In 2017, it was announced that the Major League Soccer (MLS) team the Columbus Crew would be moving their franchise to Austin to become Austin Football Club (FC). After years of preparation, Austin FC is about to begin its inaugural season this April.

Austin used to have a Division 2 soccer team called the Austin Aztex. The Axtex were founded in 2008, and they played in the House Park stadium. In 2010, the Aztex were moved to Orlando, Florida, and in 2011, the team returned to Austin and began to play again. The Aztex had a large fan base and consistently had massive turnouts to their games.

However, after House Park was inundated by the Memorial Day floods of 2015, the Aztex were unable to play because there were no other stadiums in Austin that met the league standards. They went on hiatus and planned to return in time for the 2018 season, but they never fully financially recovered and were forced to disband, once again leaving Austin without any professional sports teams. Since 2019, Austin has been home to a Division 2 team, the Austin Bold, but they don’t have nearly the fan base and following that the Aztex had — the average attendance for a Bold game is 2,395 fans, while the Aztex averaged at about 3,000 fans per game before they fell apart.

After the announcement of the new team, soccer fans in the Austin area formed four fan groups — Austin Anthem, Los Verdes, Burnt Orange Brigade and Oak Army New Braunfels. These fan groups go to all of the games and have chants and banners that they use to support their team.

The logo and team colors for Austin FC were announced in 2018. The green in the logo represents the vibrancy of Austin, the tree represents the bond of a team and its city and the four roots at the bottom represent the four major regions of the city. The logo was designed by local Austin design group The Butler Bros.

One of the biggest tasks prior to the start of the season was recruiting new players for the team. Head coach Josh Wolff said in an interview that he wants to blend the young players that are filled with potential with more experienced players that have played in the league for a while. 

In addition to the players that moved from Columbus to Austin, the team recently picked up five new players at the Expansion Draft in December. The MLS holds an Expansion Draft for teams prior to their inaugural season where they are allowed to draft players from other teams in the league. 

One of the team’s top picks from the Expansion Draft was forward Danny Hoesen, who, prior to playing in the MLS, played for Ajax, a well-established soccer team based in Amsterdam. Hoesen was drafted from the San Jose Earthquakes and is coming off of an injury, but the coaching staff expects him to be recovered in time for the start of the season.

Another new player coming to Austin from the Expansion Draft is midfielder Jared Stroud. While on his old team, the New York Red Bulls, he became the first player in Red Bulls’ franchise history to have 20 career goals and 20 career assists. Austin FC sporting director Claudio Reyna is excited to have such a versatile player. “He plays both right and left wing, he’s got a really good soccer IQ, movement, and energy,” Reyna said in a press conference after the Expansion Draft.

When the team was announced, one of the major questions that arose was over where the team would play. Precourt Sports Ventures, the group that operated the Columbus Crew, scouted potential locations for a stadium prior to moving the team to Austin and found a location in North Austin that fit all of the requirements Precourt had. 

The stadium is budgeted at $240 million, and the majority of the funding came from Precourt and from other private investors. It is expected to hold about 20,500 fans, and, in January 2021, the stadium was officially named Q2 Stadium after online baking provider Q2 Holdings.

In addition to Q2 Stadium, Precourt is also building a training facility for Austin FC funded by St. David’s Healthcare Providers. The facility will include four full sized soccer fields and will have a 30,000 square foot indoor training facility. 

Precourt isn’t the only organization that is providing funding for Austin FC. Adidas provided the uniforms for the team, and other sponsors include Yeti and Netspend. Some additional investors of the team include Dell President and CCO Marius Haas and Austin-based actor Matthew McConaughey. 

The stadium is set to be completed by the start of the 2021 season, but Austin FC will most likely not play a home game until June. Traffic lights, roads and signage around the stadium need to be completed before it is ready for fans, and there will be additional construction in the area for years to come. 

Although there are rising COVID-19 cases in Austin, Austin FC officials want to push forward with opening the stadium at 100% capacity. However, they are prepared to reduce the number of fans if COVID-19 spikes in the MLS or in Austin. In a report released by the MLS, it was announced that players and staff will be tested every other day and will be tested the night before every game in order to keep everyone safe and proceed with the season.

The 2021 season will begin for players on Feb. 22, when teams are allowed to begin practicing. This time will be beneficial for Austin FC because the players will be playing together for the first time. They will have six weeks of practices before the season begins on April 3 and 4.