It’s been a wild ride for Valley United FC this season. This was the entry year for the club into NISA and, though the season started brightly, it has already come to a premature ending. It seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

The club was announced on September 16, 2021 by NISA as being “enthusiastically approved” to join the league. In the league’s press release, NISA Commissioner John Prutch continued the enthusiasm. “Valley United FC is an organization that fully believes in the merit-based approach to club development that NISA does. With the amount of talent and support found in Arizona, Valley United is a battle-tested addition to our presence in the American Southwest.” The club was highlighted as a successful UPSL side, LatinX-owned, and a recent participant in the NISA Independent Cup.

At first, it seemed a match made in heaven. The addition of the Arizona club seemed like an important step to expanding the Western portion of the NISA map beyond the borders of California. Not only that, contrary to the announcement press release, the club would not be playing homematches in Grand Canyon University Stadium, but instead play at the sleek new Bell Bank Park. It was hard not to feel some enthusiasm about the prospect of future success for the new NISA side.

When the season kicked off, it was clear that Valley United’s roster was a powerhouse. Comprised of a mix of internationals, veterans, and some fresh faces, it was clear that VUFC was prepared to compete from day one. This roster wasn’t your normal expansion roster. Included in the squad was midfielder Luis Gil, who has a resume that includes Liga MX, MLS, youth international call ups, and some overseas play. Gil was especially fearsome paired with the Ghanan attacking midfielder, Jeffrey Otoo, who has his own resume which feature multiple stints at pro clubs. This was a very good squad.

For the first month of the season, Valley United was beyond impressive going undefeated with a 3-0-3 record and +6GD. This was mostly done on the back of an exemplary defense and spectacular goalkeeping. GK Javi Olmedo was perhaps the best keeper at that point with 4 starts and 4 clean sheets and his backup, Sam Howard, had 2 starts and 1 clean sheet. The team was led in scoring by MF Jeffrey Otoo, who was hyper aggressive up front and quick to jump on mistakes for goal chances. Multiple games would see VUFC scoring early, within 5 minutes, off a careless pass by their opponent that Otoo would put into the net. The press was working to perfection and VUFC was sitting on the top of the table in the West. And then the wheels came off.

On May 17th, 2022, Valley United and NISA release a joint statement that highlighted “roster issues.” Roster issues is putting it lightly. As highlight by Michael Battista, the issues alleged wrong doing at league AND federal levels. The roster was dramatically trimmed down almost immediately. Big names dropped off lineup card including Olmedo (GK), Troncoso (F), Luis Murillo (D), Daniel Herrera (D), and Sebastian Contreras (M). Robin Lafarge (D) moved to Spanish 3rd Division club AD Ceuta FC at the end of June. But he was also not on the roster after those first 6 matches.

Along with the altered roster, all 6 of those previous matches were declared 0-3 forfeit losses during early May. The last of those games was a 0-0 draw to LA Force on April 29.

While most clubs would have immediately closed up shop, Valley continued to play matches. In their first match back after the sanctions, the club played on May 21 and earned a 1-1 draw against Albion at home. Then a 2-0 win at Syracuse on June 1 and then a 2-1 loss at Flower City on June 4. The June 11 match at LA Force was postponed due to several Valley United players and staff members testing positive for COVID. Then on June 15 the league announced that Valley was going on a 30-day organizational pause. That meant 4 matches against NISA West teams were postponed (Jun 17, Jun 24, Jul 1 & Jul 16).

During that pause, players began appearing elsewhere, including on USL 1 and other NISA club rosters. If the team was coming back, it was going to look dramatically different. Questions about how strong the returning roster could be began circulating online. Turns out, those questions would answer themselves.

Valley was due to play their Indy Cup match on July 23 in their first game back from their hiatus. That match never happened. Instead on July 26, the league announced that “due to the complexities and time involved with the current legal issues surrounding Valley United FC, NISA and VUFC have agreed that it would be best for Valley to suspend all operations for the balance of the 2022 season.” That same day, Dan Creel, contributor to Protagonist Soccer and the Knights Who Say NISA Podcast, found two court cases filed that showed the club and former employees suing each other. Things are not well in Arizona, clearly.

Will time repair the damage to Valley United? It’s hard to say. In the past, when clubs go on hiatus, things rarely end well. Instead, most clubs end up closing up shop as any momentum dies during the off period. Considering the promise this club began with, then the shocking allegations around false paperwork, it’s sad to see that this is how this season ended. It was a season of potential that ended with a press statement, all that remains is to see if the club returns in the future.

- Dan Vaughn