Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City Council honored on Monday the Orlando City Soccer Club for winning the USL PRO Championship, defeating the Harrisburg City Islanders on September 3rd, at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Dyer presented a proclamation to Orlando City, declaring September 12, 2011 as “Orlando City Lions Day” in the City of Orlando.
In reading the proclaimation, Dyer said, “the Lions, as the Club is known, had already brought Orlando its first professional soccer championship, the USL PRO Regular Season title, in a decade.”
He added that, “the Orlando City Soccer Club has received four All-League Awards for Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Most Valuable Player,” and that the “Orlando City Soccer Club not only led the League in attendance – with the highest attendance in the USA outside of Major League Soccer – but also surpassed 11,000 people at the USL PRO Championship final.”
Phil Rawlins, Owner and President of Orlando City in his reply, said it was “an absolute honor and a pleasure to represent the City of Orlando in the USL PRO Championship this year.” He added that the team was pleased with the reception that the City and fans had given them and were thoroughly delighted to bring back a championship in the first year.
“We are looking forward to defending our championship and having many, many more years of success in Orlando,” Rawlins declared.
