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Laredo Heat

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Laredo Heat SC
Full nameLaredo Heat Soccer Club
Nickname(s)The Heat, The Red Flames
Founded2004
StadiumPEG Energy Stadium
Laredo, Texas
Capacity4,000
OwnersShashi Vaswani
General ManagerJuan Jose Vela
Head CoachJohn Powell
LeagueUSL League Two
20235th, Lone Star
Websitehttp://www.laredoheatsc.com
Current season
Original Laredo Heat logo 2004–07

Laredo Heat Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in Laredo, Texas. The team competes in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as a member of the Lone Star Division.

The team plays its home games at the PEG Energy Stadium, where they have played since 2024. The team's colors are red, black and white.

Founded in 2004, the team was a member of the USL Premier Development League from 2004 to 2015. The club took a hiatus for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

History

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2004

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Laredo Heat initially joined the USL Premier Development League in 2004 as an expansion franchise, playing a limited 'exploratory' schedule of eight exhibition games against selected opponents, but only managed two wins, both over the Lafayette Swamp Cats, 4–0 and 5–0, the latter of which featured a hat trick from striker Nelson Mata-Meza. Former Tampa Bay Mutiny, D.C. United and US national team striker Roy Lassiter played for Laredo in their 2–1 loss to DFW Tornados, but did not get on the score sheet.[1] He also played in a 1–1 draw against UNAM.

2016

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The Heat decided to opt out of the PDL's 2016 season, citing the slow growth of the Mid-South Division as the reason.[2]

2017

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The Heat announced they will be part of an expansion team of the National Premier Soccer League in 2018.[3][4]

2025

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The Heat announced would return to USL League Two for the 2025 season, marking the club's return to the league after a 10-year hiatus. The Heat, who had previously competed in League Two from 2004 to 2015 and won the league title in 2007, will play their home matches at the new PEG Energy Stadium in Laredo, Texas, as part of the Lone Star Division.

Team

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Technical staff

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Updated June 2024[5]

Position
Head coach John Powell
Assistant coach Braeden Anderson
Assistant coach Johnny Ibarra

Notable former players

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Year-by-year

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Year League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2004 USL PDL 8th, Mid South did not qualify did not qualify
2005 USL PDL 2nd, Mid South Conference Finals did not qualify
2006 USL PDL 1st, Mid South National Final 1st Round
2007 USL PDL 1st, Mid South Champions did not qualify
2008 USL PDL 2nd, Mid South National Final did not qualify
2009 USL PDL 1st, Mid South Conference Finals did not qualify
2010 USL PDL 1st, Mid South Conference Semifinal did not qualify
2011 USL PDL 1st, Mid South National Final did not qualify
2012 USL PDL 1st, Mid South Conference Semifinal 2nd Round
2013 USL PDL 2nd, Mid South Conference Finals 2nd Round
2014 USL PDL 2nd, Mid South Conference Semifinal 4th Round
2015 USL PDL 3rd, Mid South did not qualify 2nd Round
2016 On Hiatus
2017
2018 NPSL 1st, Lone Star Regional semifinals did not qualify
2019 NPSL 5th, Lone Star did not qualify 2nd Round
2020 NPSL Cancelled due to COVID
2021 NPSL 2nd, Lone Star Conference Final did not qualify
2022 NPSL 1st, Lone Star Regional semifinals did not qualify
2023 NPSL 5th, Lone Star did not qualify did not qualify
2024 NPSL 4th, Lone Star In Progress did not qualify

Events hosted by the Laredo Heat

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Javier "Chicharito" Hernández playing against the Laredo Heat Soccer Club on May 24, 2006

Honors

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  • NPSL Lone Star Conference Champions 2018
  • USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2011
  • USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2011
  • USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2010
  • USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2009
  • USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2008
  • USL PDL Champions 2007
  • USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2007
  • USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2007
  • USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2006
  • USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2006

Stadia

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Average attendance

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Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match.[8]

  • 2004: 1,300
  • 2005: 542
  • 2006: 705 (9th in PDL)
  • 2007: 737 (10th in PDL)
  • 2008: 974
  • 2009: 1,228 (7th in PDL)
  • 2010: 989 (10th in PDL)

References

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  1. ^ United Soccer Leagues (USL) Archived 2009-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Scavuzzo, Diane (December 1, 2015). "SABBATICAL FOR PDL'S LAREDO HEAT". goalnation.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "LAREDO HEAT SOCCER CLUB JOINS THE NPSL". npsl.com. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Davis, Zach (November 28, 2017). "Heat SC returning to Laredo in 2018". lmtonline.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Coaching Staff
  6. ^ Heat to play Tigres, Chivas reserves in exhibitions Archived 2014-06-05 at archive.today
  7. ^ U.S. Prepares for Mexico U-20 match by studying Mexican match vs Laredo Heat
  8. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
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