SF City Supporters, today we want to tell you a little about two of the Members’ Board of Directors. As you know, the SF City Members Organization elects nine of their own to manage the organization and represent their interests in the club. We have been very privileged over the years to have some great and dedicated people serve in this role.
We asked Wendy Guzman-Rodriguez, who has been part of the Board of Directors for nearly three years, what serving on the board has been like: “Transformative. It has transformed my love for football, my love for San Francisco, and my love for community and philanthropy into the cornerstone of how I navigate my personal and professional life. It has been an honor, spreading the mission of SF City FC and tying our work into organizations I am involved in. It has been such a great thing to see City become a champion for low-income persons of color by partnering with La Cocina.”
Editor’s Note: You may be familiar with many of La Cocina’s clients as they are the small businesses that have provided delicious fare at our matches!
Long-serving board member and Northsiders leader Pete Bogdis had this to say: “As a supporter-owned and -run club, being part of the Members Board is the most direct way to ensure our club is growing, improving, and succeeding while keeping with our core values.”
SF City has long prided itself on using sport to promote inclusiveness and diversity. “It teaches us how immensely amazing sports are. They bring together folks from all walks of life working at the intersection of change. SF City is a catalyst for change, and I am proud to be part of it,” said Wendy.
We urge eligible members (over the age of 21 as of January 1, 2020), if they have a desire to help shape the future of the club and represent the fans in that future, to stand for election. If interested, please email secretary@sfcityfc.com for details no later than October 21st. The elections will occur at our Annual General Meeting on November 2nd.
Members over the age of 13 are eligible to vote in the election. The AGM is a great opportunity to not only participate in the election, but to engage with the club’s leadership, ask questions, and make your opinions known.
As Pete observed, “It's immensely satisfying to know that we don't have to depend on a single wealthy owner or group of owners to give us a club, and then see them take it away on a whim. Our success is due to the effort and passion of our members. All of us. We’re making history.”
SF City fans, it is time to decide what our 2020 Official Member Scarf will look like. And that means you, our supporters, have the chance to make your mark on club history and win too! Our scarves have always been designed by the supporters and chosen by the supporters. The winner will receive a $100 SF City FC Gift Card! Here is how the contest will work:
Here is the design template for the scarf!
City Fans! The moment has arrived! Get your memberships now for 2020 and beyond by visiting our online store! We are offering Ambassador, Season Ticket, Family, and Lifetime membership plans. And now, you will no longer have to deal with the hassle of renewing each year. Once you’ve signed up, your membership will automatically renew annually every December 1st. You can, of course, opt out of renewing at any time through your online store account with us, or by contacting us at support@sfcityfc.com.
Another new membership benefit is the inclusion of two free concessions vouchers, each redeemable for a delicious Standard Deviant beer at a game!
Your membership will be activated immediately upon your purchase. The new 2020 scarves and member packets will be mailed out in early March, once you, the members of SF City, get to choose the design you like the best! More on that soon!
Join or renew by Dec 31st of this year and you will receive a free $10 SF City FC Gift Card, good for any purchases on our online store. You can also earn a gift card for yourself and a friend by taking advantage of the member referral program. Roll Fog!
SF City Fans! Don’t miss out on a chance to get your holiday shopping done early this year! We’re offering 35% off regular price on items purchased from our team store from Thanksgiving Day through Friday, Dec 6th! Jerseys, hoodies, t-shirts, scarves, all at unbeatable prices! Discount is applied when you add an item to your cart.
City fans, the members have spoken. On November 2nd, the membership cast their votes for the new Members Organization Board of Directors. The votes have all been tallied, and we have the results. Congratulations to our 2020 Board of Directors!
We want to thank our outgoing board members and all the candidates, for their service to the club and the community. Without people like them, our club could not survive. We wish our new board the best of luck in the coming year. Roll Fog!
SF City Members! Meet the candidates for your 2020 Board of Directors. Please read their statements (below). We encourage you all to come to the Annual General Meeting on the 2nd of November and cast your votes.
There will be more than voting going on at the meeting! There will be a raffle, food and drink as well. Plus we'll have a Q&A section with the board and management. This session gives you an opportunity to engage with City on our progress this year and the state of the club and soccer in the Bay Area, and other fun activities.
My name is Brendan Browne and I am running for re-election to the SF City FC Members Organization Board of Directors for 2020. It has been a pleasure serving on the board for the past three seasons. In that time I have accomplished a great amount of work, and plan on continuing my service should I be elected again.
In the past year, I was instrumental in developing a partnership with a local fulfillment center so that our online store orders are packed and shipped promptly. I am also in the process of searching for a kit supplier partnership to help us design and produce custom, high quality kits for seasons to come. I can guarantee the membership will be pleased with the results of this future deal.
Please consider voting for me, as representing this club has been one of the highlights of my life. Even if I am not re-elected, I will continue to volunteer many hours of my week to helping this club grow. Thank you for your time.
It's been a pleasure to serve you, the members of SF City, on the Board of Directors for the last 3 years. Our club has grown so much since I first got involved in 2015 because of the dedication, passion, and hard work of our leadership, interns, and especially our member volunteers. I'd be honored to continue playing my small part in the growth and success of the club.
Gold in Peace. Iron in War.
I would like to officially submit my name for consideration for a seat at the board. I have now served on the board for three years and I am absolutely excited to run for another year for a seat on the board. I continue to be passionate and dedicated to SF CITY FC's members, players and community. I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the football community in San Francisco and the Bay Area as a whole. My dream of seeing SF CITY FC as a premier club, has not wavered and I understand the grunge work that needs to be done in order to achieve that goal. I am well connected in the entrepreneurial community as well as the philanthropic community and believe that is an asset to SF CITY FC. I would love to continue to represent the members (both English and Spanish speaking) and work hard alongside the other board members and having another successful year.
My name is Joachim "Jake" Steinberg. I've served on the board for the past four years. I'm a lifetime member and a Northsider. It's been an honor to serve and represent this community for the past few years, and I would like to continue as we continue through a crucial period for the club.
Over the past several years, I led the members' board negotiations for the operating agreement and served as the members' representative to the LLC board. I've also developed several partnerships for the club, including with the Japan Society and ALRP, and served on the LLC Executive Board. I have also worked extensively with both the ops team and the members' board to improve our fan experience and atmosphere.
My professional background is in law, although I was also an elementary school teacher before becoming an attorney. I'm a passionate soccer fan who has attended nearly every SF City home match (and a fair number of away matches), and have regularly published articles on the state of soccer in the US, especially in support of supporter ownership and pro/rel. I am always available for questions about the club or my candidacy at joachim@sfcityfc.com.
My name is Mark DeVito, and I would like to be considered for re-election to the SFCFC Board for 2020. I have sat on the board for the last two years, and let me tell you, it’s a great place to sit! I am a local business owner with a large network of outreach and social contacts, and a venue space that has hosted numerous SFCFC events and proudly flies our colors every day and night. My strengths include a passion for soccer, a passion for community, and an ability to gather groups of people together to enjoy the team and each other. It turns out I can also jump super far after a bunch of beers at Kezar. Please let me continue to jump for you despite the fact that I am yet another year older.
My name is Heather Carrico and I would like to be considered for election to the SF City Football Club’s Board for 2020. The SFCFC’s mission and focus on community-minded good closely reflects my own belief in helping our community be a better place to live, work, and play. As a coach for Special Olympics, I’ve seen the impact one person can have on the lives of others just by giving time, ideas, and energy. That’s why, as an active member of the SF City Gold Crew since 2016, I’ve volunteered to do whatever was needed to help make game day run more smoothly. This past season I took on the role of Team Admin for each home match. Now I’d like to put my time, ideas, and energy to good use as a member of the 2020 SF City Board not only to represent the fans but also to help the club grow.
Hi I'm Kirk White and I seeking reelection to the Board of Directors. For the past two years, I have been proud to a Board Member for SF City FC. I have been able to help spread our members to many community service functions. These functions include Best Buddies, SF-Marin Food Bank, Street Soccer USA and so much more. I also believe there is so much still to do. We need to find a sustainable cash flow to orchestrate more youth clinics, either through sponsorship, fundraising or both. As the saying goes, "It is a commitment to community when you are a member of SF City FC." And I will be proud to be elected again as YOUR SF City FC Board Member.
I'm excited to declare my candidacy to serve on the 2020 Board of Directors for SF City FC! This club has been an invaluable addition to my life since I watched my first match in 2015. My involvement with the organization has grown steadily, and I've spent many a worthwhile hour singing with the Northsiders, volunteering in the community, and taking on the mantle of the club's Communications Director starting this year. I've relished the chance to spread the word about what we do on the pitch and off, and I hope to broaden my service to SF City even further by being part of your Board for next year. Thank you for your consideration!
I would like to be re-considered as a Member of the Board of Directors for 2020. I have enjoyed my experience this past year and believe in SFCity’s doctrine and principles. I value the friendships and support from my fellow Board Members and with the Northsiders.
I have extensive soccer experience for over 34 years. I value and thank you for your consideration.
My name is Michael Massocca and I'm running for a board seat for this upcoming term. Over the past year with this club I have done a multitude of volunteering jobs. A few of those jobs were driving one of the team vans to their match in Orange County, helping out the team with their Instagram page and occasionally their Twitter feed for matches. Also, I'm proud to say that I'm officially a lifetime member of this club. I'm interested in running for a Board seat because not only do I want to be apart of the growth of this team's future and for what's to come next for this club, but also I want to be a part of a team that has dedicated fans that show up to support this club match in and out no matter what the circumstance is. Ever since I started supporting this club in 2016 it has grown every year to a whole new level. Who knows where it will be in the next 3 to 20 years, but no matter what the case is I want to be there to put in as much advice and input as I can to further this team to success.
Remember, it’s not too late to sign up, and join us! Visit http://sfcityfc.com/membership to learn more!
One of the pillars of SF City FC membership is our commitment to community service and volunteering. We believe our club should serve the community it represents on and off the pitch. We asked dedicated SF City supporter Heather about what her experience was like volunteering with the club:
What was the last SF City event you volunteered at?
The last SF City volunteer event I volunteered at was the back to school backpack distribution at Raphael House on 8/10.
What was the difference you felt you made?
Sometimes you'll do volunteer work on behalf of work or another organization, but kind of feel like you weren't really needed and that they already had the event covered. I didn't feel that way with this event, as they needed extra hands and we were definitely useful. We brought out lots of backpack options to make sure the children were happy with the backpack they left with. You could see the joy in the parents' faces at how happy their kids were.
What was your favorite part of volunteering?
I had never heard of Raphael House before the event even though it plays a vital role in San Francisco. Once I have more time, I want to see what other opportunities there are for volunteering at RH. I loved seeing how happy the kids were with their new packs and remembered being so excited to start school as a kid and getting a new backpack. For me, my backpack represented a promising new school year full of opportunities, and I hope that it represents the same for the kids that we distributed them to. This event was a reminder to me of my continuing responsibility to my community to help those in need.
Thanks for helping make San Francisco a better place, Heather!
If you want to do your part too, join us at our next volunteer event, the Light the Night Walk on November 13th!
Looking for a good podcast? We recommend InterTREKtional, co-hosted by SF City member Ryan! The show sheds light on important societal issues as seen through Star Trek. Have a listen!
SF City are finishing the season strong, having won their second game in a row, this time against the visiting San Diego Zest 4 goals to 3. Matt Fondy (33’ 78’) Marcus Simmons (27’) and Bryan Burke (63’) all netted for City. See SFGate’s full description of the action here: https://blog.sfgate.com/soccer/2019/07/08/bay-area-soccer-sf-glens-drop-another-lead-sf-city-wins-contra-costa-lose-npsl-results/
The rivalry itself may be relatively young, but the bad blood between these two clubs runs deep and runs hot… The Glens, who lost to City back in May, wanted a chance at redemption while City was looking for a clean sweep of their cross-town rivals.
But redemption was hard to come by as the Glens found themselves on their back heels throughout the first half.
The Glens made things interesting in the second half, but ultimately succumbed to the relentless SF City FC offense.
SFGate declares our side the “Soccer Kings” of San Francisco. See the full article, including post-match interviews, here.
We've got another great Pride kit this year! Since our club’s founding, we have supported equality for all in our community, and for the past several years, we’ve expressed it in the form of third kit to honor SF Pride. This season’s special limited edition jerseys were designed for SF City FC by IcarusFC
The Iron And Gold will be sporting these jerseys this Friday night, to kick of SF Pride weekend!
You can get your own and benefit the AIDS Legal Referral Panel at the same time! We will donate part of the proceeds from the sale of this jersey to ALRP. Click Here To Buy Yours! Show your pride in the City we love, and the diversity of people who make it so great.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. JUNE 20, 2019—San Francisco City FC will be represented in the 2020 USL Academy Cup by its youth partner San Francisco Elite Academy. SF Elite announced a U13 boys team will participate in the Academy Cup, to be held May 22-25, 2020 (Memorial Day) at the Hillsborough County Tournament SportsPlex in Tampa, Florida.
The USL Academy Cup is a new national competition of academy teams from all three levels of USL—the Championship, League One, and League Two—designed to bring together top youth prospects from all USL club markets in order to identify and contribute to the development of players with the potential to reach the professional level.
"Since its inception, SFEA has always been committed to providing our players access to the highest levels of play in order to accelerate player development" said Joe Dugan, President of the San Francisco Elite Academy. "This unique opportunity for our U13 boys group is part of our ongoing pursuit for higher levels of play for all our teams across the board."
In early May, the United Soccer League (USL) announced USL clubs that will compete in the USL Academy Cup, a new event beginning this year featuring the country’s elite youth players from the U-13 and U-17 age groups. The announcement supported the recent unveiling of the league’s vision for an Academy system, establishing the Academy Cup as the forerunner to the first-ever USL Academy League, built to provide a clear youth-to-pro path in each USL community.
