League USL Pro Soccer League – inaugural season (2004) The Harrisburg City Islanders were announced as a new professional soccer team on September 24, 2003 as a member
USL Pro Soccer League’s Atlantic Division on the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. As the team prepared for its
inaugural season,
Bill Becher was named the first head coach of the club and forward
David Bascome was signed as the first player. The City Islanders won their first match 5–2 on the road against the
Northern Virginia Royals with
Steve Fisher scoring the club's first ever goal. In 2009,
Ty Shipalane became the second City Islander to win
Rookie of the Year and became the first City Islander to jump directly to
Major League Soccer after signing with
D.C. United at the conclusion of the season. The 2011 season saw the USL Second Division be reorganized into the
USL Pro with Harrisburg competing in the National Division. The City Islanders won the
USL Pro National Division title over the
Rochester Rhinos advancing to the first
USL Pro final against the newly formed, and regular-season champion,
Orlando City. Similar to the last championship appearance, the City Islanders would play to a draw (2–2) in regulation time, only this time falling on penalty kicks 3–2. Shortly before the 2017 season, George Altirs was announced as new majority owner of the club so as to "stay in Harrisburg and build an international developmental base that is unique and exciting." As majority owner, Altirs "will oversee the technical side of the club, including player and staff selections, transfers, and outside, non-local partnerships for the Harrisburg City Islanders." The ownership addition was intended to allow the City Islanders to keep pace with the growth of the USL. On November 15, 2017, it was announced that the City Islanders would be rebranded as
Penn FC starting with the
2018 season. The rebrand was announced as a focus on player and product development, situating the team as the top of a development pyramid for the existing
Rush Soccer program. Ahead of the 2018 season, Penn FC made some key signings including the return of former City Islander standouts
Ken Tribbett and
Lucky Mkosana, and forward
Tommy Heinemann. Penn FC's inaugural season started off with mixed results, going 6-4-7 through their first 17 matches. Conflicts with baseball operations and schedule at
FNB Field required the team to have long away stints until a final 9-match home stand. The team's poor away form mid-season carried into the home-stand with Penn FC going 1-2-6 in their remaining 9 matches. The team finished 13th in the Eastern Conference, their lowest position since joining the USL.
Hiatus and Ceasing Operations Prior to the conclusion to the 2018 season, the Penn FC officially announced the team would be on hiatus for the 2019 season and return play in 2020 as part of the newly formed
USL League One in the third tier of American soccer. After months of speculation, there had been minimal announcements regarding the team's preparations for entering League One. In December 2019, during the USL Winter Meetings, reports noted that the club had ceased operations and no longer had any employees on payroll after 16 years of professional soccer. The City Islanders carried a 2–0 lead into halftime behind goals by Nelson Becerra and Andrew Welker, but heavy substitutions allowed the Union to demonstrate their superior depth, and they scored five times in thirty minutes before Jose Angulo pegged one back. With both teams fielding numerous reserves, the City Islanders won the 2012 rematch, which was played at
Hersheypark Stadium.
Jorge Perlaza and
Kai Herdling scored for the Union, while a brace by
Garret Pettis and goal by
Yann Ekra carried the USL-PRO outfit to the 3–2 victory. After five years of cooperation, it was announced on August 19, 2015 that the affiliation would dissolve at the conclusion of the 2015 season as the Union would develop their own USL team,
Bethlehem Steel FC, in the
Lehigh Valley starting in 2016. The final friendly between the two teams as affiliates took place in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania in front of a record crowd of 6,546 attendees. The
Union won the match 3–1. The table below summarizes the results of the annual contests between the Islanders and Union. ==Colors and badge==