Sting’s son helps found new NPSL side City of Angels FC

A new local NPSL team was announced this week, City of Angels FC. While the NPSL (fourth division) has been expanding at a prodigious rate this offseason, City of Angels FC is notable not only for its mere existence, but due to one of the people behind the project. Pop star Sting’s son, Joe Sumner, is one of the leaders of the team.

Sumner was previously rumored to be pursuing an NASL expansion bid for a team in Southern California, although his interest reportedly cooled when told he would have to help fund NASL’s lawsuit with the U.S. Soccer Federation over the federation’s reluctance to give NASL Division I sanctioning alongside MLS. With the very existence of NASL in question at this moment, it appears Sumner decided to move on to a league that appears to have more stability, even if it isn’t as high a level as NASL.

“We know we’ll be starting from modest roots and it’ll take some time to really find what will set this team apart on and off the field, but that’s the great thing about the city of Los Angeles; it quickly shapes every newcomer in a profound way,” Sumner said in a statement on the league’s website about the launch. “The city has a deep sense of optimism and we want supporters to believe in the future of what this team could be, to become part of it and to help build it.”

According to The Guardian, the team will be based in the San Fernando Valley, a strategic move to attract residents of the area who may not be able to make the trip to Carson for LA Galaxy games, Orange County for OC Blues games, or starting in 2018, the LA core for Los Angeles Football Club games.

So the venture, the appetite for soccer in the area, and the names attached to the project mean this is probably something to keep tabs on in the months to come. It will be interesting to see if City of Angels FC can find a foothold in a packed market and produce the national team players they say they want to.

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