“It’s an exciting time for our youth soccer athletes,” said Leonard Griffin, SFEA’s Director of Coaching for Boys and the Head Coach of Men’s Soccer at the University of San Francisco. “The creation of national youth soccer events, like the USL Academy Cup, not only showcase our top players but offer them a chance to compete against some of the best youth players from all across the country.”
About the San Francisco Elite Academy (SFEA)
The San Francisco Elite Academy (SFEA) is the top college placement youth soccer program in San Francisco, in just four years we have over 30 former players now competing in college soccer. We are developing the next generation of players to the highest standards, ensuring they receive the necessary training and support to successfully represent San Francisco at the highest level of play, our community, and our country. Please visit sfea.org to learn more.
About United Soccer League (USL)
Originally founded in 1986, the United Soccer League has become one of the most sophisticated soccer organizations in North America over the past decade. Comprised of three leagues (the USL Championship, USL League One, and USL League Two) as it enters 2019, the USL is set to bring high-level competition to more than 100 markets across the United States and Canada in the coming years. Please visit www.uslsoccer.com to learn more.
About the USL Academy Cup
The first key initiative launched under USL’s newest tier is the USL Academy Cup – a competition designed to bring together top youth prospects from all of our markets with USL clubs, all centered around identifying and developing players with the potential to reach the professional level. As a part of USL’s growth, the Academy Cup will lead into the Academy League, a player-focused, club-driven league designed to serve as the gold standard of youth development. Aligning with the USL’s vision, clubs will participate at the highest level of competition in their respective age ranges with a goal to improve club and coaching development as well as provide the optimal environment for player growth. Please see: www.uslsoccer.com/academy for more details.
About the San Francisco City FC
San Francisco City Football Club is a supporter-owned soccer club competing in USL League Two. The team is committed to its goals of representing San Francisco on the national stage and giving back to our community by aiding local charitable groups. Go to sfcityfc.com to learn more.
SF City kicked off its 2019 campaign with an incredible weekend of action on the field, winning all six points from their first two matches, including a thrilling victory in the San Francisco Derby at Kezar Stadium.
"This is a great start for the team," said head coach Evan Sassano. "These were two tough matches against two very good teams. Our boys showed a lot of personality in the way they competed until the last minute. As a coach, you have to be proud of the way we started things off, but we still have a lot of matches to go. We are certainly going to work to become better every day."
On Friday, the team traveled to Santa Cruz to take part in the very first match in the newly christened USL League 2, and defeated the Breakers by a score of 3-1. The visitors enjoyed spirited traveling support from the fans who made what has become the season's premier road trip.
Coach Sassano went with an aggressive 4-3-3 formation, which paid off early when Gerardo Mendoza scored in the 3rd minute and again in the 19th. Santa Cruz countered with significant pressure, but failed to score, and the half ended at 0-2. The home team broke through to halve the lead in the 75th minute, but the goal spurred City to net a third, this time from winger Seiya Otsuka, to bring the match to its final score.
Sunday night's local derby was an altogether more dramatic affair, with five goals, two comebacks, and a red card. The Glens scored in the 2nd minute and 57th minute, but in both cases, Conrad negated the lead less than ten minutes later. The drama ratcheted up in the 85th minute, when the Glens' Yohannes Harish was sent off after a rash tackle on City's Gustav Fink-Jensen gave him his second yellow card. Just two minutes later, Glens goalkeeper Andrew Konstantino put a heavy touch on a back pass from a teammate, and Conrad pounced on the ball before rounding the keeper and putting home the game-winner.
"At halftime, Coach Sassano told the front-runners he wanted us pressing a bit higher," said Conrad. "We followed that game plan and fortunately, we were able to capitalize off a key pressing moment."
On his first goal of the night, Conrad said, "[It] started with a great pressing moment from Seiya, and a well-timed cross by Mario [Arrocha]. He read my movement well and delivered a great ball in."
Immediately after scoring, Conrad bounded across the field to the Northside supporters and leapt up to the rail to celebrate with them. "I always love to celebrate with a group that has shown us so much love and support, even at preseason games in the rain!"
Conrad remarked on his second goal, "This was the best team goal of the three. We worked the ball well coming out of the back, great lofted ball in behind from Barry McCabe, and Ihson Nassiri put a beautifully weighted ball just inside the box. As a center forward, that's a play you dream about. Great night to be a part of!"
On the victory, Sassano said, "The response from the guys was tremendous. After we tied the game a second time, we started to say, 'Hey, we're gonna win this one.'"
Next up, SF City go on the road to face LA Galaxy affiliate San Diego Zest FC on Saturday at 5:00PM. Be sure to follow the live stream of the game here: https://mycujoo.tv/video/san-diego-zest?id=43317
San Francisco City Football Club is proud to announce that all its home matches, plus our away match versus Ventura County Fusion, will be live streamed with commentary and analysis from Charles Wollin. Every match will be available on YouTube via the SF City FC channel. (See the full schedule below!) The show will also include several guest color commentators throughout the season.
Charles Wollin has covered Bay Area soccer for the last ten years. As a co-founder of SF City FC, he’s now in his fifth season with the club. Wollin currently serves as the play-by-play voice at the University of San Francisco for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs.
Earlier this year, Wollin started co-hosting a brand new weekly web series, Black and Azul, a bilingual soccer program covering and analyzing the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. In 2014, he travelled to Brazil to cover the FIFA World Cup.
In addition to broadcasting, Wollin is a professional fundraiser, voice-over artist, activist and member of the San Francisco Spikes. At the 2018 Gay Games in Paris, the Spikes captured the Division 2-C Championship with Wollin as player-coach.
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (with links)
SF City FC players will carry a special patch on their jerseys when they step onto the pitch this season: A USF Dons green and gold patch honoring the memory of coach Steve Negoesco, who passed away earlier this year.
City and USF have had strong ties from its foundation as a supporter- owned club in 2015. Many of its most famous players, such as Danny Kirkland, played for the Dons during their college careers, and the club has also included many USF alumni among its staff. This year, interns from USF’s Sports Management program will be working alongside the club’s volunteers, gaining first hand experience that will aid them in their future careers.
“We reached out to Coach Negoesco’s family with the proposal to honor him in this way” said SF City Director of Operations Mike Gonos, “and we were humbled by their gracious and enthusiastic support. I told them, ‘without him blazing the trail, we might not even be here today.’”
In addition to carrying his initials, the patch will include the number ‘544’ denoting Coach’s victories during his storied career. City fans can catch their first glimpse of the new uniforms in person next Sunday, May 5th at 6:00pm when SF City plays its first home match of the season at Kezar Stadium. Tickets are now on sale at http://sfcityfc.com/tickets.
After having Max Lau with us for the preseason last year, we're calling him up for a full season in USL2!
The 18-year-old goalkeeper comes from a family of SF City members, and it's no wonder why: Max trained with the youth team before going on to training with the senior club last year. And now, the former state champion with Mission High School will represent the Iron and Gold at Kezar this season!
Although he has tasted state championship glory, was recruited by Cal, and played for the Olympic Development Program's regional team, Max isn't without regrets. "Last Thanksgiving," he recalls, "my club team and I played the Surf Cup College Showcase. In the beginning of our second game, I made a play which resulted in a red card, which suspended me for that game as well as our last game. Since I was the only goalkeeper, it was harder for the team to perform well in front of college scouts."
Max will try to brush that setback aside this year, but let's not forget that he is a champion off the field as well! He's a 4.0 student-athlete who is planning to attend Stanford. "Something that fans may not know about me is that I am very STEM-oriented," he said. "I have a love for science and I am looking forward to pursuing a career in artificial intelligence in my coming years at Stanford."
So how did he get here? Max, for one, credits the city of San Francisco and all the people here who have paved the way. "In my soccer career, I have trained with many coaches and players in San Francisco. Each and every one has contributed something to my game and has improved me as a player. To continue representing San Francisco is a way for me to pay homage to all of the people who have put me where I am today."
SF City FC is looking for kids who want the best seats in the house, right on the sidelines. If your team wants to become part of match day experience, apply now!
All participating groups receive free tickets for each child as well as free tickets for two adults. Find out more details and other benefits groups receive by participating by emailing community@sfcityfc.com or filling out the form below.
May 5th 6:00pm May 19th 3:00pm June 1st 1:00pm June 16th 1:00pm
June 28th 7:00pm July 7th 3:00pm July 12th 7:00pm
Ashish Chattha is returning for his second year with SF City FC, and we couldn't be happier.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder's play last year, including a spectacular free kick for his first goal with the club, was more than enough to convince the team he should be invited back.
It's not just his play for City that impressed the fans, though.
Last fall, while playing for USF, Chattha had more minutes on the pitch than any other player, despite being a freshman!
Chattha recalls one play from his career he wishes he could have back:
"If I could time travel to change one play," he explained, "it would be an academy game where I gave a pass rather than taking a shot in the last minute of the game."
But that's a minor blip for Chattha, whose career extends beyond the Bay Area. He had the opportunity to play with the U.S. Youth National Team, an experience he calls one of his "biggest accomplishments."
While Chattha hasn't worn the pigeon mask yet, he certainly knows what it means to wear the Iron and Gold.
"It is a great honor representing SF City because it is more than a team," Chattha said. "It's also a community and a family. I was super pleased when the fans were asking my coaches at USF if I was coming back. And I'm happy to say that I will be back and continue to play for City and give it all, not just for me, but for my teammates, coaches, and mostly the fans!"
SF City fans, we all know football is best shared with friends, so we are now instituting our 2019 member referral program. Convince a friend to become a member of SF City, and you will get a $10 SF City FC gift card emailed right to you!
Here’s how it works: When your friend signs up to become a member, all they have to do is write your name in the ‘Notes’ field when they check out. Then, we send you your gift card. It’s that simple!
(Note: your friend can only name one person as having referred them.)
The season officially kicks off in less than a month! It's time to introduce you to some of the SF City FC players who will defend Kezar this season! And who better to start than The Beast?
Robbie Hines, last season's captain, is returning for his third year with the team. At 24 years old, "The Beast" has earned his nickname holding down the centerback position for SF City. That beastly energy is something he carries with him every day.
"I cannot separate the person I am off the field from who I am on the field," he said. "The ferocious, or beast, energy is what I try to cultivate and use at all times for balance in my life."
Robbie has no regrets about his time with SF City FC. Nor, in fact, would he alter any plays through the course of his playing career.
"I prefer not to choose any," he explained, "because they are lessons and insight that I can reflect back on as a player. In the future, they are the plays I can use as experience for instruction to a young athlete."
However, Robbie did note one play outside of his playing career that he wishes came together a little differently:
"Hypothetically, though, I'd probably change the Cavs-Warriors 2016 [NBA Finals], Game 4. Draymond Green got a flagrant-1 and was suspended for Game 5, when LeBron and Kyrie had big nights. Turned the tide for that series..."
Most importantly, Robbie has worn the famed pigeon mask and called it a "sensational" experience.
"Although the eagle is my spirit animal," he said, "the SF City pigeon is a close second."
You can check out Robbie's highlights here: https://buff.ly/2v6VwxL
San Francisco Elite Academy have become the newest community partners of San Francisco City FC. The two organizations will work together to advance their common goals of growing soccer in San Francisco and bringing people together to aid the health and wellness of local kids through the beautiful game.
This new partnership has several important features:
SF Elite Academy and SF City will be reaching out to each other's memberships to share information. The two organizations will promote their activities, events, and initiatives through their various communications channels to their thousands of followers.
By being a partner club of SF City FC, SF Elite Academy players will now enjoy the opportunity to represent San Francisco at the top amateur level. Beginning this year, SF City will be running a month-long training and game program for aspiring USL League Two players and high school seniors in need of preparation for college soccer. This program will give its members needed exposure to a high level of play and coaching and a chance for our local players to benefit from guidance and mentorship from college players and coaches.
SF City FC is also pleased to offer discounted 2019 membership plans and single game tickets to the families of San Francisco Elite Academy.
SF Elite and SF City will also host joint volunteer and social events during the course of the year. Members of both organizations will be able to have fun together and give back to the community. We will be announcing these events very shortly.
The Gold Crew is a Game Day Volunteer program open to anyone 16 years of age or older. Being a part of the Gold Crew is a fun way to get involved with the club and help create a great match day experience for everyone. Gold Crew members volunteer on game days for 1-2 hours at our home, Kezar Stadium. Tasks include: Assisting in half-time activities, handing out programs at the gate, putting up signage, etc.
All Gold Crew members receive a special “SF CITY GOLD CREW” T-shirt at their first game. They also receive two free tickets for each game at which they volunteer.
Volunteers also earn free SF City gear. The more games you work, the more you earn. Volunteer for three games, and you will receive a free SF City FC T-shirt. Volunteer for all seven games, you get an SF City FC Hoodie!
To learn more, email community@sfcityfc.com or call 415-205-5756.
To volunteer for a game, sign up here.
In a month we’ll get our first look at SF City on the pitch! Preseason starts April 13th.
We’ll have two preseason matches in April. Details for the games are below:
vs. Academy of Art
vs. Menlo College
Are you excited for Head Coach Evan Sassano’s first season with SF City?
So are we! The Bay Area native had a brush with the team a few years back when he nearly donned the Iron and Gold as a player. We had to wait a little longer than we hoped. But now he’ll stand on the sidelines in his much anticipated debut for SF City.
Before Coach Sassano leads our team on the pitch we wanted to get to know him a little better. And with your help we put together a great list of questions for coach.
If you’re like us and want to get to know coach a little better, check out how he answered your questions:
What was it like playing in Europe? How were your interactions with supporters there?
“Playing in Europe was a great experience for me. I finally felt like I was in the right place being with so many people who share passion for the game that I love so much. I have many fond memories of celebrating in the clubhouse with our supporters after winning matches. The supporters play a huge role in any club. They are the heartbeat of the club and what makes you want to give your all for the team.”
How did you hear of SF City? What made you want to coach for us?
