Lexington Sporting Club

Full name	Lexington Sporting Club
Nickname(s)	Boys in Green
Short name	Lexington SC LSC
Founded	October 5, 2021 (2021-10-05)
Stadium	Toyota Stadium Georgetown, Kentucky
Capacity	5,000
Owner	List Bill and Donna Shively Stephen Dawahare Carter Carnegie
President	Vince Gabbert
Sporting Director	Sam Stockley
Coach	Darren Powell
League	USL League One
2023	9th of 12 Playoffs: DNQ
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours colours

Lexington Sporting Club is an American professional soccer team based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2021 as an USL expansion side, the team their season in 2023. The team competes in USL League One, in the third division of the United States soccer league system, and temporarily plays its home matches at Toyota Stadium at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. The club's permanent stadium is being constructed just off Athens Boonesboro Road near Interstate 75.

History

On October 5, 2021, the United Soccer League announced that Tower Hill Sports had been granted a USL League One expansion team in Lexington to start play in the 2023 season.^[1] Tentatively named "Lexington Pro Soccer," the team revealed its official colors, crest, and branding as Lexington Sporting Club on March 22, 2022.^[2]

The club's inaugural match was against fellow expansion side One Knoxville SC on March 18, 2023, where they fell 1-2, with Don Smart scoring the first goal in the club's history from a penalty kick in the 28th minute. They won their first match on April 15, 2023, in a 2–1 victory over Tormenta FC in full time at Toyota Stadium.^[3]

By the end of their inaugural season, LSC finished 9th in the USL League One table, ahead of the reigning Supporters Shield winners Richmond Kickers, 2022 runners up Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, and Wooden spoon winners Central Valley Fuego FC with Senegalese forward/midfielder Ates Diouf finishing 3rd in the Golden Boot standings with 15 goals.^[4]

Women's Teams

Lexington Sporting Club also fields 2 women's sides within the USL's structure - a professional team in the USL Super League and a pre-professional team in the USL W League. Former New Zealand international Michelle Reyner^[5] serves as the Women's Sporting Director, with Alan Kirkup^[6] as Technical Director and head coach of the W-League side.

Super League

In May 2023, the USL announced that LSC would be an inaugural member of the USL Super League, kicking off in 2024 alongside Charlotte, Dallas-Forth Worth, Phoenix, Spokane Zephyr FC, Tampa Bay Sun FC, Tucson, and Washington D.C., with Chattanooga, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Madison, and Oakland set to join in subsequent seasons.^[7] The league announced that Fort Lauderdale had been awarded a team and would be joining the inaugural 2024 campaign in November 2023^[8]

The USL Super League (USLS) is a planned Division I professional women's soccer league in the United States. The league will be owned and operated by the United Soccer League. Originally planned to launch in August 2023, it is now slated to begin play in August 2024.^[9]

On January 9, 2024, the club announced Michael Dickey as the women’s first team inaugural head coach for the inaugural 2024 season that is scheduled to kick off in August.^[10]

USL W-League

Announced in October 2022, Lexington SC participated in the USL W League^[11] a pre-professional women's soccer league in the United States which began play in May 2023. The team competes in the Valley Division alongside Indy Eleven, Kings Hammer FC, Racing Louisville, and St. Charles FC.^[12] The inaugural team played its matches at Toyota Stadium (Kentucky). Former National Women's Soccer League player Morgan Proffitt notably appeared in a handful of matches for the inaugural team.

Rivalries

Lexington SC's main league and region rivals are One Knoxville SC, Louisville City FC, and Greenville Triumph SC

The Battle of the Barrel (Lexington vs. Knoxville)

Lexington SC and One Knoxville SC facing off in both club's first ever USL1 match

Lexington SC and One Knoxville joined USL League One as expansion sides together in 2023, and while many fans from outside the rivalry consider it to be a "league manufactured" one, the fans of the two clubs involved see it differently. The rivalry stems from the Kentucky–Tennessee rivalry as Lexington is home to the University of Kentucky and Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee. The rivalry stems from the old name for the matchup between Kentucky and Tennessee in college football when a beer barrel trophy was presented to the winner.

