Image credit: South Bend Lions FC

South Bend Lions Football Club, an expansion team that’s joining USL League Two, officially announced its existence Tuesday. We interviewed owner and principal investor Ritchie Jeune to find out more about the South Bend, Ind.-based side that’s set to take the pitch in 2020.

Nipun Chopra: Congratulations on the launch of the new League Two club. What is your connection to the city of South Bend, and why did you want to launch a club there?

Ritchie Jeune: Thank you. At the start of the process, I had no connection to any market. I have clubs in Europe and Asia and had a desire to explore North America to add to that portfolio. Chris Rivett has been integral in the process with his knowledge of the landscape in North America; it gave us a strong starting point. We drew up a criteria of requirements and then a list of bonus items we were looking for to identify a shortlist. From there, we conducted market visits and arrived at the conclusion that South Bend best met with our objectives — this was due in no small part to the response we had from the community. Not just the soccer people either but enthusiasm from the community as a whole that this was an initiative that the city would embrace. Their passion and hunger for a club was the strongest of everywhere we’ve looked at, where an opportunity existed. As conversations have evolved in the last six months, we’ve formed a bond of mutual respect and shared ambition. We’re very excited.

NC: What is your vision for the club going forward? Do you see yourself wanting to turn professional someday?

RJ: The key aim for us from the outset is to ensure the long-term sustainability of the football club. Our ultimate goal is to bring professional soccer to South Bend and to achieve all our ambitions we aim to build a scalable and sustainable model club that sets the standard other clubs will wish to emulate. It will be underwritten by a robust and sustainable business model and one that strives to create a positive environment for families to experience soccer.

It’s our objective to work together and establish a club playing at the highest level that the community can support and we welcome everyone to be a part of our adventure.

NC: Why was League Two a good fit for your vision versus other national leagues such as the UPSL and NPSL?

RJ: In parallel with our market analysis at the beginning of the process, we looked at the options for where we would compete. We gave consideration to NISA as well. Everything was a possibility from the outset and we sought the views of people we respect at various levels of the game here; we asked the soccer community in South Bend what they wanted and taking in all the feedback we concluded that USL was the best fit for the pathway to the professional game that we wish to build here in South Bend. That’s nothing against the other leagues who are all doing an important job to promote the game in this country.

NC: Will the coaching staff be tapping into mostly Notre Dame and local college players, or will you scout players from all over Indiana?

RJ: Thiago Pinto has been pivotal in galvanizing the community and linking everything together and he deserves special recognition for that. He will be our technical director and will lead this side of the club. The process began some time ago in readiness, and we are looking to bring in top college players and young talent both locally and from across the country who will inspire the next generation and be proud to represent South Bend.

NC: There seems to be significant turnover of teams at the amateur level. What steps have you taken to ensure the long-term (five-plus years) future of the South Bend team?

RJ: Understandably, this is something we’ve had a lot of conversations about in South Bend. It’s about small, sensible steps. We might not have experience of running clubs in North America, but Chris and I have built businesses from scratch and we’ve sat on boards in England and spent meetings discussing how to solve problems caused, sometimes, by a decision made a decade ago.

We’ve always said wouldn’t it be brilliant to build a club starting with a blank piece of paper and we now have the opportunity to do just that. We asked the community to trust us and they have. We know people will be skeptical of outsiders coming into a city they have no connection with, but I’ve done that twice already and it’s worked out well. I would hope that evidence of my commitment goes a long way to answer that question — ultimately, only time can prove that.

Follow Nipun on Twitter: @NipunChopra7.

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