San Antonio FC

Last updated

San Antonio FC
San Antonio FC logo.svg
Full nameSan Antonio Fútbol Club
Short nameSAFC
FoundedJanuary 7, 2016;8 years ago (2016-01-07)
Stadium Toyota Field
Capacity8,296
Owner Spurs Sports & Entertainment
ChairmanPeter J. Holt
Head coach Carlos Llamosa
League USL Championship
2024 9th, Western Conference
Playoffs: D.N.Q.
Website sanantoniofc.com
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference.

Contents

History

San Antonio FC was awarded the thirty-first USL franchise on January 7, 2016. The establishment of the club, along with the concurrent purchase of Toyota Field by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, was part of a plan by local officials to obtain an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer. [1] As a result, the San Antonio Scorpions franchise of the North American Soccer League was shut down. The first head coach in club history was former Elon University men's soccer coach and Orlando City SC Pro Academy Director, Darren Powell. [2] Carlos Alvarez was the club's first player signing on February 2, 2016. [3]

After failing to make the playoffs in its inaugural season, San Antonio FC finished the 2017 USL regular season with a 17–11–4 (W-D-L) record, finishing second in the USL Western Conference standings and earning their first playoff berth in club history. SAFC advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before being eliminated. [4] San Antonio failed to make the playoffs in consecutive years in 2018 and 2019 by a combined 4 points in the conference table.

San Antonio FC playing at Detroit City FC Detroit City FC v. San Antonio FC 2023 10 (throw-in).jpg
San Antonio FC playing at Detroit City FC

San Antonio FC parted ways with head coach Darren Powell on October 30, 2019, after four seasons with the club. He accumulated an overall competition win-draw-loss record of 59–39–44. He led the club to its only playoff appearance in 2017, but failed to make the playoffs in the other three seasons under his management. [5] His assistant coach, Alen Marcina, was named to replace Powell on December 9, 2019, in preparation for the 2020 USL Championship season. He led the former San Antonio Scorpions to their only NASL championship in the 2014 season. [6] On October 20, 2021, Marcina led the club to their second consecutive post-season berth – the first back-to-back playoff appearance in club history. [7] San Antonio would advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in club history, losing to eventual league champions Orange County SC in penalty kicks. [8]

Marcina led the club back into the playoffs for a third consecutive time, part of the most successful season in club history. San Antonio captured five trophies in 2022; the Copa Tejas, Copa Tejas Shield, USLC regular season title, the Western Conference championship, and the USL Championship having beaten Louisville City FC 3–1 in the 2022 USL Championship Final. Marcina mutually parted ways with the club on October 31, 2024. In his five years with the club, Marcina had led the team to a 81-42-42 record. [9]

Stadium

Toyota Field during Soccer Bowl 2014 Toyota Field Soccer Bowl 2014 (16534687093).jpg
Toyota Field during Soccer Bowl 2014

San Antonio plays its home matches at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. Toyota Field is an 8,296-seat soccer-specific, natural grass stadium designed to be expandable to over 18,000 seats. Originally built for the former San Antonio Scorpions, the stadium was sold by its owner, Gordon Hartman, to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County in November 2015. San Antonio FC set a Toyota Field attendance record of 8,534 for the 2022 USL Championship Final, a 3–1 victory against Louisville City FC on November 13, 2022. [11]

Crest and colors

San Antonio's club colors are black and silver, showing strength and unity with the other SS&E franchises. Red is an accent color that is from the same red in the Texas state flag signifying the pride the club has in Texas. [12]

The shape of San Antonio FC's badge was derived from a variety of traditional national and international club crests. The heart of the badge contains two prominent elements: the five diagonal stripes, which were inspired by the armed forces' service stripes, are a salute to San Antonio's rich military history and their upward movement signifies the club's goal to play at the highest level; and the rowel of the Spur symbolizes the direct link between San Antonio FC and its parent company, Spurs Sports & Entertainment. Binding all of the interior elements is a single "S"—a subtle nod to the hometown heritage and how it unites the community. [12]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

SeasonKit manufacturerShirt sponsorRef.
2016–2021 Nike Toyota [13]
2022–2023 Puma [14]
2024–presentCommunity First Health Plans [15]

Culture

Partnerships

San Antonio was designated as the USL affiliate of New York City FC for the 2017 season. [16] As of 2019, there is no reported affiliation between San Antonio FC and New York City FC.

