Orlando City SC to expand presence in Osceola County
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - Orlando City SC has secured the rights to an additional facility in Osceola County, adding the 5,400 seat stadium located on the grounds of the Club’s new training complex at Osceola Heritage Park (OHP). The Club will make the stadium the new home field for Orlando City B starting in the 2020 United Soccer League (USL) League One season.
The former baseball park will undergo a full redevelopment to become a soccer-specific field ahead of the 2020 USL League One season, and will be used for soccer matches as well as other events.
The move comes in conjunction with the Club’s relocation of its training operations to the Orlando City SC Training Complex at Osceola Heritage Park, which was announced earlier this year.
“The addition of Osceola County Stadium is another major step in the growth and expansion of our Club infrastructure alongside Exploria Stadium, the Orlando City SC Training Complex at Osceola Heritage Park and the Orlando Pride training facility at Sylvan Lake Park,” Orlando City SC CEO Alex Leitão said. “Not only will the stadium provide a new home field for Orlando City B, but it will complete the move in having our entire men’s development structure at one location; a location that all players - from our Development Academy to USL League One to the First Team - will call home. We are extremely excited to expand our training complex and to reinforce our commitment with a high-class soccer infrastructure for our players, staff and fans.”
“The addition of Orlando City B to our stadium is very exciting. This, in addition to the previously announced training complex, marks another milestone in our growth as we welcome the world of soccer to our facility,” remarked Robb Larson, general manager of OHP/ASM Global.
OCB’s new home field will feature Latitude 36 Bermudagrass, the same playing surface as Exploria Stadium, the training fields at Osceola Heritage Park and the Orlando Pride’s soon-to-be training facility at Sylvan Lake Park.
The Orlando City SC Training Complex at Osceola Heritage Park will feature four fields - three natural grass and one artificial turf - a fitness, training and recovery center; a players’ lounge; meal room and a film room.
The complex will serve as the official training grounds of Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC, Orlando City B and the Orlando City Development Academy to build the Club’s development pyramid and lay a pathway for players from the Academy to the Club’s First Team. The First Team will be allocated two of the grass fields, with OCB and the Development Academy sharing the remaining grass field and the turf field.