8,368 fans.^[7]^[8] The Blues won the match, 4–2. The next home match against Virginia Beach City FC drew 7,665 attendees.^[9] The following month they broke the conference championship record again as a crowd of 8,480 watched the Blues defeat the Alexandria Reds in the conference final.^[10]

Attendance

Home Attendance
Season	Regular Season Total	Regular Season Average	Playoffs Total	Playoffs Average	Highest	Combined Total	Combined Average	Ref.
2023	38,770	7,754	15,562	7,781	8,480	54,332	7,762	^[10]^[11]^[12]

Players & staff

Coaches

Colin Herriot (2023–) Head Coach
Lee Tschantret (2023–) Assistant Coach
Daniel Louisignau (2023–) Assistant Coach

Front office

Steven Hooper (2023-) - Assistant General Manager and Director of Marketing
Devin Pugh (2024-) - Director of Community Outreach
Brandon Schwarzman (2024-) - Director of Sales and Ticket Operations

Current squad

As of June 24, 2023^[13]^[14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	USA	Aidan Abril
—	GK	USA	Owen Allegro
—	FW	USA	Gordon Bernlohr
—	FW	JPN	Toshi Davis
—	MF	ARG	Matias de Jesus
—	DF	BRA	Elton De Oliveira Santos
—	MF	USA	Luke Dunne
—	MF	USA	Luke Eberle
—	DF	USA	Liam Giblin
—	FW	USA	Eric Gwadz
—	MF	USA	Justin Harris
—	GK	USA	Griffin Hemmendinger
—	MF	USA	Miles Lam
—	DF	USA	James Lee
—	DF	USA	Brian Lenzer
—	MF	USA	Morgan Lussi


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	USA	Nathan Macek
—	MF	USA	Myles Mansfield
—	MF	RSA	Jade Mesias
—	MF	USA	Francis Meyer
—	GK	SCO	Lucas Muller
—	FW	USA	Jacob Murrell
—	MF	USA	Leo Palomo
—	MF	USA	Evan Rabush
—	MF	USA	Jackson Ruckman
—	FW	USA	Manuel Ruiz
—	FW	USA	Andrew Schug
—	GK	USA	Connor Smith
—	DF	USA	Laurence Smith
—	MF	USA	TJ Walker
—	MF	USA	Ethan Wright

References

^ "The NPSL is Coming to Annapolis, Maryland in 2023". National Premier Soccer League. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ Wagner, Bill (6 July 2022). "Major League Soccer great Kyle Beckerman helping to bring amateur franchise to Annapolis". Capital Gazette. Retrieved 24 June 2023. (subscription required)
^ Baumgart, Jacob (18 August 2022). "New Semi-Pro Soccer Team Coming To Annapolis Announces Name, Home Field". Annapolis, MD Patch. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ "New Annapolis Professional Soccer Team To Play at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in 2023". Eye On Annapolis. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ "Colin Herriot Makes Blues History As Clubs First Head Coach". Annapolis Blues FC. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ "Community Shield Raises Money for Rebuilding Together Before 3,915 Fans". What's Up? Media. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ Wagner, Bill (4 June 2023). "Annapolis Blues FC soccer club sets NPSL attendance record in home opener; 8,368 watch 4-2 win over FC Frederick". Capital Gazette. Retrieved 24 June 2023. (subscription required)
^ "Annapolis Blues FC soccer club sets NPSL attendance record in home opener; 8,368 watch 4-2 win over FC Frederick". Annapolis Blues FC. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ Vasudevan, Anish (12 June 2023). "From a record crowd to a signature coffee, Annapolis embraces its new soccer team". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b "CROWD OF 8,480 SEES ANNAPOLIS BLUES DEFEAT ALEXANDRIA REDS IN MID-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE FINAL". NPSL. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
^ "Annapolis Blues limited to one goal by Alexandria, suffer first loss in regular-season finale". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
^ Peterson, Sam (13 July 2023). "Severna Park grad leads Annapolis Blues to first playoff win, 4-1 over Grove United". Capital Gazette. Retrieved 15 July 2023. (subscription required)
^ "Roster". Annapolis Blues FC. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
^ "ANNAPOLIS BLUES FC". annapolisbluesfc.bonzidev.com. National Premier Soccer League. Retrieved 24 June 2023.

External links

Official Site
Soccerway Profile

National Premier Soccer League

East
Region

North Atlantic	Boston City FC Greater Lowell Rough Diamonds Hartford City FC Kingston Stockade FC New York Athletic Club S.C. Rhode Island Reds FC Valeo FC
Keystone	Atlantic City FC Electric City Shock SC Hershey FC FC Monmouth FC Motown Philadelphia Lone Star FC Torch FC West Chester United SC
Mid-Atlantic	FC Baltimore Christos Charlottesville Alliance FC First State FC FC Frederick Northern Virginia United FC Virginia Beach City FC
Southeast	Georgia Storm FC Georgia Revolution FC Inter Nashville FC LSA Athletico Lanier Metro Louisville FC Nashville United North Alabama SC

South
Region

Sunshine	Boca Raton FC Central Florida Panthers SC Miami Dutch Lions FC Miami United FC Naples United FC Storm FC
Gulf Coast	AFC Mobile Jacksonville Armada U-23 New Orleans Jesters Pensacola FC Port City FC Tallahassee SC
Heartland	Club Atletico Saint Louis Dallas City FC Demize NPSL Little Rock Rangers Tulsa Athletic
Lone Star	Austin United FC FC Brownsville Coyotes FC Denton Diablos FC Fort Worth Vaqueros FC Laredo Heat SC Midland-Odessa Sockers FC

Midwest
Region

Rust Belt	Akron City FC FC Buffalo Cleveland SC Erie Commodores FC Pittsburgh Hotspurs
Great Lakes	Carpathia FC FC Columbus Fort Wayne FC F.C. Indiana Kalamazoo FC Muskegon Risers Toledo Villa FC
North	Dakota Fusion FC Duluth FC La Crosse Aris FC Med City FC FC Milwaukee Torrent Minneapolis City SC

West
Region

Northwest	Crossfire Redmond International Portland Select FC OSA Seattle FC Spokane SC Shadow Tacoma Stars
Golden Gate	Academica SC FC Davis El Farolito SC Napa Valley 1839 FC Project 510 Sacramento Gold FC Sonoma County Sol
Southwest	FC Arizona A.S. Los Angeles ASC San Diego Club Xolos USA U-23 FC Golden State High Desert Elite FC Las Vegas Legends Oxnard Guerreros FC Temecula FC