When was your team founded? What is the origin story?
FC 1749, based out of Alexandria, VA was founded by me (Leland Creadick), our Head Coach Cristian Mejia and another player/manager Xavier Matthews in December of 2020. After playing in college, I tore my ACL my senior year, so I hadn't played soccer in a couple of years. I moved to Alexandria from Frederick, MD 2 weeks before COVID shut everything down. A year full of ups and downs and not working for a couple of months encouraged me to get back out on the field to return to the game I love and have played my whole life. Feeling like I was ready to compete again I reached out to some friends that played with me in college. They reached out to friends and before we knew it, we had a roster ready to go full of current and ex collegiate players. In the beginning I created the team just to compete at a decent level and have fun. We earned success very quickly which has led us to where we are today.

FC 1749 recently announced they will be joining UPSL

What league do you play in, did you start in that league and how often do you re-evaluate that?
Our team's inaugural season was last winter in the Washington Premier League. We made it to the final and lost to the commissioner’s team. Our record was 5-0-3. We were a new team and working off some rust. Realizing our potential, we decided to make a move to the Maryland Major Soccer League because they have cash prizes for winning teams and the league was supposed to be a bit more established. We had to start in Division 2 since we were a new team. We played in a preseason tournament done through the league called the Maryland Super Cup. We went to the finals and lost to a team called FC4188. In the regular season we went undefeated and won the Championship vs that same team FC 4188. Our record was 11-0-1 and we were rewarded with $2,000 dollars.

After winning the Division 2 Championship we were promoted to Division 1. The league advertised $10,000 in prize winnings to be split between Division 1 and Division 2 Champions and Finalists. We were informed we would earn $6,000 for winning the league so we set our sights on that. We brought in a couple new players and were fortunate enough to go 9-3 and win the Division 1 Championship against AFC Dobes, the previous year's finalist. Our overall team record to date is 27-7-1.

Due to our success in both Division 2 and Division 1 we constantly have interested players that reach out through social media. We have also gained interest from local companies that want to sponsor us. We consider our options based on the team’s financial situation. Winning $6,000 would allow us to enter into a more established league.

You've had some recent issues with the league you are in, can you explain the situation? is it resolvable and if not, what league options are you considering?
The Maryland Major Soccer League, a Maryland State Soccer Association and United States Adult Soccer Association affiliated League advertised $10,000 prize winnings for the Fall 2021 Season to be split between Division 1 and Division 2 Champions and Finalists. This was advertised on the leagues Instagram page. I have attached a picture of that. The league has since deleted this post. During half time of the final on December 19th, 2021, the commissioner of the league approached me and said "We haven't had a chance to talk about the funds' '. I was confused why the commissioner is even bringing this topic up for the first time all season and 45 minutes before the season is over. He informed me the winning team would only win $2,000. I was taken back as this was $4,000 less than what we were told we would win. I informed him we could speak about this after the game if we did end up winning. We ended up winning and I wanted my team to enjoy that, so I did not tell them what was going on. I told the commissioner we could speak about it the next day. I have since not had any response from the league after sending 3 emails. We have not received any money for winning Division 1. We would hope that he would pay us the money. We have already sought legal counsel to pursue legal action. We were planning to join the UPSL with the prize money and still plan to do so but are also considering the Maryland Super Soccer League and the American Premier League because of our financial situation.

Coach Mejia has led the team to back-to-back titles

Some teams run on a shoestring budget and depend on sponsorship or sell merchandise to keep the bills paid - how do you fund your team?
Our Head Coach Cristian Mejia, Player/Manager Xavier Matthews, and I made the team with one goal on the financial side. The goal was to not have any players pay any money to play on our team. Many teams have players pay a fee to play in order to help with team fees. We are happy to say that our players do not pay any fees to play on our team. We started off with jerseys I purchased myself from Custom Ink. We then split all team costs (registration fee, ref fees, player insurance fees) between the 3 of us as we saw this team as an investment. We did not practice as a team before entering the MMSL. After completing our first season in the WPL we were able to secure a jersey sponsor from a company called Federal Stone based out of MD. We were lucky enough to get 3 sets of jerseys from them which we have used since. Upon winning division 2 and earning $2,000, we also received a donation. We used that money to pay for team registration fee, player insurance fees, ref fees, and practice field permit fees (once a week through the season). We do not currently sell merchandise where we earn majority profit, we use a company called BSN sports for a team store and receive store credit. We are currently pursuing local Alexandria companies to look for sponsorship to help with joining the UPSL. Not receiving the $6,000 really has put a halt to our plans. After gaining momentum over the last year winning both divisions in the MMSL the next logical step for us was the UPSL. Our end goal is bringing a USL2 team to Alexandria, VA.

If you could have three dream teams within 100 miles give you a friendly in 2022, who would it be and why?
We would want opportunities against The Maryland Bobcats, Loudon United, and DC United. Our team goal has changed since we became a team. In the beginning we wanted to compete and play for fun. Due to our success, we have changed our goal which is now to provide exposure for the players on our team to earn opportunities at the next level. We recently had one of our players sign a professional contract with the Maryland Bobcats for this Spring season and another has a tryout with Loudon United. I chose local teams because I am confident a couple of our players could earn opportunities to play with these three teams. It is more realistic for one of our players to sign with a local team than it is to sign with someone in another state. Playing in the UPSL could provide more opportunities with teams that aren't local since it is a national semi-professional league.

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