Charleston Battery
The Charleston Battery are an American professional soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina.
Founded in 1993, the team plays in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship and is the oldest continuously operating professional soccer club in the United States.
Charleston are one of the more successful lower-division soccer clubs in the U.S. and have won four league titles during their storied history over 30+ years. The Battery won the USISL Pro League in 1996, the USL A-League in 2003, the USL Second Division in 2010 (along with the regular season title), and USL Pro/Championship in 2012. Charleston were crowned the USL Championship Eastern Conference champions and league finalists in 2023. In the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Battery have enjoyed considerable success and were finalists in the 2008 Open Cup.
The club’s primary colors are black and yellow, and a secondary color of red. When the team first began, the kit colors were black, red and white in a striped pattern, but later evolved into the iconic black and yellow stripes they are known for today, with the original red remaining involved in the accents.
In 1999, Charleston Battery moved into Blackbaud Stadium/MUSC Health Stadium, where they played their home matches through the 2019 season. The stadium was ahead of its time as the Battery became the first club in the United States to build their own soccer-specific stadium (Blackbaud opened prior to Columbus Crew’s stadium built in the same year).
In October 2019, Charleston Battery was sold to HCFC, LLC, led by owner Rob Salvatore. Shortly following the change in ownership, the Battery announced plans to play their 2020 USL Championship matches at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. In December 2019, Charleston unveiled a new crest and uniforms to reflect a new era of professional soccer in the Lowcountry.
The Battery have played at Ralph Lundy Field at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium in Mount Pleasant since the 2020 campaign.