Puerto Rico Islanders - Definition and Overview

The Puerto Rico Islanders are a Puerto Rican soccer team, which currently plays in the USL First Division, the second division of the United States of America, that currently play their home games at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

The Islanders were founded late in 2003, although another team by that name existed several years earlier. Their first season would be the 2004 A-League season, in which they finished with a disappointing record of 5 wins, 17 losses, and 6 ties. Their record could not have been particularly surprising, however - the Puerto Rico national football team is one of the worst in CONCACAF, and although the team relied heavily on Argentinian and Brazilian players, the gap was too great. The team did have two Puerto Ricans figure heavily in their season, defenders Rafael Ortiz and Alexis Rivera, both of whom started 27 of 30 games. These two were supplemented by a significant foreign contingent, featuring Salvadoran Raul Diaz Arce, Brazilian Mauricio Salles de Alencar, Honduran Ricardo Alcerro, and American Christopher Gores, and numerous others.