On July 23, 2024, in accordance with the renewal of the sister city agreement between the cities of San Antonio and Darmstadt, Germany originally created in 2017, the leading soccer clubs in both cities, San Antonio FC and SV Darmstadt 98, entered into a "comprehensive partnership designed to elevate the clubs both on and off the pitch". [17]

Supporter Groups

Rivalries

Copa Tejas

San Antonio FC shares an in-state rivalry with USL Championship side – El Paso Locomotive FC, and formerly with Rio Grande Valley FC and Austin Bold FC. Begun in the 2019 USL Championship season, all three teams participate in the Copa Tejas [20] – a head-to-head competition during the USL regular season schedule. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the trophy. San Antonio won its first Copa Tejas in 2022, going 3-1-0 against their opponents while also capturing the Copa Tejas Shield.

South Texas Derby

Since 2016, the annual rivalry with Rio Grande Valley FC, who served as a hybrid affiliate of the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer from 2016 until 2020, [21] was one of the most hotly contested matches in lower division US soccer. The two teams were located about 237 miles apart from each other in South Texas. Due to this proximity, the matches tended to draw well and often featured aggressive play for bragging rights. The derby ended on December 18, 2023 when RGV FC officially ceased soccer and business operations. [22]

Ownership

The club is owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment. [23]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of December 17, 2024 [24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
3 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Mitchell Taintor
4 DF Flag of El Salvador.svg  SLV Nelson Blanco
6 MF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Mohamed Omar
7 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Luke Haakenson
8 MF Flag of France.svg  FRA Sofiane Djeffal
No.Pos.NationPlayer
9 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Jake LaCava
10 MF Flag of Mexico.svg  MEX Jorge Hernández
17 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Juan Agudelo
22 DF Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  TRI Shannon Gomez
23 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Rece Buckmaster
  1. ^
    USL Academy Contract

For recent transfers, see 2024 San Antonio FC season.

Team management

Executive
Chairman Flag of the United States.svg Peter J. Holt
CEO Flag of the United States.svg R. C. Buford
Sporting Director Flag of the United States.svg Marco Ferruzzi
Staff
Head Coach Flag of the United States.svg Carlos Llamosa
Assistant coach Flag of the United States.svg Victor Lonchuk
Assistant coach Flag of Croatia.svg Dario Pot
SAFC Pro Academy Director & Director of Goalkeeping Flag of Mexico.svg Juan Lamadrid
Equipment Manager Flag of the United States.svg Rashad Moore
Head athletic trainer Flag of the United States.svg Jesse Lowrance
Assistant Athletic Trainer Flag of the United States.svg Alex Saldana

Last updated: April 4, 2022
Source: [25]

