On March 1st, new beginnings were opened for professional soccer in San Diego. San Diego’s first-ever men’s professional soccer team, and major league soccer’s 30th team, San Diego FC, had their home season opener at Snapdragon Stadium against St. Louis City SC.
Fans from across the city fled to the stadium and created a new Snapdragon attendance record of 34,506. The week before they had an amazing upset against defending MLS champions L.A. Galaxy and defeated them 2-0. Their home opener was anticipated to be an exciting and competitive game full of new opportunities for the city.
The game expected so many fans that a trolley pass was offered for unlimited rides on game days. Around 5000-7000 people were expected to take the trolley. The game offered many fun activities for fans such as tailgating, fan fest, games, music, and a beer garden. Fans were filled with excitement as they entered an electric stadium, and the first 30,000 received a free San Diego FC scarf.
However, the game did not live up to the anticipation. With a final score of 0-0, the night ended in a tie. San Diego had possession for 67.1% of the game and had 14 shots on goal.
However, Roman Bürki, St. Louis’s goalie, was able to stop all of them. San Diego lost one of its key players, forward Chucky Lozano, pretty early in the game due to injury. If he had continued playing, maybe a goal would’ve snuck in.
Meanwhile, during a St. Louis goal kick, an anti-gay chant was begun by SDFC fans. This homophobic chant occurs during Mexico’s men’s team’s national games often. An announcement from the video board appeared saying, “Discrimination has no place in our sport and our stadium and will not be tolerated. The fan chant that was just used is offensive and we ask that fans not continue to use this chant. Thank you.”
This did not stop fans and the chant continued just a couple of minutes later. SDFC coach Mikey Varas spoke out after the game and explained that the organization believes in the power of diversity and that this chant doesn’t represent them.
Fans were disappointed that they didn’t win but grateful for the beginning of a new San Diego professional team. San Diego has the Padres, Wave, Gulls, and Seals. Since the Chargers left in 2017, most of the sports attention in San Diego has been turned to the Padres. The introduction of San Diego FC creates more professional opportunities for fans to follow.
Senior Soccer captain Blake Webster is excited about the “opportunities the new team will bring to younger soccer players” that will come from the Right to Dream Academy. They are the direct youth team to SDFC, and focus on youth development and growing soccer in San Diego. They want to make sure every child has a fair shot of reaching their soccer dreams, and do this through teaching elite skill and character development.
Even though the night didn’t end in a win, the new team brings hope and expansion for the sport of soccer throughout San Diego. If SDFC can find success this year, it may be the city’s next big sports team.
