The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, brothers and co-owners of the Tulsa Drillersminor league baseball franchise. The Hubbards were announced as co-owners and co-chairs on December 18, 2013. Prodigal, LLC., owner of Oklahoma City Energy FC, another USL club, served as a minority owner. On February 26, 2014, it was announced that the team would be known as Tulsa Roughnecks FC, paying homage to the original Roughnecks which played in the original North American Soccer League from 1978 until the league folded in 1984. The name received nearly 50% of the votes in a "name the team" contest held in February 2014. The team logo, colors and uniforms were introduced on September 2, 2014. The oil derrick in the logo, as well as the name of the team, is a reference to Tulsa's "Oil Capitol" heritage; the dictionary definition of a "roughneck" is a worker in an oil-well drilling crew. The team colors are Orange and Navy Blue with all kits supplied by Adidas. On August 20, 2019, it was announced that the Craft family, composed of Tulsa natives and brothers JW, Ryan, and Kyle Craft, had acquired the club from the Drillers and Prodigal Soccer. On December 4, 2019, the club announced that it would be renamed as FC Tulsa beginning with the 2020 season.
Stadium
The team plays at ONEOK Field, a 7,833 seat stadium that is also home to the Drillers. ONEOK Field is located in the Greenwood District of Downtown Tulsa. The baseball field opened in 2010 to the Tulsa Drillers but was made the Roughnecks' home in 2015. In order to transform the field from a baseball field to a soccer field, sod is laid down to cover the first and second base while using the rest of the baseball field's outfield for the soccer field, with one goal on the East side of the pitch and the other on the West side.
Club culture
FC Tulsa's main rivals are Oklahoma City Energy FC in the Black Gold Derby, with both teams being located in Oklahoma. The supporters group of both teams established a trophy, a four-foot wrench painted with the colors of each team on either side, which is awarded to the regular season winner of the derby. 83UNITED are the main supporters group.
During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Tulsa Roughnecks had an MLS affiliation with the Chicago Fire. The Roughnecks' head coach at the time, David Vaudreuil, had made 26 appearances for Chicago during the 2001-2002 MLS season. The Roughnecks' affiliation with the Chicago Fire was dissolved as of January 2019. The Roughnecks have also produced affiliations with Tulsa's Academy team, TSC Hurricane, which plays in the Elite Clubs National League and the Super Y League, the Youth League for the USL. This affiliation offers resources to coaching staff and players as well as a direct path to the minor and major league soccer as well as introducing Tulsa's academy team into the Super Y League. On February 11, 2020, Tulsa formed a partnership with EFL Championship side Wigan Athletic after tweeting about a possible friendship with a Championship side, which Wigan responded to.
