Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC, and commonly known as NoVa FC) is an American soccer club from Leesburg, Virginia competing in USL League Two, USL W League, American Premier Soccer League and Major Arena Soccer League 3.

The club's women's team was known as the Northern Virginia Majestics, who played in the women's USL W-League, and fielded a team in the USL's Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella. Throughout their recent history, NVFC previously enjoyed minor league affiliation with D.C. United, the nearby Major League Soccer franchise.

History Professional Northern Virginia FC was founded in 1998 and joined the USISL D-3 Pro League as an expansion franchise in 1998, entering the team under the name Northern Virginia Royals. They ended their first season in 7th place in the Atlantic Division with a 5–12–1 record. In their second season, they improved, winning 10 of their 18 regular season games, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division and also qualified for their first US Open Cup campaign in 1999, where they were upset in the first round by Florida PDL side Cocoa Expos 5–3. In the playoffs they beat divisional rivals South Carolina Shamrocks 2–1 in the first round before falling 4–0 to Charlotte in the conference semi-final. The 1998 season and the Royals were featured in the book "Unlucky: A Season of Struggle in Minor League Professional Soccer" by Dave Ungrady, who trained and played briefly for the Royals as well

The D-3 Pro League became the USL Pro Select League in 2003, and the Royals finished bottom of the 3-team Southern Division, with just 6 wins for the year. The USL Pro Select League became the USL Second Division in 2005, and dispensed with divisions in favor of a single-table format; for the Royals, this proved to be yet another disastrous season.

Move to PDL After finishing bottom of the league in the USL Second Division, the Royals management took the decision to self-relegate themselves to the USL Premier Development League for the 2006 season. The Royals won their first match in the amateur PDL 3–1 over West Virginia Chaos, ultimately finishing fourth in the Mid Atlantic Division in their debut 2006 season.

The Northern Virginia Royals were inducted into the USL Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007.

Partnership with D.C. United In 2015, the Royals rebranded as Evergreen FC and partnered with Major League Soccer club D.C. United and formed a joint PDL team called D.C. United U-23, who combined their NPSL side with the Royals, to play in the PDL, finishing fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Evergreen Hammers

After the 2015 season, the Royals transferred their operations and relocated to Loudon County, Virginia in 2016 playing under the Evergreen FC banner as the Evergreen Hammers.

Northern Virginia FC For the 2021 season, Evergreen which was already part of the Northern Virginia FC club, renamed the USL League Two club to sit under the NoVa FC banner. NoVa FC had already operated teams under that name in the lower level United Premier Soccer League and American Premier Soccer League.

On 27 August 2021, NoVa FC announced they would be reviving the women's program with a new side in the USL W League beginning in 2022.

Year-by-year Professional/USL League Two YearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonPlayoffsU.S. Open CupNorthern Virginia Royals19983USISL D-3 Pro League7th, Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify1999USL D-3 Pro League4th, AtlanticConference Semifinals1st Round20007th, Southerndid not qualify2nd Round20014th, Southerndid not qualifydid not qualify20024th, Southerndid not qualifydid not qualify2003USL Pro Soccer League3rd, Southerndid not qualifydid not qualify20043rd, Southerndid not qualifydid not qualify2005USL Second Division9thdid not qualifydid not qualify20064USL PDL4th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20077th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20085th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20097th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20105th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20112nd, South AtlanticConference Quarterfinalsdid not qualify20127th, South Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20133rd, South Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualify20146th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualifyYearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonPlayoffsU.S. Open CupD.C. United U-2320154USL PDL5th, Mid Atlanticdid not qualifydid not qualifyEvergreen FC20164USL PDL7th, Mid Atlantic did not qualify did not qualify20177th, Mid Atlantic did not qualify did not qualify20186th, Mid Atlantic did not qualify did not qualify2019USL League Two8th, Mid Atlantic did not qualify did not qualify2020Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicNorthern Virginia FC20214USL League Two3rd, Mid Atlantic did not qualify did not qualify20223rd, Chesapeake did not qualify did not qualify20232nd, Chesapeake did not qualify did not qualify20244th, Chesapeake did not qualify did not qualify20251st, Chesapeake Conference semifinals did not qualify20269th, Chesapeake did not qualify did not qualify

Eastern Premier Soccer League YearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonRecord (W-D-L)PlayoffsU.S. Open Cup*2020–215Eastern Premier Soccer League2nd, Mid-Atlantic6–0–1did not qualify2nd Round2021–221st, Mid-Atlantic12–0–1Champion4th Qualifying Round2022–231st, Mid-Atlantic10–0–0Champion4th Qualifying Round *Club entered in local qualifying round

Major Arena Soccer League 3 YearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonRecord (W-L-T)Playoffs2021–223Major Arena Soccer League 31st, East10–0–0Champion2022–23Major Arena Soccer League 31st, East7–2–0Champion

USL W League YearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonRecord (W-L-T)Playoffs20224USL W League5th, Mid Atlantic1–7–2did not qualify2023USL W League3rd, Mid Atlantic6–0–5did not qualify2024USL W League6th, Mid Atlantic4–8–0did not qualify2025USL W League2nd, Mid Atlantic7–2–1did not qualify2026USL W League3rd, Mid Atlantic5–0–5did not qualify

Honors League American Premier Soccer League Mid-Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champion (2): 2021–22; 2022–23 Playoff Champion (2): 2021–22; 2022–23 Major Arena Soccer League 3 East Division Regular Season Champion (2): 2022; 2023 Playoff Champion (2): 2022; 2023 National Independent Soccer Association NISA Nation National Champion (1): 2023

Cups Metropolitan DC-Virginia Soccer Association MDCVSA State Cup (2): 2021, 2022 National Independent Soccer Association NISA Independent Cup – Mid-Atlantic Region (Runner-Up): 2022 US Adult Soccer Association Region I National Amateur Cup Region I (1): 2022 US Adult Soccer Association National Amateur Cup (Runner-Up): 2022

Statistics Career USL 2 Goal Leaders RankPlayerGoalsCareer span1AJ Sheta132016-2JP Ayolmbong122022-3Vagner Marquis112022-4Tyler Clegg82018-20225KJ Nadeau72019-6Bernardo Majano62016-20196Martin Ngoh620218DJ Charlton52018-20199Luke Campbell42021-9Connor Coward42016-20179Jhonny de Souza42018-9John Emmons42017-20189Lewis Long4201714Samuel Biyo3201814Graydon Hester32016-201714Iliass Laghjibi32022-14Declan Quill32023-14Alton West32021- *Through 2023 USL 2 Season

Head coaches Silvino Gonzalo (1998–2007) John Pascarella (2007–2008) Tom Torres (2009–2010) Richie Burke (2011–2012)Royals Hire Burke as PDL Coach Grady Renfrow (2013–2014) Richie Burke (2014–2015) Brian Welsh (2014–2015) Ian Bishop (2016) Grady Renfrow (2017) Paul Ngend (2018–2019) Grady Renfrow (2021–)

References

External links