The MLS SuperDraft is the most exciting event in the lives of every young North American college soccer player.
With Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft getting underway this Friday (December 20), Orlando City UK took this moment to reflect on how Orlando City SC’s annual picks have fared since our inaugural 2015 season. Continue reading
Orlando City SC are in the midst of significant transformations as Major League Soccer’s 2024 off-season continues to unfold. With roster changes and strategic decisions shaping the future of the club, it’s an exciting and pivotal time for Lions fans.
This past week has been nothing short of eventful, with a flurry of news that has kept supporters eagerly anticipating what’s next. In this weekly roundup, we’re recapping the key headlines and stories that defined the week of December 9-13. Continue reading
When new clubs join Major League Soccer, the league requests that existing clubs release protected player lists at the end of each campaign, and Orlando City SC did just that today.
With the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft taking place tomorrow (December 11), new boys San Diego FC start construction of their inaugural 2025 roster, but the Southern California franchise will not be able to sign these 19 Lions. Continue reading
In a major development, North American transfer expert Tom Bogert has reported tonight that Orlando City SC and Brazilian giants Palmeiras have reached an agreement for the transfer of Uruguay international Facundo Torres.
Bogert’s report for GiveMeSport states that the transfer is pending finalisation of personal terms between Torres and Palmeiras.
If completed, the deal would mark a club record outbound transfer for the Lions, surpassing the $9.5 million fee received for Daryl Dike’s move to West Bromwich Albion in January 2022. Continue reading
This past week, we asked Orlando City SC supporters on X to select their Orlando City SC Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year for 2024 as part of our annual Orlando City UK end-of-season awards.
A public vote designed to recognise the standout Orlando City SC players in our promising, yet ultimately unfruitful 2024 campaign, we can now proudly reveal the winners as voted by you! Continue reading
Reaching our first-ever Eastern Conference Final this season, Orlando City SC have come a long way since our disappointing early years in Major League Soccer. Yet, we still desperately yearn for that elusive first-ever MLS Cup title!
In a year that saw the Lions score more single-season goals than ever before (59) – finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference despite a really poor start to the year – our latest public vote is designed to recognise the standout players in the Lions’ 2024 season. Continue reading
⚠️ Warning; this blog comes with a disclaimer. ⚠️ Before you read any further, we’d like to warn you that there is a high probability that you risk upsetting yourself all over again as we delve deep into Orlando City SC’s crushing 0-1 home defeat to New York Red Bulls last night in our first-ever Eastern Conference Final in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. There won’t be a recap video from Orlando City UK today, as I’m too downhearted to get in front of the camera and dissect last night’s loss. 😔 Heck, I switched off my Apple TV stream on the full-time whistle, eager to avoid seeing New York Red Bulls parade the Eastern Conference Trophy around Inter&Co Stadium. 🤢 Instead, we hope our write-up provides some comfort and clarity, if any at all, ahead of another off-season of reflection.
When we joined MLS in 2015, it was for nights like last night. The electric atmosphere, the high stakes, and the hope and anticipation swirling in the air. Even the sky was purple on our biggest MLS night yet! But unfortunately, the moment passed us by. So much hope and so much expectation – now evaporated in an instant. One goal, one match, one missed opportunity. And just like that, the dream is over for another year.
Oscar Pareja is a great coach, no doubt, and someone I respect and admire deeply. For what it’s worth, I want him to stay! But ultimately, MLS Cup will continue to elude him until his teams start scoring when it really counts in knockout games. That’s the painful truth. Personally speaking, I’ve been so close yet so far, supporting Arsenal, Orlando City SC, and England these past few years. My pain is palpable right now. Why does our attack never seem to do anything when it really matters in the playoffs? It’s a question we’re all asking ourselves this morning as the sting of last night’s loss lingers.
But there’s a glimmer of hope. With no CONCACAF Champions Cup to contend with in 2025, following two consecutive tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024, Orlando City SC have a real opportunity to hit the ground running next season. With a reduced schedule and fewer crunch games at the start of a new year, perhaps we can get off to a better start, push further, and rectify our shortcomings in next year’s playoffs.
I know you probably won’t want to hear it right now, but Orlando City SC truly have come so far since our disappointing early years in Major League Soccer. Having once been perennial losers, we are now a seasoned playoff team, year in and year out. While MLS Cup frustrataingly continues to elude us, we are getting closer and closer. One day, it will be our time! With Oscar Pareja already signed to a contract through 2025, and dynamic duo Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira each signed through 2025, we still have a talented and hungry team behind the team, so keep the faith and enjoy your off-season. Vamos Orlando! 😈 Continue reading
Drink it in and savour the moment, folks! Orlando City SC have reached their first-ever Eastern Conference Final. This is all thanks to last Sunday’s well-deserved 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Atlanta United. On a historic night to remember at Inter&Co Stadium, the Lions needed no luck to send The Five Stripes packing. Holding our nerve, we delivered a statement performance that put the ‘L’ in Atlanta. It was a landmark triumph that sent a clear message to the rest of Major League Soccer – “We ready”! Bless Atlanta United’s hearts because deep down, they know we are the true football kings of the Southeastern United States!
