New Mexico United

Former teams

The state of New Mexico gained its first professional soccer team in the 1990s, the New Mexico Chiles of the American Professional Soccer League and later the USISL. The team was runner-up for the league title in 1995 and attracted an average home attendance of 3,854, but was folded by its owners in 1996. The Chiles was replaced the following season by the Albuquerque Geckos, who entered USISL's Division 3 with new owners and played at a new soccer stadium shared with the collegiate New Mexico Lobos. The Geckos won the Division 3 championship and were promoted to the second division A-League in 1998, but struggled to win matches and were unable to pay players and creditors. The team had an average attendance of 1,200 and announced their move to Sacramento, California in October 1998.

A semi-professional team, the Albuquerque Sol, was established in 2014 to capitalize on the area's interest in soccer. The team's owners stated that their goal was to earn a USL expansion team within a few years and eventually move to Major League Soccer (MLS). The Sol commissioned a study in 2016 to analyze a potential downtown soccer-specific stadium with 10,000 seats to support a USL expansion in 2018 and a MLS expansion by 2024. The stadium study identified three potential locations in downtown Albuquerque for a stadium, which would cost $24–45 million.

USL launch and inaugural season

On June 6, 2018, the USL announced an expansion club from Albuquerque that would begin play in March 2019. The club announced its name, New Mexico United, and colors on October 9, 2018, following fan suggestions that generated 226 total names.

The team played its opening match on March 9, 2019, with 12,896 fans in attendance at Isotopes Park. Devon Sandoval scored the team's first-ever goal in a 1–1 draw against Fresno FC. New Mexico United enjoyed popular success in its inaugural season, leading the USL Championship in average attendance and selling out Isotopes Park with 15,023 spectators on May 5, 2019. In the 2019 U.S. Open Cup, the team defeated two MLS clubs (the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas) before losing in the quarterfinals to Minnesota United FC; for the match in Minnesota, the club organized a charter flight from Albuquerque that carried 180 away fans.

2020 season

In March 2020, the USL Championship postponed the 2020 season with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, after New Mexico United had played one game. The season restarted in July 2020 with a modified format, placing teams into eight smaller regional groups. The club was placed in Group C with Four Corners opponents Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Real Monarchs, and nearby El Paso Locomotive FC. Due to statewide health orders and quarantine requirements, New Mexico United played all 15 of their regular season matches and both of their playoff matches away from home, earning the local nickname the "Road Warriors." The team ended the regular season with a record of 8 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses; a sixteenth planned match against Rio Grande Valley FC Toros was postponed, and eventually cancelled, due to cases of COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley organization.

The club qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs by coming second in their group. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals, they defeated San Antonio FC in extra time, with Chris Wehan scoring the winning goal in the 101st minute. In the Conference Semifinal, the club lost to El Paso Locomotive 3-5 on penalties, after drawing 1-1 at the end of extra time.

In March 2020, the club launched the Somos Unidos Foundation, a charitable nonprofit arm of the New Mexico United organization.

2021 season

In May 2021, New Mexico United began its competitive season with a 1-0 loss away to Rio Grande Valley FC Toros. On August 21, then 17-year-old Cristian Nava became the first New Mexico United Academy player to sign a professional contract with the club.