Kickers 2009 regular season opens April 18

The Richmond Kickers will open the 2009 season with an exhibition match featuring USL First Division side Carolina RailHawks on Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at Sports Backers Stadium. The USL Second Division regular season will open two weeks later, pitting the Richmond Kickers against the Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at the University of Richmond Stadium.

The Kickers will compete alongside USL-2 opponents Bermuda Hogges, Charlotte Eagles, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Real Maryland Monarchs, Western Mass Pioneers and Wilmington Hammerheads. The Cleveland City Stars made the move to the USL First Division during the off-season. Playing a 20-game primarily balanced schedule, the Kickers will face each team home and away once. Rounding out the regular season will be three matches each against regional rivals Wilmington Hammerheads and Charlotte Eagles with an additional home match against Harrisburg and a second away match against Pittsburgh to supplement the schedule. In 2009, the regular season will run for 17 weeks, kicking off the weekend of April 18 and concluding Aug. 16.

The Kickers will take home field advantage at the University of Richmond Stadium (just off the Downtown Expressway) for the entire 2009 home regular season while the Carolina exhibition will be held at Sports Backers Stadium. Nine of the Kickers’ 10 regular season home games will be played on Saturdays, kicking off at 7 p.m. The only exceptions will be the two home matches against the Charlotte Eagles, which fall on Friday, May 15 at 7 pm and Saturday, July 4 at 1 pm.

The Richmond Kickers enter into their 17th season as a member of the United Soccer Leagues family since 1993. Over the past 16 seasons, Richmond has qualified for post-season play 13 times, including six Championship appearances. The Kickers reached the title match in 2007 for the fourth time in the past six seasons, narrowly missing their second consecutive league title after nine rounds of penalties. Richmond’s five previous league Championship appearances (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006) include winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown in 2006. In 2008, the Kickers fell short of another Championship berth after falling 1-0 in overtime to the eventual champions, Cleveland City Stars.

The playoffs will feature the top five teams in the regular season standings. The fourth and fifth seeds will square off in a midweek, first-round encounter Aug. 19 for a spot in the semifinals. The winner of the match will square off against the regular season champion while the second and third seeds meet in the other semifinal the weekend of Aug. 21-22. The USL Second Division Championship will be played Aug. 29 and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel. All matches will be hosted by the higher seed, excluding the final, which is determined via bid.

“With one fewer playoff berth and seven different champions since 2002, the USL Second Division chase for the championship should continue to be a fascinating race,” USL Second Division Director of Operations Amanda Duffy said. “The anticipation for the upcoming season amongst the teams who have missed the playoffs the past few years should translate into an exciting and extremely competitive season in 2009 for the teams who have established themselves as perennial playoff contenders.”

General admission tickets for the RailHawks exhibition and regular season home games will remain $12/adults and $7/youth ages 3-17 for the third consecutive season. Order tickets in advance via the Kickers’ web site or present a Ukrop’s Valued Customer Card at the gate and receive a $2 discount per ticket. Back by popular demand, the Kickers will continue to offer an affordable and convenient single season pass, which includes admission to every 2009 regular season home game. Enjoy all of the Kickers Pro and Destiny (W-League) regular season home games for the best possible pricing with a 2009 Family Pass ($119), All-Access Pass ($90) Adult Pro Pass ($55) or Youth Pro Pass ($20, ages 3-17). Order your 2009 Season Pass by March 27th and purchase tickets to the RailHawks exhibition for just $5.00. Please note: Adult Pro Passes, Youth Pro Passes, Family Passes, Coach Passes and Flexi-Tickets will not be accepted at the Carolina RailHawks exhibition on April 4.
2009 Richmond Kickers Pro Schedule

Full schedule available at the Richmond Kickers' web site.