North Carolina FC may have a new name than when it last suited up for competition in the USL, but the ties that have remained in the geographic region that have seen the likes of the Charleston Battery, Charlotte Independence and Richmond Kickers remain preseason and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup opponents have all three looking forward to NCFC’s arrival in the league for the 2018 season.

Formerly the Carolina RailHawks when founded in 2006, North Carolina FC squared off with both the Battery in the league and the Kickers in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in their inaugural season a year later, kicking off the relationships that endure to this day.

“I can remember when the RailHawks started, we were very excited then because we felt it was another geographic rivalry and brought another team that gives our fans a chance to travel to another game,” said Battery President Andrew Bell. “It’s a natural thing for them to return and play against the Charleston Battery. I’m honestly just thrilled.”

In more recent years, it became the turn of the Independence to get to know NCFC, with the sides squaring off each of the past three seasons in the Open Cup. Now in the same league for the first time, Charlotte has plenty of respect for what North Carolina is going to bring to the USL and what the club’s leadership under Dr. Steven Malik has done to galvanize the organization from top to bottom.

“I think it’s great for the Independence to have a good, quality organization pretty close to us,” said Independence General Manager Tom Engstrom. “The proximity makes it a lot easier for fans to travel to games, and we have a lot of respect for them, for the quality of teams they’ve put on the field but also for how they’ve grown their youth organization and the way they operate from the first team down to the youth.”