View source for Sporting Kansas City II

{{short description|U.S. professional soccer team}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Sporting Kansas City II
| current  = 2023 Sporting Kansas City II season
| image    = Sporting Kansas City II logo.svg
| upright  = 0.8
| caption  = 
| fullname = 
| nickname = Rangers, SPR, SKCII 
| founded  = {{nowrap|{{Start date and years ago|2015|10|22}}}} as ''Swope Park Rangers''
| stadium  = [[Swope Soccer Village]]<br />[[Kansas City, Missouri]]
| capacity = 3,500
| owner    = [[Sporting Club]]
| chrtitle = 
| chairman = 
| mgrtitle = Head coach
| manager  = [[István Urbányi]]
| league   = [[MLS Next Pro]]
| season   = [[2023 MLS Next Pro season|2023]]
| position = 3rd, Western Conference<br>Playoffs: Conference Quarterfinals
| website  = {{URL|https://www.sportingkc.com/skcii}}
| American = yes

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| pattern_so1 = _3_stripes_navy
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| body1 = a0d0ff
| rightarm1 = a0d0ff
| shorts1 = a0d0ff
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'''Sporting Kansas City II''' is a [[MLS Next Pro]] club affiliated with [[Sporting Kansas City]] of [[Major League Soccer]]. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at [[Kansas Jayhawks|Rock Chalk Park]] at the [[University of Kansas]] in [[Lawrence, Kansas]], as well as [[Swope Soccer Village]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. They were formerly known as the '''Swope Park Rangers'''. The club is headquartered alongside Sporting Kansas City at [[Children's Mercy Park]] in [[Kansas City, Kansas]].<ref name=Rockchalk/>

==History==
On October 22, 2015, the team was officially announced as the [[USL Championship|USL's]] 30th franchise, as were the Swope Park Rangers name, color scheme and logo. The Rangers replaced [[Oklahoma City Energy FC]] as SKC's USL affiliate, and was named after a nickname for SKC reserve squad in 2008.<ref name="sprusl">{{cite web | url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210440746 | title=Sporting Kansas City Awarded USL's 30th Franchise | publisher=[[United Soccer League]] | date=October 22, 2015 | access-date=October 22, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022232142/http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210440746 | archive-date=October 22, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="skcspr">{{cite web | url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2015/10/22/usl-expands-kansas-city-2016-debut-swope-park-rangers | title=USL expands to Kansas City in 2016 with debut of Swope Park Rangers | date=October 22, 2015 | access-date=October 22, 2015}}</ref> The team is [[Sporting Kansas City]]'s third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with [[Orlando City SC (2010–14)|Orlando City SC]] and [[Oklahoma City Energy FC]].<ref name="Vermes, Besler Excited">{{cite web|title=Vermes, Besler Excited By Rangers' Introduction|url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210444387|publisher=United Soccer League|access-date=October 23, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121061324/http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210444387|archive-date=November 21, 2015}}</ref> Canadian [[Marc Dos Santos]], who led [[Ottawa Fury FC]] to the [[North American Soccer League (2011–2017)|NASL]] [[Soccer Bowl]] in 2015, was named the first head coach of the Rangers on November 20, 2015.<ref name="Dos Santos Coach">{{cite web|title=Dos Santos Introduced as Swope Park Rangers' Coach|url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210515604|publisher=United Soccer League (USL)|access-date=November 20, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121071117/http://www.uslsoccer.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32800&ATCLID=210515604|archive-date=November 21, 2015}}</ref>

The Rangers finished their inaugural season in 2016 with a 14–10–6 record and finished fourth in the Western Conference. The side advanced to the 2016 USL Cup Final, becoming just the second team in USL history to do so in its inaugural season. The Rangers beat [[LA Galaxy II]], [[Orange County SC]] and [[Whitecaps FC 2|Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2]] en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5–1 to [[New York Red Bulls II]] at [[Red Bull Arena (New Jersey)|Red Bull Arena]]. Goalkeeper [[Adrian Zendejas]] and winger [[Tyler Pasher]] were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season.

Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, [[Marc Dos Santos]] departed to take over at newly founded [[North American Soccer League (2011–2017)|NASL]] club the [[San Francisco Deltas]]. His assistant for the 2016 campaign, Nikola Popovic, took the reins ahead of the 2017 season. The side continued to have success as Popovic led the team to a 17–8–7 record in the West and another fourth-place finish. Sporting KC also signed four more players from SPR during 2017 in [[Amer Didic]], [[James Musa]], [[Kharlton Belmar]] and [[Kévin Oliveira|Kevin Oliveira]]. Popovic resigned as head coach on November 17, 2017, after leading Swope Park to their second consecutive conference championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2017/11/17/swope-park-rangers-and-head-coach-nikola-popovic-mutually-agree-part-ways|title=Swope Park Rangers and head coach Nikola Popovic mutually agree to part ways|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|date=November 17, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref>

On September 30, 2019, the club announced that it would re-brand as Sporting Kansas City II ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2019/09/30/sporting-club-s-usl-championship-team-become-sporting-kansas-city-ii|title=Sporting Club's USL Championship team to become Sporting Kansas City II|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|date=September 30, 2019|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>

===MLS Next Pro===
The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team [[MLS Next Pro]] season starting in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=MLS NEXT Pro Unveils 21 Clubs for Inaugural Season |url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/sporting-kc-ii-to-compete-in-new-professional-league-with-launch-of-mls-next-pro |website=sportingkc}}</ref> Former Sporting Kansas City player [[Benny Feilhaber]] was named the team's head coach for the 2022 season.<ref name="Kovzan">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/benny-feilhaber-named-sporting-kc-ii-head-coach|title=Benny Feilhaber named Sporting KC II head coach|last=Kovzan|first=Sam|date=January 12, 2022|access-date=January 12, 2022|language=en}}</ref>

==Location==
The team is headquartered out of [[Children's Mercy Park]] in Kansas City, Kansas. For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, they split matches between Rock Chalk Park at the [[University of Kansas]] in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as [[Swope Soccer Village]] in Kansas City, Missouri.<ref name="sprusl"/><ref name="skcspr"/><ref name=Rockchalk>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/sporting-kc-ii-to-play-at-rock-chalk-park-during-2022-mls-next-pro-season|title=Sporting KC II to play at Rock Chalk Park during 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season|last=Belzer|first=Jared|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|date=February 22, 2022|access-date=February 22, 2022|language=en}}</ref>

When the team was known as Swope Park Rangers they played at [[Swope Soccer Village]] in Kansas City, Missouri as permanent home venue for the 2016 and 2017 USL seasons, although occasional matches were played at Children's Mercy Park during those first two seasons. For the 2018 season, the Rangers moved to [[Shawnee Mission District Stadium]] in [[Overland Park, Kansas]] for home USL matches. The move to Shawnee Mission South District Stadium was in response to new USL stadium standards, requiring seating for at least 5,000 fans, that were not met by Swope Soccer Village. The 7,500-seat Shawnee Mission South District Stadium had received $6 million in improvements between fall 2016 and spring 2017. After just two home matches into the season, the Rangers announced that all home matches would be moved to Children's Mercy Park for the remainder of the 2018 USL season. The move came just days after allegations were reported that there had been issues with the quality of the artificial-turf field at Shawnee Mission South.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2018/01/19/swope-park-soccer-village-loses-both-its-marquee.html|title=Swope Park Soccer Village Loses Both Its Marquee Tenants|website=Bizjournals.com|access-date=February 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2018/01/18/swope-park-rangers-play-2018-home-matches-shawnee-mission-south-district-stadium |title=Swope Park Rangers to play 2018 home matches at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium &#124; Sporting Kansas City |publisher=Sportingkc.com |date=January 18, 2018 |access-date=February 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebluetestament.com/2018/4/24/17277686/swope-park-rangers-home-games-moved-to-cmp-childrens-mercy-park-sporting-kc|title=Swope Park Rangers Home Games Moved to Children's Mercy Park|first=Araceli|last=Villanueva|date=April 24, 2018|website=The Blue Testament|access-date=January 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebluetestament.com/2018/4/14/17237238/swope-park-rangers-vs-okc-energy-postponed-usl-soccer|title=Swope Park Rangers vs OKC Energy Postponed|first=Chad C.|last=Smith|date=April 14, 2018|website=The Blue Testament|access-date=January 4, 2019}}</ref>