“I first heard about SF City from Jordan Gardner. He was trying to have me as a player, but the timing wasn’t right. Then when I was coaching at SF State, we played a match with SF City who was then coached by Paddy Coyne. Paddy and I have stayed in touch and I am excited to be working with him. I feel this is a great opportunity for me, and I am a Bay Area native. I live locally, so I want soccer to take off here. Part of the reason I got into coaching is to take on a positive role in the player pathway in this country. Players are often left to their own when it comes to development. Soccer is entertaining and San Francisco is still a sleeping giant when it comes to soccer at the next level.”
What kind of formation and style of play do you prefer? How much does that depend on your players and/or the opponents?
“I love to play collective attacking soccer. I love for my team to have the ball and score many goals. However, at this level, it all depends on the qualities of the players. I really enjoy playing a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3, but it is very important to adapt to your players and the competition.”
How will you foster cooperation between players who are teammates on SF City but rivals in NCAA play?
“This is a great question. Putting a team together with players coming from many different places and playing attractive soccer that wins games is no easy task. However, I can remember as a player for the San Jose Frogs, or professionally for that matter, that I enjoyed the experience of playing with different players and coaches. We all want the same thing, and that is to win and to improve every day. If you want to be successful as a player, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Players for City need to show up, work hard and play for the team. I know we can come together, and at the end of it, all be better because of it.”
What's your favorite soccer film?
“Green Street Hooligans. I like how it shows how seriously some people take the game. A little too much sometimes in my opinion, but I love the passion.”
What is your opinion on India Pale Ales?
“Best taste. After a long day, you can’t beat it”
How much beer do you recommend in a proper training regimen?
“I think it depends on the age. A veteran has experience and knows how to perform. For them, listen to your body. For the rookies, stay focused!”
How strictly will you enforce our no-man-bun policy?
“I fully support the wishes of the supporters, especially when it comes to matters like this.”
Have you worn the pigeon mask yet?
“No idea what that is, but I look forward to finding out.”
How quickly will you adapt to your assistant's northern English accent?
“I don’t think I will ever understand it, but I will do my best.”
SF City FC open tryouts this weekend were a big success! Director of Football Patryk Tenorio had this to say:
“The turnout was great and I think the level (of play) was actually pretty good.”
We are happy to announce we’ve invited six trialists to further train with the squad! Look for an announcement of our pre-season schedule later this week.
You can check out more photos of the tryouts on Instagram.
This is your chance to step on to the pitch for the Iron & Gold!
SF City FC will be hosting free open tryouts March 9th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Beach Chalet Soccer Fields! Tryouts will be held on Field #3 . Please arrive 15 to 30 minutes early for check-in.
Please click below to register and ensure you have a spot reserved for your try-out with the club. It’s FREE.
Several of our players have gone on to have professional careers. Will you be the next one? This is your chance to represent your City in USL League Two football!
https://goo.gl/forms/QJ5OeErz85tdaL802
¡Ya es tu oportunidad para jugar para SF City!
La prueba será gratis Y empezará el 9 de marzo desde las 5 de la tarde hasta las 7 en la cancha #3 de Beach Chalet. Favor de llegar entre 15 y 30 minutos antes para registrarte.
Haz un click abajo para registrarte y asegurar que tengas tu espacio reservado. Es GRATIS.
Hemos tenido varios jugadores quienes han tenido carreras profesionales jugando fútbol. ¿Serás el próximo? ¡Esta es tu oportunidad para representar tu ciudad en la liga de USL2!
https://goo.gl/forms/QJ5OeErz85tdaL802
Are you ready for opening day at Kezar Stadium? Better question, are you up for a derby?
On Cinco de Mayo we’re opening the season at home against our cross-town rivals the San Francisco Glens! Having finished above them in the division last season we look to continue that run by showing them what it means to be iron in war! Tickets will be $10 and kids under 6 get in free!
We can’t wait to see you at Kezar to kick off another season of SF City football!
Tickets go on sale March 1st.
SF City FC is proud to welcome our new head coach Evan Sassano!
Coach Sassano joins City FC following a season at the helm of the Holy Names University Hawks. Prior to his coaching career he played professionally in Europe and for the Minnesota Stars of the NASL. He’s taking the place of our beloved Coach Paddy Coyne, who is moving over to a special advisory role with the club for the 2019. We're truly thankful that Paddy is staying with us, as he's not only been a great coach, but a true asset to the club, and we're really excited for what he will be bringing to us in his new role.
Before taking over as head coach at HNU, Coach Sassano was the top assistant with the San Francisco State Gators during the 2017 season. The team finished with a 15-5-2 record and clinched a postseason berth for the first time since 1978. Ahead of his time with the Gators he spent three seasons as an assistant with his alma mater, Cal Berkeley.
During his college career Sassano was a starting defender. The Golden Bears received a bid to the NCAA tournament during all four seasons of his tenure. Following his time at UC Berkeley he played professionally in Germany for Luckenwalde FSV 63 and in the Netherlands for SV Meerssen before returning to the US to play for the Minnesota Stars.
Welcome to the Iron & Gold, Coach!
The fans have spoken! The winner of the 2019 SF City Scarf Design Contest is none other than lifetime member Pete Bogdis. One of our proudest traditions is that the members create the designs for our scarves, and the members vote for the one they like best. Pete has been a member for many years, being one of the first lifetime members and a founder member of the Northside supporters. The scarves are in production right now and will soon be available for sale. Of course, if you are a member, yours will be mailed to you as part of your membership 2019 package! Congratulations to Pete and to all the talented folks who contributed designs. Roll Fog!
Nap Badillo is well known in Bay Area football circles. His photographs have helped bring the game before the eyes of many. Recognition of what he means to the game, the club, and the supporters was long overdue. But, on Dec 14th, that all changed. Nap was nominated by the fans of the club to be the recipient of the 2018 Emperor Norton’s Award, and the Members Board of Directors unanimously voted to support that nomination.
This award is presented to the supporter who has best exemplified our club's values of service, personal integrity, and dedication throughout the season. Typical of Nap’s humble nature, he was completely surprised by the presentation, made by His Majesty, Norton I, Emperor of The United States and Protector of Mexico.
SF City FC Supporters! Memberships for 2019 are now available here: http://sfcityfc.com/membership
We have several different membership options to suit your needs, from $25 Ambassador memberships for supporters living far away, all the way up to $500 Lifetime memberships.
All membership plans include: unique 2019 fan-designed member scarf, additional 2019 member gifts, members-only offers and events, ability to run for the Member Board and, of course, voting privileges.
All memberships become active on January 1st, and the scarves and membership packages will be mailed out in early Spring 2019.
SF City FC Members! Please submit your nominations for the 2018 Emperor Norton's Award by November 7th via https://tinyurl.com/y7teufsw
This award is presented to the supporter who has best exemplified our club's values of service, personal integrity, and dedication throughout the season.
The award ceremony will take place during our Holiday Party, to be held on Friday, December 14th.
Thanks again to all the members who attended the 2018 Annual General Meeting last week, and to all who cast absentee ballots. Your participation helped make 2018 another great year for the Supporter-Owned football movement.
The club is happy to announce that our 2019 board of directors are Joachim Steinberg, Pete Bogdis, Brendan Browne, Mark DeVito, Barbara Elliott, Wendy Guzman, Casey Proud, Eric Schaefer, and Kirk White! The new board will take office on January 1st 2019. We're pleased to welcome back Casey Proud, one of the founders of the club and a great voice for the supporters, and newcomer Barbara Elliott, who has inspired so many with her dedication and willingness to work to work for the advancement of SF City!
Be sure to mark December 14th on your calendars, as we will be holding our Holiday Party then!
San Francisco City FC’s third season in the Premier Development League had its ups and downs, but, looking back, the Iron and Gold have a great deal to be proud of on and off the field in 2018.
Following a successful preseason that included three victories over nearby colleges and a narrow loss to three-peating national champion Stanford, City faced a daunting half-dozen away matches to begin the PDL campaign. The road was not kind to the squad, as a scoreless draw at the Orange County U23s provided the only point of the stretch. On the difficult opening, head coach Paddy Coyne remarked, “Although we lost on the road, I didn't think we played badly. Orange County, Southern California, and San Diego should have all been wins, in my opinion, but that's sports.”
The start of the season did have one major bright spot, however. On May 9, SF City, along with our diehard supporters, the Northsiders, journeyed to Oakland to face CD Aguiluchos in the first round of the US Open Cup. At the end of the ninety minutes, City had roared to a 4-0 victory to the delight of the traveling fans. It was the club’s first Open Cup win in our history, and it earned us a date one week later with the USL’s Sacramento Republic in our state’s capital. In front of spirited support for both sides, City fought valiantly and gave the strongly favored Republic a scare, taking a 1-1 draw into halftime before falling 3-1. Despite the setback, the Cup run certainly represented a big step forward, one the club will look to build on in the coming years.
Back in PDL play, SF City at last returned to Kezar on May 27. Said Coyne, “Returning to Kezar allowed to reset our focus and goals; playing in front of fans in our hometown gave the group a hunger to go the extra mile and it helped a lot.” The grueling road schedule seemed to carry a bit of a hangover, however, as the Iron and Gold dropped a 2-0 decision to the San Diego Zest. The team had to put it behind them, though, as the next match was a massive away day despite being in San Francisco. It was the inaugural San Francisco Derby at Boxer Stadium, home to the SF Glens. With the vast majority of the crowd noise coming from the Northsiders, City took bragging rights with a 2-1 victory. What a way to earn the first league win of the year!
The lads carried the momentum to their next match, downing the Ventura County Fusion 2-0 at Kezar. Frustration, though, again came to visit for the next two weeks, as City came up short at home against the U23 teams of Orange County and Fresno. The season had certainly not gone according to plan thus far; how would the team react in the final four matches?
They reacted very well, as it turned out. The arrival of July delivered much better results, as SF City exploded for a total of seven goals in home triumphs over Santa Cruz and the Southern California Seahorses. The squad thus carried some confidence into the Kezar edition of the SF Derby, but, unfortunately, the fates were against the home team that night, as a controversial penalty allowed the Glens to leave with the 1-0 win. However, City rebounded admirably just three days later, earning a convincing 2-0 victory in Santa Cruz to finish the PDL season.
SF City thus finished the campaign with sixteen points in fourteen matches, good for sixth place among the nine teams in the Southwest Division. Said Coyne, “The season was dramatic to say the least. It was the toughest opening I've had as a coach, and the league had the deepest pool of talent I've seen in a while, pretty balanced outside of [runaway division winners] Golden State.” The final result was perhaps not what the team had envisioned at the start of the season, but they certainly finished on an upswing. Plus, City finished above our crosstown rivals by winning the tiebreaker with a higher number of wins. San Francisco is Iron and Gold!
This club, though, is about so much more than results on the field. Our supporter-owned structure continues to be a robust and rewarding model amid the often chaotic landscape of soccer in the US. It allows fans truly to be members, involved in the organization and its decisions. The club, in turn, prides itself on being involved with its city and working to make San Francisco a better place.
This commitment is most evident in our involvement with our community. As Executive Board of Directors member Joachim Steinberg puts it, “This was another great year for community service and engagement by SF City FC. I'm thrilled to see our members continue to volunteer their time, energy, and money to causes around the Bay, and to work with so many great organizations.” This year, club members took part in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk, served meals at St. Anthony’s, and helped to clean up the AIDS Memorial Grove. In addition, we fielded a team for Street Soccer USA’s San Francisco Cup and raised the most money for that organization.
We also kept our city in mind during our matchdays. In June, we celebrated Community Spirit Day, inviting our non-profit partners to join us at the match as we called attention to the great work they do for San Francisco. Later in the month, the team celebrated Pride Weekend by wearing special rainbow kits, which were auctioned off after the match to benefit the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.
Amidst all this activity, there was, quite simply, plenty of fun to be had as a devotee of SF City this year. Dedicated Northsiders made the trips to our matches in Palo Alto, Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz. At home matches, supporters could always be found in the parking lot just outside Kezar Stadium enjoying grilled meat and veggies, Standard Deviant brews, and laughs. Familiar faces abounded at our community service events. Looking forward to later this year, we still have our Annual General Meeting, in which we’ll discuss the state of the club and vote for next year’s board members. And, in December, we’ll have our holiday party and look back on our achievements in 2018.
Indeed, this year represents one more chapter in the ongoing story of San Francisco City FC. We hope you’ll stay with us in future years to help us continue to write it!
Join us on Saturday July 28th and Sunday July 29th for the Street Soccer San Francisco Cup, this year being held at Union Square. The annual two day event brings soccer and community together. SF City will be taking in part in Saturday's Open Cup, as well as Sunday's celebrity match!
You can be part of this event, too! Members will have the opportunity to join our Open Cup team, playing alongside SF City FC players and staff! Street Soccer USA is also looking for volunteers to help operate the event, so if that is more your speed, you can sign up! You can also donate to our Open Cup team, to help aid Street Soccer's programs for change. And, of course, all members and fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on our team and all the athletes of Street Soccer USA.
JOIN OUR TEAM (Or EMAIL us to join) SPACES ARE LIMITED!
San Francisco City FC is currently auctioning our 2018 match-worn Pride jerseys on eBay. The jerseys were worn by SF City players in the annual Pride match on June 24, 2018 at Kezar Stadium against Western Conference rivals Fresno FC U23. The club will be donating all profits from the jersey sales to their community partner AIDS Legal Referral Panel, as they did in 2017. ALRP provides free and low-cost legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The jerseys can be found here on eBay: https://ebay.to/2KtiPaQ
The jerseys were designed by local artist Nikko Ryan in collaboration with the Members Organization and feature SF City’s alternate “Sutro” logo on the chest, as well as a rainbow on the front and back and logos of club sponsors MoviePass and Freedom Plus. The shirts are limited edition, with only 16 match-worn jerseys are available for auction to the public.
The auction started on the morning of June 27 and will continue for 10 days. They are available in adult medium and large, and each jersey has a unique number.
SF City FC is happy to offer beer and wine sales at our match vs. Ventura County Fusion this Sunday, June 10 at Kezar Stadium. Thanks to our partners San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, Tonic Beverage Catering, and Standard Deviant Brewing, attendees will be able to enjoy beer and wine responsibly while supporting the Iron and Gold! We have also partnered with Mixiote and food Incubator La Cocina to offer taco bar concessions during the match.
