Looking to defend their title: Ballard FC unveils 2024 schedule
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – As they look to defend their 2023 USL League Two title and doing so in their temporary home of Memorial Stadium, Ballard FC have unveiled their 2024 USL League Two regular season schedule. Looking to defend their title, playing under a new head coach, attempting to retain players from their championship roster, and doing so in a new building all present different challenges for the Ballard based futbol club, all without mentioning that they’ve got the U.S. Open Cup to compete in before this regular season kicks off. The club will be put to the test throughout the year, but with James Riley at the helm and many players from last year's side returning, Ballard is making their bid to defend their title.
“Everything is shaping up for this to be another incredible season. With over 1,000 season ticket holders already, there is a significant level of excitement around our championship-defending season. We’re also thrilled about the opportunity to be one of the last groups to play at historic Memorial Stadium before it changes forever. Our roster is looking strong and we’re confident we have another championship-caliber program.”
Scenes from Ballard FC defeating Lionsbridge FC for the USL League Two championship last season. (Photos by Sage Zipeto)
Meeting the new guys
As mentioned, there’s a decent sized list of challenges that Ballard will be facing when they get into their regular season schedule for 2024, and one of them is the fact that they’ve got three new clubs to battle within their Northwest division. Three new clubs have entered the division, all of them home to an area near or in Seattle proper: West Seattle Junction FC, Midlakes United, and Tacoma Stars. Three of the Oregon clubs remain in the Northwest division, as Ballard will take on Capital FC, Lane United, and United PDX throughout the course of the season, but perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this season is how the new local clubs will fare and how they’ll stack up against a Ballard side headed into their third season in club history.
Midlakes and Tacoma will battle Ballard in their first road and home matches, respectively, but will go over those in the next section. Ballard’s first contest against West Seattle comes on Saturday, June 1st with a kickoff time of 7PM PST. This match will be Ballard's second home contest of the season, getting their home opener out of the way against Midlakes, and their fourth match of the schedule. These local teams will surely have rivalries develop throughout their matches played, but also considering the geographical locations and as fans of the different areas in which these teams are located gravitate to their teams. It will be really fun to see these rivalries start from scratch and develop over great battles, whether it be in regular season matches or in the playoffs.
The 2024 season schedule for Ballard FC, as posted on their twitter (@goBallardFC).
First tests
Ballard FC will begin their title defending campaign in 2024 with a road contest against the Tacoma Stars, on Sunday, May 19th with a kickoff time of 2PM PST at Bellarmine Preparatory School. It is going to be unique to see the Tacoma Stars hit the outside pitch, considering they have primarily been an indoor soccer squad in recent memory, and it’s the first match of the season for Ballard in their title defense. Their first match at home, taking place inside of Memorial Stadium due to the construction taking place at Interbay to make the stands more ADA accessible, will be against newcomer Midlakes United on Friday, May 24th with a 7PM PST kickoff time. Ballard gets an early taste of their new local rivals, all within the first four matches of the season, including the first two of the season with Tacoma and Midlakes.
“We are very excited about our game day experience we have planned this season. We have been working extremely hard to ensure that our home matches are a memorable experience with great food and beverage options, kids activities, halftime entertainment, and much more.”
Breakdown by month
To open up the season, Ballard will play three matches in the month of May, two of them on the road as they take on Tacoma and Midlakes to open the season with two new clubs while getting their first road and home tests of the year out of the way. The other contest within the month of May is their first battle against a rebranded club, FC Olympia. Previously known as Oly Town FC, FC Olympia is a shift for the club as they’ve somewhat simplified their name and have gone to a crest with more of a nod to the history of Olympia. With two contests against new clubs and a meeting with Olympia to round out the first month of the season, Ballard doesn’t have any cupcakes out of the gate.
The month of June, the biggest for contests amongst the USL League Two clubs, features eight contests and notably facing off against each member of the Northwest division at least once. Capital FC, of Salem, Oregon, is the club that Ballard will face twice during the month of June. It's an even split of home and away during this month for Ballard, as four of these eight contests are at home including the first two matches of the month of June on the 1st and 8th.
The month of July, just like the month of May, features three contests for Ballard, two of them at home as compared to the one home contest in May. As Ballard looks to wrap up their 2024 regular season and aims to solidify their playoff presence, they’ll battle Lane United, United PDX at home before the regular season finale against West Seattle Junction FC on the road.
What’s next?
Following news of the schedule release, the club continues to assemble its roster for the 2024 season, with some added stress considering the fact that they’ve got the U.S. Open Cup to worry about before their USL League Two regular season begins. The dates for Ballard’s U.S. Open Cup play should be released somewhat soon, and the club has other announcements to make coming within the next few weeks that include things such as more player announcements and other items that may or may not be related to the schedule. Be on the lookout for information such as that and more as it comes out, by following Ballard FC on social media as well as Circling Seattle Sports’ minor league/semi-pro division, CSS Futures, on social media as well.
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Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports 〰️
Instagram: @CSS_Futures Twitter: @CSS_Futures Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports
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Instagram: @CSS_Futures Twitter: @CSS_Futures Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports 〰️
Check out our previous Ballard FC articles here.
Check out our previous CSS Futures articles here.
Check out previous articles with photos by Sage Zipeto here, and her portfolio here.
Check out previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.