Puerto Rico U20

USISL franchise

The Puerto Rico Islanders were first founded in 1995, and made their first appearance in the USISL, now the United Soccer Leagues (USL) that same year. The team played in San Juan. The team was founded by Joe Serralta and other Puerto Rican businessmen and played only seven games on the island.

However, the first iteration lasted only seven games. Various differences with the local league led Serralta and the other businessmen to move the franchise to Houston, Texas, and change the team's name to the Houston Force. The move was also prompted by problems with the Puerto Rican Football Federation and low attendances. The Force folded after one game in Houston.

Added to this, FIFA withdrew its financial support from the Puerto Rico Football Federation, which amounted to $250,000 annually. Things got tough for this group of entrepreneurs.

Early years (2003–2005)

It wasn't until 2003 that the franchise was restarted, the FIFA subsidy was recovered, and an agreement was reached with the city of Bayamón, with Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera Jr., who supported the idea of incorporating soccer as a sport in that municipality. This support was not only logistical but also financial, as the renovation and adaptation of the then Lubriel stadium to the requirements of the Federation began at an approximate cost of $3,000,000.

Hence, eight years after Serralta's first attempt at professional football, he gave it another go and together with a new group of Puerto Rican businessmen officially created another incarnation of the Puerto Rico Islanders. The team played their first season in the A-League in 2004. The original squad included a large number of local Puerto Rican players as well as a contingent of mainland Americans, Brazilians, Salvadorans and Argentines. The team was coached by Brazilian Vitor Hugo Barros who was replaced several games into the season by Argentine Hugo Hernán Maradona, brother of the legendary Diego Armando Maradona. The team played its first league game on April 17, 2004, against the Toronto Lynx at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, the Islanders lost 1–0 in front of a reported 6,000 fans. The Islanders had their first victory on January 15, 2004, against the Charleston Battery with a score of 1–0 at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium. Led by players like Mauricio Salles, Raúl Díaz Arce and Luis Fernando Zuleta Mechura the Islanders finished the 2004 season in 14th place, with a record of 5 wins, 17 losses and 6 ties.

In 2005, the Islanders still under Hugo Hernán Maradona brought in a new group of players that would become staples in the club for the next couple of seasons (Petter Villegas, Marco Vélez, Dan Kennedy, Caleb Norkus, Alejandro González Pareja and Noah Delgado), and retained several key players like Mauricio Salles. At the end of the season, the Islanders had an improved season record with 10 wins, 10 losses and 8 ties, this time barely missing the playoff.

Jorge Alvial Era (2006–2007)

The Islanders opened their 2006 season with a mix of new players like Argentine Gustavo Barros-Schelotto, Chilean Arturo Norambuena, Canadian Alen Marcina, and homegrown talent Marco Vélez, Alexis Rivera Curet, Rafael Ortiz Huertas, and American Dan Kennedy to create one of the strongest lineups in the club's short history, in a serious attempt to take the USL Div. 1 title for the first time.

Formed under the management of then head coach Jorge Alvial, the 2006 Islanders had a record of 3–2–1 up to early June, when Alvial put in his resignation to become a scout for the English club Chelsea. The club lumbered across the last half of the season barely making the playoffs, under the new head coach Toribio Rojas, Jorge Alvial's assistant coach, finishing the season in 6th place and with a record of 10–8–10.

In the weekend before the 2006 playoffs, the Islanders hosted Miami FC twice, who had Brazilians Romário and Zinho in their line up. The Islanders needed four points to qualify for the Playoffs. After going down 0–2 in the first half the Islanders managed to come back and win 4–2 in front of 8,600.

In the final game of the season against Miami on September 10, 2006, they attracted a record crowd of nearly 11,000 fans. Early in the second half Miami took the lead. It wasn't until the 43rd minute of the second half that the Islanders equalized with an Arturo Norambuena penalty. A draw was sufficient for the Islanders to qualify in front of Seattle and Atlanta.

In the first round of the playoffs, the team played a home-away series against the Charleston Battery. Unfortunately for the Islanders, Charleston won the series 3–2, ending the 2006 season for the Puerto Ricans.

The team came into the 2007 season on a high, they had just played a preseason tournament against MLS teams and achieved very successful results. They also had signed several dangerous players like Panamanian trio Victor Herrera, a Panamanian international, Gustavo Avila, and Alberto Zapata, a new goalkeeper Josh Saunders, rookie Jay Needham, plus a return of players like Marco Vélez, Petter Villegas and Noah Delgado. The squad was considered serious contenders for the title.

After one early success, the team took a turn for the worse. It was evident that Toribio Rojas had lost his edge and after an embarrassing 2–1 loss against bottom table Minnesota Thunder was let go from his coaching position and given the post of Youth System Director, when he left the team with a record of 1–3–3. Also, attendance declined.

Clarke Era (2007–2011)

Acting quickly, the club replaced Rojas with former FC Dallas manager Colin Clarke, who had found himself without a job after the Virginia Beach Mariners went out of business. He immediately established himself as a hard and hotheaded coach demanding discipline from his players. Shortly after he was nicknamed "El General" by the media and fans because of the way he led the squad during practice.

This change also translated in a change of fortunes for the club, in the first match under Clarke the club beat the Minnesota Thunder 2–1, just a week after, under Toribio, they had lost against them. Clarke also brought in players who would become key figures in the future like Haitian International Fabrice Noel, then Englishman, now Kenyan International, Taiwo Atieno Willie Simms on loan from New England Revolution, and John Krause, who played briefly for Clarke on the Mariners. The club would finish comfortably in 6th place, two spots on top of the last playoff spot.