Dayton Dutch Lions FC is the first (of ten) Dutch Lions FC club in the USA.
About Dayton Dutch Lions FC
The club was founded in 2009 by Dutch Lions Capital Group USA LLC and Dutch Lions Capital Group BV (The Netherlands) led by Mike Mossel, Erik Tammer and Peter van der Molen. The club has a Men’s team competing in the United Soccer Leagues (USL League Two), the fourth tier in the USA. They also have a Women's team competing in the Women's Professional Soccer League (WPSL), the second tier in US Soccer for Women. During their three months of play (May-July) the club also offers camps, clinics and high-level skill training according to the Dutch philosophy.
The club is currently led by majority owner Dr. Suresh Gupta, MD. He was born and raised in New Delhi, India. After finishing medical school, he moved to the US in 1981 where he completed his residency program in Occupational Medicine from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Dr. Gupta worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for four years before pursuing anesthesiology and pain management. He owns and runs Dayton Outpatient Center (DOC) where he routinely performs outpatient procedures to help Dayton’s Miami Valley residents regain their health. After being a minority owner since 2012 he became the majority owner of the club in 2015. As part of his commitment to the community and the club he and DOC invested more than half a million dollars in a new turf field at West Carrollton High School, where all Dayton Dutch Lions FC teams train and play their home games.
The club played their inaugural season in 2010 in the United Soccer League Premier Development League (USL PDL, now called USL2). Their opening game on April 28, 2010 vs Global United FC, a team consisting of former World Cup players from 10 different countries, saw 3.200 fans in attendance at Bellbrook HS Stadium. The team had a “professional status” and was coached by former AFC Ajax, Dutch National Team player and Champions League Winner Sonny Silooy. The team had nine players under contract that played in the Dutch National Youth Teams, and goalkeeper Oscar Moens had four caps for the Dutch National Men’s Team. The club went to USL PRO a year later based on their performance on and off the field, averaging 1.400 fans per home game. The club played four years (2011-2014) in the USL PRO League before returning to USL2 in 2015. In 2012 the club made some noise by reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, defeating Columbus Crew of MLS in their own stadium (1-2) and eventually losing to Sporting Kansas City in front of 16.000 fans. In 2013 the team made the play-offs for the first time with a winning record. In 2018 the Men’s team won a Championship for the first time in their history, winning the Great Lakes Conference.
The club also has a Women’s team that played in the USL W-League from 2011 until 2015. In 2013 they won their Conference Championship and were awarded the “USL Organization of the Year Award”. Since the League folded in 2015, the club switched to play in the Women’s Professional League (WPSL) in 2016. They won the WPSL Conference Championship in 2016. USNWT player and 2019 World Cup winner and Best XI player Rose Lavelle played for the Women’s team in 2014 and 2016, as well as Josee Stiever (USNWT U23), Claire Falknor (USNWT U23) and Emilie Fillion, who signed a professional contract with FC Twente in The Netherlands in 2014.
Dutch Lions Capital Group USA LLC (www.dutchlionsfc.com) has started and has ownership in nine Dutch Lions FC clubs in the USA: Dayton Dutch Lions FC (2010, Men's and Women's team - 4th and 2nd level), Houston Dutch Lions FC (2011, Youth Academy), Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC (2013, Men's team - 4th level), Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions FC (2015, Women's team - 2nd level - and Youth Academy), New York Dutch Lions FC (2017, Men's team, exhibition games, Women's team - 2nd level), Miami Dutch Lions FC (2019, Men's team - 4th level), Chicago Dutch Lions FC (2020, Men's team, 4th level, 2xWomen's team - 2nd level), Oceanside Dutch Lions FC (2020, Women's team - 2nd level), Washington Dutch Lions FC (2021, Women's team, 2nd level) and East Atlanta Dutch Lions FC (2023, Men's team, 4th level, Rec Academy). They also co-founded and co-owned FC Cincinnati (MLS).