Please note the following rules related to beer/wine sales and consumption during SF City matches:
San Francisco City FC is hosting its inaugural Community Spirit match day on June 10th!
The event will be part of SF City FC’s second home game of the season, which is against Ventura County Fusion. Kickoff is at 2 PM at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. As part of the club’s broader mission to give back to our community, we have invited some of our closest non-profit partners to join us at the game. We will be highlighting their efforts to make our City a better place.
Staff and guests of these non-profits will receive free admission to the game, and fans will have the opportunity to find out more about these fantastic organizations at kiosks set up around the stadium. We will also produce a special match-day program containing lots of information about our partners. Fans will learn how these organizations benefit us all and how they can get involved too!
In SF City’s last home match against Ventura County, the Iron and Gold earned a dramatic 3-2 victory after being two goals down, so it promises to be both an exciting time both on and off the pitch!
The first 200 fans through the gates at Kezar will receive a special free commemorative pin as well!
Taking part in Community Spirit 2018 are:
More about San Francisco City FC:
SF City FC is one of America’s largest supporter-owned soccer teams. Our founding members agreed to structure the organization differently than traditional American sports team, and envisioned the club as more than a team for fans to watch on match days. We believe that sports teams have a duty to the community in which they play. We see sports teams as tools for social change.
Our overall goal is to help grow the sport in the United States while making San Francisco a better place to live. The Members Organization pledges to give back to the community through charity events, volunteer hours, youth soccer programs and fundraising. In 2017 we contributed over 300 volunteer hours back to our community, and we are continuing to provide member support for major charitable organizations in 2018.
San Francisco City FC hosted the San Diego Zest on Sunday afternoon, for the 2018 PDL home opener at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. It was a clear, yet windy day, with blue skies and the iconic Sutro Tower providing a glorious backdrop for the action that unfolded on the pitch. Families, casual fans and the most fervent supporters of the club came together to create an electric and encouraging atmosphere, cheering on the Iron and Gold from Kezar’s northside bleachers. Despite a spirited effort by the home team, SF City FC found itself down two-nil at the end of the day.
In the opening minutes, the Zest created a variety of chances from set pieces and the corner, applying early pressure on the SF City backline. The Iron and Gold fought back with a few counter attacks of their own, but were unable to establish rhythm or find the net. In the 36th minute, a dicey back-pass left SF City with a tough one-on-one, which was calmly snuffed out by stalwart defender #4, Robert Hines.
Just moments later, in the 42nd minute the Zest found their breakthrough via the head of #13, Nico Tagaloa. Zest midfielder #11, Andy Sartor, swung in a cross from the left flank and Tagaloa was able to rise above his defender to nod the ball home. At the end of the first half, SF City had one final chance that was narrowly kept in-bounds by the Zest goalkeeper, and headed to the locker room down one-nil.
San Francisco came out in the second half looking resolved to score a goal. In the 62nd minute, City played a beautiful ball across the face of goal that was begging to be tapped-in, but no one was there to finish it. Just minutes later, a questionable call on the endline left the Zest with a goal kick, and SF City supporters wondering if a penalty was in order. As the clock rolled past the 70 minute mark, SF City continued to push for a goal, with a couple narrowly missed headers at the far post, and a close range shot into the side netting.
In the 84th minute, SF City’s #8, Danny Kirkland, stepped up to a set piece just beyond the penalty area, and nearly treated the crowd to a spectacular goal. A wonderful curling ball made contact with the inside of the far post, and bounced across the face of goal, just inches from putting SF City on the scoreboard.
The Zest added another goal to their tally in the final minutes off the boot of #10 midfielder, Shota Fukuda. A careless SF City takeaway resulted in a long ball over-the-top, which was picked up by Fukuda and deflected into the net off the outstretched boot of SF City’s goalkeeper. As the final minutes expired, the official’s whistle confirmed the two-nil result. Next week, San Francisco City FC returns to action against local rival, the San Francisco Glens SC. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 PM on Saturday at Boxer Stadium. Roll fog!
-Match Report by Alex Englund
SF City FC is proud to partner with Bay Area Online Sports Network (BAOSN.tv) for 3 home matches this season and will produce original audio-only broadcasts for the other 4 home contests. BAOSN has been a partner of SF City FC’s since our move to the USL-PDL in January 2016. BAOSN covered our PDL historic announcement and our entire 2016 season including pre-season friendlies. All matches will be available and accessible on YouTube, BAOSN.tv and on SFCityFC.com. Please check our social media channels for links to our broadcasts on matchdays.
The following matches will be broadcast on BAOSN.tv:
The following matches will be audio only broadcasts:
Calling SF City matches for the 2018 is Charles Wollin. Now in his 4th season as commentator with SF City, Wollin is a British-born Marin native and dual-citizen. Wollin currently serves as the voice of the W.tv’s coverage of soccer broadcasts at the University of San Francisco. He has been calling Division I College Soccer since 2009, including stints at Stanford University and Santa Clara. Earlier this year, he started writing and blogging about soccer culture in San Francisco for SFGate.
Wollin is one of the lead voices of Street Soccer USA and their National Cup campaign program across the United States. In 2015, he became a sideline reporter for Comcast and BAOSN.tv where he covers the high school football and basketball game of the week broadcasts.
In 2014, he travelled to Brazil to cover the FIFA World Cup for the full duration of the tournament. His prior work experience also includes calling matches for the San Jose Earthquakes, National Premier Soccer League, and Tourbeau Sports Network. He has also been a featured pundit and impersonator on Fox Soccer Channel and Wynalda Talks Football on Sirius XM. Wollin began his career at his alma mater, the University of Arizona, covering men’s basketball for Zona Zoo TV.
In addition to broadcasting, Wollin is a professional impersonator, voice-over artist, activist and is a proud Member of the San Francisco Spikes. You can follow Charles Wollin on Twitter @cwollin.
San Francisco City Football Club is a supporter-owned soccer club competing in the Premier Development League.
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About BAOSN.tv
Our mission is to deliver cost-effective, high definition, quality broadcasts of local high school and college sporting events over the web. As our tagline says: Game On — Live and Later. Our broadcasts are available live and then archived for several years. Any broadcast, live or archived, is viewable by everyone for free.
SF City Supporters, here is a chance for both you and your children to be more than spectators at our home matches!
Does your child want to get a field level view of the game? Sign her/him up now to be a ball kid. Ball kids get free tickets for the match and can also take part in the pre-match festivities.
Contact us now at community@sfcityfc.com and tell us which match day your kids want to be part of!
For those who are kids at heart and want to be part of the match day at the stadium, the GOLD CREW IS BACK. The Gold Crew are volunteers who help ensure a great match day experience for all. Being part of the Crew is not only a great way to show your devotion to your football club, but also a great way to get game tickets and special team gear items FREE. Our volunteer shifts are designed to allow you to enjoy the match and contribute to it as well! For more information or to sign up, visit the Get Involved page!
San Francisco City FC has advanced to the second round of the US Open Cup for the first time in its history. After defeating CD Aguiluchos 4-0 at Raimondi Park, Oakland, the Iron and Gold will play Sacramento Republic at 5 pm on May 16 at CSU-Sacramento. SF City was backed by boisterous traveling support, with a large contingent of Northsiders crossing the Bay Bridge.
The victory avenged City’s 3-0 defeat by Aguiluchos at Beach Chalet in 2016, but the final score line was unfair to the home side. Both clubs had chances in a cagey first half, until City’s Aaron Lombardi put away a rebound off a penalty kick in the 44th minute. Matthew Hurlow’s wonder strike doubled City’s lead before the half. After the interval, City scored twice more, with Jordan Hughes chipping the keeper in the 80th minute and Armand Bagramyan adding another at the final whistle.
The Eagles came close to scoring a few times, but were stymied by excellent goalkeeping from Taylor Bailey (back in the line-up for the first time since being injured in a pre-season match against Stanford) and a confident City backline.
SF City Coach Paddy Coyne said: "The team worked well in the first half and caused some turnovers in dangerous areas that led to two goals. For the second half we set out with a different shape and the guys adapted well as we managed to score a couple more. Subs made a huge impact and I applaud the back four for absorbing a lot of pressure and keeping a clean sheet against a good attacking team with some very technical players. Onwards and upwards to Sacramento now!"
SF City kicked off their 2018 PDL campaign in Fresno on Saturday, but at the close of the evening found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline against Fresno FC's U23 side. Alex Culwell scored in the first half for the home team before Abraham Campos added one in the second. Coach Paddy Coyne summed it up, saying "We competed well throughout the game but lacked rhythm in our build-up."
"We had a goal disallowed early on in the first half and created chances in the 2nd.
We lost to a solid Fresno squad but we need to get in a positive mindset again with three massive games all on the road in the next week."
The club will look to bounce back on Wednesday as they enter US Open Cup play in Oakland against CD Aguiluchos. The match will take place at Raimondi Park at 6:00PM. Get tickets now, and come support The Iron & Gold.
San Francisco City FC is proud to announce MoviePass as our title partner for the 2018 season.
As part of the partnership, the MoviePass logo will appear on the front of the match jerseys worn by SF City FC players for the 2018 season during Premier Development League (“PDL”) and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Matches.
“It’s really exciting to have MoviePass join as our title partner” said SF City FC President Jacques Pelham. “SF City and MoviePass share a commitment to creating affordable, inclusive entertainment opportunities for our members and subscribers, whether going to watch a match at Kezar or seeing a movie at a local theater.”
Additionally, SF City will partner with MoviePass to potentially provide promotional opportunities to SF City members, co-branded SF City/MoviePass giveaways at matches, and MoviePass activations and events throughout the upcoming season.
About San Francisco City FC: San Francisco City FC is a community based, supporter-owned soccer club. Competing in the USL Premier Development League (“PDL”), the Club pursues a dual mission of competing at the highest levels of U.S. Professional Soccer while maintaining ongoing community ownership and a commitment to civic service in San Francisco.
About MoviePass: MoviePass Inc. is a technology company dedicated to enhancing the exploration of cinema. As the nation's premier movie-theater subscription service, MoviePass provides film enthusiasts the ability to attend up to one movie per day for a low subscription price. The service, now accepted at more than 91% of theaters across the United States, is the nation's largest theater network. For more information, visit www.moviepass.com.
San Francisco City FC kicks off the regular season this Saturday, May 5th, at CSU Fresno after weeks of diligent preparation including four pre-season friendlies. SF City scored 9 goals, while allowing just 4 against en route to a 3-1 preseason record, and has now shifted focus towards the opening weekend of the Premier Development League (PDL) season. Head coach Paddy Coyne returns following a successful 2017 PDL campaign and looks to navigate his team through a difficult early season schedule. SF City FC returns to action with six consecutive road games, including Open Cup play, prior to the May 27th opener at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
The opening match of the season is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Saturday at CSU Fresno, against Fresno FC U23, formerly known as the Fresno Fuego. With two of the most spirited fanbases in the league, the atmosphere on the pitch and in the stands should be electric. Four days later, the Iron and Gold face cross-bay rival CD Aguiluchos in the initial round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Raimondi Park, Oakland. SF City FC will then travel to Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego in advance of the highly anticipated homecoming match at Kezar Stadium at the end of the month.
The return to U.S. Open Cup play will be an especially proud moment for the club. Coach Coyne said: “This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved with our Club and especially our players to represent San Francisco competing against the best soccer teams in the U.S.”
This year, City returns to Kezar Stadium, its home for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The historic venue has been the scene of many important moments in the club’s history, including its 2015 match against Cal FC, where it set an attendance record for US Open Cup preliminary rounds, and the dramatic 4-0 victory against rival Burlingame Dragons in the 2016 PDL season finale.
In addition to the home opener against San Diego Zest on May 27th, fans should mark June 10th on their calendars as Ventura County come to town. Last season, The City defeated The County 3-2 at Negoesco in a dramatic comeback from being two goals down.
Also not to be missed is our match against Orange County (June 15th). Last season, City fell behind 2-0 before roaring back for a comfortable 6-2 win, paced by a Danny Kirkland hat trick.
On June 24th, Paddy Coyne’s men welcome Fresno FC and their well-traveling supporters. SF City claimed a nail-biting 2-1 victory over Fresno at Negoesco last season, and this edition is sure to have the same great atmosphere.
Check out our 2018 schedule at http://sfcityfc.com/schedule!
The spine of the team will be made up of returning veterans of Iron & Gold, including among them midfielders Danny Kirkland, Carlos Lezama, Dylan Murphy, and Carlos Carranza, defenders Barry McCabe and Robert Hines, and between the posts, Taylor Bailey. They will be joined by several promising new members of the squad, including ‘keeper Remi Prieur, defender Brian Nana-Sinkam, and strikers Sean Bowman and Matt Hurlow, to name a few.
“The culture of the club is with the local guys” said Coyne, “We’ve got around 15 players who’ve been with us, year after year, and those guys are key to us. But we also have a lot of young blood coming up through the system. We have three local high school kids training with the team, for example, and it’s good to have this influx of talent. It’s pretty exciting.”
Club memberships, which include scarves, discounted/season tickets, exclusive members-only perks, and the right to elect the board of directors (giving the fans a say in how their club is run), are available now at http://sfcityfc.com/memberships/. Single match tickets are just $10 and are available to purchase in advance via http://sfcityfc.com/tickets/.
SF City FC would like to thank all of the kids of youth soccer in the Bay Area who participated in the 2018 America SCORES book drive. Your generous donations of both new and used books went to help bring much needed resources to low-income students in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. Our congratulations go to the winners, LAFAYETTE DOLPHINS Kindergarten Co-Ed team! Their team get to enjoy a free pizza party, donated jointly by SF City FC and America SCORES. Congratulations also to runners up IFC STRIKERS. They will receive the second place prize of a $100.00 Sports Basement Gift Card. Again, we would like to thank you for your participation in a very successful book drive! About America SCORES
America SCORES partners with low-income, under-resourced public schools and forms soccer teams. Each team has both a soccer coach and a writing coach. SCORES currently works with more than 1500 student-athletes in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area regions. They use the Beautiful Game of soccer to help children be healthy and happy while also teaching and supporting literacy and academic skills.
