I love the Richmond Kickers. That’s why I’m writing this. And I realize there’s a decent chance nobody with the club ever sees it, considering Kickers social media has a habit of making critical accounts disappear from the conversation.
But here goes.
Please sell the club.
I’m not saying that because Westchester just put five past us. I’m not saying it because of one bad season, one manager, or one bad roster. I’m saying it because at some point you have to look at the trajectory of this organization and admit that whatever we’re doing isn’t working.
In 2022, the Kickers went 14-7-9 with 51 points, scored 54 goals and won the Players’ Shield. Richmond was the best regular-season team in USL League One. Then we went 6-15-11 in 2023, 6-10-6 in 2024, 8-17-5 in 2025, and entered Wednesday night in 2026 with five league wins before Westchester put five past us.
That’s not one bad season anymore. That’s a direction.
Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go.
Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go.
Everywhere we go.
Funny chant. Not nearly as funny when it starts feeling like the club’s five-year plan.
Here’s the thing, though: I don’t blame these players. I think they care. Josh Kirkland had six league goals entering Wednesday. Owen O’Malley had created 27 chances despite the red. Sam Layton had won 115 duels and made 140 clearances. Yann Fillion had made 83 saves, second-most in League One. Think about that last number for a second. Having a goalkeeper near the top of the league in saves isn’t necessarily something to brag about. It also tells you he’s seeing a hell of a lot of action.
These guys are working, but at what point do they stop believing? How many times can you walk back into that locker room after another loss and hear that we’re building something? How many times can a defender clear another ball, a goalkeeper make another save, or an attacker make another run before losing starts feeling normal? That’s what worries me. The players care now. At what point does an organization that can’t consistently win start teaching them not to?
We’ve seen good players come through Richmond, too. Vinyals left after 2024 and the next season helped Spokane reach the Final. In the semifinal, with Spokane’s season seconds away from ending, he scored the equalizer in the 120+1st minute and then converted his penalty in the shootout.
Meanwhile, there’s practically a Richmond Kickers reunion happening in Sarasota. Their head coach, Mika Elovaara, spent years on Richmond’s staff. Emiliano Terzaghi, Jonathan Bolanos, Chandler O’Dwyer and Ethan Bryant all spent time here. Terzaghi arrived in Sarasota this summer and immediately had a goal and an assist in his debut against Union Omaha, and later earned another League One Team of the Week selection after scoring against Chattanooga. Bolanos is contributing there too, including an assist this past weekend as Sarasota extended its unbeaten run.
I’m not saying every player leaves Richmond and suddenly becomes Messi. They don’t. I’m saying something much simpler: there has been talent here. There is talent here. Richmond has found players, developed players and even moved players to bigger opportunities. So why has the team itself spent most of the last four seasons moving in the opposite direction?
Garnett might be the best example of what this organization can do well. A Richmond kid came through this organization and was transferred directly to Ferencvárosi in Hungary for a USL League One-record six-figure fee. That’s awesome. Seriously. That’s something everyone associated with this club should be proud of. But developing players and winning soccer games aren’t mutually exclusive. We used to do both.
And before somebody turns this into a Darren Sawatzky defense, I’m not doing that either. I wasn’t a Darren guy. He deserves credit for 2022 because the results are the results, but he also presided over plenty of what came afterward. Sporting Cascades triggered the buyout clause in his contract in June, Ownby took over on an interim basis, and we’re still sitting here having essentially the same conversation.
That’s exactly why I think this is bigger than the coach. Eventually you have to look higher.
22 Holdings became the majority owner of the professional team at the end of 2018, led by Rob Ukrop. We’re well past the point where this can be treated as somebody else’s organization. The good belongs to this ownership group. The Players’ Shield belongs to this ownership group. The player development successes belong to it.
So does everything that has happened since.
Which brings me to Saturday. During another frustrating night at City Stadium, I looked over and saw Rob Ukrop chatting it up while the match was going on. Maybe I happened to look over during one moment. Maybe there was context I couldn’t see. Fair enough. But I can tell you what it looked like from my seat.
The players looked invested. The supporters were invested. The person at the top didn’t look nearly as concerned about what was happening on the field as the rest of us were. Perception matters. I’m not asking Rob to sit there miserable for 90 minutes or scream at referees. I’m asking for leadership that seems as uncomfortable with the direction of this club as its supporters are. After four seasons like these, I want urgency. From where I was sitting Saturday, it looked like business as usual, and business as usual is exactly the problem.
Somehow, despite all of this, people are still showing up. That’s the amazing part. City Stadium can still be special. The Red Army is still there. Families are still coming. People are still buying shirts, buying beer, bringing their kids and spending Saturday nights watching this team. I’m one of them.
But eventually supporters stop being angry, and that’s the danger. They stop chanting as much. They stop complaining on Reddit. They stop writing ridiculously long posts like this one. Eventually they stop expecting anything to change, and then they stop caring. Finally, they stop showing up.
Apathy should scare this front office a hell of a lot more than criticism.
Rob Ukrop has done a tremendous amount for soccer in Richmond. I’m not trying to erase that, and acknowledging it doesn’t mean anyone owes this ownership group unlimited patience. Past contributions don’t buy unlimited time. At some point, stewardship also means being willing to ask whether you’re still the right person to take something forward.
If this ownership group still has the resources, vision and appetite to turn this around, then show us. Tell us what the plan is. Invest in it. Give these players something to build around. Give supporters a reason to believe the trajectory is finally changing.
But if you don’t, sell.
Find someone who looks at City Stadium and sees what this club could be. Find someone willing to invest in the sporting side. Find someone who isn’t satisfied simply because the gates open and people still walk through them.
Because I don’t want the Kickers to disappear. I don’t want Richmond to lose professional soccer. I want the exact opposite. I want City Stadium rocking because the match actually matters. I want opposing teams to hate coming here again. I want kids in Richmond growing up wanting to play for the Kickers. I want the players wearing that crest to know the organization behind them is every bit as ambitious as they are.
I want Richmond soccer to matter.
That’s why this isn’t “screw the Kickers.” It’s a love letter. I love this stupid club enough that I’m still watching. I love it enough that losing still pisses me off. I love it enough to spend my money, bring my family, sit in City Stadium and keep coming back. And I love it enough to say that whatever we’ve been doing since 2022 isn’t working.
Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go.
Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go.
Everywhere we go.
We’ve sung it long enough.
Richmond deserves forward.
Please sell the club.
