Houston Leones

Houston Leones is an American soccer team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Founded in 2007, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference.

The team plays its home games at the soccer-specific Soccer World Center in nearby Richmond, Texas, where they have played since 2008. The team's colors are blue and white.

The Leones are an unofficial minor league affiliate of Mexican Premier League team Cruz Azul.

History

The Leones' first season in competition began on a hugely positive note, with a 3-0 opening day victory at home to the New Orleans Shell Shockers in front of 500 fans, and with a squad featuring several junior players from Mexican side Cruz Azul, who were spending time with their new Texan affiliate for match experience; unfortunately, this was something of a false dawn as the men from Richmond lost their next three games on the trot, conceding five goals with no reply. Two more victories in late May, 3-0 over Mississippi Brilla and 2-1 over El Paso Patriots looked to have righted the ship, but this proved to be the last hurrah, as they failed to win another game all season. As June turned into July, the Leones' on-field performances got progressively worse and worse: they lost four close games on the bounce and then, as some of players returned to the Cruz Azul junior team for the beginning of the 2008/09 Mexican Clausura, the second string defence absolutely fell apart.

However recent strong performances resulted in a big home victory versus the formidable national powerhouse Laredo heat, with the final score at 3-1 (Houston leones victory).

Players

Current roster

as at July 2, 2010^[1]

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

Notable former players

• See also: All-time Houston Leones roster

• Eric Quill

Year-by-year

Head coaches

• Carlos Ayala (2008)
• Rafael Lopez (2009)
• Rogelio Martinez (2009•present)

Stadia

• Soccer World Center, Richmond, Texas (2008•present)

The Soccer World Center is a 17-acre (69,000 m²) soccer-specific facility which comprises three fields (including a 4,500-seat stadium field that is expandable to 8,000-10,000), and was built by team owner Juan Carlos Hernández.

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.

• 2008: 294
• 2009: 166

References

1. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2010/8969397.html#ROSTER
2. ^ http://www.stthom.edu/Campus_Student_Life/Sports_Athletics/Intercollegiate_Athletics/Mens_Soccer/Roster.aqf
3. ^ http://www.sanjac.edu/athletics/soccer/roster/6.html
4. ^ http://www.calvulcans.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=765&path=msoc
5. ^ http://www.medaillesports.com/2008/08/31/patrick-zelko-mens-soccer/
6. ^ http://www.sanjac.edu/athletics/soccer/roster/20.html
7. ^ http://www.obubison.com/roster/7/7/609.php
8. ^ http://www.stthom.edu/Campus_Student_Life/Sports_Athletics/Intercollegiate_Athletics/Mens_Soccer/Roster.aqf
9. ^ http://www.stthom.edu/Campus_Student_Life/Sports_Athletics/Intercollegiate_Athletics/Mens_Soccer/Roster.aqf
10. ^ http://www.sanjac.edu/athletics/soccer/roster/17.html
11. ^ http://www.medaillesports.com/2008/06/05/alex-rouse-mens-soccer/
12. ^ http://www.fgcuathletics.com/msoccer/roster/113/1204/

External links

• Official Site
• Official PDL site

Categories: Association football clubs established in 2007 | Teams in the Premier Development League | Soccer clubs in the United States | Texas soccer clubs | Houston soccer clubs