The Book Zone is one way that SCORES helps students. Many of SCORES participants own fewer than five books. Some have none at all. At regional SCORES game days, children get to choose books to take home to read and to keep as they build their own home libraries. Reading material in the home is a primary predictor of future success in school. Research and common sense agree: if you can't learn to read, you can't read to learn. When it comes to learning to read, childhood has no second chances.
Find out more, or donate at https://www.americascoresbayarea.org/
SF City supporters, we're very happy to announce StreetSoccer Park as a new community partner. SF City members qualify for 20% discounts on drop-in playing fees, over 25% discounts on monthly fees, and over 30% discounts on team registration fees! Just show your membership card when you register to play at their Mission Rock facility. Get out and PLAY!
Street Soccer Park is located at 200 Terry Francois Blvd by AT&T Park. The community-oriented small-side soccer complex offers weekly pick up games for youth and adults, as well as soccer classes for kids 18 months to 12 years old. Find out more at www.StreetSoccerPark.com!
San Franciso City FC's pre-season friendlies begin on March 31st with a match against Notre Dame De Namur University! The pre-season will wrap up with the long standing Negoesco derby match against USF on April 28th. The full slate of friendlies is listed below:
Further match day information for these matches coming soon!
Be sure to check out our full 2018 schedule.
San Francisco City FC is proud to announce we have qualified for the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Club will represent San Francisco in this 105th edition of the Open Cup Tournament, with the first round scheduled for Wednesday May 9th. We are deeply honored to represent our great city and continue San Francisco's legacy of success in the Open Cup. SF City FC Head Coach Patrick Coyne said: "We are proud to have qualified for the Open Cup and look forward to competing at the highest levels through the tournament. This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved with our Club and especially our players to represent San Francisco competing against the best soccer teams in the U.S."
Coyne led SF City's successful 2017 PDL campaign, through which SF City qualified for the 2018 Open Cup. Coyne previously led SF City's successful Open Cup qualification in 2016, the last time the Club featured in the tournament.
Additional details regarding our first round matchup will be posted in the coming weeks including our opponent and venue/ticket information for the First Round match.
One of the most important missions of San Francisco City Football Club is serving our local community in a tangible, meaningful way. When Redwood City's Sequoia High School soccer team was having trouble obtaining new equipment, SF City stepped in to help.
One of our members was made aware of the difficulties facing the program, and he brought it to the attention of the Members Organization Board of Directors, who took action. Last week, Sequoia's new practice jerseys were delivered, courtesy of SF City FC, by Board member and lifetime Bay Area resident, Pete Bogdis (pictured above with Sequoia coach Kevin Huber). The club recognizes that school athletic programs can make a huge difference in children's lives, and is proud to support them in any way it can throughout the Bay Area, our home.
San Francisco City Fans! We are very proud to announce that we will be returning to Kezar Stadium for all of our home matches in 2018! We called Kezar home in our 2015 and 2016 seasons. It has hosted many teams who proudly represented San Francisco over the decades, and SF City FC has been no exception. Who can forget magical moments such as our 4-0 thrashing of the Burlingame Dragons in 2016? Now is the time to add to that legacy. Special thanks to San Francisco Recreation and Park Department for allowing us to use this historic venue again. See you in the stands!
The votes have been cast, and we have a winner! Many thanks to everyone who participated in the 2018 scarf design contest. The winning entry, as created, and voted on by you, the members, has a sharp, plaid design featuring the familiar colors of SF City FC. At the game or around town, it will look certainly look great on you! The author of the design, who has elected to remain anonymous, has donated his/her prize of a $100 SF City FC Team Store Gift Card to Street Soccer USA, in gratitude for all the good work in our City that organization has accomplished.
Be sure to purchase your 2018 Membership now in order to get the one of the first deliveries of the new scarf! Hold it high, and with pride, as a symbol, not just of the club, but of the fact that it is YOUR club, where you have a say in how it is run.
SF City Supporters! It's that time of year again! The time when you, the members of the club, decide what our scarf for the upcoming season will look like. Members submit their designs, and members will be the ones who choose which is to be adopted by the team.The creator of the winning design will win a $100 credit for the team store! The rules of the contest are simple:
In order to make the design process easier, we've created this Scarf Design Template which you can download and use.
Are you part of a youth team here in the Bay Area? Then consider signing up to join our 2018 New and Used Book Drive Contest to benefit the kids of AmericaSCORES Bay Area. The contest is open to any U17 team in the Bay Area. The teams which donate the most books to the program will win special prizes! The winning team will get a FREE pizza party, courtesy of SF City FC and AmericaSCORES. Second and third place teams will receive Sports Basement gift cards!
The deadline for joining the contest is March 5th. To sign up or find out more information, contact us at community@sfcityfc.com. The book drive will run from March 10th through April 15th. Donated books should be for 1st through 5th grade reading level. Multicultural or bilingual books are especially appreciated!
Let's all work together to make our home a better place through the game of football!
Last Friday, in partnership with America SCORES Bay Area, SF City FC goalkeeping coach Patryk Tenorio, and player Carlos Lezama led a free soccer clinic for the kids of Hillcrest Elementary School. The kids, ranging from 1st to 5th graders, got a chance to learn the basics of dribbling and passing, and got a chance for some open play, with an emphasis on problem solving and getting as many touches on the ball as possible! The free clinic program represents a step forward in SF City's plan to provide training and playing time to kids who don't have access to academies and formal youth soccer clubs, and give them an introduction to the pure enjoyment of the beautiful game. The club hopes to introduce a series of these clinics at several elementary schools throughout the Bay Area in 2018.
"It was a great experience and really a beautiful moment not just for the players but myself as well" said coach Patryk Tenorio, "just going to show the power of the beautiful game and how it can bring people together."
San Francisco City FC is very proud to have the opportunity to work with America SCORES, a non-profit that empowers students in urban communities using soccer, writing, creative expression, and service-learning. America SCORES Bay Area now proudly serves more than 1,400 children at 55 low-income elementary and middle schools in San Francisco.
Say hello to the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the SF City FC Members Organization, Dominic Perrett! Dominic, a former member of the organization's board of directors, takes over for outgoing President, Mike Gonos. Dominic brings a wealth of experience to the job, having served on the 2017 Board of Directors, as well as years of volunteer work with his club back in the UK. "Football has been a passion of mine all of my life." said Dominic. "In addition to being a lifelong fan of Southampton FC, I also supported and volunteered at my local non-league team (Winchester City) for many years. I loved the spirit and camaraderie of grassroots football, and was always by impressed how football had the power to bring a local community together."
"Having watched my first SF City FC game in 2015, I was caught up by the same passion and togetherness. Since then it's been an honor to give some of my time in supporting and developing this great club."
Mike Gonos, who was recently elected to a fourth term on the board of directors, had this to say about the transition: "We've really been hunting for a successor for a while, as I simply didn't want to go on wearing two hats (board member and CEO). The club is growing every day, and managing the members organization demands a great deal of attention. I'm proud of the work accomplished in helping to get the organization to this point, and I'm very happy that we found the right person to take it to the next level. I'm also really looking forward to being able to devote myself full time to the job of representing the members of the club as part of the board."
We asked our new Members CEO some questions about how he sees his new position:
Q. What excites you most about the club? SF City FC was built by its fans for the community. As one of only a handful of supporter-owned soccer clubs in the US, SF City FC is really blazing the trail for a new model of sports ownership.
Q. What will be your main priorities? I think everything that we're doing as a membership organization is driven by three core goals: 1) Increasing our visibility in the City, 2) Increasing our attendance / membership and 3) Maximizing our positive impact on the community. I would love to see as many new faces at the games as possible in 2018, and ensure that SF City is synonymous with community support.
Q. Will you be seeking more volunteer staff this year? Definitely! We're still working out where we'll need the support in 2018, but if you're interested in helping out with the club it would be great if you could sign up at: https://goo.gl/forms/ENynopm1JfkR07zH2
2018 looks to be another exciting year of growth and another step forward for the club!
TIS' THE SEASON FOR IRON AND GOLD HOLIDAY CHEER! We're celebrating our Club, City and holiday spirit with Standard Deviant Brewing next Thursday Dec 7, 7:00 p.m.
To commemorate, we're releasing an SF City x Standard Deviant MEMBER EXCLUSIVE holiday "sweater." Anyone who purchases a 2018 SF City Membership prior to or at the holiday event will receive this gift.
The shirts will be available for pickup at Standard Deviant on 12/7 with additional delivery options for those who can't attend.
Already purchased a 2018/Lifetime membership? No problem, check your e-mail for details on how to receive your shirt.
Purchase memberships at http://sfcityfc.com/memberships/
Monday, November 27, 2017
Dear Soccer Fans Everywhere:
We believe in supporter ownership because we believe that soccer belongs to the players and the fans, not those with the most money or the best real estate. Because too many fans have lost their teams through the avarice of owners or the incompetence of leagues. Because clubs are most meaningful when they reflect their communities. Because a club’s history and identity are parts of a story that means something, not a brand identity to be packaged and sold.
We were founded by a group of passionate soccer fans who had seen teams fold and who had seen teams leave. Fans who knew that there was a better way forward for the sport in America. Fans who knew that only a supporter-owned club could truly protect supporter interests over the long-term. Who believed that community involvement, service, and open governance were values, not marketing points.
Soccer in America is at a decision point. It can become like the other professional leagues in this country, closed shops where only cities deemed worthy by those in power can have top-level teams, or it can become something different. That’s why we believe in supporter ownership.
Nosotros creemos que los aficionados deben ser los dueños de su club porque creemos que el fútbol es para los jugadores y los aficionados, no solo para los que tienen más dinero o más propiedad. Porque hay demasiados aficionados que han perdido sus equipos por las malas decisiones del dueño o por incompetencia de la liga. Porque el club significa más cuando refleja su comunidad. Porque la historia e identidad de un club son cosas que significan algo, no son una marca para vender.
Fuimos fundados por un grupo de fanáticos que realmente sienten una pasión por el fútbol y que habían visto otros equipos fallar y salir. Fanáticos que sabían que había una mejor manera para mejorar el deporte en este país. Fanáticos que sabían que un club donde los aficionados eran los dueños podía realmente proteger los intereses del aficionado a largo plazo. Creían que el enredo en la comunidad, el servicio, y la gobernancia transparente eran valores, no puntos de mercadeo.
El fútbol en los EEUU está en un punto crítico. Puede volverse como las otras ligas en este país, donde solo las ciudades consideradas meritorias por los que tienen el control y poder pueden tener equipos en la liga de primera división. O, puede ser algo diferente. Es por eso creemos en nuestro sistema.
Sincerely, The San Francisco City Football Club Members Organization
Supporter Ownership Statement(PDF)
2018 SF City FC Memberships are now available! All memberships include SF City member rights and privileges and include an official scarf and exclusive member gift.
For a limited time Season Ticket, Family and Lifetime membership purchase/renewals will include a $20 gift card to the SF City FC team store.
For 2018, SF City is entering our 3rd year in the USL Premier Development League, the highest level amateur league in the U.S.
SF City members have helped build the Club through the local amateur ranks to become one of the most well-known amateur Clubs across the country.
Gold in Peace, Iron in War. Join today and help build the future of pro soccer in San Francisco!
Thank you to all SF City Members who took part in this year’s Annual General Meeting. There were several important items discussed this year. Members Board Chair Joachim Steinberg delivered a fascinating presentation on the US soccer landscape and its implications for SF City. Members’ Organization CEO Mike Gonos conducted a short lesson in SF City’s unique organizational structure, so new members could grasp how our team functions. Club President Jacques Pelham presented his annual State of Club address, providing an assessment of our successful 2017 season.
The biggest event at the meeting was the election of our 2018 Members Board of Directors. Thanks also go to Election Commissioner Allison Bridges, and her assistant, long-time member Clinton Becker, who ensured the election ran smoothly and efficiently.
Congratulations to our 2018 Board Members:
Upcoming initiatives and events were also discussed. Among these is our participation in the 2017 Light The Night Walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma, as well as plans for our FREE youth soccer clinics.
2018 is already looking like a pivotal year in the growth of our club!
SF City FC supporters, these club members have stepped up and volunteered to serve on the 2018 Board of Directors:
Kirk White, Joachim Steinberg, Eric Schaefer, Dominic Perrett, Michael Massocca, Alexander Lovell, Wendy Guzman, Michael Gonos, Willy Fouts, Olavo Dourado, Mark DeVito, Brendan Browne, Pete Bogdis, Alexia Bogdis
The SF City FC Members Organization represents the interests of the fans of our club, protecting their rights and advising and assisting the club in its mission of growing football in our City. The board is composed of nine members, all of whom are elected on a yearly basis.
All SF City FC members in good standing are invited to our Annual General Meeting on Saturday, 4:00PM October 14th, at Sports Basement, 1590 Bryant Street, San Francisco, to cast their vote for who will represent them on the board.
SF City FC is extremely grateful to all the candidates for volunteering their time and talents to the cause!
Absentee Voting:
Can't be in San Francisco for the meeting? Members may apply for an absentee ballot and instructions by email to the club secretary.
Alexia Bogdis
I believe individuals and organizations are duty bound to support each other and their community. Everything is interconnected. Those with gifts should share them with others, and there is enough prosperity to share so everyone benefits. Whether that means volunteering at the Food Bank, mentoring youth, beautifying the community or lifting someone’s spirits we all have something to give. The Northsiders’ commitment to serving the community is unparalleled. I participated in the Light the Night last year. Getting to carry the white light of a survivor is something I actually can’t describe in words. I’m working on some ideas around youth mentoring which is a great need in our community. I love the fact that SFCFC isn’t just a consumer of the sport but feels the responsibility and desire to be a positive force in the community.
