Appalachian

When Appalachian State University shut down its men's soccer programme in 2020, citing the financial toll of the pandemic, the school's former head coach, Jason O'Keefe, and businessman Michael Hitchcock did not let the town go without a team. Together with local partners, including Booneshine Brewing Company, they formed Appalachian Soccer Group LLC and put a new club on the pitch in Boone the following year, entering the National Premier Soccer League.

The Sasquatches took their name and mascot, Squatchy, from the Bigfoot lore of the surrounding mountains, and the supporters who back them at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex organise as the Squatch Guard. The ground holds around 2,000, but it was enough for a club that built quickly: a Southeast Conference title in 2022, then the league's Regular Season Championship in 2024.

Hickory FC, 45 miles down the road, has become the measure of that progress. Appalachian FC finally took the Cup back in July 2026.

Dale Parker ran the team through that rise, from the first season in 2021 to the end of 2025, and picked up the NPSL's Coach of the Year award in 2022 for it. Tom Gillette succeeded him for the move into League Two.