The type of night that doesn’t come around too often, last Sunday helped cap what was undoubtedly the best-ever weekend in Orlando’s sporting legacy. Last Saturday, Orlando Pride made history, triumphantly winning the 2024 NWSL Championship with a gritty 1-0 victory over Washington Spirit in Kansas City. This followed their 2024 NWSL Shield win just 48 days earlier. Being the first professional team to win a major league title for The City Beautiful, the Pride set the tone for Orlando City SC’s own historic 1-0 victory the next evening. Considering Barbra Banda (37 minutes) and Ramiro Enrique’s (39 minutes) goals were just two minutes apart – across the same weekend – perhaps the stars are truly aligning? Could 2024 be the year where Orlando Pride and Orlando City SC BOTH win U.S. Soccer’s biggest domestic prizes? We sure hope it pans out this way!
While City’s 1-0 scoreline over Atlanta United may not sound commanding, the Lions’ performance was super mature. We were hungry, controlled, and virtually untroubled throughout the entire 90+7 minutes. Orlando City SC were so composed and determined that you had to wonder: was this really the team that had just eliminated Lionel Messi and Inter Miami? As you know, Orlando always welcomes tourists, and for the travelling Atlanta United supporters scattered around Inter&Co Stadium, we hope they enjoyed their latest visit to the Sunshine State! Now, having finally won an Eastern Conference Semi-Final at the third attempt, Orlando City SC are just 180+ minutes away from the ultimate prize: 2024 MLS Cup glory!
With Inter Miami (#1 in East), defending MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew (#2 in East), and Los Angeles FC (#1 in West) already eliminated, we’ll never have a better opportunity to win MLS Cup – plain and simple! It truly has been one of, if not the most unpredictable MLS Cup Playoffs of all-time. Next up though, the Lions face Sandro Schwarz’s New York Red Bulls. While many favourites have already fallen, Red Bulls are still a top-quality, tough opponent, and can never be taken lightly. Playing the gritty Red Bulls way, their super high press, aggression, and intensity make them a dangerous opponent, season in and season out. Should we prevail, the reward is monumental – a trip out west to battle either LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders in 2024 MLS Cup itself! Having now gone further than any Orlando City SC side has before, this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for – so let’s make it count! Continue reading
It’s time, Orlando! With potential 2024 MLS Cup glory just 270+ minutes away, Orlando City SC are on the cusp of reaching their first-ever Eastern Conference Final. Standing in City’s way are fierce Georgia rivals Atlanta United who visit Inter&Co Stadium this Sunday in a single elimination Eastern Conference Semi-Final. Both teams have played each other 21 times in MLS, but never in a playoff match, until now. With just eight teams remaining in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, the stage is set, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. This is what we’ve worked all season for – and now, it’s all about executing when it matters most.
After our heart-stopping game three victory over Charlotte FC in Round One, Orlando City SC have proven once again that we know how to handle pressure. Our thrilling 4-1 shootout victory (1-1 at full-time) saw us progress to our third-ever Eastern Conference Semi-Final, but this has been the end of the line twice before. Still carrying scars from our semi-final exits to New England Revolution (2020) and Columbus Crew (2024), it’s now up to Oscar Pareja’s Lions to go further than any Orlando City SC team has before. So, let’s be THAT team and say ‘why not us?’.
In Round One (game three), Facundo Torres’ buzzer-beater heroics and Pedro Gallese’s clutch penalty shootout saves were a testament to the grit and determination that define our team. With our momentum building, we’re hungrier than ever. Ultimately, Orlando City SC will never have a better opportunity to reach their first-ever MLS Cup. After all, the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference – Inter Miami (first), Columbus Crew (second), and FC Cincinnati (third) – shocked everyone by getting eliminated in Round One of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. If we can get past Atlanta United, Orlando City SC will host either sixth seed New York City FC or seventh seed New York Red Bulls at Inter&Co Stadium – a tantalising prospect with our fourth seed home advantage paying dividends.
Over the years, Atlanta United have been the bane of Orlando City SC’s existence. They not only won MLS Cup in their second-ever season (2018). Across all competitions, they also hold an impressive 11-7-4 all-time record against City since joining Major League Soccer in 2017. A team our supporters love to hate, it would be incredibly sweet to knock out The Five Stripes. We’d be one step closer to clinching what we’ve all yearned for since 2015 – that coveted Philip F. Anschutz Trophy and a first-ever MLS star above our crest! With a sellout crowd expected to pack out Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando City SC must be bold, focused, and disciplined. We can’t allow rash decisions, hot-headedness, and red cards to be our downfall like in post-seasons of old. Let’s show we’re #AllTeeth and ready to send Atlanta United packing! LFG. Vamos Orlando! 😈 Continue reading
Today, we’re celebrating our ninth birthday here at Orlando City UK with our Official International Fan Club of Orlando City SC established nine years ago.
Reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, Oscar Pareja has Orlando City SC in their third-ever Eastern Conference Semi-Final.
And ever since February 25, our loyal UK supporters have watched every kick live on Apple TV this side of the Atlantic. Continue reading
