West Virginia Chaos

West Virginia Chaos
Full name West Virginia Chaos
Nickname(s) The Chaos
Founded 2003
Stadium Schoenbaum Stadium
Charleston, West Virginia
Capacity 6,000
Owner United States Dan Rollins
Head Coach England Adam Mitchell
League USL Premier Development League
2014 1st, South Atlantic
Playoffs: Conference Finals
Website Club home page
Early West Virginia Chaos logo

West Virginia Chaos is an American soccer team based in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.

The team plays its home games at Schoenbaum Stadium, where they have played since 2004. The team's colors are white, red and black.

History

West Virginia Chaos, which is part of the larger Chaos soccer club, joined the PDL in 2003, but suffered a disappointing first season, ending in 6th and last place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with a 2-14-1 record; their only wins came over Greenville Lions in May, 1-0 off a goal by Stuart Bracher, and over the Columbus Shooting Stars in June, 3-2 with goals by Thomas Whittaker, Benjamini Chavolla and Hans Schubert.

2004 saw an improvement in form, with four wins on the season, but the team still finished last in their division, behind Chesapeake Dragons on goal difference, and 21 points behind league leaders Carolina Dynamo. The Chaos actually began the season strongly, winning three of their first four games (3-1 over Chesapeake Dragons, 4-0 over Raleigh CASL Elite and 1-0 over Williamsburg Legacy), and played out an astonishing 10-goal game against Carolina Dynamo in which Chaos's Shaun Oliveira scored a hat trick but still ended up on the losing side. However, the Chaos suffered a dramatic downturn in form as the season progressed, suffering a 6-1 thrashing by Chesapeake Dragons, and three consecutive 4-0 losses to Raleigh, Williamsburg and Richmond Kickers Future.

2005 was much of the same; a disappointing series of high-scoring losses peppered with one or two impressive wins left them Chaos fifth of six in the mid-Atlantic, with 5 victories on the board, but a much too leaky defense. The highlight of the year was a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Richmond Kickers Future on the final day of the season, with the winning goal being scored by striker Stanton Smith. Unfortunately, too many comprehensive losses kept Chaos from progressing much further - Carolina Dynamo beat them 4-0 in mid-May, Augusta FireBall put six past them in mid-June, and Williamsburg Legacy out-shot them 5-2 at the end of June. Stanton Smith was the Chaos's top scorer, with 4 goals for the season, while Shaun Oliveira contributed 5 assists.

There wasn't much of a change in Chaos's fortunes in 2006, as for the fourth consecutive year they finished outside the playoffs - although the team did pick up six wins, their highest annual victory tally to date. Despite failing to put together a positive streak at any time in the year, Chaos did enjoy some encouraging results: they hammered Northern Virginia Royals on the road in early June off a brace by David Lilly and, most impressively, beat divisional champions Virginia Beach Submariners 3-2 on the final day of the season, with two goals by Karim Boukhemis. Unfortunately, Chaos continued to be weak at the back, with Raleigh Elite, Atlanta Silverbacks U23's and Virginia Beach Submariners all putting four or more goals past them.

However, as encouraging as 2006 was, 2007 was - at the time - the worst season in Chaos's history. They picked up just three wins all year, and finished dead last of the 9-team Mid Atlantic Division, 34 points behind champions Hampton Roads Piranhas. The single bright spot of an otherwise dismal season was the 3-1 victory over Northern Virginia Royals at the end of May; elsewhere, however, Chaos suffered defeat after defeat, and having to endure a 7-game winless streak until the final game of the season, when they bested new boys Fredericksburg Gunners 3-2. Chris Whalley, Stanton Smith and Chad Duernberger were the Chaos's top scorers, netting 13 of their 20 goals between them.

Chaos's poor form continued on into 2008, despite transferring from the Eastern Conference Mid Atlantic Division to the Central Conference Great Lakes Division, and despite hiring a young, talented head coach in the shape of Englishman Luke Ibbetson. Chaos endured a demoralizing 14-game winless streak from the beginning of the season through to mid-July, during which they picked up just 5 points from five tied games. They lost 3-0 to eventual division champs Michigan Bucks, were overpowered 5-0 by Cleveland Internationals, and suffered another 5-0 defeat, this time to Indiana Invaders at the end of June. They even managed to let winning positions slip, conceding two late goals in their tie with Chicago Fire Premier; their single victory came in the penultimate game of the season when - out of the blue - they annihilated Fort Wayne Fever 5-0 in front of a set of home fans who had waited three months for a victory. Ultimately, however, Chaos finished the season rooted to the bottom of the division, a full 31 points behind Michigan, and the overall fifth-worst team in the country. That the three players tied at the top of the goalscorers list - Matthew Clare, Luke Ibbetson and Avneet Shergill - scored just two goals each highlighted perfectly the team's main problem.

Players

Current roster

As of June 9, 2011.[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
0 United States GK Billy Hale[2]
1 United States GK Sean Teepen[3]
2 England DF James Stapleton[4]
3 United States DF Michael Davis
4 Serbia MF Predrag Ivanovic[5]
5 United States DF Chris Bohach[6]
6 England MF Rob Vincent[7]
8 United States DF Dillan Lewis
9 Trinidad and Tobago MF Dion Peters[8]
10 United States DF Justin Garton[9]
11 England MF Jamie Davies
No. Position Player
12 England DF Marc Young[10]
14 United States DF Richard Johnson
15 United States DF Joe Johns[11]
16 England DF Luke Duffy[12]
17 United States MF Kyle Sniatecki[13]
19 Brazil FW Richard Isberner[14]
21 United States MF David Egan
23 England FW Adam Arthur
28 United States DF Chris Weedon[15]
Colombia FW Orlando Zapata[16]
Guam GK Bijan Gloston

Notable former players

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year

Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2003 4 USL PDL 5th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2004 4 USL PDL 6th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2005 4 USL PDL 5th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2006 4 USL PDL 3rd, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2007 4 USL PDL 9th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2008 4 USL PDL 5th, Great Lakes Did not qualify Did not qualify
2009 4 USL PDL 5th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2010 4 USL PDL 7th, Mid Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2011 4 USL PDL 4th, South Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2012 4 USL PDL 3rd, South Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2013 4 USL PDL 4th, South Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2014 4 USL PDL 1st, South Atlantic Conference Finals Did not qualify

Honors

Head coaches

Stadia

Chaos' current stadium, Schoenbaum Stadium

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.

References

External links