One of the best parts of the beginning of each season in the US club soccer landscape is the arrival of new clubs with great new aesthetics and even better looking game plans - we saw the announcement for Redlands Football Club and instantly felt we needed to know more… so we reached out, naturally! Ryan Whiley replied and we’re so grateful for the time he took to reply to our questions.

Redlands FC were recently announced as a USL League Two expansion side for 2023 - how long has the club been in development? What inspired the club's inception and who are the folks behind the new team?
The club has been in development since around July 2022, however it's something that the founders have been thinking about for nearly 10 years. That allowed us to really hit the ground running so that we could get prepared for our inaugural season. In regards to the people behind the team. We have the co-founders, Ryan Whiley, Travis Spalding, Rajat Khare and Chrisptopher Driscoll, who handle a variety of day-to-day operations such as social media, finances, and personnel. Since the club's announcement, we have brought on a handful of very talented people who are heavily involved in the Redlands community. Matt Dodson-Hamilton joined the team just after our announcement, he is responsible for our game-day operations. And Geoff Gouveia joined slightly later, he has come on-board as a brand director. He's previously worked with LAFC, Chelsea FC and the USMNT.

Tell us about your badge and colors - how are they connected to the community and walk us through the process the club went through to land on it? Who is behind the design?
We worked with a designer by the name of Ryan Hoffman on our badge and initial brand prior to Geoff joining the team. Elements that were non-negotiable for us were the inclusion of the San Bernardino Mountains and oranges – nods to our city’s unique backdrop and proud citrus-growing history. As for the colors… deep red and orange? Together? Admittedly, we started off with an ambitious color palette by selecting two very strong colors; however, it was important for us to choose colors that hold meaning within our community. Hoffman did a great job of marrying the dark red (Redlands) and orange (citrus) by adding cream as an accent color, which also provides a vintage look to tie in Redlands’ iconic Victorian aesthetic. We couldn’t be happier with the final product and hope the community loves the badge as much as we do.

With so many league options available nowadays, what advantages did you see in joining the USL system? Do you have plans to pursue a jump up to league one in the future?
USL is a large organization with many resources available to help a new organization get off the ground. Additionally, their structure affords clubs many opportunities for growth – including a women’s league, multiple professional tiers, and an academy system.
In the future, we’d love to field a women’s team to further support local athletes. As for jumping to USL 1, we’d be lying if we said that fielding a professional team in Redlands isn’t a dream of ours. First things first though. We must focus our efforts on creating a stable organization that becomes a part of the fabric of our community. Our future goals are dependent upon the success, both on and off the field, of our USL 2 team.

Has the club made any partnerships with local youth programs- either to create a direct development pathway or simply to get connected to the community?
We have! Redlands FC has recently partnered with AYSO Region 50. We look forward to helping support local youth soccer and are excited to hold clinics later this year.

Where will the club draw its players from? Have you had tryouts already - plan on having another event? What levels of players show up for those events?
We’ve found ourselves in a very fortunate position. Southern California has a wealth of extremely competitive collegiate soccer programs. Most of our players have been recruited from those programs. Additionally, we have hosted a couple rounds of tryouts which have helped fill out the roster with local talent.

What are the goals for the club in season one? When you look back at this season 6 months later, what will be a marker of success?
Making the playoffs would be a huge accomplishment for us in year one. We are in an extremely competitive division, which includes the reigning USL 2 champions. Off the field, we want to build a club that the community can call their own and identify with as Redlanders and people from the Inland Empire at large.

Give Redlands Football Club a follow on Facebook HERE
And see what they’re up to on Twitter HERE