San Diego Loyal FC

San Diego Loyal Soccer Club was an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the USL Championship. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan; it made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team. The team played its home games at Torero Stadium. The Loyal shut down following the 2023 season after failing to find a long-term home venue.

History

On June 20, 2019, San Diego was awarded an expansion team in the USL Championship to debut in 2020 or 2021. Warren Smith, one of the co-founders of Sacramento Republic, was named the president of the new club. Former USMNT, LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes player Landon Donovan was named the executive vice president of soccer operations. He was named as the club's first manager on November 14. The team's name and crest were developed through fan engagement to reflect the interests of the city. On March 7, 2020, the team played their first competitive match, a 1–1 draw against Las Vegas Lights at their home stadium, Torero Stadium.

The Loyal forfeited a league match against LA Galaxy II on September 25, 2020, following an alleged use of a racial slur by Omar Ontiveros against Elijah Martin, one of the Loyal's black players. The match had been played to a 1–1 draw and Ontiveros was later suspended for seven matches by the USL Championship. A week later, the team forfeited another match against Phoenix Rising by walking out after halftime following the alleged use of a homophobic slur against Collin Martin, an openly gay player, by Junior Flemmings. As a result of the two forfeits, the Loyal failed to qualify for the USL playoffs.

The team reached the playoffs in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but never advanced beyond the first round. Donovan was later replaced as head coach by former assistant Nate Miller in December 2022.

On August 24, 2023, owner Andrew Vassilanis released a statement that he would shut down the team, and the USL announced that it would transfer the franchise rights of the Loyal due to an inability to find a "viable near- and long-term stadium solution", with the 2023 season set to be the club's last. The team had searched for a venue to replace Torero Stadium but were unable to find suitable facilities in San Diego County; a plan to relocate to Santa Barbara was also considered. The announcement came three months after Major League Soccer announced a San Diego expansion team that would begin play in 2025 as San Diego FC. The club qualified for the USLC Playoffs and played their final match in the Western Conference Quarterfinals on October 22 at Torero Stadium. Loyal lost 4–3 in extra time to Phoenix Rising, who eventually became the champions of the USLC Playoffs.

Stadium

The team signed a three-year letter of commitment to play at Torero Stadium, with a series of one-year options for the following four years. The team initially focused on building a fan base and brand at Torero, noting that the stadium could be expanded to a capacity of 8,000. Moreover, the team noted the possibility of sharing the prospective Snapdragon Stadium, at a 35,000 capacity, as a potential site for future years if they could have cultivated the fan support for it. Snapdragon Stadium would eventually become the home of San Diego FC in 2025.

Supporters

The officially recognized supporter groups were The Locals and the Chavos de Loyal.

Sponsorship

Players and staff

Final roster

Management and staff

Team records

Year-by-year

1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

* Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

References

External links

*

{{USL Championship

Former USL Championship teams
Association football clubs established in 2019
2019 establishments in California
Soccer clubs in San Diego
Defunct soccer clubs in California
Association football clubs disestablished in 2023
2023 disestablishments in California