FC Motown STA (USL League 2) @ Ranger Stadium (Madison, NJ)

*This trip occurred on May 21, 2026.

Before we get to today's "main event", I'd like to mention one thing:

I'm planning on visiting a BUNCH of soccer teams that are rather local to me in the next few weeks. Most of the teams are no more than 30-45 minutes away, and I have never seen ANY of these teams before (for the most part)¹.

Most of these upcoming teams are all members of the same league/division: the Metropolitan Division of USL League Two. However, I realize that I didn't get too deep into what USL2 is the last time I talked about the division (or the USL's other divisions for that matter), so I figured that before we enter the flurry of posts coming up, I should contextualize the United Soccer League(s) a bit - which I've done here.

With that out of the way, I am willing to bet that some of you who read this blog are getting deja vu, because you probably think you've heard the name "FC Motown" before.

Well...you’re not wrong! However, this is actually a (fairly) distinct team from the side I talked about last weekend, so let's dive into them.

In 2021, USL League 2 added FC Motown to its Metropolitan Division, then a year later, the club partnered with a local youth soccer organization called STA (which I believe stands for Sports Training Academy), which leads to the team's "official" name: FC Motown STA (which helps distinguish it from the NPSL side)². There's not much to say about their short history, but in 2025, the team won 11 of their 12 regular season games - with the twelfth game being a draw. This made them the top team in the country heading into the 2025 USL2 Playoffs - where the idea for this trip was born.

I had no idea that FC Motown (as a whole) existed until the 2025 USL League 2 Playoffs, when the USL2 team traveled up to Burlington, VT and lost a battle of undefeated sides to Vermont Green FC. Their regular season success, however, gave the USL2 side a berth in the US Open Cup; they were drawn at home back in March, but I was busy with something and couldn’t make it (plus the game was at night in Newark)³.

This game seemingly featured more spectators than the NPSL game - and a bit more atmosphere as well. Tonight's opponent - the Westchester Flames - seemed WAY better than Hershey SC (they were even credited with a shot on goal); unfortunately, much like Hershey, they got beat down pretty hard - after scoring a pair of first half goals, Motown added four in the second half to win 6-0. I ended up spending most of the second half sitting next to what I can only assume was a Westchester supporter, because they were clearly not having a good time...

Also, for the third game in a row, I ended up touching a game ball - however, since I'm pretty sure soccer balls are supposed to be returned to the club, I ended up kicking it back to one of the ball boys.

Alas, I am unsure if I'll be able to get back to Motown this season, as I've got a LOT of other things in the works. However, having a "local soccer team" to watch is definitely something I like, as it lets me watch a team without having to pay for too much (i.e. free parking and inexpensive tickets) and not have to worry about getting home after 10 PM.

MERCH

In doing some research for this post, I found out that the NPSL and USL2 sides have different jerseys altogether! As I mentioned when I saw the NPSL team, they have a manufacturer that "sells direct" to fans, but the USL2 team wears Nike (which I assume is related to the STA part). There is one major difference between the two teams' jerseys: the NPSL jerseys have sublimated graphics, while the USL2 ones have ironed-on graphics⁴. Also...

At this match, the only "official" merchandise available wasn't even FC Motown related - it was a stadium blanket featuring STA's logo. There was also a partner vendor at the game, but the things they were selling were largely geared toward girls.

ON DECK

I have a bunch of soccer games I was hoping to go to this weekend, but sadly, the weather is not looking good...mainly for Saturday.