Soccer is about to become a much bigger sport in Lexington.
In October, the United Soccer League (USL) announced Lexington had been awarded a League One expansion franchise. On the heels of that announcement, Lexington Pro Soccer – the newly formed local professional soccer club – announced plans to create two professional United Soccer League (USL) teams (male and female) and build a new stadium, as well as plans to create leagues for both youth and pre-professional players and training programs for coaches and players, with fields and facilities around the city.
The USL professional teams are sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation, which is a full member of Football Inter Club Association (FICA), the international soccer authority. All of this means Lexington will soon be linked to the international world of soccer.
According to Sam Stockley, the director of sporting for Lexington Pro Soccer, the first step is to build the foundation of the club in the community.
Lexington Pro Soccer Club President Vince Gabbert, left, with Sporting Director Sam Stockley. Photo furnished
“We want to build something that is going to last well beyond us and will be here in 100 years’ time,” he said. “We want everybody involved and everybody to feel part of it, to support their local team.”
Stockley, who played pro soccer for 19 years in England, Canada, Hungary and the United States, made periodic visits to Lexington from his home in Liverpool, England, to meet with the club owners and executives. He and his family moved to Lexington in January, leaving behind his work with coach education programs for the Welsh and Gibraltar football associations.
While soccer fans might be chomping at the bit for news about the professional teams, Stockley said that Lexington Pro Soccer made a conscious decision to launch its academy and youth program first.
“The foundation is our youth,” he said.
To that end, LPS plans to launch a youth soccer academy this fall, with the professional teams and the pre-professional teams slated to start play in April 2023. The club is in discussions with the University of Kentucky regarding use of its Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex for the first professional season, with hopes to have a new stadium ready in time for the second season in 2024. The surface parking lot across High Street from Rupp Arena is the proposed site for the stadium, which is part of the High Street Development Project and includes a plan for multi-level parking structures.
“We’re building a youth system where we can produce our own players,” Stockley said. “That means players can stay local, and mums and dads can watch them play. We can produce players who will go into our pro teams, both male and female.”
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Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the proposed 6,000-plus seat Lexington Pro Soccer multi-use venue and soccer stadium would feature 45,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail with patio views overlooking both the stadium and Rupp Arena. Renderings furnished
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Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the proposed 6,000-plus seat Lexington Pro Soccer multi-use venue and soccer stadium would feature 45,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail with patio views overlooking both the stadium and Rupp Arena. Renderings furnished
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Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the proposed 6,000-plus seat Lexington Pro Soccer multi-use venue and soccer stadium would feature 45,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail with patio views overlooking both the stadium and Rupp Arena. Renderings furnished
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Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the proposed 6,000-plus seat Lexington Pro Soccer multi-use venue and soccer stadium would feature 45,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail with patio views overlooking both the stadium and Rupp Arena. Renderings furnished
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Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the proposed 6,000-plus seat Lexington Pro Soccer multi-use venue and soccer stadium would feature 45,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail with patio views overlooking both the stadium and Rupp Arena. Renderings furnished
Ultimately, Stockley said, the organization hopes to win championships with teams consisting of 60 to 70 percent of homegrown players.
Stockley sees a variety of pathways in the soccer club for youth league players.
“Not everybody is going to be a professional footballer,” he said. “We have a pathway for our recreational players [who] want to just play the game because they love it [and] want to play with their friends. We can teach them on the field about resilience, about teamwork and about confidence, so they can go off and be successful in other areas of life.”
Equally as important, he added, is the pathway that progresses from the youth club into the collegiate world and beyond.
Michelle Rayner, senior director of performance operations for LPS, will be working closely with Stockley to oversee the club’s performance and community relations. Rayner first took up soccer in her home country, New Zealand. She went on to play at the 1991 inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and also played professionally in England. As a soccer coach, she was assistant coach and then associate head coach of the University of Kentucky Women’s Soccer Team. Her most recent coaching distinction came when her Lexington Under 12 team, CR7, won the Disney 3x3 National Soccer Tournament in Orlando, Florida, in 2018 and 2019.
“Lexington as a whole is very sports-minded,” said Rayner, adding that the city’s international cultural diversity is reflected in its soccer community, which features multiple adult and youth teams and many Lexington players who have gone on to play at the collegiate and professional levels and on teams abroad. “For the size of Lexington, the soccer population is high, and a lot of talent comes out of Lexington.”
As general manager of Lexington’s indoor soccer and training facility Tower Hill Sports since its founding in 2019, Rayner has had a lot of engagement with the Lexington soccer community. Founded by Bill Shively (majority owner of Lexington Pro Soccer), Tower Hill focuses solely on soccer, offering two huge indoor soccer complexes that both provide year-round play for youth and adult soccer leagues.
Since the announcement this past fall, LPS has reached out to the community membersto engage them in shaping the club.
“We started with a very extensive survey, and we got over 1,500 responses,” said Vince Gabbert, president of the club. In addition to the survey, which was designed to get input on what people expect and want from the soccer club, the organization conducted several online focus groups discussing the stadium and training programs. Another project involved groups of Lexingtonians in virtual meetings brainstorming ideas for the team’s name, colors and crest.
President of Lexington Pro Soccer, Vince Gabbert, will continue his work with Keeneland where he serves as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Legislative Affairs. Photo by Bill Straus
“When it comes to the colors, the crest and all, it’s pretty vital,” said Christopher Payne, an award-winning designer of soccer club branding from Darby, England, who is working with the organization on branding. “It’s what fans will be wearing in the stadium, what the players are going be using on the pitch.”
Payne said it’s important to involve the community in the design process to come up with something that represents the region. As of this writing, nearly 200 community members had taken part in a series of online “listening sessions,” designed to garner community input. For his design process, Payne started with ink and paper sketches, later adding colors and other ideas gathered from the community meetings, eventually covering a large work wall.
Brad Flowers of Bullhorn Creative, a Lexington based branding firm, will help Payne to decide on a team name. Payne said he expects the branding to be completed soon. Rayner said once the new branding is complete for the club, the name Lexington Pro Soccer will be no more. Tower Hill Sports will also be rebranded under the club’s umbrella.
Ultimately, this new chapter in Lexington sports will unleash unmatched opportunities for Lexington soccer fans and players. Stockley recalls being recognized for his soccer talent and signed up by the Southampton Club in England at the age of 12, then, in his teen years, practicing and playing while also cleaning the cleats and looking after the kits (jersey, shorts, shin pads and all) of professional players. He recalls running out onto the field at the age of 18 for the first time as a professional player, hearing the roar of the crowd and feeling the excitement of playing at the highest level of the sport.
Such a path will be soon open to Lexington youth – and those with soccer in their futures will soon have the opportunity to play for the home team.