Santa Barbara Sky FC is a planned 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

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. First announced in 2022, the team plans to play in

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

beginning in March 2026. The team had originally been slated to play in

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 ...

beginning in 2025.

History

On July 12, 2022, 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 Peter Moore had been granted a

expansion team in Santa Barbara, to start play in the 2024 season. Before the 2024 season could kick off, however, the team announced that they would begin play in 2025 instead. On June 18, 2024, the Sky announced they had signed a multi-year contract to play at

Harder Stadium Harder Stadium is a 17,000-seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. It serves as the on-campus soccer stadium for both ...

. On November 13, 2024, the

announced that the USL Championship franchise rights held by

Memphis 901 FC Memphis 901 FC was an American professional soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. On November 13, 2024, it was announced that the team would be folding after they wer ...

had been transferred to Santa Barbara Sky FC. The Sky would begin play in the USL Championship in 2026, opting to skip USL League One entirely.

Colors and badge

The club's official colors are terracotta and navy blue, representing the "local Spanish-style terracotta rooftops against the backdrop of a deep blue sky." The crest depicts

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

, the city's namesake.

References

External links

* Soccer clubs in California Association football clubs established in 2022 2022 establishments in California USL Championship teams Sports in Santa Barbara, California {{California-footyclub-stub