A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS

We are thrilled to have represented the bull city in semi-professional soccer for the past three seasons! Our team's mission is to achieve national success by promoting local rivalry and supporting local soccer, which is why we chose to name our club Tobacco Road FC. Our players consist of talented amateurs and elite collegians from the soccer-rich schools in our area, all sharing the same dream of playing soccer at the highest level.

Our goal in creating this club was to wholeheartedly embrace the local identity of the bull city and to inspire local youth to strive for greatness while establishing a legacy that our community can truly rally behind. This team was created with a profound love for the game and embodies the true spirit of Durham.

We truly believe in the potential of our city and in the power of local soccer. We will continue to work passionately to make TRFC a club that our community can proudly support and celebrate together.

Our Story

Tobacco Road FC has a rich history starting from the early 2000s as a grassroots organization. Originally known as Clockwork Orange and led by Drew Moss, our club quickly became a top destination for talented unsigned professionals and recent college graduates looking for elite competition.

Over the years, our club has seen transitions in leadership, with Brad Acosta and later Jimmy Willman taking the helm and maintaining our standard of success. Under Willman's guidance, we secured a new sponsor and rebranded as Telepathic Graphics.

Brian Wellman then took over as our technical leader and guided our club to dominate the North Carolina Adult Amateur State Cup. We also played friendly matches against local professional and collegiate teams to further elevate our game.

Under the current leadership of Cedric Burke, we rebranded as Tobacco Road FC and established ourselves as a semi-professional franchise in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2016. In our debut season, we had a successful run in the conference playoffs and narrowly missed out on a national quarterfinal appearance.

Following that season, we were awarded a franchise in the United Soccer League's (USL) Premier Development League (PDL). Notably, UNC Chapel Hill alumni Zach Wright and Alan Winn became our club's first Major League Soccer (MLS) signees after our inaugural 2017 PDL campaign.

In addition to competing in the PDL, we also maintain a reserve team in the Triangle Adult Soccer League (TASL), which is one of the largest amateur adult leagues in the country. Since our inception, we have won an impressive 18 out of 25 bi-annual 1st division league championships.

At Tobacco Road FC, we are proud of our journey and committed to continuing our legacy of success and growth.