Utah Royals FC
Utah Royals FC is an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, which plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top flight of American women's soccer. The club was established on December 1, 2017, and began their first professional season in 2018. It is affiliated with the MLS team Real Salt Lake.
History
Establishment
On November 16, 2017, Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer announced that it had acquired a franchise in the National Women's Soccer League. On November 20, 2017, the league announced that FC Kansas City of the National Women's Soccer League would fold their club, and the team's player contracts, draft picks, and other rights would be transferred to the new Salt Lake City club., Utah's six Division 1 women's soccer teams outnumber the men's and the state has the highest rate of girl high school soccer players recruited by Division 1 colleges. Attendance at Division 1 women's soccer games in Utah is among the highest in the NCAA. The decision to bring a NWSL team to Utah was based on the established interest in men's soccer in the state as well as Dell Loy Hansen's gut feeling and longtime interest in a team.The new Salt Lake City team announced its hiring of former Seattle Reign FC coach Laura Harvey as its inaugural head coach on November 27, 2017.
Team name, badge, and colors unveiled
The team was officially launched on December 1, 2017 with the announcements of its name, branding, season tickets, and social media. The badge features a gold Lioness head and “Claret Red”, “Cobalt Blue” and “Victory Gold” colors. Two stylized balls surround the name “UTAH ROYALS FC” in the lower half of the badge which represent the team's connection to the organization's MLS and United Soccer League teams. Rio Tinto Stadium was named as the team's playing ground. By the end of December 2017 over 2,000 season tickets had been sold. By early April 2018, the number of season tickets sold had increased to 5,000.Inaugural season
scored the first goal in franchise history on March 24, 2018 in the third minute of the club's inaugural match against Orlando Pride in Orlando. 18,500 tickets were sold ahead of their first home match. Official attendance the day of the match, in which they played the Chicago Red Stars, was reported as 19,203.Sponsorship
In February 2018, the Royals announced a three-year multimillion-dollar deal with Conservice, a utility company based in Logan, Utah. The company's logo is featured on the front of the team's jerseys. Utah announced a multi-year partnership deal with Young Living Essential Oils on April 2, 2019. The Young Living partnership will include an original video series called ‘Rise up to Royalty’ which profiles URFC players personal lives. This 12-episode series, will run throughout the course of the 2019 season.Stadium
Utah Royals FC play at Rio Tinto Stadium located 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Sandy, Utah, as the men's team, Real Salt Lake, does. Rio Tinto is a soccer-specific stadium which opened on October 9, 2008. The pitch features Kentucky Bluegrass and is 120 × 75 yards. The stadiums seats 20,213 for soccer matches.Players and coaches
Current squad
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
First-team technical staff
| Position | Name |
| Head coach |  Craig Harrington |
| Assistant coach and director of professional development |  Amy LePeilbet |
| Assistant coach | Louis Lancaster |
| Assistant coach | Caitlin Young |
| Goalkeeping coach |  Jason Batty |
| Sports performance coach | Andrew Wiseman |
Statistics and records
Season-by-season
Head coaches record
| Name | Nationality | Tenure | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
| Laura Harvey | December 1, 2017 – January 6, 2020 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Scott Parkinson | January 6, 2020 – February 7, 2020 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Craig Harrington | February 7, 2020 – present | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |