LouCity coach John Hackworth talks the new stadium, continued soccer domination in 2020

Hayes Gardner | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Louisville City FC announces Lynn Family Stadium as name of new home As crews continue working toward its Spring 2020 opening, Louisville City FC announced the name of its new soccer stadium on Monday.

With 2020 on the horizon, the Courier Journal peppered questions on a number of influential Kentuckians for their view on the new year’s priorities, opportunities and challenges. This is the fifth in the series.

Louisville City FC has been the most successful team in American pro soccer over the past five seasons, reaching the USL (United Soccer League) Eastern Conference finals each year, winning the conference three times, and twice taking home the USL Championship trophy (2017 and 2018). However, what’s ahead for the club is just as exciting.

Nex year will bring the debut of Lynn Family Stadium, LouCity’s first soccer-specific stadium. The team spent its first five seasons competing at Slugger Field in downtown Louisville but will have a new Butchertown home in a stadium with 11,700 permanent seats. LouCity, under head coach John Hackworth, will open the 2020 season with a few road matches as the stadium is completed.

It’s a brand new venue, but the team will largely look the same as last season’s USL Championship runners-up. Of the 14 players who saw the field in the USL Championship match, 13 will return.

Lynn Family Stadium will not only host LouCity, but it will also be the home for Proof Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), an expansion team set to begin play in 2021. It will be Louisville’s only top-flight professional sports team; the USL Championship is a rung below the top-tier men’s soccer league, Major League Soccer.

Hackworth has been LouCity’s head coach since August 2018, and he’s looking forward to an exciting 2020 — with a familiar team, but a new stadium. The Courier Journal sat down with Hackworth to discuss the future of LouCity.

What is your top priority for 2020?

John Hackworth: "The top priority at this point is to bring back the most competitive roster we can possibly get so that we can potentially play for more championships next year."

You seem to be in a good spot with that. Why was it so important for you to bring back the bulk of your roster?

Hackworth: "We believe in the guys that are in this locker room. I’ve said it before, it’s a special place, a special culture, and that culture is made up of all of those pieces, so all of the individuals that are coming back, and even the guys that we’re not returning, were so important to that. Thus, the majority of guys returning, it just allows us to continue what we’ve been doing previously."

Background: Louisville City FC announces the name of its new soccer stadium in Butchertown

What’s the biggest obstacle to change in Louisville?

Hackworth: "That is a tough, open-ended question. I don’t ever want to speak lightly of the serious problems that any city has, but I’ve found this place to be wonderful. I’m in a little bubble in my life, and pretty much concentrated on Louisville City FC, so in my own very humble and not worldly importance, the opening of that stadium in a timely manner is my biggest obstacle, and the thing that I’m trying in every way possible to ensure happens in a timely manner.

I could speak about the homeless problem, diversity, but this seems to be a great place with a lot of good people that are trying very hard to make it even better."

How will the new stadium change LouCity and change Louisville?

Hackworth: "For Louisville City, it gives us a place to call our home, and it’s going to be a fantastic playing surface, it’s going to be a world-class soccer venue, and that will be fantastic for us.

For Louisville and the community, it’s just going to bring more awareness to our sport and our club, and it’s going to bring a lot of attention from the rest of the soccer world in this country, and even a little bit from an international perspective. ...

There’s going to be a lot of economic developments around that stadium, but just the fact that you’re driving down one of three interstates... and you get a really good visual of what that stadium looks like, that alone for the thousands of passengers that drive by and are going to be like, ‘Cool, what is that?’ When they find out that it’s home to one of the best soccer franchises in this country, I think that’s going to bring a lot more notoriety to us than we’ve ever experienced previously."

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It’s hard to sustain success — and this team has had a lot of success — what does this team need to do in 2020 to keep it going?

Hackworth: "We need to get off to a good start this year. We’re obviously going to have to play on the road to start the year, and that’s going to be really difficult, and so we’ll need to be well prepared for that very tough opening to the season, and if we get off to a good start, and we’re in good position when we open that building, I think we’ll be fine."

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What would you say you’re most passionate about in Louisville?

Hackworth: "Louisville City FC, the cycling community and specifically some of the groups and friends that I’ve made, bourbon and the food. And the music scene because that’s really good. There are so many cultural things in this city, it’s crazy. It’s a cool place."

Hayes Gardner can be reached at hgardner@gannett.com; Twitter: @HayesGardner; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.