The San Diego Toros were a 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

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. Founded in 1967 as the Los Angeles Toros, the team was one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

(USA) merged in 1968 to form the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL), the team was relocated to San Diego as a member of the new league. While in Los Angeles, the team played its home matches at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

and at

Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is an outdoor stadium in San Diego, California, adjacent to San Diego High School and Balboa Park. Owned by the City of San Diego, it is leased to San Diego Unified School District. The stadium is used for local athletics and hig ...

when it moved to San Diego. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.

History

In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups, with one given to

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

owner

Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American professional football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third ...

. The Toros secured a lease at the

, which would also host the

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional Association football, soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 North American Soccer League season, ...

of the rival

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

during the 1967 season. The Toros began the season on April 16, 1967, with a home 3-2 win against the

New York Generals The New York Generals were an American professional soccer team based in New York City that competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. Founded as charter members ...

in front of a crowd of over nine thousand. The team finished the season in fifth place in the Western Division with a record of 7 wins, 10 loses, and 15 draws with an average attendance for the season of 3,595. Dan Reeves sold the team to a group that included Bill Cox who acted as general manager. With the merger of the NPSL with the

it was announced that Los Angeles would be one of the 20-teams in play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Prior to the 1968 season, the Toros were moved to

to avoid the league having two teams in the same market of Los Angeles playing their home games at

. Midway through the 1968 NASL season, Cox took a position with the St. Louis Stars and sold the team to

Emilio Azcárraga Milmo Emilio Azcárraga Milmo or Emilio Azcárraga Jr. (September 6, 1930, in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas – April 16, 1997, outside Miami, Miami, Florida) was a Mexican businessman and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and Laura Milmo Hi ...

. The team finished the season in first place of the Pacific Division with a record of 18 wins, 8 loses and 6 draws earning the highest points total in the league. The team defeated the Kansas City Spurs with an aggregate score of 2 - 1 over 2 matches in the Conference Finals, but were defeated by the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (1967), National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League ...

with an aggregate score of 3 - 0 in the

NASL Final 1968 Soccer Bowl, NASL Final 1968 was the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League's postseason championship final of the 1968 North American Soccer League season, 1968 season, and the first championship final for the NA ...

. The Toros were one of 12 teams that folded between the 1968 and 1969 NASL seasons.

Year-by-year

Source:

Notes

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) T Defunct soccer clubs in California National Professional Soccer League (1967) franchises 1967 establishments in California 1967 disestablishments in California North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in California 1968 establishments in California 1968 disestablishments in California