Bedford's Carlos Quinones and the Revs II will be playing eight home games at SNHU's Ouellette Stadium in Manchester this spring and summer. (Photo courtesy of NE Revolution)

There’s going to be a Revolution in southern New Hampshire.

Well, almost. It won’t be the MLS parent team, but the New England Revolution II, the Revs’ minor league/reserve team, will be playing eight home games at Southern New Hampshire University’s Mark A. Ouellette Stadium in Manchester, the team announced on Thursday.

And a local soccer figure, Nashua High School North coach Jeremy Zelanes, who is also the general manager of the International Soccer Club of Nashua’s semi-pro Eagles, is the facilitator of the plan that came to fruition.

“Before, they weren’t getting a big turnout in Gillette Stadium,” Zelanes said. “We’ve got about 20,000 youth soccer players in the state, in any given year, and I think there’s going to be a huge attraction to watch some of the local talent the Revs have playing right in people’s backyards over at Southern New Hampshire University.”

The Revs II’s first game at SNHU will be Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m. vs. Inter Miami II. The other games at SNHU are: Sunday, May 19, 3 p.m. vs. Philadelphia Union II; Sunday, May 26, 3 p.m. vs. NYC FC II; Thursday, June 13, 7 p.m. vs. NY Red Bulls II; Sunday, June 23, 6 p.m. vs. Crown Legacy FC; Saturday, July 6 vs. Philadelphia Union II, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 8, 4 p.m. vs. Toronto FC; and the regular season finale on Sunday, Oct. 6 vs. Columbus Crew 2 at 1 p.m. The remainder of the Revs II games are at Gillette in Foxborough, Mass.

Zelanes said the plan is to do this “with the hope that we show the Revolution and the whole soccer community that professional soccer is kind of here to stay in New Hampshire.”

Zelanes noted that Portland, Me.just got a USL franchise and Vermont already has one. Zelanes has been part of a group trying to build a soccer facility in Londonderry with the hopes of luring a USL team.

“I think when you look around the region and see professional soccer popping up everywhere, there’s no reason we can’t have our own team here,” he said. “Overall yeah we have minor league baseball, but I think when the Manchester Monarchs left the area (the AHL hockey team), that left a void. …

“Getting the games over the summer will attract a lot of families out for fairly cheap entertainment and a good brand of soccer.”

Zelanes said a couple of years ago during his USL pursuit he was speaking with Revs president Brian Biello when Biello brought up the possibility. And then every investor Zelanes talked to with the USL project said that there was no viable product to see.

“I said, ‘You know what? I’ve got one now,'” Zelanes said. “That’s kind of the plan, get the product on the field, get out the fans, and prove to the soccer nation that New Hampshire has a spot too.”

Penmen Stadium and related facilities have been renovated, and Zelanes said “Everything there spells out higher level soccer.”

The seating capacity is 1,500 but Zelanes said additional seating may be added, including club-type high top tables and seating may cap out at 2,000.

Zelanes said the baseball analogy is the easiest to explain, and that the level of soccer is equivalent to Triple A baseball. And there’s players that play on both teams, the Revs MLS team and the Revs II. The team plays in a league called MLS NEXT Pro. It has 29 teams, with 27 affiliated with MLS franchises plus two independents, the Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC.

“You might go see a player play for one team for 15-20 minutes on a Saturday and then play the next day on a Sunday on the other team,” Zelanes said. “There’s a lot of talent that can move back and forth between the two teams.”

And some of it could be local to the region. Bedford High School alum Carlos Quinones has played for Revs II and is on the current roster. Zelanes says there aren’t any scheduling conflicts with the Nashua Eagles team. But, he is working on trying to get an exhibition or “friendly” between the Revs II and the Nashua ISC Eagles at Rivier University.