San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC is a professional soccer team 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.

San Antonio FC
Full nameSan Antonio Fútbol Club
Short nameSAFC
FoundedJanuary 7, 2016 (2016-01-07)
StadiumToyota Field
Capacity8,296
OwnerSpurs Sports & Entertainment
Chairman and CEOJulianna Hawn Holt
Head coachAlen Marcina
LeagueUSL Championship
20212nd, Mountain Division
Playoffs: Conference Final
WebsiteClub website

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 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]

Stadium
Main articles: Toyota Field and STAR Soccer Complex
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 8,466 for its inaugural home match against the Swope Park Rangers on April 9, 2016.[10]

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.[11]

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.[11]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors
Season Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Ref.
2016–2021 Nike Toyota [12]
2022– Puma [13]

Culture

Affiliation

San Antonio was designated as the USL affiliate of New York City FC for the 2017 season.[14] The partnership will result in organizational collaboration for on and off the field initiatives between the two clubs. As of 2019, there is no reported affilation between San Antonio FC and New York City FC.

Supporters
  • The Crocketteers are the largest organized independent soccer supporters group based in San Antonio. The group was founded in March 2009 by Michael Macias.[15]
  • Mission City Firm is an independent football organization whose mission is to give 100% of their support to San Antonio FC. They are a very diverse group of individuals and "welcome any and all persons who share the same passion for the game and for what professional football here in San Antonio will do for our community."[16]

Rivalries

Copa Tejas
Main article: Copa Tejas

San Antonio FC shares in-state rivalries with the three other USL Championship sides in Texas - Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, and Rio Grande Valley FC. Beginning with the 2019 USL Championship season, all four teams participate in the Copa Tejas[17] - 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.

South Texas Derby
Main article: South Texas Derby

Since 2016, the annual rivalry with Rio Grande Valley FC, who serves as a hybrid affiliate of the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, is one of the most hotly contested matches in lower division US soccer. The two teams are located about 237 miles apart from each other in South Texas. Due to this proximity, the matches tend to draw well and often featured aggressive play for bragging rights.

Ownership

The club is owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment.[18]

Players and staff

Current roster
As of April 13, 2022[19]
No. Pos. Player Nation
1 GK Jordan Farr  United States
2 DF Carter Manley  United States
3 DF Mitchell Taintor  United States
4 DF Fabien Garcia  France
6 MF PC  Brazil
8 MF Deshane Beckford  Jamaica
9 FW Santiago Patiño  Colombia
10 MF David Loera  United States
11 FW Justin Dhillon  United States
15 DF Diedie Traore  France
17 DF Jordan Ayimbila (on loan from Accra Lions)  Ghana
18 FW Elliot Collier  New Zealand
22 DF Shannon Gomez  Trinidad and Tobago
25 MF Mohammed Abu  Ghana
31 DF Connor Maloney  United States
32 MF Ates Diouf  Senegal
33 DF Jasser Khmiri  Tunisia
37 GK Matt Cardone  United States
47 DF Roman Holt ([A])  United States
50 GK Jude Bosshardt ([A])  United States
52 DF Kibukila Mbula ([A])  United States
53 FW Kai Louviere ([A])  United States
54 MF Henrik Sakshaug ([A])  United States
55 FW Eduardo Fernandez ([A])  United States
56 DF Giovanni Padilla ([A])  United States
57 MF Matthew Matsuzaki ([A])  United States
80 MF Nicky Hernandez (on loan from FC Dallas)  United States
  1. ^
    USL Academy Contract
    2.

Out on loan
No. Pos. Player Nation
21 MF Leo Torres (on loan to Real Monarchs)  United States

For recent transfers, see 2022 San Antonio FC season.

Team management
Executive
Chairman and CEO Julianna Hawn Holt
Managing Director Tim Holt
Staff
Head Coach Alen Marcina
Assistant Coach Dario Pot
SAFC Pro Academy Director & Director of Goalkeeping Juan Lamadrid
Equipment Manager Rashad Moore
High Performance Coordinator Sean Arters
Head Athletic Trainer Jesse Lowrance
Assistant Athletic Trainer Alex Saldana

Last updated: February 28, 2022
Source: [20]

Year-by-year
As of May 2, 2022
Year USL Championship U.S. Open Cup Top scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Pos Playoffs Player Goals
2016 30 10 8 12 36 36 38 10th, Western Conference Did not qualify Fourth Round Rafael Castillo
Franck Tayou		 5
2017 32 17 11 4 45 24 62 2nd, Western Conference Conference Semifinals Third Round Billy Forbes 10
2018 34 14 8 12 45 48 50 9th, Western Conference Did not qualify Fourth Round Éver Guzmán 11
2019 34 12 9 13 62 57 45 11th, Western Conference Did not qualify Third Round Jack Barmby
Éver Guzmán		 9
2020 16 10 3 3 30 14 33 1st, Group D Conference Quarterfinals Cancelled Luis Solignac 8
2021 32 14 10 8 50 38 52 2nd, Mountain Division Conference Final Cancelled Nathan 13
2022 8 7 0 1 14 4 21 2nd, Western Conference TBD Round of 32 Elliot Collier 5

Head coaches
  • Includes league regular season, league playoffs, and U.S. Open Cup matches
San Antonio FC Coaching Stats
CoachNationalityStartEndGamesWinDrawLossWin %Honors
Darren Powell  England January 7, 2016 October 30, 2019 142 59 39 44 041.55
Alen Marcina  Canada December 9, 2019 present 62 35 14 13 056.45

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

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. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  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.
  6. Communications, San Antonio FC (December 9, 2019). "SAN ANTONIO FC NAMES ALEN MARCINA HEAD COACH". San Antonio FC.
  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. "Data" (PDF). www.nba.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. "SAN ANTONIO FC EARN 1–1 DRAW IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD". San Antonio FC. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  11. "We Are San Antonio FC". San Antonio FC. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  12. "San Antonio FC". Archived from the original on March 12, 2016.
  13. "San Antonio Fc Signs Apparel Deal with Puma". January 14, 2022.
  14. Communications, San Antonio FC (February 9, 2017). "SAN ANTONIO FC AND NEW YORK CITY FC ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP". San Antonio FC.
  15. "About Us". Crocketteers.
  16. "Info" (PDF). i.cdn.turner.com. 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  17. Tejas, Copa (February 26, 2007). "Who is the best in Texas?". Copa Tejas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  18. "Spurs Sports & Entertainment Closes in on USL Club". www.uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  19. "San Antonio FC Roster". sanantoniofc.com. San Antonio FC. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  20. "San Antonio FC Staff". sanantoniofc.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
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