Year-by-year

As of November 3, 2024
Year USL Championship U.S. Open Cup Top scorer(s)Average attendance
PWDLGFGAPtsWest Conf.OverallPlayoffsPlayerGoalsReg.Playoffs
2016 301081236363810th17thDid not qualify Fourth round Flag of Colombia.svg Rafael Castillo
Flag of the United States.svg Franck Tayou 		56,170N/A
2017 32171144524622nd3rd Conference Semifinals Third round Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.svg Billy Forbes 107,1537,026
2018 34148124548509th15thDid not qualify Fourth round Flag of Mexico.svg Éver Guzmán 116,939N/A
2019 341291362574511th20thDid not qualify Third round Flag of England.svg Jack Barmby
Flag of Mexico.svg Éver Guzmán 		96,765N/A
2020 1610333014333rd6th Conference Quarterfinals Cancelled Flag of Argentina.svg Luis Solignac 82,448 [a] 2,175 [a]
2021 32141085038524th10th Conference final Cancelled Flag of Brazil.svg Nathan 134,832 [a] 7,485
2022 3424555426771st1st Champions Round of 32 Flag of the United States.svg Samuel Adeniran 125,9808,329
2023 34141466338564th7th Conference semifinals Third round Flag of Nigeria.svg Tani Oluwaseyi 187,1907,304
2024 3469153649399th20thDid not qualify Round of 32 Flag of the United States.svg Juan Agudelo 86,714N/A

^ 1. Top scorer(s) includes all goals scored in league, league playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

Honors

San Antonio FC honors
TypeCompetitionTitlesSeasons
Domestic USL Championship 1 2022
USLC Players’ Shield 1 2022
Western Conference Playoffs 1 2022
Western Conference Regular Season 1 2022
Copa Tejas Shield 2 2022, 2023
Copa Tejas Division 2 2 2022, 2023

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Capacity limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

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References

  1. ↑ Staff (December 22, 2015). "Spurs Sports & Entertainment reaches agreement with Bexar County and City of San Antonio to play soccer at Toyota Field in 2016" (Press release). San Antonio: Spurs Sports & Entertainment. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Meet Darren Powell". uslsanantonio.com. January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ "USL San Antonio". Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (November 27, 2017). "SAN ANTONIO FC RE-SIGNS USL GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR DIEGO RESTREPO". San Antonio FC.
  5. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (October 30, 2019). "SAN ANTONIO FC MUTUALLY AGREES TO PART WAYS WITH HEAD COACH DARREN POWELL". San Antonio FC.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (December 9, 2019). "SAN ANTONIO FC NAMES ALEN MARCINA HEAD COACH". San Antonio FC.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "San Antonio Fc Clinches Playoff Berth for Second Consecutive Season". October 20, 2021.
  8. ↑ "San Antonio Fc Falls in Penalty Kicks After 120 Minutes of Play in Orange County". November 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ "San Antonio mutually parts ways with Head Coach Alen Marcina". USLChampionship.com. USL Championship . Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Data" (PDF). www.nba.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  11. ↑ "SAN ANTONIO FC WINS USL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOR FIRST TIME IN CLUB HISTORY". San Antonio FC. November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "We Are San Antonio FC". San Antonio FC. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  13. ↑ "San Antonio FC". Archived from the original on March 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ "San Antonio Fc Signs Apparel Deal with Puma". January 14, 2022.
  15. ↑ "San Antonio Fc Announces Community First Health Plans as Official Jersey Partner".
  16. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (February 9, 2017). "SAN ANTONIO FC AND NEW YORK CITY FC ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP". San Antonio FC. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  17. ↑ https://www.sanantoniofc.com/news/2024/07/23/san-antonio-fc-and-sportvererin-darmstadt-98-announce-landmark-partnership/ [ bare URL ]
  18. ↑ "About Us". Crocketteers.
  19. ↑ "Info" (PDF). i.cdn.turner.com. 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  20. ↑ Tejas, Copa (February 26, 2007). "Who is the best in Texas?". Copa Tejas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Houston Dynamo, RGVFC scale back relationship". December 24, 2020.
  22. ↑ "OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Rio Grande Valley FC Cease Operations". www.RGVFC.com. Rio Grande Valley FC. December 18, 2023. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Spurs Sports & Entertainment Closes in on USL Club". www.uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  24. ↑ "San Antonio FC Roster". sanantoniofc.com. San Antonio FC. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  25. ↑ "San Antonio FC Staff". sanantoniofc.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
Preceded by USL Championship Winner
2022		Succeeded by
Phoenix Rising FC
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