== Players and staff ==
=== Roster ===
{{updated|February 3, 2025|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/skcii/roster/2022/ |title=SKCII Players |publisher=Sporting Kansas City |website=SportingKC.com |access-date=April 14, 2022}}</ref>}}
{{fs start|nonumber=|bg=A7BCD6|color=0C2340|border=0C2340]]}}
{{Fs player |no=2 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=[[Ian James (soccer)|Ian James]]|other={{Cref2|A|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=12 |nat=USA |pos=GK |name=Jack Kortkamp|other={{Cref2|A|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=16 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Jacob Bartlett|other={{Cref2|A|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=30 |nat=CAN |pos=FW |name=[[Stephen Afrifa]]|other={{Cref2|A|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=33 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Nati Clarke}}
{{Fs player |no=35 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Bryan Arellano}}
{{Fs player |no=36 |nat=USA |pos=GK |name=[[Ryan Schewe]]|other={{Cref2|A|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=38 |nat=USA |pos=FW |name=Maouloune Goumballe}}
{{Fs player |no=44 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Gael Quintero}}
{{Fs player |no=45 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Anthony Samways}}
{{Fs player |no=47 |nat=CAN |pos=FW |name=Massud Habibullah}}
{{Fs player |no=49 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Zane Wantland|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=52 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Cielo Tschantret}}
{{Fs player |no=60 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Nate Young|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=67 |nat=USA |pos=GK |name=Kael Taylor|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=76 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Johann Ortiz|}}
{{Fs player |no=77 |nat=MEX |pos=FW |name=Juan Zavala}}
{{Fs player |no=80 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Makhi Francis|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=84 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Luis Cruz-Ayala|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=85 |nat=FRA |pos=DF |name=Pierre Lurot}}
{{Fs player |no=88 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Shane Donovan}}
{{Fs player |no=89 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Leo Christiano|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=90 |nat=CAN |pos=FW |name=Medgy Alexandre}}
{{Fs player |no=91 |nat=USA |pos=GK |name=Jacob Molinaro}}
{{Fs player |no=92 |nat=USA |pos=DF |name=Andrew Johnson|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=97 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Carter Derksen|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=98 |nat=USA |pos=GK |name=Beau Barren|other={{Cref2|B|group=1|1}}}}
{{Fs player |no=99 |nat=USA |pos=MF |name=Beckham Uderitz}}
{{fs end|nonumber=|bg=A7BCD6|color=0C2340|border=0C2340]]}}

{{Cnote2 Begin}}
<small>{{Cnote2|A|group=1|n=1|Signed to first team contract with [[MLS]] affiliate [[Sporting Kansas City]].}}</small>
<small>{{Cnote2|B|group=2|n=1|[[Sporting Kansas City|Sporting Kansas City Academy]] player.}}</small>
{{Cnote2 End}}

=== Technical staff ===
* {{flagicon|HUN}} [[István Urbányi]] - head coach<ref name="Kovzan"/>
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ike Opara]] – assistant coach<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/former-mls-cup-champion-and-mls-defender-of-the-year-ike-opara-named-sporting-kc|title=Former MLS Cup champion and MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara named Sporting KC II assistant coach|last=Kovzan|first=Sam|website=SportingKC.com|date=January 14, 2022|access-date=January 14, 2022|language=en}}</ref>

== Year-by-year ==
{{updated|September 18, 2022}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
! colspan=7 class="unsortable" | [[USL Championship]]
! colspan=2 class="unsortable" | Position
! scope="col" rowspan=2 class="unsortable" | Playoffs
! scope="col" colspan="2" class="unsortable" | Top Scorer {{ref|1|1}}
|-
!{{tooltip|P|Games played}}
!{{tooltip|W|Games won}}
!{{tooltip|L|Games lost}}
!{{tooltip|D|Games drawn}}
!{{tooltip|GF|Goals for}}
!{{tooltip|GA|Goals against}}
!{{tooltip|Pts|Points}}
!{{tooltip|Conf.|Conference position}}
!{{tooltip|Overall|Overall position}}
! class="unsortable" | Player
! class="unsortable" | Goals
|-
![[2016 Swope Park Rangers season|2016]]
|30||14||10||6||45||36||48
|4th, Western
|9th
| [[2016 USL season#Playoffs|Runners-up]]
| {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Mark Anthony Gonzalez]]
| 9
|-
![[2017 Swope Park Rangers season|2017]]
|32||17||8||7||55||37||58
|4th, Western
|5th
| [[2017 USL season#Playoffs|Runners-up]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Kharlton Belmar]]
| 15
|-
![[2018 Swope Park Rangers season|2018]]
|34||15||11||8||52||53||53
|7th, Western
|11th
|  [[2018 USL season#Playoffs|Conference semifinals]]
| {{flagicon|GUI}} [[Hadji Barry]]
| 17
|-
![[2019 Swope Park Rangers season|2019]]
|34||6||20||8||46||80||26
|18th, Eastern
|36th
| Did not qualify
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Wilson Harris (soccer)|Wilson Harris]]
| 12
|-
![[2020 Sporting Kansas City II season|2020]]
|16||5||10||1||21||30||16
|12th, Eastern<br>4th, Group E
|23rd
| Did not qualify
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Wilson Harris (soccer)|Wilson Harris]]
| 8
|-
![[2021 Sporting Kansas City II season|2021]]
|32||4||20||8||31||64||20
|15th, Eastern
|30th
| Did not qualify
| {{flagicon|DRC}} [[Enoch Mushagalusa]]
| 8
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
! colspan=7 class="unsortable" | [[MLS Next Pro]]
! colspan=2 | Position
! scope="col" rowspan=2 class="unsortable" | '''Playoffs'''
! scope="col" colspan=3 class="unsortable" | Top Scorer {{ref|1|1}}
|-
!{{tooltip|P|Games played}}
!{{tooltip|W|Games won}}
!{{tooltip|D|Draw}}
!{{tooltip|L|Games lost}}
!{{tooltip|GF|Goals for}}
!{{tooltip|GA|Goals against}}
!{{tooltip|Pts|Points}}
!{{tooltip|Conf.|Conference}}
!Overall
! class="unsortable" | Player
! class="unsortable" | Goals
|-
![[2022 Sporting Kansas City II season|2022]]
|24||9||3||12||31||38||31||8th, Eastern||15th||Did not qualify||{{flagicon|GHA}} [[Rauf Salifu]]||6
|-
![[2023 Sporting Kansas City II season|2023]]
|28||13||6||9||59||41||49||3rd, Western||7th||Conference quarterfinals||{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Pau Vidal (footballer, born 2002)|Pau Vidal]]||11
|}

