Kalamazoo Outrage - History

History

Kalamazoo Outrage's entry into the PDL was announced in late 2007, just as that season's competition was ending. The club is part of the larger Kalamazoo TKO organization, which has runs men, women's and junior teams in the greater Kalamazoo area for many years. The acronym TKO apparently has no official meaning - it was first coined by a former coach, Paul Wolpert, when he was 11 years old and was part of a group of local Michigan AYSO players who participated in the Adidas Dominos Pizza Soccer Tournament in Lansing, Michigan and called themselves The Kalamazoo Outfit, or TKO for short. Since then, TKO has been used as an acronym for Technical Knock-Out, and even The Killer Oranges, both of which are listed as being correct on the official TKO website.

On November 14, 2007, the club announced a player development deal with one of England's oldest soccer teams, Sheffield Wednesday, who have a history of working with American players (former USA international team player John Harkes played successfully with the Owls in the 1990s, and current international Frank Simek is their current first-choice right-back). The Owls further cemented their link with the Outrage on April 16, 2008, when the Wednesday Academy sent midfielder Scott Ellis to play with Outrage for the 2008 season, the player having impressed head coach Stu Riddle during their educational trip to Wednesday's Middlewood Road training ground in early 2008.

On May 13, 2008 the Outrage took part in the Old Burdicks Challenge Cup, in which they defeated perennial PDL powerhouse Michigan Bucks in their first ever official match. The match, which was dubbed the "Battle of Michigan", was settled on penalty kicks, with the Outrage emerging as 5-4 victors. The scores were locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes with former Plymouth Argyle schoolboy Dan Bulley scoring the Outrage's first ever goal. Striker Chase Corricelli scored the winning penalty kick.

Outrage's first weeks in PDL competition were extremely positive: after tying 0-0 with West Virginia Chaos in their opening game, they proceeded to win three of their next four matches, including a comprehensive 4-0 win over 9-man Indiana Invaders, and a 3-2 victory on the return fixture against West Virginia. An unexpected 4-1 defeat at the hands of Cleveland Internationals at the beginning of June notwithstanting, Outrage's impressive form continued through the middle of the summer; three back-to-back wins over Cincinnati Kings, West Michigan Edge and Fort Wayne Fever kept them well in the hunt for the playoffs. A couple of stutters in the run-in, including two home defeats to Indiana and Michigan Bucks, briefly raised the heart rate in Kalamazoo, but a playoff spot was secured following their 5-2 home victory against West Michigan Edge, which featured a hat trick from midfielder Mark Briggs. Outrage entered the playoffs having suffered a 2-1 final day defeat, again to Michigan, but impressively overcame Chicago Fire Premier 2-0 in the Divisional Round to take their place in the Central Conference tournament in Pontiac, Michigan. Against the run of form, Kalamazoo dispatched hot favorites Michigan Bucks 3-1 in their semi final, following a late equalizer from Tom Oatley and two goals in extra time. Despite being beaten 4-0 by eventual national champions Thunder Bay Chill in the Central Conference final, Kalamazoo's impressive debut season bodes well for the future. Mark Briggs was the team's top scorer, with 6 goals. It is also worth nothing that Kalamazoo striker Troy Mellanson played for the Antiguan national team in two of its qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup against Cuba on 17 June 2008, and 22 June 2008.

On September 1, 2010, Outrage announced that they were ceasing operations and would not compete in PDL or W League play in 2011.