Houston Leones

The Houston Leones were an American soccer team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played 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 franchise folded at the end of the 2010 season and left the league thereafter.

Houston Leones
Full nameHouston Leones
Nickname(s)Leones
Founded2007
Dissolved2010
GroundSoccer World Center
Richmond, Texas
Capacity4,500
OwnerMexico Juan Carlos Hernández
Head CoachMexico Cuauhtemoc Rios
LeagueUSL Premier Development League
20102nd, Mid South
Playoffs: Conference Finals

The team played its home games at the soccer-specific Soccer World Center in nearby Richmond, Texas. The team's colors were blue and white.

The Leones were an official 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.

Players

Notable former players
See also: All-time Houston Leones roster

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year
Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2008 4 USL PDL 8th, Mid South Did not qualify Did not qualify
2009 4 USL PDL 7th, Mid South Did not qualify Did not qualify
2010 4 USL PDL 2nd, Mid South Conference Finals Did not qualify

Head coaches
  • Mexico Carlos Ayala (2008)
  • Mexico Rafael Lopez (2009)
  • Mexico Rogelio Martinez (2009)
  • Mexico Cuauhtemoc Rios (2010)

Stadia

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 https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.

  • 2008: 294
  • 2009: 166
  • 2010: 112

References
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