It didn’t take long for Austin FC to establish itself as a legitimate threat within Major League Soccer. Founded in October of 2018, Austin FC’s inaugural 2021 season finished with an overall record of 9-21-4, but the team has surged to fourth place in the Western Conference this year with a mark of 7-4-3 as of Monday, June 6. Thanks to the progress made by Austin FC, head coach Josh Wolff has already had his contract extended through the end of the 2025 campaign. “I’m very grateful to Anthony (Precourt), the Austin FC ownership group and Claudio for their continued faith and confidence,” Wolff said in mid-May. “This is still a young, growing Club but seeing our vision for Austin FC come to life on and off the field has been one of the great honors of my career.
My staff and I will keep working every day to represent the city, and to develop our team both competitively and as human beings. The best is yet to come.”North Austin’s Q2 Stadium has become a rowdy home for the club, which has been embraced by Texas’ Capital City. The venue has also hosted FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, international friendlies and even CONCACAF Gold Cup contests.The leading goal scorer for Austin FC thus far during 2022 is forward Sebastian Driussi. The striker from Buenos Aires, Argentina has put in eight tallies in 14 games played.
Fellow Argentinian forward Maximiliano Urruti has added four goals for Austin FC, while midfielder Diego Fagundez of Uruguay leads the club in assists with seven. Goalkeeper Brad Stuver has started 12 matches for Austin FC and holds a goals against average of 1.35 while sporting a 7-2-3 record. Defenders Julio Cascante, Ruben Gabrielsen, Alexander Ring and Daniel Pereira have helped their keeper with solid work along the back line. Austin FC has an international friendly scheduled for June 11 against Mexican professional squad C.F. Pachuca and will look to bounce back from a 4-1 setback to the LA Galaxy when it resumes its MLS schedule on June 18 in Montreal.
From there, a busy summer continues with MLS matches against Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, New York, San Jose, Kansas City, Colorado, Charlotte and LA. If Austin FC can navigate that tough slate — as well as a brutal Texas summer — then it can perhaps make a push for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which are set to begin in October of 2022.There’s no doubt that it’s an exciting time to be a soccer fan in Austin, where the financial and emotional investments appear to already be paying dividends.
Austin, Texas —Henderson Engineers, a national building systems design firm, celebrates the one-year anniversary of the June opening of Q2 Stadium, the first ever major league sports venue in Austin, Texas. The Kansas City-based company, which has offices in nearby Dallas and Houston, served as the lead engineer for the $260 million facility that is home to the Austin FC Major League Soccer (MLS) team. In providing architectural lighting, electrical, fire and life safety, mechanical, plumbing, security, and telecom design services, Henderson was keen on elevating the fan experience.
Most striking of all Henderson-designed features are the lighting systems, which enabled Q2 to be the first ever stadium worldwide to be constructed with tunable RGB LED lights from the ground up. As a result, all 402 light fixtures throughout the facility have color changing and color tuning capabilities. The stadium’s operations team can instantaneously shift the lights from white to more than 16 million unique colors, allowing them to illuminate the pitch, the stands, and even attendees in numerous hues and patterns.
“Most stadiums use fireworks to boost excitement, so it’s an amazing experience to watch everything around you change color to red, white, and blue during the national anthem, to rainbow when commemorating PRIDE Month, and so on,” explained MischaHaramia, Henderson’s entertainment practice director who project managed the firm’s work on Q2. “Austin FC fans are ravenous, and the full-color-tunable lights are a great complement to the passion they show for their team at every game. The operations team also really loves the experience it provides, so much so that they host tours for the general public and other major league sports teams to specifically showcase the lighting.”
Adding to Q2’s stimulating atmosphere are several landscaped green spaces surrounding the stadium that serve as outdoor recreation areas on game days and public parks year-round. This includes a terraced 2,500 capacity amphitheater that doubles as a concert venue. To sustainably irrigate the greenery, excess rainwater is diverted from the soccer pitch via piping and pumping systems that were powered by Henderson and stored in nearby ponds, the stormwater catch basins designed by GarzaEMC, the civil engineer on the project. Henderson helped implement a HVAC condensate capture system that stores condensation in a holding tank and pumps it out to irrigate the landscaping as needed. Furthermore, the stadium’s electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems are fully equipped to allow the facility to install a SubAir System for the pitch if desired in the future to supply fresh air into the root zone to help maintain healthy turfgrass.
“In a relatively dry state like Texas, it’s important to make sure we’re using our natural resources responsibly,” noted Haramia. “We’re proud to have helped provide fans, families, and the surrounding community with beautiful green outdoor spaces that they can enjoy throughout the year while still limiting water usage. The amphitheater is an especially great addition in a city where live music is a beloved part of the local culture. And because we’re diverting rainwater, the City of Austin’s sewer systems are less strained whenever there’s unusually high rainfall or wastewater.”
