Head Coach: Carlos Padilla (Interim)
Venue: Willow Canyon Stadium
2024 Regular Season: 0W-1D-15L, 1 pt, finished 4th in the NISA Western Conference

2024 Season Recap:

Arizona Monsoon FC was announced as a new expansion club in NISA last June, but the rebirth of the club formerly known as Valley United FC did not go according to plan this season. Before kickoff, the club’s original Head Coach, Omar Bravo, left the club, and Assistant Coach Carlos Padilla was the interim Head Coach this season. The roster was still being put together, and at times throughout the season, the club needed help maintaining a full roster and looked at its UPSL affiliate SC Union Maricopa to move up players. The Monsoon’s opening match was a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Force, followed by a 1-1 draw against Capo FC. Unfortunately for Arizona, after that, they either lost their remaining matches played or had to forfeit their matches. Arizona’s closest match to a win was on June 9, leading 2-1 at home before Capo FC rallied back to escape with a 3-2 victory. The Monsoon also struggled offensively, as the club only scored seven goals this season. Ironically, their last match played on July 20 also resulted in a 3-2 loss to Capo FC at JSerra Stadium before Arizona forfeited their remaining matches of the 2024 season and had two postponed matches (against Capo FC) canceled by the league. The club had also been dealing with roster turnover and venue issues. The club played one match this season where they only dressed 12 players due to injuries. Arizona Monsoon was supposed to play its home matches at Glendale Community College’s Matt O. Hanhila Field, but that didn’t happen. Instead, it played matches at high school stadiums, such as Willow Canyon Stadium, and one NISA Independent Cup match at Dysart Stadium. Arizona Monsoon FC finished its first year with the longest winless streak in the NISA league at 16 matches and finished the 2024 NISA season without a win. Arizona ended the season with a -38 goal differential. Also, it finished with the lowest point total (1 point) in league history, surpassing the 2022 Flower City Union, who finished that season with 9 points after FCU only got two wins in their inaugural season.

Offseason Updates

I know fans on social media have been wondering what is going on in Arizona, how things got so bad this season, and if they will return next year in NISA. It’s the second time NISA has been in Arizona with the same ownership but different management, and it still unraveled quickly. NISA’s previous Arizona club, Valley United FC, played nine matches in 2022 (Began the season unbeaten at 3W-3D-0L), but that club was forced to suspend operations due to reports that VUFC had allegedly committed roster violations related to immigration paperwork that led to an investigation and resulted in their Head Coach at the time Adrian Gaitan and General Manager Yuval Raichman to resign. VUFC forfeited those earlier matches played and withdrew from the league that season with a record of 1W-1D-7L that was later expunged. Arizona Monsoon FC played ten matches (9 league matches and 1 Independent Cup match, losing 5-0 to SC Union Maricopa in round 1). The future of this club looked uncertain as we enter the offseason, but in a recent interview on BT90, Kartik and Calum asked NISA Commissioner John Prutch in part 3 of their interview series about the situation in Arizona. Commissioner Prutch stated that Arizona Monsoon FC is currently negotiating some additional capital to come in for the club. If the club gets that sorted out, they still have plenty of work to do this offseason, like finding a head coach, rebuilding its thin roster, hiring front office staff, and most importantly, finding a permanent home stadium in the Phoenix area.

What are your thoughts on Arizona Monsoon FC’s 2024 season in NISA? Let me know in the comments section below. Next week I’ll recap Georgia FC’s inaugural season in NISA.

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