I will represent the voice of the people well! Pete Bogdis
It's been an honor for me to represent the members on the board this year. I look forward to continuing and growing the good work we've accomplished in 2017. Next year is shaping up to be a crucial time for our club, and I believe that the membership is in good, steady, and focused hands with our current board members. The members of SF City have built a solid, community focused foundation, and the future direction of our club is in all of our hands. Roll Fog. Brendan Browne
Dear SF City FC Members, My name is Brendan Browne, and I am running for re-election to the 2018 Board of Directors. I have very much enjoyed representing you all for the past two years. In that time, the club has seen an increase in membership, as well as an increase in community service participation and overall positive local impact. I strongly believe that the unique model of this club will allow it to thrive for years to come, and I want to continue to play a leadership role in seeing that this happens. If I am re-elected, I promise to represent all of the membership to my best ability. I remain available to contact via email at Brendan@sfcityfc.com if you have any questions. Thank you and Roll Fog! Mark DeVito
My name is Mark DeVito, and I would like to be considered for the SFCFC Board for 2018. I currently sit on the board for The Bay Bridged, a local non profit, and have held board seats for other non-profits in the past. I am a local business owner with a large network of outreach and social contacts, as well as a huge fan of SFCFC. My strengths include a passion for soccer, a passion for community outreach, and an ability to get large groups together for fundraisers and community service projects. Oh yeah, one of my businesses is a brewery, so I can provide beer for meetings! Olavo Dourado
No statement Willy Fouts
"Football explains the world.” If I had to describe the beautiful game in one sentence, that would be it.
Soccer is a form of communication that speaks to anybody. Given that the world is getting smaller and smaller, the growth and popularity of the game in this country is inevitable. The quality that showcases itself on the pitch, ultimately begins at the grassroots level. The same way a basketball is so effortlessly dribbled down the street, so to will a soccer ball. It’s up to the members, to instill this passion in the community. Michael Gonos
I believe in this club and its mission, and have faithfully served it for the past four years. SF City is truly my life’s work. Its mission is more than just winning trophies, but, as I’ve said many times before, to do good through the game. I served first as part of the planning committee that built the foundations of the team, and upon its board of director for the past three years. I helped draft the by-laws of the club, and am a founding member of the club’s supporters firm, the Northsiders. For the past two years, I have had the honor both of serving on the Community Service team and as the CEO of the Members Organization.
What’s far more important than my personal hope that you will allow me to serve again is that we all dedicate ourselves to the great tasks ahead of us. We have seen clearly that our club is taking the right path, that of being embedded in our community. To take our club to the next level, we must not only continue on this path, but take the definitive steps of expanding our commitment to local youth soccer and educational programs, improving our relations with local fan groups, and increase our outreach in underserved communities here in the City. I not only ask for the opportunity to continue working to achieve these goals. I ask all members to come forward and volunteer what they can of their time and abilities to help make this club a success. Wendy Guzman
Hello, This past year I have been honored to serve on the board. I am excited at the possibility to continue to be a part of such an important movement alongside brilliant like-minded individuals, who care about bridging sports and community. It is with great enthusiasm that I bring to the table access to resources and community contacts, and a unique persepective as a native San Franciscan.
Thank you for your consideration. Alexander Lovell
I am thrilled to run for re-election to the SFCFC board and continue the momentum we built during my first term creating a unified strategy for our philanthropic projects and community involvement.
I am an experienced fundraiser, event organizer, and connector. In the past year, I have organized fundraising teams and events with Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity, and Cycle for Survival raising a total of nearly $10,000. I know players and coaches in the PDL, NASL, and MLS from my days as a player. I want to connect the existing board members with key influencers around the Bay Area to carve out a great spot for SFCFC. Additionally, I am comfortable working as treasurer and would be happy to administer Salesforce to organize membership and expansion. I am a Director at Salesforce and have completed admin training courses.
Most importantly, I'm a soccer fanatic. You can find me most weekends at Maggie's, singing songs after a win or crying into my beer after another Arsenal stumble. I cleaned out my bank account to go to the World Cup in Brazil. I was also a mediocre player at top-league local clubs and first team all-county in high school. Basically, I live for soccer and am obsessed with the opportunity to build up a San Francisco club with true spirit. SFCFC is that club and I couldn’t be more excited to continue my journey serving on the club’s board. Michael Massocca
Hi, my name is Michael Massocca and I want to share with you why I would be a good fit for SFCity's board. I am a resourceful person who likes to look at tasks in the big picture. I do not think inside the box and try to be open minded and explore new possibilities whether they be going out of my way to help the team or turn a negative into a positive the whole way through. I want to help the team any way I can whether its striking deals with locally owned companies to sponsor us during game days or provide us with food for tailgates, ect. Even if I do not make it on I just feel the need to chip in and at least try to provide feedback to the team any way I can. Dominic Perrett
It’s been a real honor serving on the SF City FC Board for the last year. I’ve been truly amazed at how much hard work, dedication and commitment the Board brings to our club.
During my first year, I’ve been focused on two core areas:
SF City is uniquely well positioned to build upon our bedrock of local support and bring the vision of supporter-owned football to a broader audience in both the Bay Area and the rest of the US.
I would love to be a part of this exciting journey for another year! Eric Schaefer
If someone had suggested to me in May of 2015 that I would be travelling more than five hundred miles to cheer on an amateur soccer club scheduled to play at a suburban Las Vegas high school I would have been skeptical, to say the least. In May of 2016, however, I found myself proudly wearing the scarf of a club in its first PDL game and doing exactly that. For 2017 I found myself serving as treasurer for the Membership organization.
I have screamed my voice raw for this club in the stands at Kezar then Negoesco and have been proud to lend my voice to this club in the boardroom. This coming year will bring the excitement of SF City’s third season in the PDL. It will also bring continuing uncertainty in the professional soccer pyramid, the search for a permanent home stadium, and the necessity of expanding our club’s investment footing and it’s casual fan base while keeping its driving values strong. A supporter-owned enterprise of any kind requires the commitment of its supporters to advance. I am ready to take my commitment to the next level and bring my passion and new perspective to advancing the club’s community outreach, sharpening its unique brand, and aggressively expanding its membership.
My name is Eric Schaefer. I am a Bay Area native, small business owner, homebrewer, (relatively new) football lover, and I wish to be one of your representatives on the San Francisco City Football Club Member Board of Directors. Joachim Steinberg
My name is Joachim "Jake" Steinberg. I'm a current board member, a lifetime member of SF City, and a Northsider. As the current chair of the board, I have had the honor of representing SF City's membership for two years and would like to continue as we approach a crucial time in the club's history.
Over the past two years, I led the members' board negotiations for the operating agreement and served as the members' representative to the LLC board. I've also developed community service partnerships for the club, helped drive our efforts to create this year's special pride jersey, and worked with both the ops team and the members' board to improve our fan experience and atmosphere.
My professional background is in law, although I was also an elementary school teacher before becoming an attorney. I'm a passionate soccer fan who has attended nearly every SF City home match (and a fair number of away matches) in the past three years. If you have any questions for me, you can reach me anytime at joachim@sfcityfc.comKirk White
I would like to formally be a candidate for the board. For the past year, I have been working with board member, Mike Gonos, on a few projects including community events. I feel ready to take the step to be a board member, and help this team reach the heights of soccer and the San Francisco community.
SF City fans, it’s that time of year again. Our Annual General Meeting is going on at 4:00PM, Saturday, October 14th, at the Grotto at Sports Basement, 1590 Bryant Street, San Francisco. This is the most important day of the off-season, when you can help decide the future of your team.
You will have the power to choose the 2018 Board of Directors, who will represent your interests as members of the club. You can hear from our Coaching Staff and Club President as to the state of SF City and our plans for the future. You will be able to ask questions and make your opinions known to the senior management of the team. SF City Players will also be there to meet with you!
RAFFLE – We’ll be raffling off SF City gear and gifts! Be sure to get a ticket when you arrive.
20% SPORTS BASEMENT DISCOUNT – Be sure to do some shopping when you get to Sports Basement! Mention SF City, and you will get a 20% discount on all purchases*
FUN FOR KIDS – There will be games and activities, plus a meet & greet with SF CITY PLAYERS!
REFRESHMENTS – We’ll have free soft drinks, pizza, beer, and snacks!
Q & A WITH CLUB LEADERSHIP – We’re hosting a town hall style Q&A with representatives of the management, members board, investors.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION – Meet the candidates and cast your vote for the 2018 Board of Directors. Members in good standing over the age of 21 may also run for a seat on the board. Interested SF City members may apply after September 12th. More info on the application process coming soon!
*Discount offer valid on Oct 14th 2017, only at Sports Basement Bryant Street location. Not applicable to labor, rental items, and 2017 bike or 2017 racket models.
By SF City This time, we'll be hearing from Alexia Bogdis, teacher and leukemia survivor. We asked her about her personal story, how she got involved with SF City, her battle with leukemia and her relationship with the Northsiders, and her concepts about what a supporter owned team can do for the community.
I was born at Kaiser Hospital on Geary Street, and raised in Burlingame, where I currently reside. I attended College of San Mateo, Berkeley, Notre Dame de Namur, and SF State...a real local!
I have always had an awareness of the various soccer teams in the area because of my family. I learned of SF City FC through the supporters group, the Northsiders. My brother is an avid football fan and had been talking about SF City and the Northsiders since 2014. I was stricken with acute leukemia and was hospitalized for many months over the year while receiving chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. One day my brother brought a huge banner to my room that said "We Stand With Alexia" signed by members of the team and the Northsiders. On subsequent stays at UCSF my room overlooked Kezar, and I could see the games on Sundays. I'd text my brother and he'd say "I'm waving the --- flag up front" and I'd know where he was immediately. One of the first things I did while recovering was help paint a tifo, and it grew from there. At my first game, Charles Wollin was kind enough to seat me in the announcers booth when I was not strong enough to be in the bleachers. It's now a family thing. Even our 83 year-old mom goes to games proudly wearing her scarf.
Supporter Ownership means actively and mindfully "consuming" the entertainment and excitement of the game. It means connecting to the individuals who comprise the team, and supporting both the players and the organization and the community in meaningful ways. I've never seen a relationship between players and fans like this. The supporters have a voice in the direction of the team. The corporate sponsors and investors are working with the supporters to produce an organization that serves the community and builds a love of the sport not just selling a "product" for their own material gain.
I was never an athlete and have never been a team sport player, but I'm a professional fan. Ha ha! I absolutely love baseball, of course the Giants, and have gone to games my whole life. I also used to go to every 49ers game. When I travel I always try to get to a ball game. I started attending soccer games when I was eight; my brother’s AYSO games. My sister and I would sit on blankets and another team mom got us Pom-poms so we could be the "cheerleaders". I love watching golf too. And I'm a mellow but fierce SFCFC supporter.
I believe individuals and organizations are duty bound to support each other and their community. Everything is interconnected. Those with gifts should share them with others, and there is enough prosperity to share so everyone benefits. Whether that means volunteering at the Food Bank, mentoring youth, beautifying the community or lifting someone's spirits we all have something to give. The Northsiders' commitment to serving the community is unparalleled. I participated in the Light the Night event with them. Getting to carry the white light of a survivor is something I actually can't describe in words. I'm working on some ideas around youth mentoring which is a great need in our community. I love the fact that again the group isn't just a consumer of the sport but feels the responsibility and desire to be a positive force in the community.
I currently work at a non-public school in San Francisco that serves students in elementary and high school. I've taught almost all the grades in public school as well as special education. Now I am an administrator so I get to interact with students on a different level. I love to walk, hike, attend yoga classes, go to the gym, am interested in art, clean eating (with decadent treats like champagne and French fries!) and even some TV shows. Recently I've become a moviegoer and have done more travel in an attempt to see old friends and new places.
My battle with Leukemia: this topic gets me teary immediately... one day I was super fit, strong and healthy. I had a couple of moments in March 2015 when I felt lightheaded, and I thought it was stress...I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep throat, so I went to Walgreens to pick up my medicine...and my life changed forever. I passed out in the store, was taken to Peninsula Hospital and within an hour was told I had Acute leukemia(AML). It was a year and a half process of chemo and ultimately a stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor. Neither of my siblings was a match. I spent a total of about 100 days in the hospital and 4 months initially recovering, another eight months after that. That's a lot of time for reflection and coming to terms with my demons. Immediately upon diagnosis I was transferred to UCSF, the best healthcare facility I could have hoped for. My family and friends were key in my fight. As I said, my brother rallied supporters from all over the world, many through his soccer connections. My room was covered with letters of support, I felt like I was a warrior and I had everyone behind me giving me strength when I had none. I am careful to never say I kicked cancer's ass. I won the battle. I respect the strength of the enemy and I know the power of positive thinking, active participation in treatment, faith and support, grit and determination, grace and gratitude. I'm always mindful of those who did not have the outcome I have. It tears me up.
I see youth soccer as an activity that focuses on self-control, striving to improve, physical fitness and working with others towards a common goal. I'm currently working with students who have emotional and behavioral issues. There's one in particular who is quite good at the sport, and plays in a mid-peninsula Sunday league. His goal is to play in PDL and eventually on a pro team. He is lucky his father supports him in this. He was headed down a bad path and his goals and participation in soccer have saved him. We have seen him improve his academic performance, become an active participant in his education, and become a role model to younger peers. One incentive for him that I was able to provide was the possibility of meeting some of the players, playing with them or talking to them, and I want to get him some gear from the team store. It's really motivating to him. He's starting to think about SFCFC instead of the Dragons!
I like the idea of reaching out to youth who may not have the opportunity to go to colleges we typically think of as feeder schools, to tap into their talents and offer them a chance to fulfill their dreams while grabbing some great talent.
Where I see the club in 10 years: we will all be old! The players will change but the legends will remain. I hope the fan base expands, for the sport in general. I think the intimate feeling of the Supporters will always be part of the organization as long as the vision of the founders continues.
