AV Alta Football Club, commonly referred to as AV Alta FC or Alta, is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. First announced in 2023, the team plays in the

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

since 2025. Their home field is Lancaster Municipal Stadium, also known as "The Hangar".

History

On October 4, 2023, the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

announced that the city of

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

, had been awarded a

expansion team which would start play in the 2025 season. John Smelzer, an entrepreneur who worked with the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, was announced as founder and president. On May 16, 2024, Brian Kleiban was announced as the team's inaugural head coach. Kleiban had held coaching roles with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

and

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. The club's name — AV Alta FC — and logo were unveiled on May 17, 2024. Former U.S. international and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

player

Miguel Ibarra Miguel Ángel Ibarra Andrade (born March 15, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays for AV Alta FC in USL League One. College and amateur Ibarra played college soccer at Taft College from 2008 to 2009, and then at UC Irvin ...

, who hails from the area, was announced as the club's first player on December 9, 2024. In their first match in club history, the club lost to the South Georgia Tormenta FC 2–0 away. However, in their inaugural match in both the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

and at the Lancaster Municipal Stadium, AV Alta won 3–1 over the

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

, with

Jerry Desdunes Jerry Desdunes (born 13 April 2001) is a Haitian professional footballer who currently plays for AV Alta FC in the USL League One. Career Desdunes played locally with Depoze FC and Exafoot, before moving to the United States in 2018 to join th ...

scoring the first goal in club history.

Club identity, crest and colors

The club's official name, crest and colors were unveiled in front of thousands of fans in Lancaster on May 17, 2024. "AV" is a common local nickname for the

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...

, while "Alta" is meant to allude to the region's location in the high desert, its ties to the aerospace industry, and to Alta California, the region's name prior to California statehood. The club's official colors are referred to as Joshua Green and Desert Sand, the former in reference to the abundant

Joshua trees ''Yucca brevifolia'' (also known as the Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca) is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names. This monocotyledonous tree ...

in the area. The shape of the crest is meant to resemble a

California poppy ''Eschscholzia californica'', the California poppy, golden poppy, Mexican poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an or ...

, while the angled font of the "AV" at the center of the crest was inspired by angular shape of the B2 stealth bomber.

Stadium

The team play at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, also known as "The Hangar", a former minor league ballpark that was home to the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League B ...

until 2020. The stadium was reconfigured for soccer use by adding seating in the former outfield at a cost of $17 million, and has a total of 5,300 seats, including a

safe standing Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of football in the United Kingdom, association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal ...

supporters' terrace on the north side.

Current roster

References

External links

* {{Lancaster, California Association football clubs established in 2023 2023 establishments in California USL League One teams Lancaster, California Soccer clubs in Los Angeles County, California AV Alta FC