The Charleston Battery Soccer: The Lowcountry’s hidden profesional soccer team that hardly anyone knows about
Founded in 1993, the team plays in the United Soccer League and is the oldest continuously operating professional soccer club in the United States. Charleston’s traditional colors are yellow, black and red. In the Battery’s first few seasons, the home uniforms were black and white with a small amount of red. Beginning in 1997, the club began using black with yellow stripes, which has remained in use as the home jersey ever since. The Charleston away uniform has typically been a combination of red and black, though for the 2016 season the away uniform is entirely bright yellow. The team plays at the MUSC Health Stadium (formerly Blackbaud Stadium) on Daniel Island, which seats 5100 people. Interestingly, the Battery played their first six seasons in downtown Charleston at Stoney Field, a facility they shared with various college and high school sports teams.  The mascot, the battery, really shows the history of our wonderful city and shows that we have stood tall through the the most awful and rewarding of times.  The attendance has risen 33% in 2016 and the team is performing very well, 13-8-9 this year.  The team needs support to continue their performance at a very high level.  The Charleston came in at number 10 in the USL league with average attendance. This local soccer team reminds many about the equally forgotten local hockey team, the Charleston Stingrays…more to come on this team later.