By Gabe Zitrin
Matt Wiesenfarth’s hot streak against San Francisco City FC continued to the final day of the season, as his clever second half goal lifted Burlingame Dragons to a 1-0 win over ten man SF City in both teams’ Premier Development League finale at Negoesco Stadium on Saturday. Neither team finished in the top two spots in the PDL Southwest Division, with SF City coming up inches short of a postseason berth for the second straight year.
In a jagged, back-and-forth game under sunny skies, SF City found its share of chances on the afternoon and controlled much of the play, but was unable to pierce Nico Corti’s goal, and finishes out the year with a slender defeat in the latest chapter of a rivalry that reliably produces hard-nosed play, frenetic fan behavior, and the occasional red card.
SF City largely limited Burlingame to half-chances in a scoreless opening frame, locking down the wings to prevent a repeat of their larger loss on the Peninsula earlier in the year. The home side managed mostly half-chances themselves, from Davi Ramos’ ostentatious attempt to lob Corti that went inches high in the opening ten minutes to his free kick that Corti tipped away inches in front of a charging Christian De Luna in the 25th.
As the game progressed the chances became more dangerous for both sides, with Stanford Cardinal players on either side trading well-worked shots that couldn’t stretch their opposing goalkeepers – SF City’s Foster Langsdorf, after a beautiful interplay between Ramos and Danny Kirkland, and Burlingame’s Amir Bashti, whose spin move just before halftime won him space for an open shot that SF City’s Taylor Bailey easily smothered.
The visitors came out of the locker room for the second half on the front foot, and after Bailey’s diving save on a headed free kick in the 48th minute, they went ahead for good on the ensuing corner kick. Tanner Beason’s corner found Wiesenfarth at the near post, and the former UC Davis player -- who scored five against SF City in their two previous meetings this year -- spun a back-heeled flick that found the far top corner.
SF City had almost all of the chances from that point on but couldn’t manage a repeat of their last-minute equalizer against the Dragons at the previous Negoesco meeting. Langsdorf found SF City and Stanford teammate Bryce Marion in the 66th, and Marion worked space for a shot that forced a full-extension save from Corti. Langsdorf’s hustle saw him take the ball of a central defender and drive down the right channel in the 81st, but with no time to wait for support he pulled his shot wide left.
Just moments later, Langsdorf was shown his second yellow card of the match after a challenge on the offensive end, and with the ranks thinned, SF City didn’t manage as many threats in the final minutes of play.
In their first year at the more intimate Negoesco, SF City’s game-day experience quickly earned a reputation as one of the PDL’s most exciting. The season’s final match was emblematic of a 2017 campaign characterized by one-goal margins, frantic late-game flurries, testy physical battles, and some of the loudest, most exuberant fans in amateur soccer.
By Gabe Zitrin
As he prepared for the team’s final regular season game of 2017, San Francisco City FC head coach Paddy Coyne spoke with sfcityfc.com about how a strong but not-quite-spectacular season points to a bright future. The club ends its season on Saturday at 1pm at Negoesco Stadium against local arch-rivals Burlingame Dragons. Although SF City was eliminated from playoff contention as the regular season entered the final week, Coyne has come away from the campaign with a positive outlook on the past and the future.
“So many guys went out there and really wanted to show something, guys who want to go on and play at the next level. We had great play from veteran guys who brought a lot of experience. As the year went on, playing together as a team, we started to see some results.”
After the flurry of becoming a PDL team and fielding the squad immediately, Coyne says the 2017 season offered more resources to conduct the business of a professional organization. “So much was great about the second year that was different,” he said. “The first year we found out we were in the league maybe in March [two months from kickoff]. We didn’t have the kind of time, the kind of preparation that we had this year. We had a lot more to look at to figure out what worked and what didn’t from the first year. This year we had, I think, an 11-game preseason. I went to about 40 college games, recruiting was totally different from last year. So we were trying out things tactically, we had the local players, college players, guys who were excited about playing. We were playing three at the back for most of that, and most of the guys hadn’t really played that, so we had time to get used to the system, and we did well with that in the season.”
Playing at tightly-packed Negoesco Stadium instead of cavernous Kezar might have made a difference, too. “It’s a great environment, with the fans, with the Northsiders, it’s so intimate, it’s a really great place to play. And we play on turf. We play on turf at practice, so just having that turf as a field to play on is good, we can play our passing the way we practice. You know, going from that to grass at Kezar, you’d just see it really slowed things down. And just being on a college campus for all these guys, it’s a natural environment for a lot of them.”
All PDL clubs struggle to maintain team play with the constant changes in the game day rosters throughout the season, but Coyne says the way SF City is constructed was a key to its success in weathering that storm, and will remain so going forward. “In my ideal world, there’d be a few of the guys who’d go on to the next level, and then we’d have our pipeline of college guys who are going to be there for us, and then there are the local players that we use. We’ve got those to draw from where a lot of teams, they have to struggle to get some of that going. That whole melting pot has the ingredients that make us special.”
Sounds like a very San Francisco way to build a soccer team.
By Gabe Zitrin
Backed against the wall, finding themselves down 2-0 at home, San Francisco City Football Club responded with a massive second-half outburst to down Orange County SC Under-23 by a 6-2 score line at Negoesco Stadium on Sunday.
Captain Danny Kirkland scored a hat trick’s worth of penalty kicks, with Kamron Crow, Bryce Kaminski and Robert Hines adding second half goals to turn a two-goal home deficit into victory for the second time this year.
SF City’s scoring threats began almost at the opening whistle, but despite half-chances in the early going from two of their Stanford contingent, Foster Langsdorf and Bryce Marion, it was the visitors who went ahead against the run of play after 12 minutes. OC captain Shinya Kadono made a charging run down the right channel and put a leading pass straight into the path of Alcantara, who finished neatly past SF City goalkeeper Taylor Bailey.
SF City continued to dominate the chances created, with back-to-back shots from Kirkland and Davi Ramos being cleared off the line by the defense in the 22nd minute, and Hines and Ramos coming inches away in the 23rd. So SF City’s fans were doubly shocked to see the visitors score the second goal of the game in the 25th minute, after Christian De Luna was adjudged to have fouled his man on a ball across the penalty box and Alex Sanchez converted neatly from the penalty spot.
But turnabout is fair play, and what was shaping up to be a long day for SF City got a lot shorter just before the break. A quick one-two between Hines and Bobby Edwards in the OC box put Hines in on goal and forced a foul from behind. Kirkland made his spot kick easily to reduce the halftime deficit to a less-intimidating one.
Coming out of the locker room, SF City dominated, first equalizing from the penalty spot in the 50th after Langsdorf juked past keeper Patrick Harding and forced him into a takedown, and when the referee raised a yellow card and pointed to the spot, Kirkland obligingly tied the score. It took only six minutes after that for SF City to take a lead they would not relinquish, as Ramos found Langsdorf on the right wing, who sent a screaming low cross that was hammered home by second half substitute Kamron Crow. And just a minute later, the home side found a two-goal lead of their own after Manny Padilla’s charging run forced yet another penalty box foul, and Kirkland completed his hat trick.
Now playing quickly and confidently with the deficit fading in the rearview mirror, SF City methodically worked two more second half goals from the run of play to give the home crowd their money’s worth – Hines’ slick move past a defender to fire home from the left side, and late sub Bryce Kaminski’s tenacious work to win the ball inches from goal and fire home from point blank range.
Playing with the disappointment of having been eliminated from Premier Development League playoff contention by the FC Golden State Force and Fresno Fuego wins the previous evening, SF City still needed to win to keep their hopes of a U.S. Open Cup berth alive by locking up third place in the Southwest Division, and with one regular season game left to play, they stand every chance of reaching one of the at-large qualification spots. That last game comes at home on Saturday, July 15 at 1pm, against peninsula archrivals Burlingame Dragons in front of the Negoesco home crowd.
By Gabe Zitrin
Facing the runaway Southwest Division leaders needing at least a draw to keep their playoff hopes realistic, San Francisco City FC electrified the home crowd with their third straight Premier Development League win, 2-1 over FC Golden State Force at Negoesco Stadium. Bryce Kaminski and Manny Padilla put SF City ahead, and the Iron and Gold sustained Pedro Fonseca’s catch-up strike and a barrage of late pressure to hold on for the win and take control of their own playoff destiny. The game also saw SF City's players debut the team's alternate Pride jerseys, and the game-worn shirts will be auctioned off on sfcityfc.com through the end of the season to benefit the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.
Playing against a fast, physical team that had defeated them to open the season in Glendora, SF City started brightly with the obvious intent to match the physicality of the division leaders and use their own speed on the wings to stretch the field. Gerardo Mendoza was the biggest early threat, nearly getting onto crosses from Bryce Marion and Padilla in the early going to keep SF City on the front foot. The visitors responded by creating chances of their own born of some of their nine corner kicks. Center back Abraham Placito may have had the Force’s best look at goal in the first half when he rifled an open header off one such corner a couple of feet over the bar.
SF City captain Danny Kirkland’s free kicks were repeatedly threatening in the first half, and after one such kick was caught by Force goalkeeper Jose Miranda inches from the charging Kaminsky, the next one put the hosts ahead. Great work from Mendoza in the 42nd minute forced a foul at the right edge of the FC Golden State box, and Kirkland rifled a low free kick into the mixer where Kaminsky got just enough of a touch on the ball to deflect it in.
“The idea was to put it on target,” Kirkland said of his free kick, “from that short range you’re just hoping somebody gets a touch, whether it be our player or one of them. You give yourself a chance, and hopefully someone touches it over the line, and that’s exactly what Bryce did.”
Coming out of the locker room with the lead, SF City carried their energy into the second half and had what would prove to be an insurmountable lead after a beautiful exchange in the 54th minute. Padilla took a Mendoza pass near the top of the FC Golden State box, lofted a ball in to Ramos, and cut to the left in perfect time to receive Ramos’ chested return pass. He finished clinically with the left foot, doubling the lead and sending the fans crazy again.
“A lot of times me and Manny are trying to combine,” Ramos said, “back at USF playing together, and we’d done this together already at SF City, but unfortunately it never ended up in the goal. It finally ended up there, and I think we deserved it.”
But no strangers this season to having to frantically defend late one-goal leads at home, SF City would find themselves having to do it again after Fonseca’s excellent individual effort in the 69th minute. The second-half substitute took the ball at the left corner of the SF City box, juked out his first defender to create space to shoot with his right foot, and hit a laser beam of a shot that seemed to curve in several directions on its way to the top far corner, giving Keenan Weekes no chance to save.
Now back in the game, FC Golden State played with renewed energy and dominated the possession for the rest of the game. Despite not managing any more shots on goal, they forced a number of desperate clearances in the final 20 minutes and fired close several times, highlighted by Mark Verso’s free kick that rocketed just over the bar five minutes from time.
The win puts SF City in playoff position in second place in the PDL Southwest Division, three points closer to the leaders and with control of their own playoff chances regardless of anyone else’s results. Their next task is a challenging road match against fellow postseason hopefuls Fresno Fuego on July 1 before they finish the regular season with two home games in a final push for 2017 playoff soccer.
By Gabe Zitrin
With four games left to play, and the team either in or out of a playoff spot depending on the day and how one values “games in hand”, San Francisco City FC head coach Paddy Coyne has no off days. He spoke with sfcityfc.com about the frenetic final push as the squad prepares to host FC Golden State Force at Negoesco Stadium on Sunday, June 25 at 1pm.
“We’re good to go,” he said of taking on the Premier Development League’s Southwest Division leaders, who defeated SF City in Glendora, California, to open the season. “The roster’s full, all our college guys will be with us by this week. We know how Golden State play, they’ve got great individual players, they’ve got some great attacking threats, so we’ve got to play well defensively, and we’ve got to take our chances, because we will get chances. We got plenty of chances last time even though we lost.”
As with every PDL team, SF City’s roster has seen plenty of changes throughout the year as the players balance school, work, and personal commitments with their PDL duties. For Coyne the battle between roster consistency and the use of fresh talent is just part of the game. “It’s a tough balance,” he says, “but I was recruiting guys seven months ago for this team, and we knew we were going to have some different additions. So with that mix, having the influx of players coming in, always keeps the competitive juices going for the guys.”
The availability of more talent serves another purpose: depth has been critical for SF City FC in a season that has seen them play on back to back days or twice in three days on road trips to Southern California. But with the right balance of lineup changes, they’ve picked up enough points on those trips to keep them near the top of the standings. On their latest trip they defeated Southern California Seahorses 1-0 in La Mirada, California, and two days later beat Orange County SC U-23 2-0 in Norco.
“Going down to LA, stuck in a van for 12 hours and having to play 90 minutes of football on Friday, that was tough,” Coyne says. “And then Sunday, it was 115 degrees or something. It was so hot. But, I mean, we won both games, the guys were up for it.” Besides a massive endurance test, the schedule also left the team with a Saturday in Los Angeles to kill, and the perfect way to do it: a Major League Soccer game. “We took the team to see the LA Galaxy, the Galaxy hosted us, gave us 22 tickets, they were really good hosts. I bumped into [USA head coach] Bruce Arena, too. That’s always great, it was a nice conversation.”
With momentum carrying over from the successful trip South, Coyne is excited to play three of the last four games in front of the raucous home crowd and the fourth in front of an equally raucous crowd in Fresno. “With the games behind us, we’re comfortable now playing at home, we get the speed of the turf, we’ve got our fans behind us, the guys go out there really pumped. And Fresno, the crowd down there is just, the atmosphere is incredible. The guys love going out there.”
But there’s a clear message he wants to send going into the final stretch of games, especially against the Division leaders: “It’s about peaking at the right time. The playoffs? It’s in our hands, our destiny. We’re the ones who get to decide whether we’re going or not.” The home stretch begins Sunday afternoon at USF, and concludes there with a derby against local rivals Burlingame Dragons on July 15. Any goal in any match between then and now could be the difference.
By Gabe Zitrin
Since its founding, San Francisco has been a place where people come to pursue what hasn’t worked out elsewhere quite the way they’d hoped, and the number of them who put down roots here is a testament to the success they find. The City hands down tales of miners and musicians, but its legacy of athletes’ dreams leading them here is just as strong.
