‘The community’s team.’ Lexington Pro Soccer forming a club ‘for generations to come.’
Long before the colors and crests are unveiled, community has become the identifying trait of Lexington’s latest professional sports franchise.
Last week’s announcement that Lexington was granted an expansion franchise in USL League One — the third tier of professional soccer in America — was a moment years in the making.
United Soccer League (USL) executives have explained how Lexington checked all the boxes to receive an expansion team, from population size to youth soccer participation, and the potential for a brand-new downtown stadium near Rupp Arena.
“Going through the process, we laid out to them what we expected of this market and they more than exceeded that with what their plan is for the market,” Justin Papadakis, the USL’s chief operating officer and chief real estate officer, told the Herald-Leader. “So from the stadium to the training center to the academy to their community-centered approach to this club, they will be in the top level of any USL club on any measure.”
“We always knew Lexington had the ingredients, and then it comes down to timing and this is the right time,” USL President Jake Edwards said at last week’s announcement in the heart of downtown Lexington.
The franchise won’t begin USL League One play until spring 2023, and it will likely do so at the Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex on the University of Kentucky’s campus.
The team, which currently has the placeholder name Lexington Pro Soccer, will also house an academy system with youth teams at various age levels, but the academy teams won’t begin play until at least next summer.
During this interim period, after the excitement of the team’s announcement and before the tangible on-field product occurs, Lexington Pro Soccer will look to the community to shape the city’s soccer identity.
“Having a professional soccer team come in, (it) can breathe excitement and life back into the community now, where everybody can be part of it. Everybody can get behind it,” said Sam Stockley, Lexington Pro Soccer’s first sporting director. “It’s a club for the people. It’s going to unite the city... it’s going to unite all of the big players within the city.”
“This is to me for families,” said William J. Shively, the founder of Tower Hill Sports, the majority owner of Lexington Pro Soccer. “You have kids who are playing in a club, and hopefully they’re wearing our colors and they grow up wanting to be on the team.”
Vince Gabbert, the president of Lexington Pro Soccer, said that last week’s franchise announcement kicked off the naming process for the team.
Next comes focus groups, listening sessions and other opportunities for community members to offer ideas and suggestions on the team’s branding.
Everything from the team’s colors and logo, to the actual team name, are on the table for input.
Gabbert told the Herald-Leader he hopes to have the official team branding finalized this winter.
He compared the community involvement with Lexington Pro Soccer to his work at Keeneland, where Gabbert has worked as the racetrack’s vice president of strategic initiatives and legislative affairs since October 2009.
“The community has such an ownership at Keeneland and that’s one of the things that makes it so special,” Gabbert said. “So that level of guest service and that level of community buy-in and appreciation ... it really is going to be the community’s team. We want people’s input. We want people’s support.”
Stockley’s playing career gave him a firsthand look at the way clubs fit into their communities worldwide.
Born and raised in England, Stockley came through the youth system at Southampton of England’s Premier League. He played for lower-division English teams such as Barnet and Wycombe Wanderers, clubs that have been community staples for well over a century.
He later played in Hungary for Ferencváros, one of the country’s biggest clubs and in front of fervent crowds of more than 15,000 people.
Stockley concluded his playing career in the United States with lower division teams in New York and North Carolina, an experience that led him to move into soccer broadcasting and coaching in the U.S., completing his holistic look at soccer around the globe.
“It was almost like a blank canvas. You could be part of something that ultimately could embed in a culture for generations to come,” Stockley said of American soccer in comparison to established English clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
“You can’t do that anywhere else in the world and that’s really what’s so exciting about this project.”
Edwards, the USL president, said that he wants more than 30 teams in USL League One by the time the 2026 World Cup is played in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
The league, which began operations in 2019, currently has 12 clubs, but it will add two new expansion clubs for the 2022 season.
“It’s important that people are fans of the sport and are watching the sport, and you’re watching the sport at the highest level on TV,” Edwards told the Herald-Leader. “Watching it versus coming to a game and supporting your team and wearing your local jersey with your local crest and singing with the fans and having that experience of walking to the match live is something you can’t replicate.”
When Stockley came to the United States in the later stages of his playing career, his role was that of an experienced veteran, an older pro who led by example.
Similarly, creating interpersonal connections in his current role is crucial to Lexington Pro Soccer.
Stockley, the sporting director, works with Michelle Rayner, the team’s senior director of performance operations, on everything from hiring processes for the franchise to developing a methodology and style of play for the club.
Gabbert said that he and Stockley have met on Zoom at least once a week for the last 14 months while Lexington Pro Soccer was created, with Stockley living in his native England and unable to travel due to coronavirus restrictions.
“My role will be to oversee the entire performance department along with Michelle Rayner and (to) make sure that we’re bringing in the right leadership group,” Stockley said last week during his first visit to Lexington. “(That) we’re bringing in the right head coaches, we’re bringing in the right players that fit our style and that we have our morals and our values and our philosophies. That is a golden thread that goes right through the entire program.”
In addition to the USL League One team, Lexington Pro Soccer will field an under-23 men’s team in USL League Two and an under-23 women’s team in USL W League, meaning the club must develop inroads with local college teams so players come play for Lexington Pro Soccer during the offseason.
USL League Two and USL W League are both pre-professional leagues overseen by USL.
What Lexington Pro Soccer and its academy and youth teams will look like on the field is still unknown.
Both Gabbert and Stockley have indicated there is a six-to-nine month hiring timeline to appoint a head coach of the USL League One team and additional staff members. Stockley also said one of the club’s goals is to win championships with 65-70% homegrown players
But long before a ball is officially kicked, Stockley has stressed the importance of off-field structure, and the value of taking the time now to ensure the success of Lexington Pro Soccer for years to come.
“We have to make sure we get the right people that believe in our vision, that believe in what we’re trying to do ... that will fit with the philosophies of our ownership group,” Stockley said. “You’ve got to respect that opportunity and make sure the foundations are concrete. So my role will be making sure our foundations in what we build are long standing for generations to come.”
“If you do it right and you get everything done right, then things come together and things work,” Shively said. “We’re going to do this right.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 10:50 AM.