Currently, the reported trophy for the season winner on aggregate score at the end of the USL1 season takes home "a full-size whiskey barrel and a bottle of bourbon from a distiller located in the losing club’s locale."^[13] Although, neither fan group has yet to see a whiskey barrel be present at the end of the season.

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home team	Result	Away team	Goal scorers	Attendance	Series	Ref
2023	March 18	USL League One	Regal Stadium	One Knoxville SC	2-1	Lexington SC	(KNX) Villalobos 17' (pen.), Keegan 40' (LEX) Smart 28' (pen.)	2,512	KNX 1-0-0	[14]
	May 27		Toyota Stadium (Kentucky)	Lexington SC	1-1	One Knoxville SC	(LEX) Brown 43' (Robertson) (KNX) Keegan 66' (Leinhos)	2,282	KNX 1-1-0	[14]
	August 18		Regal Stadium	One Knoxville SC	1-0	Lexington SC	(KNX) Kelly-Rosales 49' (Crisler)	2,522	KNX 2-1-0	[14]

El Bluegrassico (Lexington vs. Louisville)

Lexington SC and Louisville City FC met for the first time in 2023 in the 2nd round of the U.S. Open Cup. The fans of both teams coined the term "El Bluegrassico" as a play on names of the classic Soccer derby nickname for derbies of "El Classico" and the nickname for Kentucky-The Bluegrass state. The rivalry is dormant due to LouCity. Lexington plays in a separate division of the United States soccer league system with Lou City playing the USL Championship, which is the 2nd division, and Lexington playing in the 3rd division league USL1. There is currently no trophy for this matchup, but supporters of both sides have been discussing creating one.

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home team	Result	Away team	Goal scorers	Attendance	Series	Ref
2023	April 5	U.S. Open Cup	Lynn Family Stadium	Louisville City FC	1-0	Lexington SC	(LOU) Totsch 69' (DelPiccolo)	4,205	LOU 1–0–0

The Green Team Gauntlet (Lexington vs. Greenville)

This "rivalry" was created by Tyler Crane of Crane Kicks Lex (fan blog/podcast) and Gio Cañas, who is a notable Twitter presence within USL League One Twitter landscape, who now works for the Greenville Triumph SC. On the field, the rivalry has lived up to "hype," having multiple late-game thrillers in 2 out of the 3 matches.

  LEX win   GVL win   Draw

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home team	Result	Away team	Goal Scorers	Attendance	Series	Ref
2023	April 22	USL League One	Toyota Stadium (Kentucky)	Lexington SC	0-2	Greenville Triumph SC	(GVL) Pilato 37', Castro 90+4' (MacKinnon)	2,260	GVL 1-0-0	[15]
	September 1		Toyota Stadium (Kentucky)	Lexington SC	1-1	Greenville Triumph SC	(LEX) Robertson 49' (Mohammed) (GVL) Smith 90+8' (Pilato)	2,142	GVL 1-1-0	[15]
	October 14		Paladin Stadium	Greenville Triumph SC	1-1	Lexington SC	(GVL) Smith 82' (o.g.), 90+5'	3,672	GVL 1-2-0	[15]

Supporters

The Railbirds are currently the only officially recognized supporters group for the club. The group was founded in August 2011 by Jesus Robles, Sam Spencer, Jon Lunsford, and Alan Clark.^[16]

The Railbird's unveil their "The Race Starts Now" tifo prior to the kickoff of Lexington's inaugural home match at Toyota Stadium. The tifo was designed by Railbird's treasurer Cait LeSaux.

The group's name is inspired by the horseracing term "Railbird" - a person who hangs on the fence of a horse track, cheering for their horse and helping to give that final push across the finish line.^[17]

They can be found in The Stables or Section 109 at Toyota Stadium (Kentucky).