For a seamless technological experience for fans and the operation team, Henderson provided a public distributed antenna system (DAS) and WiFi throughout the 465,000 square foot venue to boost connectivity and power key stadium technology features including a large LED videoboard. Given the rapidly evolving technological landscape, the systems are designed to be readily adaptable to future innovations.
“Social media, video, and other communication tools are an integral part of the modern sports experience, and we made sure fans are able to engage with the game and each other from virtually every location at the stadium,” said Haramia. “Our venue experts work on projects for every major sports league, giving us firsthand experience on how fast technology is changing and the steps we can take to keep up. So, we consciously provided Q2 with the flexibility to upgrade its WiFi systems, cellular network, and DAS without needing major infrastructure upgrades. That helps ensure the venue can remain at the forefront of tech for years to come.”
The Q2 Stadium project team included Gensler as the lead architect, Walter P Moore as the structural engineer, and Austin Commercial as the general contractor. The facility is LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council owing to the sustainability efforts undertaken during design and construction.
Project photos and interview opportunities are available. If interested, contact Mike Achoki at [email protected] or 913-742-5145.
ABOUT HENDERSON
Henderson Companies, Inc. is the 100% employee-owned parent company of Henderson Engineers and Henderson Building Solutions. Henderson Engineers is a national building systems design firm with a wide array of engineering design services and a project portfolio representing a wide range of markets including business, community, retail, healthcare, and venue. Henderson Building Solutions is a construction management and commissioning services firm that provides a seamless bridge between design, construction, and ongoing maintenance. As Henderson, we combine engineering knowledge with in-the-field construction expertise to provide single-source design-build solutions for any project.
Founded in 1970 and 2013 respectively, we’re licensed in all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and British Columbia) and bring buildings to life through our 1,000 employees and 250+ PEs across 12 offices, including New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Nashville, Bentonville, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City (Lenexa, Kansas, and downtown Kansas City, Missouri), Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Our vision is to be the firm that builds a better world. We’ve diligently cultivated an inclusive, best-in-class work environment where people can reach their full potential. Our core values drive us to deliver unrivaled service and solutions that make us the team you want to partner with.
The inaugural season of Austin’s first major league soccer team, the Austin FC, was met with overwhelming excitement and support. From the building of the $260 millon brand new Q2 stadium to the fifth highest ranked attendance in the MLS with an average of over 20k fans a game, Austin showed it is more than just a college football town. With the final match of a 34-match season over, the outcome was less than Austin had hoped for. With a record of 9W-4D-21L for the regular season the team and coaching staff have a lot to reevaluate over the off-season, before the start of the new MLS regular season on Feb 26th
2022 (getting an earlier start than the previous year in order to finish before the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar). The club started with a decent roster and later added a few feathers to it’s cap. Some of the top players include: Sabastián Driussi, a striker from Argentina, who came from the Argentine Primera División and Russian Premier League coming in mid-season with a $2.7 million contract. Cecilia Domínguez, a winger from Paraguay, who played for Sol de América, Cerro Porteño, América and Independiente. Tomás Pochettino a midfielder from Argentina, who played for Boca Juniors and Talleres. Diego Fagúndez, attacking midfielder from Uruguay who came from MLS New England Revolution.
Alexander Ring, a midfielder from Finland, who came from MLS New York City FC. Jared Stroud, a forward from New Jersey, who came from New York Red Bulls II.Austin FC is coached by Josh Wolff. Born in Georgia, the 44 year old is a former player having played on Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards, 1860 Munich and D.C. United. Wolff retired and began as an assistant coach for D.C. United in 2012. From there he was an assistant coach for Columbus Crew SC for four years.
Wolff stated at the close of their last home game of the season, “We are a resilient bunch. We lost more games then we should have. We’ve done a great job of building and bringing this organization in to the community and league. We are an expansion team, there is a level of expectation I had with this season. We performed in some areas and certainly under performed in others. Getting better is the priority.”
There were some notable highlights this season which includes: Beating Colorado Rapids 3-1 (4/24) with goals from Fagundez, Domínguez(2), Austin’s first ever win. Beating Minnesota United FC 1-0 (5/1) with a goal from Fagundez. Beating the Portland Timbers 4-1 (7/1) with goals from Gallagher, Fagundez, Ring, and Jimenez. Beating the Huston Dynamo 3-2 (8/4) with goals by Pochettino(2), Domínguez. Beating the Portland Timbers 3-1 (8/21) with goals from Domínguez, Fagundez and Driussi. Beating the LA Galaxy 2-0 (9/26) with goals from Djitté and Gaines. Beating Real Salt Lake 2-1 (10/2) with both goals from Cecilia Domínguez. Beating the Houston Dynamo 2-1 (oct 24th) with goals by Maric and Drussi. Beating Sporting Kansas City 3-1(Nov 3rd) with goals by Driussi, Cascante and Stroud, for their final home game of the season.
