The 2015 Orlando City SC season was the club's fifth season of existence in Orlando and first in Major League Soccer, the top-flight league in the United States soccer league system.
Background On November 19, 2013, it was announced that Orlando City would be the next expansion franchise in Major League Soccer, the league's 21st team. The dissolution of C.D. Chivas USA following the 2014 MLS season resulted in Orlando City instead being the league's 20th franchise.
Following the completion of City's final season in USL Pro, the team released all but nine players from its roster. The remaining players, who would form the base of the 2015 roster, included Kaká, who was placed on loan with São Paulo FC in his native Brazil following his signing in June 2014.
On September 24, 2014, Orlando City manager Adrian Heath and New York City FC manager Jason Kreis took part in a draw to determine who would get top priorities in various selection mechanisms, including the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft and the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Orlando City won the draw, and Adrian Heath selected the top pick in the Expansion Draft first. He would also choose the top pick in the SuperDraft, top selection priority for USL Pro and NASL players (beyond Orlando City's own USL Pro players, which the team had right of first refusal to), and second-to-last (then #20, now #19) in lottery ranking. Orlando City will be #2 in United States men's national soccer team player allocation ranking, #21 (now #20) in player discovery ranking, #21 (now #20) in re-entry draft ranking, and #2 in designated player ranking.
On October 17, 2014, the team broke ground on their new soccer-specific stadium. Due to delays in sales tax subsidies from the Florida Legislature, the team decided to assume stadium financing themselves, and committed to pay back the City of Orlando for the land purchased and any other costs already incurred. Orlando City played the 2015 season, and will play the entire 2016 season, in the remodeled Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium.
For normal regular-season matches in 2015, Orlando City will open the sidelines and ends of the lower bowl only, except for the corners, along with the luxury suites. For the season opener on March 8 against New York City FC, however, the entire stadium was made available for sale. The team announced that the stadium's entire allotment of permanent seating was sold out on March 2. The team made 2,000 standing room only tickets available on March 4, and those sold out within 24 hours.
On November 14, 2014, Orlando City was drawn for the seventh pick in the dispersal draft for Chivas USA players, but chose to pass on their pick. Manager Adrian Heath signed a contract extension on November 21, 2014, committing him to the club through to the end of the 2017 MLS season.
Orlando City originally planned to train in late January in Brazil, but eventually cancelled those plans in favor of training in Orlando. They will instead train at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford.
Orlando City opened the 2015 MLS season at the Citrus Bowl against the other expansion team for that season, New York City FC. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after Kaká scored an equalizer in the first minute of second half stoppage time. The attendance of 62,510 was the largest crowd to see a soccer match at the Citrus Bowl, the second-largest attendance ever for an MLS team's inaugural home match, and the ninth-largest crowd in MLS history for a standalone match.
Roster Last updated on August 6, 2015 NationalityNamePosition(s)Date of birth (age)Previous clubNotesGoalkeepers22Tally Hall GK Houston Dynamo–36Earl Edwards, Jr. GK UCLA Bruins–42Josh Ford GK Seattle Sounders FC– Defenders2Tyler Turner RB IMG Academy BradentonHGP3Seb Hines CB MiddlesbroughLoan in14Luke Boden LB Sheffield Wednesday–16Corey Ashe LB Houston Dynamo–20Brek Shea LB/LW Stoke City–23Conor Donovan CB NC State Wolfpack GA27Rafael Ramos RB S.L. Benfica U-19INT29Tommy Redding CB FC AmericaHGP44David Mateos CB Ferencvárosi TCINT78Aurélien Collin CB Sporting Kansas City–Midfielders5Servando Carrasco MF Sporting Kansas City–6Tony Cascio LW/RW Colorado Rapids–7Cristian Higuita AM Deportivo Cali INT8Harrison Heath CM/DM Norwich City U-18HGP10Kaká (captain) AM AC MilanINT, DP12Eric Avila MF Santos LagunaLoan in15Pedro Ribeiro AM/SS Philadelphia Union–17Darwin Cerén CM Juventud Independiente–18Kevin Molino AM/RW Ma Pau SC–24Lewis Neal LM D.C. United–32Adrian Winter AM FC LuzernINT55Estrela DM S.L. Benfica U-19INTForwards11Carlos Rivas FW/LW Deportivo CaliINT, DP19Danny Mwanga FW Colorado Rapids–21Cyle Larin FW Connecticut HuskiesGA, INT25Adam Bedell FW Columbus Crew SC–26Sidney Rivera FW Old Dominion Monarchs–35Bryan Róchez FW Real EspañaINT, DP
Competitions
Friendlies
Major League Soccer
All times in regular season on Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Results summary
Results
Standings Eastern Conference table
Overall table
U.S. Open Cup
Orlando City entered the 2015 U.S. Open Cup with the rest of Major League Soccer in the fourth round.
Player statistics
Appearances
Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.
