RIFC and Hartford Athletic will write the newest chapter in the USL Championship’s storied history on Saturday in their first-ever derby match
After months of anticipation, the USL Championship’s newest rivalry is here.
For more than 25 years since the founding of Major League Soccer in 1996, fans in Rhode Island and Connecticut didn’t have their own team. If they wanted to support a local professional soccer club, a long commute to Gillette Stadium to watch the New England Revolution was their best bet.
That all changed when the USL Championship came along.
Now, fans in the Constitution State and the Ocean State, who were both hungry for a professional team to call their own for decades, can look forward to what promises to be one of the USL Championship’s loudest atmospheres on Saturday as Rhode Island FC travels to Trinity Health Stadium for a first-ever derby clash against Hartford Athletic.
In joining the league, Rhode Island FC became the Ocean State’s only professional soccer team, and brought much-needed competition to the New England region for the very first time. Less than 90 miles and a little more than an hour and a half drive down I-95 is all that separates the two clubs – the closest distance between any two USL Championship clubs.
“It’s really good for the league and it’s really good for both clubs to have somebody that close,” said Rhode Island FC Head Coach Khano Smith. “The rivalry will take shape how it needs to and how it’s supposed to. There are so many people that care about it within the area. The matchup will take care of itself and I’m excited to watch it grow organically.”
For RIFC midfielder Conor McGlynn, who spent the first four years of his professional career playing in Hartford before signing for RIFC in November, the match means even more.
“I think it definitely makes the league more respected,” said McGlynn. “If you look at MLS, you have New York City FC and New York Red Bulls. Los Angeles FC and the LA Galaxy. Those matches are all packed out. I think this might be one of the few real rivalries that’s about to start in the USL. So I think it could really kickstart a lot of attention for the USL, and I think it really puts the spotlight on the game. I’ve been a part of both camps, and I’m so excited to be a part of Rhode Island. I’m really excited for the match. This is a really big deal for me.”
In 2019, Hartford Athletic joined the USL Championship for its inaugural season as the state’s first-ever professional soccer team. Inspired by the Hartford Whalers, an NHL franchise that moved to North Carolina and rebranded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, the ownership group sought to bring back the professional culture of the Whalers that Hartford fans craved following its departure from Connecticut. The team’s “Brass Bonanza” goal song, green and blue colors and branding all derive from the Whalers branding, tapping into a historic market and loyal fan base that went without a professional team for more than two decades.
In five seasons as a club, Hartford has only made one playoff appearance. After an uninspiring 2023 campaign that saw Hartford pick up just four wins, the club underwent a complete rebuild in 2024, returning just four players, bringing in a new front office and coaching staff and making major investments to team infrastructure. Now, having already matched its 2023 win total just 12 matches into the 2024 season, Hartford is hungry for momentum, and Saturday’s first-of-its-kind rivalry represents a perfect opportunity for both teams to pick up much-needed points to move up the Eastern Conference standings.
“I think it’s awesome for the league,” said Hartford Athletic Head Coach and General Manager Brandan Burke. “I wish we had more of it. It’s a great addition to the league, and I’m sure it will be a good, healthy, long rivalry. This being the first one will definitely carry a little extra weight.”
For Prince Saydee and McGlynn, two players who signed with RIFC in the offseason after playing for Hartford, Saturday will mark the pair’s first return to Trinity Health Stadium as a member of the visiting team.
“I’m excited to see the fans again and to see some of my old teammates,” said Saydee. “It will be a little difficult, but that’s part of soccer. I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again. I can’t wait.”
Saydee played for two seasons in Hartford before joining RIFC in December. The Liberian midfielder enjoyed the most productive years of his career in green and blue, netting 14 goals in 64 appearances. Saydee recorded multiple goals in both of his seasons in Connecticut and was Hartford’s leading scorer with 10 goals in 2023, when he started all but two matches.
For McGlynn, his professional career began in Hartford where he was the first and only player to sign a professional contract out of the club’s open tryout following its inaugural season in 2019. In four seasons in green and blue, the midfielder netted four goals and picked up four assists, including two SportsCenter Top 10 selections. The Queens, New York native became a regular in the starting lineup in his last three seasons and captained the club twice in 2023.
Despite the nature of the rivalry, a return to the place McGlynn called home for the entirety of his young professional career will also represent a chance to reconnect with the fans who supported him along the way.
“When you play in a certain place for four years, you tend to become comfortable with the community,” said McGlynn. “You see a lot of the same faces at the matches, people that are supporting you week in and week out, even though we weren’t doing well. I think that says a lot to their character. We had a lot of ups and a lot of downs, and those fans were there for all of it. I’m definitely excited to see them again. They were always fantastic, great people, super competitive and pushing us to do our best.”
The close proximity of the teams, while great for brewing a rivalry, also paves the way for another rare occurrence in the United States: visiting fans. The official RIFC Fan Bus will head to Hartford on Saturday afternoon, carrying a sea of amber-wearing fanatics into enemy territory.
“It’s gonna be really nice to have our fans there to support us and drive us on,” said Smith. “We’ve had great support at home, so I know the people going will be very committed and vocal. It’s going to be great to have support in the stadium.”
For both sets of players and fans, Saturday will write the beginning of a historic chapter for professional soccer in New England, and for the USL Championship. Fans unable to make the trip out west are invited to join in viewing the match from Rhode Island FC’s Official Watch Party at Moniker Brewery in Providence. Following the match in Hartford, RIFC returns to Beirne Stadium on Saturday, June 8 to welcome Detroit City FC at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the next home match are available now at rhodeislandfc.com/tickets.