El Paso Locomotive FC

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El Paso Locomotive FC
File:El Paso Locomotive FC logo.svg
Founded March 1, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-03-01)
Stadium Southwest University Park
Stadium
capacity		 7,500
Owner MountainStar Sports Group
Head coach Brian Clarhaut
League USL Championship
2023 7th, Western Conference
Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals
Website Club home page
Current season

El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019.

History

First Season

In February 2018, the United Soccer League announced that El Paso was selected as an expansion team for the 2019 USL Championship season. The club will be run by MountainStar Sports Group.[1][2] In June 2018, El Paso announced the signing of their first player, Omar Salgado.[3] In July 2018, El Paso announced that their first head coach would be Mark Lowry, who had previously coached NASL's Jacksonville Armada FC.[4] After a 34-game season, El Paso Locomotive FC qualified for the USL Championship play-offs, reaching the Western Conference finals before falling 2–1 to the Real Monarchs.[5]

2020

With COVID-19 shutting down many organizations worldwide, USL followed suit on March 12, 2020, announcing the season would be temporarily suspended.[6] In June 2020, USL Championship announced their return to play would be in an altered format of four team groups, competing for a spot in the playoffs starting in July 2020.[7] After the shortened season, El Paso Locomotive FC qualified for the playoffs advancing to the Western Conference Finals for a second year in a row, before falling to Phoenix Rising FC 4–2 in a shootout.[8]

File:El Paso Locomotive FC Historical League Performance.png
Historical chart of El Paso Locomotive's regular season performance within the American soccer pyramid

2021–2023

The 2021 USL Championship season returned to normal scheduling, consisting of a 32 game season, after which El Paso Locomotive FC qualified for their third straight playoffs,[9] but failing to get past the first round, falling to the Oakland Roots 1–0.[10] Though they fell out of the playoffs in the first round, El Paso had a great season, with Coach Lowry and six players being chosen for the USL Copa XI.[11] El Paso earned the title of best Division II team in Texas by winning the Copa Tejas Trophy.[12] In addition, El Paso was recognized as the most successful club in Texas, winning the inaugural Copa Tejas Sheild.[13] Coach Lowry announced on November 15, 2021 that he would be leaving El Paso Locomotive FC.[14]

In December 2021, El Paso Locomotive FC announced they had hired John Hutchinson as their head coach going into the 2022 USL Championship season.[15] 2022 was again a 34 game season for the USL Championship, but for the first time in club history, El Paso failed to make the playoffs, finishing eight in the Western Conference.[16] After the 2022 season, Coach Hutchinson stepped down as coach to return with his family back to Australia.[17]

In January 2023, El Paso Locomotive announced they had hired Brian Clarhaut as their head coach going into the 2023 USL Championship season.[18] After a 34 game season, El Paso finished in 7th place in the Western Conference, qualifying for the playoffs before losing to Orange County SC 1–0 in the Western Conference quarterfinals.[19]

Club crest and colors

The Locomotive brand was unveiled on October 4, 2018, beating out finalists Lagartos, Estrellas, Stars, and Tejanos.[20] The crest is shaped in a manner similar to Mission Style buildings and features three main colors: West Texas Sky blue, Desert Dusk blue, and High Noon Sun. The crest has 11 vertical stripes that represent the eleven players on the field and resemble the front of a locomotive. A city icon, The Star on The Mountain, adorns the top of the crest, which is shaped in the silhouette of the Franklin Mountains.[21][22]

Sponsorship

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2019–2020 BLK Southwest University
2021–2023 Adidas[23]
2024–present Hummel

Stadium

The club play at Southwest University Park, a baseball stadium in Downtown El Paso that is also the home field for the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League.

Rivalries

El Paso's primary rivals are New Mexico United[24][25] and FC Juárez.[26]

Players and staff

Roster

As of March 13, 2024 [27]

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

No. Position Player
1 Mexico GK Ramón Pasquel (on loan from Juárez)
2 United States DF Brandan Craig (on loan from Philadelphia Union)
3 United States DF Elijah Martin
4 United States DF Lucas Stauffer
5 Mexico DF Eder Borelli
6 El Salvador MF Eric Calvillo
7 El Salvador FW Joaquín Rivas
8 United States MF Luis Moreno
9 United States FW Justin Dhillon
10 El Salvador MF Amando Moreno
11 El Salvador FW Joaquín Rivas
13 United States GK Javier Garcia
14 Uruguay DF Gonzalo Pelúa (on loan from Juárez)
15 United States DF Noah Dollenmayer
No. Position Player
16 United States DF Miles Lyons
17 United States FW Ricardo Zacarías
18 South Africa FW Tumi Moshobane
19 United States MF Arun Basuljevic
20 El Salvador MF Jeremy Garay (on loan from D.C. United)
21 Nigeria MF Bolu Akinyode
22 Australia MF Liam Rose
23 Jamaica GK Jahmali Waite
24 Spain MF Yuma
27 Sweden DF Petar Petrović
31 United States DF Nick Hinds
77 United States MF Diego Abarca
93 Mexico DF Tony Alfaro
99 Mexico MF Francisco Nevárez (on loan from Juárez)
  1. ^ USL Academy Contract

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
United States FW Christopher Garcia (on loan to Austin FC II)

Front-office staff

  • Alan Ledford – president
  • Andrew Forrest – general manager

Technical staff

  • Brian Clarhaut – head coach & technical director
  • Jon Burklo – 1st assistant coach
  • Ray Saari – video analyst and assistant coach
  • Gianluca Masucci – assistant coach
  • Juan Carlos JC Garzon – goalkeeper coach
  • Saul Soto – coordinator, equipment and player operations

Team records

Year-by-year

As of April 12, 2024
Season USL Championship Play-offs U.S. Open Cup Top scorer 1 Head coach
P W L D GF GA Pts Pos Player Goals
2019 34 13 10 11 42 36 50 6th, Western Conference Final 2nd round United States Jerome Kiesewetter 12 England Mark Lowry
2020 16 9 2 5 24 14 32 4th, Western
1st, Group C		 Conference Final Cancelled Mexico Aarón Gómez 5
2021 32 18 4 10 56 34 64 2nd, Western
1st, Mountain Division		 Conference Quarterfinals Cancelled Mexico Aarón Gómez
Argentina Luis Solignac		 10
2022 34 13 14 7 56 52 46 8th, Western Did not qualify Second Round Argentina Luis Solignac 16 Malta John Hutchinson
2023 34 13 13 8 41 51 47 7th, Western Conference Quarterfinals Second Round Argentina Luis Solignac 9 United States Brian Clarhaut
2024 6 0 5 1 5 10 1 11th, Western TBD Third Round United States Amando Moreno 2
Total 154 66 47 41 224 197 240 – – – Luis Solignac 35 –

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

Head coaches

  • Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.
Coach Nationality Start End Games Win Loss Draw Win %
Mark Lowry  England July 25, 2018 November 15, 2021[28] 57 26 15 16 45.61
John Hutchinson  Malta December 9, 2021 November 15, 2022[29] 35 13 15 7 37.14
Brian Clarhaut  United States December 15, 2022[30] present 39 13 17 9 33.33

Average attendance

Year Reg. season Playoffs
2019[31] 6,584 7,460
2020[lower-alpha 1] 1,458 1,659
2021[32] 6,214 7,201
2022[33] 6,517 DNQ
2023[34] 6,590 N/A
  1. ↑ COVID-19

Honors

Minor

Player honors

Year Player Country Position Honor
2021 Diego Luna United States United States Midfielder All-League Second Team

References

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  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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