! colspan=10 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=10 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=10 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=10 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
|colspan="10"|Players away from the club on loan:
|colspan="10"|Players who appeared for the club but left during the season:
Goalscorers
NameTotal121FW Cyle Larin17118210MF Kaká9110311FW Carlos Rivas044435FW Bryan Róchez303515MF Pedro Ribeiro20217MF Darwin Cerén20232MF Adrian Winter20278DF Aurélien Collin20293DF Seb Hines1017MF Cristian Higuita10112DF Eric Avila10114DF Luke Boden10124MF Lewis Neal011Own goal50 1Total46753
Shutouts
NameTotal 1 22 Tally Hall 5 1 6 2 1 Donovan Ricketts 2 0 2 3 36 Earl Edwards Jr. 0 1 1 42 Josh Ford 1 0 1Total8210
Disciplinary record
NameTotal 2DF Tyler Turner1100113DF Seb Hines2000204DF Sean St Ledger1000105MF Amobi Okugo5000505MF Servando Carrasco3000307MF Cristian Higuita101201218MF Harrison Heath0010109FW Martin Paterson10001010MF Kaká51005111FW Carlos Rivas60006014DF Luke Boden51005115MF Eric Avila10001017MF Darwin Cerén60006020DF Brek Shea71007121FW Cyle Larin01101122GK Tally Hall20002023MF Kevin Molino30003027DF Rafael Ramos42105232MF Adrian Winter11001135FW Bryan Róchez20002036GK Earl Edwards Jr.00101078DF Aurélien Collin210021Total6710607310
Player movement Per Major League Soccer and club policies, terms of the deals do not get disclosed.
MLS SuperDraft picks Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2015 draft was held on January 15, 2015. Orlando had five selections.
2015 Orlando City MLS SuperDraft Picks Round Selection Player Position College Status 1 1 Cyle Larin FW University of Connecticut Signed 2 22 Conor Donovan DF North Carolina State UniversitySigned 25 Akeil Barrett FW University of AkronReleased 3 43 Earl Edwards Jr. GK UCLASigned 4 63 Sidney Rivera FW Old Dominion UniversitySigned
Transfers in DateNameTransferred fromFee/notesRef.July 1, 2014 Kaká MF AC Milan Free transfer, first designated player December 8, 2014 Tally Hall GK Houston Dynamo Acquired with Allocation Money, Orlando also received an international slot December 8, 2014 Amobi Okugo DF Philadelphia Union Acquired with $100,000 Allocation Money and a 2016 Superdraft pick December 8, 2014 Aurélien Collin DF Sporting Kansas City Acquired via allocation money and 2014 MLS Expansion Draft pick Jalil Anibaba December 10, 2014 Donovan Ricketts GK Portland Timbers Expansion Draft December 10, 2014 Tony Cascio MF Colorado Rapids Expansion Draft December 10, 2014 Danny Mwanga FW Colorado Rapids Expansion Draft December 10, 2014 Pedro Ribeiro MF Philadelphia Union Expansion Draft December 10, 2014 Lewis Neal MF D.C. United Expansion Draft December 10, 2014 Jairo Arrieta FW Columbus Crew Expansion Draft December 15, 2014 Bryan Róchez FW Real España Undisclosed fee, designated player December 18, 2014 Josh Ford GK Seattle Sounders FC MLS re-entry draft December 19, 2014 Brek Shea MF Stoke City Undisclosed fee January 5, 2015 Gustavo DF Vila Nova Free agent January 26, 2015 Cristian Higuita MF Deportivo Cali January 26, 2015 Carlos Rivas FW Deportivo Cali July 14, 2015 Corey Ashe LB Houston Dynamo Acquired with allocation money and a second-round selection in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft July 20, 2015 Servando Carrasco MF Sporting Kansas City Traded for Amobi Okugo July 29, 2015 Adrian Winter MF FC Luzern July 29, 2015 David Mateos DF Ferencvárosi TC August 6, 2015 Adam Bedell FW Columbus Crew SC Acquired with a second round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft
Loans in NameLoaned fromFromUntilRef.FW Martin Paterson Huddersfield Town January 26, 2015 August 5, 2015 DF Seb Hines Middlesbrough February 24, 2015 August 2015
Transfers out DateNameTransferred toFee/notesRef. January 14, 2015 Jairo Arrieta FW D.C. United For international slot February 12, 2015 Gustavo DF Mohun Bagan A.C. Released from club July 20, 2015 Amobi Okugo MF Sporting Kansas City Traded for Servando Carrasco July 30, 2015 Donovan Ricketts GK LA Galaxy Traded for a second round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft July 31, 2015 Sean St Ledger DF Colorado Rapids Placed on waivers. "Serious breach of club policy" cited as a reason.
Loans out NameLoaned toFromUntilRef. MF Kaká São Paulo FC July 1, 2014 December 6, 2014 26 FW Sidney Rivera Louisville City FC May 8, 2015 July 23, 2015 42 GK Josh Ford Fort Lauderdale Strikers May 29, 2015 — 23 MF Conor Donovan Pittsburgh Riverhounds July 25, 2015 July 31, 2015 26 FW Sidney Rivera Pittsburgh Riverhounds July 30, 2015 — 29 CB Tommy Redding Wilmington Hammerheads FC July 30, 2015 August 7, 2015
Media Any matches that are not featured in the MLS national television package on either ESPN2, Fox Sports 1 or UniMás will air locally on WOFL FOX 35 or WRBW My65. The commentary team will be Jeff Radcliffe on play-by-play and Kevin Hartman on color commentary, with Holly Bristow as sideline reporter. In addition, most matches not on the MLS national television package will be simulcast on Fox Sports Florida or Sun Sports to fans outside the Orlando market. Some matches will be placed on tape delay to accommodate Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins baseball games.
On the radio, matches will air on WTKS-FM "Real Radio 104.1" in English, with Tom Traxler and Adam Schick providing the call. When City is on a nationally televised match, Jeff Radcliffe will call the match on WTKS with Tom Traxler. Matches will also air on WONQ "La Grande 1030" in Spanish. The Spanish play-by-play announcer is Sergio Ruiz Torres, with color commentary by Israel Heredia. The Spanish radio feed will be used as the SAP Spanish feed on Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports.
Orlando City does not black out matches not on the MLS national television package on MLS Live, enabling local fans to watch matches live via live stream.
See also 2015 in American soccer 2015 Major League Soccer season
References