Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Full name	Northern Colorado Hailstorm Football Club
Founded	January 12, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-01-12)
Stadium	4Rivers Equipment Stadium
Capacity	2,500
Owners	Jeff and Casey Katofsky Ryan Spilborghs
Head coach	Éamon Zayed
League	USL League One
2023	3rd out of 12 Playoffs: Semifinals
Website	https://www.hailstormfc.com/
Home colors Away colors Third colors
Current season

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC is an American professional soccer team based in Windsor, Colorado. The club was founded in 2021, and made its competitive debut in 2022. The team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, and is owned by the Katofsky family and the Future Legends ownership group.^[1]

There are three other professional soccer teams in the state of Colorado. Colorado Rapids play in Major League Soccer, Colorado Springs Switchbacks play in USL Championship and Colorado Rapids 2 play in MLS Next Pro.

Because USL League One had an uneven number of teams for the 2022 season, Northern Colorado played the first competitive match in its history in the U.S. Open Cup on April 6 of that year, against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Despite losing Irvin Parra to a red card in the 27th minute, the Hailstorm won 1–0 in extra time, with Jerry Desdunes scoring their first-ever goal in the 96th.^[2] On April 9, 2022, Ethan Vanacore-Decker scored the first league goal for the Hailstorm play during their inaugural USL League One match which finished in a 1–1 draw with Richmond Kickers.^[3] In just its fourth ever competitive match, the Hailstorm defeated Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake away from home by a score of 1–0 on April 20, 2022, to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.^[4][5] The Hailstorm were eliminated from cup competition on May 11, 2022 by fellow League One opponents Union Omaha by a score of 2-0 in the round of 32. The Hailstorm played their first home game against North Carolina FC on June 8, 2022, after 10 games (including cup matches) on the road while awaiting a home venue in Colorado. The game took place at Jackson Stadium, on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado, since the completion of TicketSmarter Stadium was delayed. The game saw Irvin Parra score the Hailstorm's first home goal in spectacular fashion, making #2 on ESPN's top ten list that evening.^[6] The Hailstorm would go on the finish the match in a 1-1 draw.

During the 2024 season of USL League One, the United Soccer League would introduce the USL Jägermeister Cup (also known as the USL Cup). The inaugural edition would only be competed among USL League One teams. Despite heading into the tournament in bad form, the Hailstorm would surprise the league with a first-place finish in the West Group. They won seven of eight games and finished with 21 points. In the first stage of the knockouts, they matched up with their rivals Union Omaha. Despite an even split in the group stage, Hailstorm would win 2-0 to secure a place in the finals. Northern Colorado would meet Forward Madison in the final, defeating them 1(5)-1(4) thanks to a saved shot by goalkeeper Edward Delgado and becoming the inaugural USL Jägermeister Cup champions.

During the 2024 USL League One season, it would be revealed that owner Jeff Katofsky was under legal fire. His ongoing project, the Future Legends Complex, was behind on $13 million in payments. Kartofsky and the complex also had $11.3 million in open legal claims filed against them.^[7] On October 16, 2024, Kartofsky would file for bankruptcy.^[8] It is unknown whether the Hailstorm will compete in the 2025 USL League One season.

The team will play their home games at TicketSmarter Stadium located at the Future Legends Complex, a 118-acre multi-sport complex that was scheduled to open in 2022. The complex is expected to have 10 baseball fields and 12 soccer pitches.^[9] The team will share the complex with a minor-league baseball team, the Northern Colorado Owlz.^[10] The Owlz and Hailstorm "will play in a secondary location while construction concludes."^[11]

Due to construction delays, caused by an months-long investigation into the possible presence of a historical site in June 2021,^[12] the team obtained permission from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC, in Greeley, Colorado) to use their soccer facility, Jackson Stadium throughout the month of June, 2022.^[13] Due the resumption of inter-collegiate soccer at UNC, the team then obtained permission from Colorado State University (CSU, in Fort Collins, Colorado) to use Canvas Stadium, an artificial turf college football stadium with a capacity of 40,000+ throughout the month of July, 2022.^[14]

As of May 9, 2024^[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Lalo Delgado 2 DF  USA Brecc Evans 4 DF  ESP David García 5 DF  ENG Johnny Fenwick 6 MF  GER Jackson Dietrich 7 MF  TRI Real Gill 8 MF  GHA Enock Kwakwa 10 FW  USA Irvin Parra 11 MF  USA Marky Hernández 12 GK  USA Russell Shealy 13 DF  NGA Lucky Opara

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  JPN Haruki Yamazaki 15 MF  USA Patrick Langlois 16 MF  USA Destan Norman 19 FW  SCO Billy King 20 FW  USA Ethan Hoard 23 FW  USA Jake Keegan (on loan from One Knoxville) 27 DF  CUB Bruno Rendón 30 MF  USA Chelo Martinez 34 MF  USA Danny Robles 47 MF  USA McCain Clarke 66 DF  TRI Noah Powder

As of October 28, 2023

Season	USL League One								Playoffs	US Open Cup	Top Scorer 1		Head Coach
	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Pts	Pos			Player	Goals
2022	30	11	10	9	42	38	42	7th	Did not qualify	R4	Irvin Parra	11	Éamon Zayed
2023	32	18	6	8	59	37	62	3rd	Semifinals	R3	Trevor Amann	26

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

• Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Loss	Draw	Win %
Éamon Zayed[17]	Libya	August 11, 2021	present	117	68	32	17	058.12

• USL Jägermeister Cup
  • Champions (1): 2024