Association Football Club Ann Arbor (AFC Ann Arbor) was founded in 2014 with the goal of creating a community based club that would promote the game on a larger scale. 

The club was launched by a number of community members including former players, entrepreneurs, fans and families, creating a diverse ownership group, reflective of the greater Ann Arbor community.

After a successful first year in the regional Great Lakes Premier League (GLPL), the club made two major moves in the off-season hiring Head Coach & Sporting Director, Eric Rudland, as well as joining the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). 

In four seasons in the NPSL, a national league comprising of close to a hundred clubs, The Mighty Oak have finished top 16 (2016, 2019) as well as top 8 (in 2017 & 2018). The men have also won back-to-back Great Lakes Conference Champions (the only club in the conference to do so) in addition to back-to-back Midwest Region Finals appearances (the only club in the region to do so). In 2019 after qualifying for the playoffs for a fourth straight year, AFC Ann Arbor became the first and only club in the NPSL to make the playoffs four straight years, in their first four years in the league.

In 2017, Ann Arbor had it’s first former player selected in the MLS Draft when Lars Eckenrode was taken by Toronto FC. The club’s emphasis on developing top level talent continued and in 2018, Joseph Stanley Okumu was named TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year just before signing with the Real Monarchs of the USL. In 2019, Okumu became the biggest transfer in USL history as he joined Swedish First Division side, IF Elfsborg. In 2020, Okumu was transferred to Gent, in the Belgian top division. His transfer led to the first FIFA solidarity payments to come to AFC Ann Arbor. In total, the club has had 18 players wear the crest before turning professional.

On October 25th, 2018, AFCAA announced the addition of a women’s semi-pro side, an exciting move heading into the fifth year of the club. The inaugural goal for the women’s side came from former Japanese Women’s National Team player, Mami Yamaguchi. After the inaugural season for the women were complete, The Mighty Oak announced a promotion from within the club, seeing Boyzzz Khumalo appointed as the women’s new head coach.

On October 7th, 2019, the men’s side announced a move to USL2, the country’s elite pre-professional league.

The club did not play in the 2020 or 2021 season due to the Covid pandemic. Despite not being on the field, the club was not idle. AFC Ann Arbor used this time to deepen its roots in the community by extending our outreach with The Mighty Oak Project and Community Kicks. Additionally, we partnered with Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper, The Mighty Oak Project, The Rob Murphy Foundation, and the Hart & Tay Train Foundation to create CLR Academy. CLR Academy is focused on using sport to introduce underserved Black youth to wellness, mindfulness, and opportunities beyond the neighborhood. AFC Ann Arbor was also a founding club in Anti Racist Soccer Club, a coalition formed to fight racism in soccer.

On November 9th, 2021, AFCAA announced a move to the newly-formed USLW league, bringing our men’s and women’s teams under the same organizational umbrella at the league level.

The club returned to the field with in both men’s and women’s action under the USL umbrella for the first time in the 2022 season. Eric Rudland has moved into the role of Sporting Director, overseeing both teams from a technical and personnel level. Rod Asllani, was promoted from Eric’s staff to the position of men’s head coach.

The women’s side earned their first piece of silverware on July 6, 2022, with a 5-1 thumping of Flint City AFC on the road in the Michigan Milk Cup women’s tournament final.

In the winter of 2022-23, former University of Michigan and AFC Ann Arbor player Kevin “KT” Taylor was named women’s head coach.

Numerous 2022 players were signed to professional contracts, including Jayde Riviere, (Manchester United), Chloe Rickets (Washington Spirit), David Garcia (North Carolina FC), Jackson Simba Kasanzu (San Diego Loyal), Jared Mazzola (Greenville Triumph), Jonathan Gomes (Pittsburgh Riverhounds), Tatiana Mason (Bnot Netanya), Camila Pescatore, (IBV Vestmannaeyja FC), and Hideyuki Ochi (Vertfee Yaita).

2023 will see a return to the original home of AFC Ann Arbor: Hollway Field at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.

HIGHLIGHTS

• First player drafted by MLS Club: Lars Eckenrode, Defender (Selected by Toronto FC // Jan 2017)

• First player to play in a European First Division: Joseph Stanley Okumu (TopDrawerSoccer.com 2018 National Player of the Year)

• 2017 & 2018 NPSL Great Lakes Conference Champions

• 2017 & 2018 NPSL Midwest Region Finalists

• Finished second in 2015 USASA Region II Amateur Cup (first piece of silverware)

• 2017, 2018, 2019 U.S. Open Cup Bids

• 2017 Men’s Michigan Milk Cup Champions

• 2018 Men’s Michigan Milk Cup Finalist

• 2022 Women’s Michigan Milk Cup Champions

• Youngest player ever to play in the NWSL: Chloe Ricketts, signed to Washington Spirit, April, 2023