The
National Sports Center began considering fielding a Division 2 men's professional soccer team in December 2009. The then current team, the
Minnesota Thunder, were tenants of the National Sports Center and were struggling through financial difficulties. In January 2010, the National Sports Center announced they would field a new team to replace the Minnesota Thunder. The Thunder at the time were not officially folded but were facing financial ruin. Following a team-naming contest, the National Sports Center (NSC) announced the official team name would be NSC Minnesota, with the team nickname being Stars on February 5, 2010. Five days later, former
USMNT player
Manny Lagos was named as the club's first head coach. The first goal in franchise history was scored by
Daniel Wasson in their next game, a 1–0 victory over the
Carolina RailHawks. The Stars enjoyed some impressive victories in their debut season, including a 3–1 win over
Crystal Palace Baltimore, a 3–0 win over
AC St. Louis, and a 3–1 win over
FC Tampa Bay, eventually finishing fourth in their conference. Unfortunately for the Stars, they went out of the playoffs at the quarter-final stage, 4–0 on aggregate to the Carolina RailHawks, after defender
Andres Arango was issued a red card after just 38 minutes.
Simone Bracalello and
Brian Cvilikas were the Stars' top scorers in 2010, with 5 goals each. The team averaged an attendance of 1,374 which was 10th out of the 12 league teams. The NASL committed to owning the team for three years. The team set a budget of $2 million based on the goal of averaging 1,000 fans per game. By June 5 the team was in second place but a four-game losing streak as part of a 0–6–1 stretch sent the team in a slump before finishing with the sixth and final playoff spot. The Stars knocked off the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–0 in the quarterfinals before defeating the first-seed Carolina RailHawks on penalty kicks after the two-legged series ended 4–4. A 3–1 home victory was enough to win the NASL championship after the second leg ended in a 0–0 draw. The team averaged around 1,700 fans during the season but drew 2,500 for the playoff semifinals and 4,511 for the final home leg. On January 9, 2012, the club announced a new logo as well as a new name. The NSC portion of the name, which had led to confusion, was dropped, with the new name being the Minnesota Stars FC. The new logo was revealed with the word 'NSC' removed and the state motto,
L’Étoile du Nord, added. The team continued a search for a new owner in the offseason and opened the
2012 season with a 0–0 draw against the Carolina RailHawks at the
Metrodome in front of a crowd of 8,693. Minnesota faced an October 27, 2012, deadline to find new ownership to ensure a place in the NASL for the 2013 season. At the time the
Minnesota Vikings expressed interest in professional soccer in Minnesota but were not contemplating purchasing the Stars. The league planned to vote on whether or not to fund the team for the 2013 season after the conclusion of the 2012 season. The USSF requirement that owners of a Division II team to be worth at least $20 million and a potential MLS bid by the Minnesota Vikings were seen as possible deterrents to finding a potential new owner. On November 9, 2012, the league officially announced that the team was purchased by
Bill McGuire. On March 5, 2013, that was followed up by the team rebranding with the name Minnesota United FC. The $1.2 million budget that the Stars were operating on was expanded and the staff size increased to 20 employees for the start of the 2013 season, and has since more than doubled.
2014 season Minnesota United FC won the
NASL Spring Season Championship. The team finished the season with 6 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss coming to the
New York Cosmos On July 19, 2014, Minnesota United FC won 2–0 over
Premier League side
Swansea City in a friendly match played during the break between the NASL Spring and Fall seasons that drew 9,064 fans to the National Sports Center. Goals were scored by defender
Justin Davis and midfielder
Greg Jordan. However, Swansea did not field several of their top players, including
Michel Vorm,
Wilfried Bony, and
Ki Sung-Yeung, all of whom played in the
2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
2015 season After bringing in several promising new players during the off-season, including Cameroonian national team goalkeeper
Sammy Ndjock, Minnesota United FC was a heavy favorite entering the year. However, the team struggled during the Spring Season due to chemistry problems both on and off the field and finishing in 4th place. The summer break saw the departure of break-out star player and member of the US Men's National Team
Miguel Ibarra who bid farewell by playing one half for both Minnesota United and his new team
Club León in an international friendly in front of 9,388 fans which ended in a 1–1 tie. After several additional roster moves, the Loons came out much stronger in the Fall Season, fighting for the Fall Season Championship and top playoff seed until the last week of the regular season but ultimately finishing in 3rd place. Minnesota faced the Fall Season champions
Ottawa Fury FC in the semifinal where they took an early lead after a goal by
Christian Ramirez. but ultimately lost 2–1 against the Canadian side. Minnesota finished the 2015 combined season with a 14–11–5 record, tallying 54 goals along the way, the highest of any team in the league. On December 3, 2015, it was announced that head coach Manny Lagos would move to being the team's full-time
sporting director while assistant coach Carl Craig would take over the role as head coach for the 2016 season. Following the announcement, team president Nick Rogers said he expected much of the team, including the name, logo, coach, and some players, to remain intact. On October 23, 2015, the team and the
City of Saint Paul announced that a soccer-specific stadium would be built in the Midway area of Saint Paul near the intersection of
Snelling Avenue and
University Avenue. The stadium, named
Allianz Field, opened in April 2019, and seats approximately 19,400 fans. The team made the
switch to MLS in 2017, initially playing their home games at the University of Minnesota's
TCF Bank Stadium. ==Colors and badge==