The start of the 2015 MLS season saw Orlando City SC make their Major League Soccer debut. But where are those inaugural 18 players now?
Orlando City SC’s first game in Major League Soccer was on March 8th, 2015. The Lions played against fellow expansion side New York City FC at the Citrus Bowl. The game finished 1-1 and Orando City became the first franchise in MLS to be based in Florida since 2001, when both the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Rowdies folded.
There were 62,510 people in attendance that day, the largest ever crowd to watch a soccer match at the Citrus Bowl, and the second-largest attendance ever for an MLS team’s inaugural home game.
2015 saw the Lions finish in seventh in the Eastern Conference, missing out on the top six playoff places by just a point in their first season in the league. Since then, the Florida franchise have moved home, to the custom-built Exploria Stadium, a ground which has hosted both men’s and women’s international football, along with this year’s MLS All-Star game.
The Lions are now into their fifth season in MLS, but how many of that original 18-man match-day squad remain in South Florida? Let’s find out.
GK – Donovan Ricketts – Unattached
Jamaican shot-stopper Donovan Ricketts played ten games for the Lions in their inaugural game, including their opening match in MLS. His professional career started with Wadadah, before playing for Seba United a year later and Village United, before Ricketts moved away from his homeland at the start of the 21st Century.
He made his international debut whilst at Seba in 1998 and went on to become the No.1 goalie for the Reggae Boyz, winning the Caribbean Cup with the side in both 2005 and 2008. he then played over 100 games for Bradford City before returning to Jamaica to play for Village United. He made the move to MLS in 2009.
Ricketts signed for LA Galaxy. He won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2010, and then the MLS Cup with the Galaxy a year later. The Jamaican then spent a season in Montreal, before three seasons with the Timbers, where he won MLS GOTY for a second time. Ricketts then moved to Orlando City for the start of the 2015 campaign, their first in MLS. He had the starting job for the early part of the season, but lost the starting job to Tally Hall halfway through the season.
The shot-stopper made the move back to the Galaxy for the second half of the 2015 campaign, and featured for the Tulsa Roughnecks, but is now unattached at the age of 42.