Colors and crest

Per the club's website, the crest and colors are broken down as follows-

Typography - "Our name, Lexington Sporting Club, is emblazoned in typography inspired by bourbon barrels. The letters are reminiscent of the barrels' graceful curves, giving our name the weight of local history and tradition."^[18]

The Shield - "The shield reflects the longstanding traditions of soccer. The heraldic silhouette recalls soccer club crests from the sport's early days during the Victorian Era. And the tapered shape perfectly frames our horse and our name."^[18]

The Horse - "Horses are synonymous with Lexington, the horse capital of the world. People speak with pride about the majestic, athletic, powerful, animal. The design of our horse is distinct yet traditional. Rearing upward gives the crest a sense of energy and power, striking a balance of historical and contemporary."^[18]

The Colors - "Lexington's rolling hills and lush, leafy woodland that bolster Kentucky's major industries - bourbon and horses - inspire the colors for this design. Our community carries a strong sense of place, and we love the memorable green colors that dominate our landscape."^[18]

Design Process

The Lexington SC crest was designed by Christopher Payne, a designer whose work with soccer clubs in the United Kingdom and the United States includes Eastleigh Football Club, Flower City Union, Monterey Bay FC, and Appalachian FC.^[19] Payne coordinated with Lexington-based media and PR company Bullhorn Creative which oversaw project management, creative services, and messaging beyond the brand design.^[20][21]

Over the course of several months, Lexington SC leadership held fourteen listening sessions with community members, gathering more than 300 responses to brand surveys and more than 1,500 responses to stadium surveys to identify key themes to reflect on the club's brand identity. Themes that emerged included the cultural landscape of the Bluegrass region and its lush green rolling hills and leafy woodlands, its equine and bourbon industries, and a communal sense of place.^[22][23]

Surrounded by over 400 horse farms, Lexington is often referred to as the "Horse Capital of the World". It was also the first city outside of Europe to ever host the World Equestrian Games.^[24] To reflect this heritage, as well as club ownership's involvement in the thoroughbred industry and President Vince Gabbert's professional connection to Keeneland Race Course,^[25] the crest features a vibrant green stylized horse figure set against a dark green background.

Payne developed a typeface called Lex Type specific for Lexington SC branding. He states, "Like a horse, Lex Type is tall, powerful, and athletic. However, if you look closely, you’ll notice the typeface has subtle curves at the top and the bottom of the letters. This detail is inspired by the graceful curves of a bourbon barrel, tying the typography to this important element of local history and tradition."^[20]

Mascot

The club's mascot Thunder in her pen prior to kickoff

On May 12, 2023, LSC announced on their official "mini" mascot Thunder, who is a miniature therapy horse who is stationed in the southwest corner of Toyota Stadium during matches.^[26] Thunder is very popular among fans, especially younger ones and helped pave the way for the green horse found on the club's crest to be nicknamed Thunder after her.

Stadium

Lexington SC currently plays at Toyota Stadium at Georgetown College while they are building an $82 million soccer complex off Athens Boonesboro Road near Interstate 75 that is scheduled to open in August 2024.^[27]

The team's ownership group had proposed a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Lexington, but LFUCG denied that proposal. The stadium being built off Athens Rd will have a capacity of approximately 5,500 seats with the ability for the stadium to be renovated to be expanded to 11,0000 seats. Surrounding the stadium will be the training grounds for both the professional Men's and Women's teams as well as the fields for the academy.^[28][29]

Proposed stadium

Originally, the team had plans for a downtown stadium as a part of the Lexington Center Corporation's High Street Development Project.^[30] The stadium's design was being directed by architecture firm Gensler.^[31] The firm is perhaps best known for designing Shanghai Tower, currently the world's third-tallest building by height.^[32] The firm is also responsible for designing several other sporting-specific stadiums and entertainment facilities including Milwaukee Bucks Entertainment Blocks (Milwaukee Bucks), the Banc of California Stadium (Los Angeles Football Club), Q2 Stadium (Austin FC), and BMO Field, Canada's first soccer-specific stadium (Toronto Football Club).^[33] The proposed location for the facility was in the heart of downtown, directly across the street from Central Bank Center^[34] and Rupp Arena,^[35] a multi-purpose venue which hosts the UK Wildcats men's basketball team, concerts, conventions, and shows. The team has since withdrawn this proposal and that site will be used for mixed-use development instead.^[36]

Toyota Stadium in Georgetown, KY during a Lexington SC game against One Knoxville SC.

Academy

On the same day the club revealed its branding, Lexington SC also announced that two local youth soccer clubs, Lexington F.C. and Commonwealth Soccer Club, would merge to form Lexington SC Academy.^[37] In April 2022, Lexington SC announced that it will join the Girls Academy League to add a girls’ youth program in Fall 2022.^[38] The following week, the club announced its participation in the USL Academy as part of its pathway-to-pro development model for youth.^[39] Their teams play in leagues like Kentucky Premier League (KPL), Kentucky Select Soccer League (KSSL), Great Lakes Conference (GLC), Girls Academy (GA), and more.

