PHOTO | CHARLOTTE FC

Charlotte FC's under-17 team played the organization's first matches at Bank of America Stadium. The Major League Soccer squad's first season was pushed back to 2022.

Charlotte soccer stayed busy in 2020, even though most of the action happened off the pitch.

While the year did not go as anticipated, it did not fail to entertain. Bank of America Stadium hosted multiple games, as was expected, but they were not the ones originally scheduled, and they played in front of significantly smaller crowds. The Charlotte Independence made club history during the condensed USL Championship regular season, yet their front office’s tone deaf response to social and racial inequality overshadowed their accomplishments on the pitch.

At every level, 2020 provided memorable moments, some of which left you wondering what could possibly happen next. Take a look at what happened in 2020.

Charlotte FC

The fledgling Major League Soccer expansion franchise has 15 months to continue to build a club from scratch. They made several hires in early 2020, notably technical director Marc Nicholls, got their academy off the ground over the summer and announced Nick Kelly as the inaugural club president 10 days before Christmas. They also signed three players, all midfielders, one of whom knows Charlotte well. Brandt Bronico’s signing coincided with his wedding day to fellow former Charlotte 49ers soccer player Rebecca Beatty—Dec. 20.

Charlotte FC signed Riley McGree in October, sending the Australian on loan to Birmingham in the English Football League Championship. Sergio Ruiz became the inaugural player to sign with the club in July. He is spending his time on loan in Spain with second division side Las Palmas. His announcement came shortly before MLS pushed the club’s inaugural season back from 2021 to 2022, which took place shortly before the team announced its name.

While the first team must wait to play at Bank of America Stadium, the U-17 and U-14 academy sides already have. They faced Atlanta United’s academy sides on Oct. 31 in MLS NEXT competition. Charlotte Sporting Director Zoran Krneta and Academy Manager Dan Lock continue to emphasize the importance of developing homegrown players, but the question remains, who will be the first Charlotte FC academy player to sign with the first team? Read our entire analysis of Charlotte FC’s first year here.

Charlotte Independence

The Jacks had momentum heading into the season. They signed all-time USL Championship leading goal scorer Dane Kelly, and opened the season with a 2-1 win at Sporting Kansas City II. Then the league pressed pause in March due to COVID-19.

When play did finally resume, it was a condensed 16-game season in a group format, with the top two clubs advancing to the playoffs, followed by single-elimination. Charlotte traditionally struggled away from home but managed to go 5-2-1 on the road. They won Group G, finishing the regular season 8-4-4 with 28 points, which allowed them to host a playoff game for the first time in club history. They lost 2-1 in overtime to Charleston. They have yet to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs with previous playoff appearances in 2016 and 2017.  

Kelly led the club with 11 of their 26 goals. Goalkeeper Brandon Miller, a Charlotte native, kept five clean sheets and led the league at the end of the regular season with 61 saves. Both showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement on and off the field. Kelly would take a knee and raise his fist in the air after scoring a goal. Drawing attention to the movement was significant not only as it pertained to the movement as a whole, but specifically in response to the anti-Black Lives Matter posts shared on Twitter by club majority owner Dan DiMicco.

Players expressed their disappointment and disgust that the front office did not separate itself from the actions and views of DiMicco. Players like Miller and defenders Hugh Roberts and Aaron Maund were instrumental in the creation of the USL Black Players Alliance, which launched in August. The goal is to empower members of the USLBPA to use their platforms as professional athletes to create positive change in their communities.

Roberts utilized his podcast BackYardFooty to connect Black players and coaches, who were able to share their experiences within the game. Miller and Roberts also supported local nonprofit Heal Charlotte in their quest to raise $10 million to address housing insecurity in Charlotte. They donated based on their performance each game.

Miller is now on the board of Heal Charlotte. Roberts also established a foundation, donating his time and funds raised through the foundation to organizations such as Block Love Charlotte and Creative Player Foundation. Maund’s work focuses on using real estate to provide affordable housing. Earlier in December, he raffled off his autographed and game-worn MLS and Independence jerseys to purchase coats that become sleeping bags for the housing insecure. He raised over $1,500 in 24 hours, enough to buy 12 coats.

Housing insecurity is a humanitarian crisis in Charlotte. The 2020 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Instability & Homelessness Report stated 2,782 people were homeless as of July 31.

The Independence ultimately launched a One Club, One Love initiative to promote inclusivity as well as an active and healthy lifestyle through free community clinics.

The club will move into the newly renovated Memorial Stadium for the 2021 season. They have been at the Sportsplex at Matthews since 2017.

Stumptown Athletic

The club plays in the National Independent Soccer Association, which paused its spring season on March 12 due to COVID-19. Stumptown’s 14-game season was scheduled to conclude on June 13. They recorded two draws during the spring season and went 2-2 during the fall showcase in 2019. They opted not to play in the fall in order to focus on returning to play in 2021.

Charlotte Eagles

The USL League Two and Women’s Premier Soccer League sides did not play in 2020 due to cancelled seasons. However, the USL League Two side did make coaching changes this month by promoting Michael Kovach from assistant to head coach. Drew Yates, a former Eagle and Stumptown player, joined the staff as an assistant coach.

Charlotte 49ers

Men’s and women’s soccer was postponed from the fall to the spring season. Both teams continued to train during the fall.

International Champions Cup

Summer typically signals soccer at Bank of America Stadium with the International Champions Cup. Yet the tournament known for bringing European clubs to the United States could not happy with COVID-19.

A five-year deal was announced during the 2019 ICC stop in Charlotte, which Tepper Sports and Entertainment President Tom Glick described as “a first of its kind” agreement. Charlotte has hosted an ICC match five times since 2014.

International friendlies

Bank of America Stadium was scheduled to host an international friendly between Mexico and the Czech Republic to kick off Mexico’s 2020 U.S. Tour on March 26. It would have been the first game at Bank of America Stadium since MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced Charlotte as the 30^th club in December 2019.

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