Rhode Island Football Club to debut in 2024 season
The Rhode Island Football Club crest features an anchor, a reference to Rhode Island’s flag and rich history. PHOTO CREDIT: rhodeislandfc.com
Professional soccer is set to hit the shores of Pawtucket in 2024, with the announcement last week that Rhode Island Football Club (RIFC) will be the United Soccer League Championship’s newest expansion team.
The team will compete in the eastern conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of American professional soccer.
The 2024 expansion team will call Pawtucket’s Tidewater Stadium home. The brand-new 11,000-capacity soccer venue broke ground in 2022 and is set to be completed for the team’s inaugural season in 2024.
According to the Providence Journal, the stadium is part of a larger development known as Tidewater Landing, a project that will revitalize the area with infrastructure such as housing, parking, restaurants and commercial spaces surrounding the stadium.
The team’s name, crest and branding were unveiled last week at a press conference held by the team. With an emphasis on community, RIFC partnered with a local Providence-based design firm, Nail Communications, and held several community listening sessions that allowed designers to implement community input into the team’s branding. Eventually, Rhode Island FC’s image came to life.
“We wanted to make sure that we were identifiable, and set apart from a lot of other USL Cubs, and stay true to Rhode Island,” RIFC co-founder and former professional player Michael Parkhurst said. “I think we were able to do that with the Ocean Blue.”
The crest, following an amber and blue color scheme, features an anchor and shield as its main characteristics, a nod to Rhode Island’s rich soccer history.
“In the late 1800s, Pawtucket was one of the most active soccer hubs in North America,” RIFC co-founder Brett Johnson said at a press conference. “This is why we call ourselves a football club, to honor the origins of the sport and its root in the community.”
According to the team’s website, the anchor design in the crest pays tribute to the Pawtucket Free Wanderers, who won the American Cup in 1893.
The shape of the crest represents both a shield and the bow of the ship – a reference to the Ocean State’s “protective pride,” according to a graphic on the team’s website.
The “R,” intertwined with an anchor in the middle of the badge, not only creates the state’s initials but also flares out to create the image of a ship’s sail, working together with the anchor to stay true to the state’s shoreline character.
“I know how important teams are to their communities, which is why our name and our crest are a reflection of the people and places that embody Rhode Island. ” Johnson said. “For us, this has always been about Rhode Island.”
With the search for a head coach already underway as the team prepares to build its inaugural team, Parkhurst said that the team expects to build a winning culture from the first kick-off in 2024.
“The expectations from everyone involved are extremely high,” he said. “We don’t want to have a competitive team, we want to have a winning team on day one.”
Parkhurst is no stranger to the professional game. The Providence native enjoyed a 14-year professional soccer career from 2005-2019, earning the 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year awards with the New England Revolution. Parkhurst returned to the MLS in 2014 after a 6-year stint in Europe, eventually becoming the 2018 MLS Cup Champions with Atlanta United before retiring one year later.
In his time as a professional, Parkhurst said the growth of the game in the United States presented a perfect opportunity for Rhode Island’s growing soccer market.
“It’s unbelievable, the growth that we’ve had [in the U.S.] in the last 25 years,” Parkhurst said. “The amount of soccer-specific stadiums that are up and running now, the fan engagement, the fan attendance, the new deals that are being signed, the money that’s being spent, the TV deals, everything is just incredible.”
According to Parkhurst, the vision for RIFC was always inspired by the state’s love for the beautiful game. In his and Johnson’s eyes, Rhode Island deserved a professional team of its own.
“We know that Rhode Island is a haven for soccer, Parkhurst said. “We see it in the TV ratings whenever there’s a big, nationally televised game. Providence is always in the top 10, top 20 [markets] in TV audiences.”
In an effort to connect with the community on levels that no other USL club had ever done before, team staff traveled to locations in all 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island, hosting meet-and-greets and spreading the word to fans, according to Parkhurst.
In just over a week, the team has already seen more than 3,000 fans place deposits for 2024 season tickets. To Parkhurst, Johnson and the rest of the team staff, their long-awaited vision is finally coming to life.
“We wanted to bring a team for all of Rhode Island to the state, and we’re excited to do that,” Parkhurst said.