Valley United FC was an American professional soccer club based in Phoenix, Arizona that played in the National Independent Soccer Association, in the 3rd tier of the US soccer pyramid, from 2022.
History
Valley United FC was founded in 2020 as Atletico Olympians FC and joined UPSL in the same year, as played in the Southwest Conference, Arizona Division. In the summer of 2021, the team also participated in 2021 NISA Independent Cup, as played in Southwest Region. In September 2021, the team rebranded as "Valley United Football Club" and was accepted into the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) for the 2022 season. Valley United FC was the first Latino-owned club in the nascent league. At the time of their founding, VUFC was one of three professional soccer teams in Arizona alongside USL Championship side Phoenix Rising FC and USL1 club FC Tucson. The club's reserve team, Valley United FC U23 participated in the Southwest Region of the NISA Nation, at an amateur soccer league sanctioned by the US Amateur Soccer Association.
The club participated in the 2022 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup competition, falling 0-1 in the second round to cross-town rival Phoenix Rising in extra time.
On May 17, 2022, the team announced that they were working through "internal roster issues at the club" which resulted in the resignation of Head Coach Adrian Gaitan and General Manager Yuval Raichman. Danny De Olivera was promoted to the team's head coach. The issues, identified as alleged violations of United States Immigration law, involved six players, who were released from the club. The roster violations resulted in a forfeit of three league matches. The team went on to play six more matches before suspending operations for the season on July 26, 2022. To promote "sporting integrity," all VUFC results were removed, ultimately resulting in a forfeit of the entire season.
The club did not participate in the 2023 NISA season, but the club's badge remains on the NISA website.