FC Monmouth was one of the first clubs we presented back in 2017, but a lot has changed, so we reached out to get the update. They’ve been able to fulfill their hopes of community service and have even expanded Fall programing, which will include a collaboration with the borough of Red Bank to ‘Jam the Basie’ and promote community health and wellness.

“There will be a pre match youth multi sport clinic and opportunities to learn from resources throughout the game as well as to win prizes. We are looking to use this to hopefully have a great turnout from our fans and to break our attendance record of over 750!” James Davis, the club’s general manager, was kind enough to answer all of our questions.

Tell us how FC Monmouth got started? Who was involved?
FC Monmouth was founded in 2017 by several NYC area business professionals who were in a Sunday morning pickup soccer group that played weekly right down the road from our home turf, Count Basie Field in Red Bank, NJ. The mission has always remained the same: To connect, inspire, and entertain our community through sport. The Jersey Shore is famous for its lighthouses, and similarly we aim to be a beacon of light into our community to provide an outlet and resources for people of all ages to have a fun time at our matches.

What story does your badge tell? How does it represent your community?
Our crest similar enough to a lighthouse aims to have a strong foundation at its base with our 'beacon of light' in yellow coming out at the top. The blue and yellow colors are our mainstay. We represent Monmouth County, NJ nationally, which was originally named after Monmouthshire in the UK, when the duke of Monmouth came to New Jersey this region was given its name. Similarly, Monmouthshire's flag largely consists of blue and yellow, so we represent our roots with slightly different fades of color to represent our own traits.

What league or leagues does your club participate in and why did you choose those to join?
We previously competed in the NPSL from 2018-2024 up until we made the move on the men's side to the newly formed League for Clubs in 2025. We launched our women's team in 2024 who after a highly successful independent season were a 2025 expansion team in the WPSL. Typically we had always competed in the late spring into summer months, but this year we were able to expand our presence as we are competing this fall in 2026 U.S. Open Cup qualifiers for the first time.

How Does FC Monmouth cover the costs of operations? Do you have any tricks of the trade?
I like to be transparent about costs to many because it is important to help other clubs learn the ins and outs of the business side, just as I would want to learn from many others who are doing a much better job than us. A majority of our revenue comes from our community partners who are incredibly supportive of both the club, our players, and our community. That is also supplemented by gate sales at our matches, and a small percentage from merchandise sales. If anyone is ever interested we are always actively looking to team up with local organizations in our community, and with us it is a lot more than just slapping a logo on a social media graphic or a banner. We have hundreds of fans at each of our game days that we are able to integrate creative ways to be a billboard for the local community through sport.

How did you finish last year? What are the goals for this season?
On paper our summer 2025 season was our most successful to date. Our men's team finished tied for first place in their division and qualified for national playoffs for the first time in 4 years, which was a major goal to get back to. On the women's side we finished second place in one of the most competitive divisions in the country. This lead us to breaking club records in point totals, goals scored & conceded, as well as win totals. I also like to recognize our off the field successes because while it is essential to acknowledge our players for their performances, the staff behind the scenes do just as great of a job off the field. We reached new attendance total records by hosting over 5,000 fans at our matches last summer and we reached over 5 million impressions across all of our media channels for the first time ever as well. I am incredibly proud of the entire club as a whole. With the bar now set high in all areas we have high aspirations for 2026, but one goal I would like to point out is that we've never hosted a home playoff game. It's an atmosphere I would love to be able to both experience and to have to put on a show for our local community.

What does your club do to get involved in the community?
We are proud to have many different programs that we're able to give back to our community through. Ticket sales are a great way to support local organizations because we are able to offer underserved communities free entrance to experience a gameday, or we have also donated proceeds of tickets sales back to local non profits close to us. Each year we have a scholarship that is announced in June for a high school senior going to college from Monmouth County that stayed in the county to play their soccer. A large problem that we have in our area is players not staying with local clubs, so we aim to be a small piece of rewarding those that do. We have also done canned good drives during matches, and for the past two years specifically, we have had theme nights at all of our home games. This has included but not limited to Pride Night, military and first responders night, health and wellness nights, and more where we always offer opportunities for local community members to attend and promote resources to relevant needs of our community. Our last home match of each of our men's and women's season's are always our fan appreciation night, where we're able to give away over $1,000 worth of prizes to our fans, largely thanks to the help of our local community partners.

Follow FC Monmouth on Instagram HERE