Greenville Names Wallace Cheves as New Chairman
The Ronaldinho-connected member of the ownership group takes over immediately
One day after announcing that club majority owner and founder Joe Erwin is stepping away from his role as Chairman, Greenville Pro Soccer announced minority owner Wallace Cheves as his replacement. In this role, Cheves will oversee all aspects of the operation, including USL League One side Greenville Triumph and USL-W side Greenville Liberty.
Cheves is a Greenville native who was instrumental in shepherding a high-profile investment into the clubs via his work with Grupo Ronaldinho. This brought Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho into the ownership group, and included a visit to Greenville to help break ground on the club’s new stadium.
In the press release, Greenville said Cheves assumes leadership as the clubs “continue their rapid growth.” This includes the opening of a 10,000 capacity stadium for the 2026 season. The prominent investors, flurry of late-season activity in the executive offices and the stadium construction has fueled speculation that the club is preparing for a jump to USL Championship. It also begs the question if Greenville Liberty are being positioned for a USL SuperLeague expansion.
Speculating on Greenville’s Future
It is not known if Greenville Triumph has an option to make the jump, but we do know that other clubs in the league do. Union Omaha stated as much when they announced intentions to jump, something that is now believed to be on hold due to their stadium issues.
The club could also be going all in to earn a jump via the proposed system of promotion and relegation in USL, which may be in place as soon as 2027.
Greenville Triumph has struggled this season both on the pitch and in the stands, continuing to play at Paladin Stadium at Furman University. The club sits at 12th in the table, seven points out of the playoff bubble with only six matches to play. In addition, attendance is down from 2024, with an average of 1,868 per match, fifth worst in the league.
Greenville did achieve some prominence this season with a semi-final run in the Jägermeister Cup, the first with participation from USL Championship. Despite the poor regular season record, Greenville took down Championship sides Charleston Battery, Miami FC and Indy Eleven before falling to Hartford Athletic.
However, if there are any aspirations to make the jump, Greenville is likely looking at the relative success seen in Lexington when that side moved to USL Championship at the same time that it opened its own stadium. Lexington averaged just 1,317 in its last year in USL League One while playing at Georgetown College. This season in its own stadium, the club averages 4,391.
Lexington was also a founding member of the USL SuperLeague, and has increased attendance there as well. Currently, the USL SuperLeague has nine clubs, and is poised for expansion. Boise, Cosmos, Ozark United, Buffalo, Chattanooga Red Wolves, Forward Madison, Indy Eleven, Oakland and Palm Beach have all stated intentions to bring forward professional women’s teams in the next few years. The addition of Greenville to this mix could see the league expand to as many as 18 clubs by 2028.
Of course, all of this is speculation right now. We’re hearing there may be a big announcement coming following the conclusion of the USL League One season, but have no further details.
Thanks for the update! Maybe Ronaldinho was able to persuade more investors to come on board? Any chance you and Kartik can wrangle an interview with Wallace?