Boston City

Boston City compete in USL League Two, where they have played since 2022. Their best finish there is fourth in the Northeast Division, in that first season. They have not won a league title in any competition, and the club's own record of near-misses dates from earlier: second in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) Atlantic Conference in both 2016 and 2017, the first two years after they entered that league.

The club exists because two men from Brazil decided to build one in Massachusetts. Renato Valentim, a businessman in the restaurant and construction trades who runs Tavern in the Square, became chief executive. He founded the club in 2015 with the former Brazil international Jorge "Palhinha" Silva, and the club has kept that split ever since: Valentim on the business side, Palhinha in charge of the football.

Home games are played at Alumni Field on the Mount Ida College campus in Newton, which holds 1,000. The colours are red, navy and white, the nickname is The Lions, and the supporters' group is called The Ironsides Crew. Boston Bolts and Vermont Green FC are the nearest thing to rivals, though neither rivalry has a name.

The club's usefulness to young players is easiest to see in the names that moved on. Emerson Nieto, Holden Brown and Kyle Folds all went from the Lions to USL academy teams.

Palhinha is president and head coach, and is the name most associated with Boston City. In the 1990s he played for Brazil, won the Intercontinental Cup twice and the Copa Libertadores three times.