Indy Eleven

Thanks in part to efforts from a grassroots soccer organization known as the Brickyard Battalion, on January 16, 2013, the NASL announced that an Indianapolis expansion team owned by Ersal Özdemir, CEO of Keystone Group LLC, would join the league in 2014. Özdemir named Peter Wilt as the team's first president and general manager, after the veteran American soccer executive had served in a consulting role to explore the viability of professional soccer in Indianapolis in the three months leading up to the January 2013 announcement. The name and club colors were officially revealed to the public on April 25, 2013, during a ceremony held at Indianapolis' Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. The team was named after the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, an infantry regiment that served with notoriety in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Colonel Lew Wallace commanded the regiment, which was mustered on April 25, 1861. The team name reflects both the culture of the game and pays homage to the history of the state. The number also is an obvious reference to the number of players on the field when at full strength. The number eleven is also important to the world-renowned Indianapolis 500, with the race traditionally featuring eleven rows of cars and drivers and the first race being held in 1911. Indy Eleven named former Indiana University standout and U.S. international, English Premier League, and Major League Soccer (MLS) veteran Juergen Sommer as its first head…