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.