It’s been an interesting year for Napa Valley 1839 FC, to say the least.
Under the leadership of cofounder Arik Housley, the team was founded in 2017 and has since grown into a powerhouse in the Northern Californian amateur soccer scene. For the better part of a decade, Napa Valley have been a core part of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) footprint in the Golden State, but all good things come to an end and this year the club announced a change in leagues.
Along with several other established amateur sides, including Kingston Stockade and 2023 U.S. Open Cup darlings Tulsa Athletic, Napa Valley 1839 made the jump to the newly founded League For Clubs. Housley has been one of the more vocal proponents of this new set-up, publicly speaking out about the benefits of the new club-driven league. He’s confident he’s made the right decision for his team in launching into new territory.
Of course, there’s plenty of unknowns in a big move like exiting a known entity in the form of the NPSL and helping found an entirely new one. “It’s been pretty crazy,” admitted Housley when asked about the last couple of months. But in the middle of all that craziness, he’s still focused on getting his guys into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the first time in the club’s short history.
“We had to try to get into the [2025] Open Cup, it’s just so exciting. But for sure, it’s a lot of work.” As Housley describes it, Napa Valley is “right in the thick of switching leagues” and maybe this isn’t the best time for his team to be playing in a Qualifying match. But come Saturday, October 26th, they’ll be ready.
The club’s squad for this year’s Open Cup Qualifying Rounds is a hodge-podge of available players, most currently playing for the club’s UPSL team. Putting a full squad together at this time of year is no easy ask. “Qualifying in the fall is hard, and it’s not really our strongest lineup because we lose a lot of players. Spring is much stronger for us, but we’re up for it and we’re going to push through Qualifying.”
Housley continued, focusing on the challenges of fielding an amateur team with the players who remain in town in the off-season. “We don’t pay our players, so if they want to stay here year-round, they have to find a job and find a way to live here.”
That limits who’s available in the last week of October – and it’s true for plenty of the 114 teams that signed up for the Open Cup Qualifying Rounds this time around. But Napa Valley are confident they’ll have a competitive squad heading into this weekend’s Second Qualifying Matchday. “We’re probably at a roster size of 24, it really depends on who is here or around. We’re down probably eight players,” Housley said. “But we’re still a strong team.”
The current team is led in scoring by Luis Ramirez, who has eight of Napa’s 16 goals in UPSL play this season. As of this week, they sit third in a very competitive NorCal North Division.
Interestingly enough, the team Napa Valley will face this weekend in the Open Cup Qualifiers, Bay Valley Suns SC, play in the UPSL NorCal South Division – sitting second in their side of the table. The squads share former players between them, but haven’t faced each other in league play.
Housley chuckled when asked about what he knew about his club’s opponent. “In this part of California, there’s a lot of soccer going on,” he said. “We all sort of know each other and our players.”
Saturday will be the first time the teams will face each other with something on the line.
For years, Napa Valley have had to face an amateur powerhouse in their Open Cup Qualifying runs and Housley isn’t shy about naming them. “We’ve got one of the best amateur clubs in the entire country an hour from us in El Farolito.” he said.
“It’s always us against them in the end, they are a nemesis for us,” Housley said about El Farolito. “They’re just a very strong team.”
El Farolito made a deep run in the 2024 Open Cup (finishing top of the amateur sides and earning the cash prize of $25,000 that goes with it) and won the league crown in the NPSL, automatically qualifying them for the 2025 Open Cup – so at least that obstacle isn’t in Napa Valley’s qualifying path this time around.
In a year of turmoil and change, the constant is the challenge of qualifying for the U.S. Open Cup. For Napa Valley 1839, setting aside all the distractions of the present to focus on the chance at historic greatness, is an easy decision.
Dan Vaughn is a veteran soccer journalist and the founder and editor of Protagonist Soccer. Follow him at@TheDanVaughn on Twitter/X.