A key component to some of these victories and a fan favorite for the Austin FC club is Brad Stuver, a goalkeeper from Ohio, who came from MLS New York City FC. Stuver, who played in 32 matches this season has a total of 137 saves. In a letter to the fans Stuver writes, “Although results on the field have not been where we’d like them to be, we cannot put into words how grateful we are knowing we have your support. Every time we put on the Austin FC crest, we know that we are playing for all of you. We know that we represent more than just the name on the back of the jersey, we represent the crest displayed on our chest. The same one you wear on yours.
Austin FC is more than just players. It is more than the technical staff. It is more than the stadium, the training ground, the supporters’ section, the banners, and the songs. It is more than what people assume we are. Austin FC is about the culture, and the direct representation of the community we call home.”
Stuver closed with, “We are a tight-knit group of people who look out for one another, we stand by each other regardless of the circumstances and we rally behind each other in the good times and the bad. We embrace the road ahead knowing that it will not be easy, but we face that challenge with hundreds and thousands of people at our side willing to battle for one another.”
Although this was not a winning season, don’t overlook the impact of the fans, they are huge part of the morality of this team. The Verde fan section is a group of die-hard fans that will see Austin FC through the darkest of times and will celebrate every victory with infectious eruptions of elation.Through every home match this group of people whole heartedly cheer, sing songs, exult and support for the full 90 mins. With painted faces, loud voices and a love of the game these dedicated fans are reason enough to attend a match in person. At the end of home matches the players unite on the field, many of them with their children, to interact with the fans and celebrate this new Verde community.
Head coach Josh Wolff had this to say about the season, “Our last game at Q2 and I am extremely proud of our players. Really proud of this organization, obviously it has been an exciting, long year. We did not get the results we wanted at home, but our fans, support and community have been behind us from the outset. It’s been incredible to see that, it’s been incredible to fuel that and to be a part of this organization. Nothing but love for our supporter section, they are the heartbeat of this team.”
We have so much to be proud of with this club, but it starts with our fans and community. We are going to get better. We are going to add players. We are already a competitive team. We have to get more consistent and more ruthless and those things will be welcomed in 2022.”
AUSTIN
— Professional soccer arrived in the city of Austin with all the
necessary pieces in place to make the sport a smashing success.
The
United Soccer League’s newest expansion franchise — Austin Bold FC —
began this season with a beautiful 5,000-plus seat stadium built at the
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and even had an instant rivalry ready to
go with nearby San Antonio FC.
Austin
also opened its inaugural season with plenty of rabid fans, which
witnessed the first win in club history in Bold FC’s sold-out home
opener against San Antonio on March 30. The lone goal of the 1-0 triumph
was scored by Kleber off an assist by defender Sean McFarlane.
Just
like that, Austin Bold claimed the opening leg of the Central Texas
Derby — a series between Austin and San Antonio that will continue
throughout the season. In addition to that prize, the Copa Tejas will be
up for grabs for the top USL team in the Lone Star State — a field that
also includes both El Paso Locomotive and Rio Grande Valley FC.
Austin Bold head coach Marcelo Serrano has already said he enjoys having such emotionally-charged matches on the schedule.
“When
you have a derby [rivalry] situation, one team doesn’t live without the
other,” Serrano said. “It’s like a brotherhood because one team pushes
the other to become the best.”
Serrano
has assembled a diverse roster of international players that includes
Brazilian forward Kleber, who tallied the first goal in franchise
history in a 2-1 loss on the road to Reno 1868 FC.
Also
present is team captain and midfielder Dario Conca, an Argentinian who
was named Footballer of the Year in the Brazilian first division in 2010
and Chinese Super League in 2013.
In
all, Austin Bold’s initial roster features players of 14 different
nationalities, many of which have worldwide pedigrees. Austin’s recent
performance has drawn praise from around the USL, including from San
Antonio FC head coach Darren Powell.
“They have an extremely talented group of players,” Powell said. “Several have played at a very high level.”
Bobby
Epstein, who owns Austin Bold and COTA, was thrilled to see his team
capture a victory over San Antonio in its very first home match, which
was also the first professional soccer match played in Austin since the
Aztex folded three years ago.
Serrano said it was a fitting start to an I-35 rivalry that will hopefully last for years to come.
“You
can see that they made our victory very hard,” Serrano said. “They came
for a derby game — they didn’t give us any options.”
The
USL is directly below Major League Soccer in the United States and is a
36-team league divided equally into two conferences. SAFC and Austin
Bold are both in the Western Conference alongside the other two Texas
teams.
All
USL clubs play a 34-game regular season schedule, both home and away
against the other 17 teams in their conference, stretching from March to
October. Playoffs follow for the 10 teams from each conference that
qualify, with the USL Championship match taking place sometime between
Nov. 10-14.
