We continue our countdown of the top stories of 2015 at No. 9 with the launch of Real Monarchs SLC.
The newly-founded USL club would serve as an avenue for continued development from the highly-successful Academy in Arizona that has produced myriad professionals through the years. With 12 different Academy products seeing time with the Monarchs, it got off to a strong start as a mechanism for player development in its inaugural season.
With former Academy Head Coach Freddy Juarez leading the charge, the Monarchs struggled to find results out of the chute, but eventually caught a run of good form to close out the season. Led by the scoring of Max Rauhofer (9 G), Emery Welshman (6 G) and Lucas Baldin (5 G), Real finished with a 7-13-8 record with a decidedly younger roster than some of the more established teams in the league. But getting those young players game-experience paid off in the end with a streak of five consecutive victories.
Closing the season on a strong note set the tone for the club’s second season next year, giving the club a winning feeling that it had come narrowly close to feeling all season.
Perhaps more impressive than that maturation of the players over the course of the year to finish in such a strong fashion was the club’s attendance at Rio Tinto Stadium. Among the eight USL clubs run by an MLS parent club, the Monarchs led them all by a handsome margin with an average attendance of 4,698. That total ranked sixth across the whole league, but was significantly higher than the other MLS-affiliated clubs, four of which had average attendances in the hundreds.
Top 10 RSL Stories of 2015
10. Maund Emerges on Defense
9. The Launch of the Monarchs
8. 11/3
7. 11/3
6. 11/4
5. 11/4
4. 11/5
3. 11/5
2. 11/6
1. 11/6
