Spokane Velocity coach Leigh Veidman discusses building an expansion squad

Leigh Veidman’s Spokane Velocity FC conversation with Devon Kerr lands as more than a routine match preview. It is a clear look at how an expansion club tries to build a competitive edge from zero, where every signing, training habit, and home atmosphere has to be chosen with purpose. Spokane’s rise also shows how quickly a new team can turn structure into results, from an inaugural head coach hire in November 2023 to a postseason run that ended with a penalty shootout win over Forward Madison FC.

Building the club before the table

Spokane Velocity FC made Veidman its inaugural head coach on November 15, 2023, and the club said he emerged from a large, highly competitive applicant pool. Owner Ryan Harnetiaux said Veidman’s methodology and coaching style matched what the organization wanted, which matters for an expansion side that cannot rely on inherited habits or a preexisting first-team culture. Veidman framed the job as a chance to help build a professional organization and lay strong foundations for the future, and that is exactly how Spokane has operated since.

That foundation was already visible in the way the club described Veidman’s path. He arrived in the United States in 2008, had coached at nearly every level of the U.S. pyramid, and helped the Charleston Battery reach the 2023 USL Championship Final as an assistant coach. For an expansion team, that background matters because it offers more than tactical ideas. It brings experience with different development environments, competitive standards, and the pressure of chasing immediate results while still building a long-term identity.

Why Veidman’s own career matters to Spokane

Veidman’s playing and academic history mirrors the kind of layered development many expansion clubs hope to compress into one launch cycle. His path began in the Liverpool FC youth academy, then moved to Iowa Western Community College, where he earned All-Conference honors in 2008 and 2010 and All-American recognition in 2010. He left Iowa Western with college career marks of 41 goals and 91 points, then played at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Bellevue University, and spent four years with Toronto Lynx in USL League Two.

That career arc gives him a useful lens for roster building. He has seen elite academy environments, junior college soccer in Council Bluffs, Nebraska, college soccer in Brownsville, Texas, and the grind of lower-division American pathways. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and later a Master of Education in Leadership and Adult Organizational Learning from Midland University, details that help explain why Spokane has emphasized structure as much as talent.

Veidman has also described the club’s ambition in human terms, saying Spokane wanted to become “that heartbeat for the city” and calling building a team from the ground up “a difficult but exciting process.” That is the core expansion-club lesson here: identity is not just a slogan, it is the product of repeated choices about players, staff, and standards.

The first roster moves set the tone

Spokane’s earliest roster-building decisions show a club that wanted experience and variety, not a single-track approach. On January 5, 2024, the club announced five additions for its inaugural campaign: Josh Dolling, Carlos Merancio, Grayson Dupont, Javier Martin Gil, and Jack Denton. That group blended professional backgrounds and college pathways, which is often the fastest way for a new team to assemble a usable competitive core.

Dolling was the clearest signal of the standard Spokane wanted to set. Before joining the club, he spent time in the Manchester United and Burnley academies, then built pro experience with New Mexico United and Las Vegas Lights FC. Merancio brought his own history with Tucson, Hartford Athletic, and Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, giving Spokane another player who had already lived the demands of the American professional game. For an expansion club, those names matter less as headlines than as evidence of a deliberate recruiting model: combine academy polish, pro minutes, and adaptability.

The lesson for other new clubs is straightforward. Early signings should answer specific questions, not just fill jerseys. Spokane’s first wave suggested a front office and coaching staff trying to reduce guesswork by adding players who could handle the pace, travel, and tactical flexibility required in USL competition.

Home field was part of the strategy

Expansion teams often talk about culture, but Spokane gave that word a physical home. ONE Spokane Stadium, a 5,000-seat downtown venue, became the club’s base in its first season, and the atmosphere there helped turn a new organization into something recognizable. USL noted that Spokane took five of its seven regular-season home wins in front of its home supporters, which is a telling number for any club trying to establish itself quickly.

That home advantage matters beyond the scoreboard. A downtown stadium gives a club a visible footprint, a place where supporters can form routines, and a setting that helps players feel part of something larger than a start-up roster. For an expansion side, those are not cosmetic benefits. They are part of the operational work that turns an abstract franchise into a team people can follow, discuss, and believe in.

Results arrived faster than most expansion clubs manage

Spokane’s first-year story became even stronger when the club became only the second expansion side in USL League One history to reach the postseason in its inaugural season, following Union Omaha in 2020. That achievement confirms the practical value of the decisions made before opening day. The staff did not just assemble bodies, they built a group capable of surviving the grind of a full season and staying in the race.

The postseason run also sharpened the club’s profile in a league where expansion teams are often judged by how quickly they can become stable. Spokane’s path showed that a new club can move from “foundation” talk to tangible competitive success if the coach, front office, and home environment all pull in the same direction. In that sense, the club became a live case study for how expansion teams can compress development timelines without losing structure.

Forward Madison became part of the Spokane identity

The All Access discussion also carries more weight because of what came later against Forward Madison FC. On November 9, 2024, Spokane beat Madison on penalties, 5-4, after 120 scoreless minutes to reach the USL League One Final. It was Spokane’s first-ever shootout win, Brooks Thompson made the decisive save, and the club became the lowest seed ever to reach the final.

That outcome gives the earlier preview real context. What looked like a conversation about an upcoming match became part of a longer competitive arc, one that linked roster construction, coaching fit, and late-season resilience. Spokane’s win over Forward Madison confirmed that the club’s early identity was not accidental. It was built through careful hiring, targeted roster additions, and a home environment that gave an expansion side a chance to act like a contender before most new clubs find their footing.

For readers tracking how USL clubs are built, Spokane’s example is clear. Expansion success starts long before the first whistle, and the clubs that move fastest are the ones that make every early decision count.