PEORIA — After seeing rapid growth in its area footprint and success in 2024, Peoria City soccer will have double the fun in the 2025 season.
The USL League Two Club announced on Thursday that it will be adding a women’s team as an expansion club in the Women’s Premier Soccer League, beginning in the late spring and early summer of 2025.
“What we've seen is more than a team on the field, it's a movement,” Peoria mayor Rita Ali said in a press conference at Peoria City Hall. “The Peoria City soccer club has united us and inspired us to prove that this city can shine on the national stage. They not only put Peoria on the soccer map, but also sparked a sense of pride and excitement that will carry us forward. Today's announcement is yet another step on this journey.”
The Carp, as they are affectionately known, had an unforgettable 2024 season by winning the Heartland Division before eventually reaching and hosting the USL2 National Championship game. As thousands of fans flocked to support the team, Peoria City executives Jim DeRose and Bobby Parker realized the club had potential to expand even further
“It was part of the plan, but I think that the foundational components and success we had this year really accelerated the process,” DeRose, the club’s president, said. “In our talks with WPSL leadership at their headquarters, they identified us as someone they thought would fit a lot of what they did.”
“I certainly just want to thank all of our fans for coming out to make these wonderful things happen. Without them, it's just a ball going into the net.”
The announcement marked a monumental day for women’s soccer in Peoria. Since Bradley University does not field a women’s soccer team, Peoria City will provide a chance for area stars to shine and give the next generation of women’s soccer players something to aspire to.
“As I watched young women grow and play in this community as a father, one of the things that I think will be able to bring to our communities is an aspirational growth for young women and for them to be able to have the same goals [and] objectives,” DeRose said. “ I think you have to provide that structure for them to see that.”
Getting to know the WPSL
The WPSL is the longest active women’s soccer league in the country and heads into its 27th year in 2025. Similar to the USL2, it is a pre-professional league where many of the players are 23 years old or younger, but there are also post-collegiate, international and sometimes even standout high school players as well.
“Some of the greatest women in the world that ever plays out there, gold medalists, World Cup winners, icons in terms of their philanthropy and what they're doing in the communities globally, and this is a spot where they all began,” DeRose said.
There are 141 teams within the WPSL and Peoria City is one of eight expansion franchises that the league is adding before the next season, bringing the total to nearly 150 teams.
The regular season, which runs during May and June, is slightly shorter compared to the approximately 10-week regular season of the USL2, but Peoria City’s team hopes to add additional exhibition-type games. The club expects to host five games during its inaugural campaign.
While the season will only last until playoffs conclude in July, the club has prioritized making Peoria City soccer a year-round commodity.
“We just don't want it to be a summer team that's just something that happens for the months of May, June and July,” DeRose said. “We'd love to see young people graduating to playing for these teams and we'd like to see some of the other ways we can move outside soccer into other events.”
DeRose said that Peoria stood out as an attractive market to the league for multiple reasons, including its size and strong engagement in the community.
“WPSL looks at its expansion looking at communities our size as very important,” DeRose said. “In larger communities, sometimes a program like this might get lost in just the professional sports landscape and some of those other areas. You read through a lot of what WPSL is about in our conversations, because they keep using a lot of phrases about opportunity, inclusion, engagement, and more than just being on the field.”
Under the umbrella of the men’s team, the Peoria City women’s team will carry over many of the same things, including the same name and branding. Other USL2 teams that have a counterpart in the WPSL include FC Tucson, Real Central New Jersey and Reading United AC.
The WPSL also features teams in Urbana, the Quad Cities, Chicago and St. Louis. The club will be placed into a division and have its schedule finalized in 2025.
What’s next for the new women’s club
Peoria City hopes to have its coaching staff finalized sometime early in the new year. From there, the staff will be able to start building their roster, which could likely include multiple standouts from Central Illinois.
Future engagement opportunities with fans and the community will help bolster the presence of the Peoria City women’s team, which DeRose said is crucial.
“I think the first thing for us is really to get our brand establishments like our men in those early years being out in the community, engaging people, engaging clubs and initiatives that are going on already,” DeRose said.
The team is expected to play at Bradley University’s Shea Stadium where the Peoria City men’s team plays its home games, but may play at other facilities in the area as well.
Season tickets are now on sale for the women’s team, starting at $25, and the men’s team starting at $45. Season ticket bundles for both teams are available for $65. More ticket information is available at PeoriaCitySoccer.com.
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