Detroit City Football Club continues to redefine Detroit sports

DETROIT — Detroit City Football Club has grown from an idea between friends to an established professional sports team in Detroit at a rapid pace.

The club has not only found extreme success on the field, but is impacting the community off the field. DCFC continues to grow, and the team’s story resonates with Detroiters in the best possible way.

“The best thing DCFC has going for it is the people,” DCFC co-owner and Chief Creative Officer Alex Wright said. “It’s folks that are passionate for soccer but also really dedicated to not only growing the game, but making the community a better place.”

One of the many unique traits that DCFC has is the path to becoming a professional team. In most major sports, Detroit teams were a part of the league’s inception, or joined as an established professional team. DCFC began as a summer league team and has worked its way up the American soccer ranks to become professional.

“It’s been less than 15 years since the five of us got together over some beers and kicked in a few thousand dollars and created a men’s summer league team.” Wright said. “It’s really hard to be the fifth pro team in any city … and we don’t take that for granted. It’s the privilege of being the fifth team.”

The success that DCFC has seen is something many other soccer teams in the area have attempted to create over the years. This club has integrated itself into the community in a way that few other teams in the state can match.

“We’ve tapped into the unique things that soccer does that other sports can’t in this community. … The U6 boys and girls that take to the pitch, across our state now, are wearing the exact same jerseys as our professional team does,” Wright said. “That’s an incredible strength of our organization, the fact that you can be a part of the club and never really grow out of it.”

The club is an example of getting back what is put into something. The ownership group has invested heavily into the community, and the community has responded by showing out for DCFC.

“Those of us who founded the club, and those of us who are leaders in the organization, we’re not really up in some ivory tower looking down on the game,” Wright said. “We are the ones on the sidelines. We were the ones when this first started that were mowing the lawn and selling the tickets. … There’s accountability baked into so much of what we do.”

DCFC is also a beacon of hope in terms of growing the game of soccer in the Detroit area.

“The additional responsibility that we take very seriously is growing the game within our city,” Wright said. “We are consciously doing a ton of work in the Black community and in the Hispanic community to grow the game. … We’re doing everything we can to make sure that we are growing a team that is accessible to everyone and that looks like our community.”

One of the biggest projects to make the game more accessible to everyone is a new stadium for the club that’s expected to be ready by the start of the 2027 season. The pitch will be at the corner of Michigan Avenue and 20th Street, where the former Southwest Detroit Hospital is located.

“The community is buzzing about the thought of a soccer-specific stadium downtown, bridging Corktown and southwest Detroit,” Wright said. “It’s not just folks that love soccer, it’s folks that love Detroit and understand how perfect that location is. … It’s an incredible progression going from a high school field at Cass Tech (to the new stadium).”

DCFC has played at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck since 2016. The club raised money to renovate Keyworth almost a decade ago and has been thrilled with how the stadium has thrived and grown with the team.

A lot of the executives and higher-ups within DCFC are also Detroit sports fans in general.

“We take pride in growing this team in a way that reflects the values of a new generation of Detroiters,” DCFC CEO Sean Mann said. “And doing it in a way that matches the passion and commitment that our community has always had for sports.”

The goal is to inspire the metro Detroit youth to play soccer and in turn get the kids of the area to pass down their love and passion for DCFC in the future.

“The effect of the club’s rise has inspired youth programs across the region and fostered a sense of civic pride that extends beyond the pitch,” Mann said. “We are the only local club where kids can wear the uniform the pros wear; it’s a small thing, but it resonates.”

What was once an idea between friends is now a club that has men’s, women’s, and youth teams throughout its organization. Detroit City Football Club plays games throughout the summer at Keyworth Stadium, 3201 Roosevelt St, Hamtramck, MI 48212. For more information, visit detcityfc.com.