<small>{{note|1}}1. '''Top Scorer''' includes statistics from league matches only.</small>

===Head coaches===
* Includes USL regular season, USL playoffs
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-left: lem;"
|-
! Coach !! Nationality !! Start !! End !! Games !! '''Win''' !! Loss !! Draw !! Win %
|-
| [[Marc Dos Santos]]
| {{flagu|Canada}}
| {{dts|2015|November|20|format=mdy}}
| {{dts|2016|November|21|format=mdy}}
{{WDL|34|17|11|6|}}
|-
| [[Nikola Popovic (football coach)|Nikola Popovic]]<ref name="staff">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2016/01/13/nikola-popovic-and-alec-dufty-join-swope-park-rangers-technical-staff|title=Nikola Popovic and Alec Dufty join Swope Park Rangers technical staff|work=Sporting Kansas City}}</ref><ref name="staff2">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2016/11/21/nikola-popovic-introduced-swope-park-rangers-head-coach|title=Nikola Popovic introduced as Swope Park Rangers head coach|work=Patrik Bergabo|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref>
| {{flagu|Serbia}}
| {{dts|2016|November|21|format=mdy}}
| {{dts|2017|November|17|format=mdy}}
{{WDL|36|20|9|7|}}
|-
| [[Paulo Nagamura]]<ref name="staff3">{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2017/12/04/paulo-nagamura-named-swope-park-rangers-head-coach|title=Paulo Nagamura named Swope Park Rangers head coach|work=Sam Kovzan|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|date=December 4, 2017}}</ref>
| {{flagu|Brazil}}
| {{dts|2017|December|4|format=mdy}}
| {{dts|2021|November|18|format=mdy}}
{{WDL|87|27|43|17|}}
|-
| [[Benny Feilhaber]]
| {{flagu|United States}}
| {{dts|2022|January|12|format=mdy}}
| {{dts|2024|November|14|format=mdy}}
{{WDL|24|9|12|3|}}
|}

=== Average attendance ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-left: lem;"
|-
! Year !! Reg. Season !! Playoffs
|-
| 2016
| 1,753
| 2,329
|-
| 2017
| 1,015
| 1,724
|-
| 2018
| 881
|rowspan=5| —
|-
| 2019
| 505
|-
| 2020
|rowspan=3|N/A
|-
| 2021
|-
| 2022
|}

==Honors==
*''' USL Cup '''
**''Runners-up'' (2): [[2016 USL season|2016]], [[2017 USL season|2017]]
*'''[[Western Conference (USL)|Western Conference]]'''
**'''Winners (Playoffs)''': [[2016 USL season|2016]], [[2017 USL season|2017]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|https://www.sportingkc.com/skcii/}}
* [https://www.uslchampionship.com/swope-park-rangers Sporting Kansas City II] at USL Championship

{{Sporting Kansas City}}
{{Swope Park Rangers squad}}
{{MLS Next Pro}}
{{Navboxes
|titlestyle = background:#A7BCD6; color:#0C2340; {{box-shadow border|a|#0C2340|2px}}
|list1 =
{{USL Championship}}
{{Kansas Sports}}
}}

[[Category:Sporting Kansas City II| ]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 2015]]
[[Category:Soccer clubs in Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:Former USL Championship teams]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City]]
[[Category:2015 establishments in Missouri]]
[[Category:Reserve team soccer in the United States]]
[[Category:Sports clubs and teams in the Kansas City metropolitan area]]
[[Category:MLS Next Pro teams]]
[[Category:Lawrence, Kansas]]