Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid.
The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium, where they have played since 1998. The team's colors are red, black and white.
History In August 1997, the USISL announced it had awarded an expansion franchise to Gremio Lusitano, an amateur soccer club based in Ludlow, Massachusetts. The USISL had set a condition for new teams which prohibited ethnic team names which prevented the club from using the name Gremio or Lusitano. Therefore, the region's newspaper, the Springfield Union-News, held a week-long "name the team" contest which resulted in the selection of Pioneers.Soccer invades WMass Union-News (Springfield, MA) – Tuesday, August 12, 1997 In October 1997, general manager Rick Andre named Leszek Wrona, who had both played for and coached Gremio Lusitano, as head coach of the Pioneers.Wrona will coach Pioneers Union-News (Springfield, MA) – Tuesday, October 14, 1997 In September 1999, the Pioneers expressed an interest in moving up to the A-League after winning the USL D-3 Pro League.Pioneers explore new route Union-News (Springfield, MA) – Friday, September 17, 1999 However, the team elected to remain in the D-3 Pro League. In 2001, John Voight replaced Wrona has head coach. Wrona would return in 2005, leave in 2007 and return again in 2008. By 2003, the team was fielding ten Junior Pioneer youth teams which competed in the Super Y-League.Pioneers notebook – Andre to head soccer operation Union-News (Springfield, MA) – Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Through all these years, the team has remained under the ownership of Gremio Lusitano.
On December 22, 2009, following the exodus of teams from the USL to the new North American Soccer League, the Pioneers announced that they would self-relegate, and play in the USL Premier Development League in 2010.
Players
Notable former players
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.
Anthony Augustine Steve Covino Mateus dos Anjos Paul Kelly Joe Germanese Jair Matt Jones Martin Klinger Yan Klukowski Tommy McNamara Bobby Shuttleworth Mike Lima David Mahoney Ryan Malone Brandon Tyler Adam Wallace Jay Willis Patrick Agyemang Alec Hughes
Year-by-year YearLevelLeagueReg. seasonPlayoffsU.S. Open Cup19983USISL D-3 Pro League3rd, NortheastDivision Semifinals2nd Round19993USL D-3 Pro League1st, NorthernChampiondid not qualify20003USL D-3 Pro League5th, NorthernConference Finalsdid not qualify20013USL D-3 Pro League7th, Northerndid not qualifydid not qualify20023USL D-3 Pro League1st, NorthernQuarterfinalsdid not qualify20033USL Pro Select League3rd, Northerndid not qualifydid not qualify20043USL Pro Soccer League3rd, Northerndid not qualify2nd Round20053USL Second Division1stFinal3rd Round20063USL Second Division6thdid not qualifydid not qualify20073USL Second Division6thdid not qualify2nd Round20083USL Second Division6thQuarterfinals2nd Round20093USL Second Division7thdid not qualify2nd Round20104USL PDL6th, Northeastdid not qualifydid not qualify20114USL PDL3rd, Northeastdid not qualify1st Round20124USL PDL3rd, Northeastdid not qualifydid not qualify20134USL PDL4th, Northeastdid not qualifydid not qualify20144USL PDL3rd, Northeastdid not qualify2nd Round20154USL PDL5th, Northeastdid not qualify1st Round20164USL PDL2nd, NortheastDivisional Playoffdid not qualify20174USL PDL3rd, Northeastdid not qualify1st Round20184USL PDL3rd, Northeastdid not qualify1st Round20194USL League Two1st, NortheastConference Finaldid not qualify20204Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic20214USL League Two1st, NortheastNational Semifinalsdid not qualify20224USL League Two2nd, NortheastConference Semifinals2nd Round20234USL League Two2nd, NortheastConference Quarterfinalsdid not qualify20244USL League Two2nd, NortheastConference Quarterfinals1st Round20254USL League Two2nd, NortheastConference Quarterfinalsdid not qualify20264USL League Two3rd, Northeastdid not qualifydid not qualify
Honors USL League Two Eastern Conference Champions 2021 USL League Two Northeast Division Champions 2019, 2021
USL D-3 Pro League Champions 1999 USL D-3 Pro League Northern Division Champions 1999, 2002 USL Second Division Regular Season Champions 2005
Head coaches Leszek Wrona (1998–2001, 2004–2006, 2008–2010) John Voight (2002–2003) Tom d'Agostino (2007) Joe Calabrese (2011) Federico Molinari (2012–present)
Stadia Lusitano Stadium, Ludlow, Massachusetts (1998–present) Attendances Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from Kenn.com https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-usl-third-division-attendance/
https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-usl-league-two-attendance/ 1998: 2,004 1999: 2,430 Playoffs: 3,975 Overall: 2,842 2000: 2,313 Playoffs: 4,041 Overall: 2,601 2001: 2,385 2002: 1,992 Playoffs: 3,422 Overall: 2,122 2003: 1,496 2004: 1,280 2005: 1,790 Playoffs: 3,846 Overall: 2,132 2006: 1,230 2007: 2,041 2008: 1,787 2009: 1,838 2010: 765 (14th in PDL) 2011: 795 (13th in PDL) 2012: 896 (9th in PDL) 2013: 1,058 (11th in PDL) 2014: 910 (12th in PDL) 2015: 654 (11th in PDL) 2016: NA 2017: NA 2018: NA 2019: NA 2021: NA Playoffs:NA 2022: NA Playoffs:NA 2023: NA 2024: NA Playoffs:NA 2025: NA Playoffs:NA
References
External links
Western Mass Pioneers at USL League Two