Players and staff

Current roster

As of January 16, 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Austin Causey 2 DF  USA Tate Robertson 4 DF  USA Kimball Jackson 5 DF  USA Kaelon Fox 13 GK  JAM Amal Knight 14 FW  USA Khalid Balogun 17 DF  USA Erick Ceja-Gonzalez 25 MF  SEN Pierre Mané 32 FW  SEN Ates Diouf

No. Pos. Nation Player 77 MF  JAM Nico Brown — GK  ESP Nico Campuzano — DF  GHA Ebenezer Ackon — DF  ENG Michael Agboola — DF  USA Christian Lue Young — DF  CUB Modesto Méndez — MF  VEN Abel Caputo — MF  ENG Jayden Onen — MF  USA Anthony Patti — MF  MLT Yannick Yankam

1. ^
   USL Academy Contract

Team records

Year-by-year

USL League One

As of December 6, 2023

Season	USL League One										Playoffs	US Open Cup	Top Scorer 1		Head Coach	Average Attendance
	Div	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos			Player	Goals
2023	3	32	7	11	14	46	57	-11	32	9th	Did not qualify	R2	Ates Diouf	15	Sam Stockley and Nacho Novo (interim)	2, 232

^ 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

USL Super League

TBA

USL W-League

As of December 6, 2023

Season	USL W League									Playoffs	Top Scorer 1		Head Coach
	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos		Player	Goals
2023	10	3	1	6	10	17	-7	10	3rd	Did not qualify	Kailey Utley	4	Alan Kirkup

^ 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

USL League One

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Draw	Loss	Win %
Sam Stockley[42]	England	October 13, 2022	September 17, 2023	28	7	8	13	39.29
Nacho Novo (interim)[43]	Spain	September 17, 2023	October 23, 2023	5	0	2	3	30
Darren Powell[44]	England	November 10, 2023	Present

USL Super League

TBA

USL W League

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Draw	Loss	Win %
Alan Kirkup	England	October 18, 2022	Present	10	3	1	6	35

Honors

USL League One

USL Super League

USL W League

USL Academy Cup

Super Y League

League Honors

USL League One

• 2023
  • All League First Team - Ates Diouf
  • Seasonal Honors
    • Player of the Month
      • Ates Diouf - September 2023
    • Player of the Week
      • Owen Green - Week 5
      • Amal Knight - Week 9
      • Ates Diouf - Week 12 & 21
      • Tate Robertson - Week 14
    • Team of the Week
      • Kaelon Fox - Week 1, 12, 21, & 23
      • Khalid Balogun - Week 3 & 9
      • Terique Mohammed - Week 4, 9, 19, & 25
      • Owen Green - Week 5 & 14
      • Nico Brown - Week 5 & 15
      • Amal Knight - Week 9, 13, 19, & 25
      • Tate Robertson - Week 11, 14, 21, 22, 25, & 27
      • Ates Diouf - Week 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 26, 28, & 29
      • Cesar Murillo Jr. - Week 13
      • Will Baynham - Week 14
      • Don Smart - Week 14
      • Pierre Mané - Week 27
      • Kimball Jackson - Week 29
      • Austin Causey - Week 31
    • Goal of the Week
      • Tate Robertson - Week 25
    • Save of the Week
      • Amal Knight - Week 11, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, & 26

USL Super League

USL W League

Other Honors

• USLPA
  • 2023
    • Young Player of the Year - Ates Diouf
    • Players’ Choice Best XI - Ates Diouf and Tate Robertson
• Crane Kicks Lex (LSC fan votes)
  • 2023
    • Tekkers Player of the Year - Tate Robertson
    • Young Player of the Year - Kimball Jackson
    • Defender of the Year - Amal Knight
    • Midfielder of the Year - Don Smart
    • Forward of the Year - Ates Diouf
    • Heart and Soul Player of the Year - Austin Causey
    • Player of the Year - Ates Diouf
• The Railbirds (Supporters Group)
  • 2023 Golden Horseshoe (Supporters Player of the Year) - Charlie Machell

References

External links

• Official website