Charleston Battery

Charleston Battery

Full name	Charleston Battery
Nickname(s)	Battery
Founded	1993
Stadium	Blackbaud Stadium Charleston, South Carolina (Capacity: 5,113)
Owner	Andrew Bell
Head Coach	Michael Anhaeuser
League	USL First Division
2009	Regular Season: 4th Playoffs: Quarter Finals
Home colors Away colors

Charleston Battery is an American professional soccer team based in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team plays its home games at the soccer-specific Blackbaud Stadium, where they have played since 1999. The team's colors are yellow, black and red. Their current head coach is Michael Anhaeuser.

History

This section requires expansion.

The Battery were formed in 1993 as a member of the PDSL, and joined the A-League (now USL First Division) in 1997. The team's home, Blackbaud Stadium, built in 1999, was the first professional soccer specific stadium in the USL First Division. The Battery won the PDSL championship in 1996, defeating the Charlotte Eagles 3-2 and the A-League championship in 2003, defeating the Minnesota Thunder 3-0 to win the title. The Battery qualified for the U.S. Open Final match for the first time in club history in 2008, playing against Major League Soccer team DC United.^[1] In the final the Battery conceded an early goal but bounced back with a quick-fire equaliser through an Ian Fuller goal, assisted by Chris Williams. Later in the half Lazo Alavanja hit the post but at half time the scores were tied at 1-1. At the start of the second half Charleston conceded early again and that's how it stayed, DC winning 2-1. However, in the final seconds of 2nd half extra time Marco Reda put the ball in the back of the net for Charleston, only to have the goal controversially disallowed for an alleged offside.

As of June 1st, the Battery has made an impressive start to the 2009 USL-1 season, recording 7 wins, 6 ties and not a single loss.

The Battery's official supporters' group is called the Regiment. The Battery's most passionate fans stand in section E10.

The Battery competes for the Coffee Pot Cup every time it faces their rival team DC United of Major League Soccer. The trophy was established by the two sides' supporters.

Players

Current roster

as of November 12, 2009^[2]

No. Position Player 1 GK Dusty Hudock (captain) 2 DF Nelson Akwari 3 MF Scott Buete 4 DF O'Brian Woodbine 5 DF Nigel Marples 6 DF Matt Bobo 9 MF Darren Spicer 10 MF Tsuyoshi Yoshitake 11 FW Ian Fuller 12 DF Yeniel Bermudez

No. Position Player 14 FW Tommy Heinemann 15 DF Frank Sanfilippo 16 MF Stephen Armstrong 17 MF Dan Antoniuk 18 MF Patrick Tate 19 MF Kenji Treschuk 20 FW Randi Patterson 24 MF Tyler Hemming 25 DF John Wilson 30 GK Keith Wiggans

Notable former players

• See also: All-time Charleston Battery roster

Year-by-year

Honors

• USL A-League
  • Winners (2): 1996*, 2003
  • Atlantic Division Champions (2): 1995*, 2000
  • Southeast Division Champions (2): 2002, 2003

• US Open Cup
  • Runner Up (1): 2008
  • Semifinals (2): 1999, 2004
  • Quarterfinals (2): 2007, 2009

• Southern Derby
  • Winner (3): 2003, 2005^, 2009

as co-champions^

Head coaches

• Michael Anhaeuser (2004-present)

Stadia

• Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, South Carolina (1999-present)

See also

• Battery Park
• Carolina Challenge Cup
• [1] Battery stuffs Sounders, Charleston Post and Courier Article

References

1. ^ http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/aug/13/battery_stuffs_sounders50669/
2. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2009/22310.html#MAIN

External links

• Charleston Battery official site
• Post and Courier Battery section

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