Davi Ramos’ path to San Francisco was a winding one, and as he’s just 22 no one can say where it will end, but 2017 has been a success so far as he leads San Francisco City FC in scoring as they’ve pushed into playoff position in the Premier Development League Southwest Division midway through the season. With five goals in SF City’s last five games, his emergence has been among the most noticeable parts of the Iron and Gold’s run of form. He sat down with sfcityfc.com to talk about the long path to his exciting month, and where it might lead.
The University of San Francisco forward began his journey in his native Sao Paolo, Brazil, a fan of the historic Sao Paolo FC. At 16, noting that friends and teammates were finding unexpected playing opportunities in the United States, he tried out for one of the companies that can help place high school- and college- age Brazilian players with American schools, and soon found himself in Fayetteville, North Carolina, joining the state’s rapidly expanding soccer scene as a high school junior. “Soccerwise, it’s much more fast-paced, the game, less technical, more physical,” Ramos said of what he found there. “You need to think fast, you need to play fast. A lot of Brazilians that come over here, that’s one of the main things that they have trouble with. The time on the ball is not the time you have in Brazil.”
Two State Championships and a NSCAA High School Scholar All-American nod later, Ramos had a number of options for continuing on in the NCAA, eventually declining to pursue opportunities at North Carolina, Memphis, and Michigan State to head to Raleigh and the North Carolina State Wolfpack. At NC State he enjoyed a lot of playing time as a freshman but ran into his first major speed bump: the coaching staff wanted to see him playing more with his back to goal as a hold-up forward.
“It was really good to play in the ACC, a lot of guys that I played against are now playing in MLS, so it’s nice to see them do big things," he says, but “I didn’t really like playing as a 9, and the style the coach played didn’t really fit the style I played.” SF City fans will surely notice that they haven’t seen him deployed in that role for head coach Paddy Coyne, who allows Ramos more freedom to create chances for himself on the ball. “After the Fall, I was already saying, should I leave, should I not? I had a talk with the coaches and told them I wanted to see how Spring went. In the Spring I decided that it was the best thing for me to leave, because of the style of play.”
With the success he’d had as a freshman, even in a position that wasn’t ideal, Ramos could have looked anywhere for a transfer, but like so many others, his dreams drew him West. “I just decided to come to California. I’d been already three years in North Carolina and wanted a change, so I emailed a lot of schools in California with my [NCAA] release papers, and I had my video, and got offers from a couple of them. Eddie Soto had just left UCLA and he was the brand new coach here, so I had the chance to be in the first incoming class for him.”
USF’s location proved to be a benefit, too. “The people in San Francisco are really different,” Ramos says of the experience. “They’re really accepting, they don’t judge you, you can be whatever you want to be.” But Ramos’ first year at USF, as a sophomore, also brought major speed bump number two: a dislocated kneecap and partially torn patellar tendon. But after missing just seven games, he was able to finish out the season on a high note, scoring in his first two games back. He also found his first opportunity in the PDL later in his USF career, but it might surprise some SF City fans that when he first became familiar with SF City is was as an opponent with the rival Burlingame Dragons.
After graduating from USF in December following a strong senior season, Ramos played his first professional soccer with América Pernambuco in Brazil, but with the rapid expansion of the PDL and the increasing quality of play, he wanted back into the league, and had an idea which club he’d enjoy playing for. “I talked to Christian De Luna, I lived with him, and he talked to Paddy, and Paddy was really interested. I felt like he really wanted me here and that I could help the team.”
And where does he want his time and success at SF City to take him? “I want to play as a professional. That’s all I want. I’ve always wanted it.” His last five games have to have helped him in that pursuit, and the rest of the SF City season will see him running just as hard after his lifelong dream.
By Gabe Zitrin
47 years after the first San Francisco Pride Parade, Pride Week in San Francisco has become much more than a protest, or even a celebration of gay rights -- it is a citywide celebration of San Francisco’s vibrant, open culture, and its values of equality, diversity, and acceptance.
San Francisco City Football Club, the Premier Development League soccer team that has called the City home since 2001, have joined the celebration in solidarity with their hometown with a special jersey for their Pride Parade day match, a new partnership with the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, which provides free and low-cost legal services to people with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Soccer is the perfect way to celebrate diversity, because anyone can meet one day in a park and play,” said SF City President Jacques Pelham. “You can be from anywhere, you can by gay, straight, trans, black, white, purple, doesn’t matter. If you’ve got six human beings and a ball, you can all have a great time.”
With the team missing the parade itself on June 25 to take on PDL Southwest Division leaders FC Golden State Force at Negoesco Stadium, it will be proudly play a game that unites all manner of people around the world, and do it in a new San Francisco Pride jersey for the occasion. The Classy logo on the front of the jersey will be rainbow-colored for the day, and the classic SF City crest will be replaced by the team’s alternate “Tower” crest, with the lightning bolts in rainbow colors. The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off at the end of the season, with the proceeds benefitting ALRP.
"ALRP and SF City FC are a great partnership." said Joachim Steinberg, who sits on the Board of Directors of ALRP and SF City. “SF City FC and ALRP share common values, including standing up for the most vulnerable people in our city."
There is a long precedent in San Francisco and soccer of using sports to pull a fan-base closer and advocate for vulnerable communities. The Giants have held an annual “Until There’s a Cure Day” to support HIV and AIDS research at their home games for more than 20 years, and the United States Men’s National Soccer Team recently donned jerseys with rainbow-colored numbers for their June 3 friendly match with Venezuela in Sandy, Utah.
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By Gabe Zitrin
San Francisco City FC’s three match Premier Development League winning streak came to an end at home on Sunday, as the Southern California Seahorses pulled off a 2-1 upset at Negoesco Stadium. T.J. Ifaturoti’s 20th minute strike gave the visitors the lead before SF City’s Davi Ramos took it away ten minutes later, but Emilio Huerta’s free kick goal just after the restart held up as the game winner. The loss further muddles the standings in the PDL’s Southwest Division, but SF City have more than enough season left to make another challenge for the top of the standings.
SF City started brightly, with midfield captain Danny Kirkland forcing a diving second-minute save from SoCal goalkeeper Vincent Morales and putting a 17th minute free kick from near the right corner inches from both the far post and the feet of several charging teammates. But against the run of play, the Seahorses went ahead through Ifaturoti. SF City headed a long free kick away from the box, but it was gathered in by Seahorses winger Leo Contreras, whose end-line run and centering pass set off a mad scramble before Ifaturoti calmly slotted past SF City’s Kienan Weekes from six yards.
SF City fought to erase the deficit and thought they’d done it nine minutes later when Barry McCabe’s cross deflected to Bryce Kaminski, whose neat first touch put the ball past Morales. Celebrations were put on hold when the assistant referee signaled for offside. Rather than get flustered, SF City continued to press and got even the following minute. Robert Hines lofted a long ball that Ramos got to before Morales, flicking a header over the top from outside the box and into the back of the net.
Though SF City took the momentum into the locker room, the Seahorses came out with it, and in the 48th minute pulled ahead for good. Huerta’s long free kick got caught in the swirling winds that made balls fly strangely all afternoon, and the ball bounced at the edge of the box before finding the top left corner of the goal.
SF City controlled much of the match after conceding a second goal and managed far more scoring chances, many of them in a furious ten-minute rally to end the game that saw huge saves from Morales and a stoppage-time rocket shot off the crossbar from SF City’s Manny Padilla.
But the equalizer wasn’t to be found, and the Seahorses finish their trip North on a high note. With the lion’s share of possession, shots, and chances created, SF City will be out for what they feel is a deserved revenge win this Friday, when the two teams meet again at Biola University in La Mirada, California.
By Gabe Zitrin
Behind first half strikes from Gerardo Mendoza and Davi Ramos and a feisty, tough defensive line, San Francisco City FC continued their winning ways at home with a 2-1 win over Fresno Fuego on a bright Sunday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium. The win and the three points that go with it vault the Iron and Gold into second place in the scrum that is the Premier Development League’s Southwest Division.
Against an opponent that had won all three of its PDL matches to start the 2017 season, SF City came in with some momentum themselves after their 3-2 comeback win a week earlier over Ventura County Fusion. And in front of a screaming crowd of Northsiders and other dedicated fans, their momentum netted them a game-changing goal just eight minutes in through Mendoza’s brilliant volley. Midfielder Danny Kirkland lofted a long cross-field ball for Mendoza near the edge of the Fresno box, and Mendoza chested the ball down and craftily backed his defender off while letting the ball bounce twice to set up his shot, before rocketing it over goalkeeper Agustin Rey.
SF City continued to battle in midfield to maintain control of the game, and Mendoza nearly had a second from a tight angle in the 21st minute after outmuscling his defender, but this time Rey parried the ball away with a smart reflex save. SF City were able to continue to press and to limit the Fuego to half-chances before they extended their lead in the 36th minute through three USF players combining for a goal on their home field. Right back Manny Padilla’s cross was chested up in the box by Ramos for Bryce Kaminski, whose struggle with his defender saw the ball bounce perfectly back to Ramos, who finished emphatically from close range.
The home squad managed to close out the first half with a two-goal lead, but Jose Cuevas gave them a scare with a sharp run down the right channel and a shot that forced a quality save from Weekes for the Fuego’s best chance of the first half.
Cuevas figured prominently in the major events of the second half, beginning in the 58th minute. He lofted a free kick into the SF City box, and after SF City defender Ben Brewster and Fuego attacker Carlos Delgadillo collided, the referee whistled Brewster for a foul and pointed to the penalty spot. Cuevas was the man chosen to convert the attempt, but he skied his spot kick well over the bar.
He wasn’t out of the fight for long, though, and scored from close range just ten minutes later after Weekes’ diving save on Renato Bustamante. The SF City keeper’s only real option was to push the ball wide, and Cuevas made a darting run onto the ball to finish from a tight angle. The Fire Squad, consistently the largest and loudest opposing fan group to appear at SF City home matches, erupted, and redoubled their efforts to spur their players on to the second goal they’d need to take something from the contest.
But though they had the lion’s share of the chances after pulling within one, and though defender Trevor Spurgeon’s 81st minute cross skidded past the entire SF City goal just inches from the line, there was no equalizer to be had. As they had against Ventura, SF City burned the clock with determined holdup play and managed enough scrambling clearances as the game wound down to secure a slim victory.
Some good news for the away fans, Fresno Freeze FC managed a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Nighthawks in a back-and-forth Women’s Premier Soccer League match earlier in the day on the same field.
From here, Fresno Fuego return home to face San Diego Zest on Thursday, and San Francisco City FC head South for a Wednesday rematch with the Fusion in Ventura.
By Gabe Zitrin
Two historic Northern California clubs and two of the loudest supporters’ groups in the West -- there’s rarely been a lull in the action when San Francisco City FC meets Fresno Fuego, and there isn’t likely to be one when they meet Sunday either for a 1pm kickoff at Negoesco Stadium.
Though both teams in the Premier Development League's Southwest Division have undergone a host of roster changes from a year ago, no one in either legendarily noisy fan-base will forget the controversy of that year, when the Fuego were forced to forfeit their home match to SF City after accidentally exceeding the number of permitted substitutions. And neither fan-base will forget the Fuego’s revenge either, as they won 2-0 against SF City at Kezar Stadium two months later to eliminate the Iron and Gold from PDL playoff contention.
Off to a blazing 2017 start worthy of their name, the Fuego have won all three of their Premier Development League games this season, outscoring their opponents 11-2. Jose Cuevas’ four goals lead the way for Fresno, followed by Joey Chica’s three. Each punished SF City rivals Burlingame Dragons with two in a game earlier in the season, and both will look to continue to feast on Bay Area opponents.
SF City, meanwhile, are fully rested after a hectic opening to the season, and won’t be playing on the second of back to back days as they were in last year’s home loss. They’re also increasingly confident that they can handle whatever challenges are presented to them in their new mountaintop home -- last-minute heroics have been the theme of their home games so far, with Bryce Kaminski’s 90th minute header earning a draw with the Dragons, and Carlos Carranza’s one-time strike capping a three-goal comeback in last week’s 3-2 win over Ventura County Fusion.
Down 2-0 a half-hour in on two Fusion goals against the run of play, SF City rebounded brilliantly behind captain Danny Kirkland, whose penalty kick and free kick goals tied the score before the half, giving SF City the momentum they needed coming out of the locker room. One beautiful buildup and one game-winning goal from Carranza later, they took home three much-needed points in the PDL Southwest Division standings. With two teams with perfect records ahead of them, including Sunday's opponent, SF City won't be able to take a game off in their push for Division supremacy.
Fans who arrive early to Negoesco will get another treat -- as they did last year, the San Francisco Nighthawks of the Women’s Premier Soccer League will host the Fresno Fuego Ladies for an opening match, beginning at 11am. The two teams drew 1-1 last year at Kezar and will be battling every bit as hard as the men will for points and bragging rights alike.
By Gabe Zitrin
Backs to the wall, down 2-0 at home to a team they defeated earlier in the year, San Francisco City FC pulled together to put together an exciting 3-2 comeback win over Ventura County Fusion on a blustery Sunday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium.
Niklas Korber’s two first-half strikes for the visitors were cancelled out before the break by two SF City captain Danny Kirkland, and Carlos Carranza’s goal early in the second half would prove to be the game-winner. With the win, SF City jumps in the Premier Development League’s Southwest Division standings, but needs to continue the effort to get into playoff position. Still, Head Coach Paddy Coyne will feel better about those prospects as his triumphant return to the sidelines was greeted by his players with a number of scrappy, physical performances and a strong show of will in the face of adversity.
SF City started brightly, spending much more time in the attacking third and forcing two reflex saves from the Fusion’s Max Watkin, first Carranza off a pretty 7th minute layoff from Bryce Kaminski, and then Kirkland off one of his trademark free kicks. But it was the visitors struck first against the run of play in the 16th minute when Sumara Sulieman’s shifty run along the top of the box ended with him playing the ball to Korber in the left channel, and Korber had plenty of time to get off a shot that gave goalkeeper Keenan Weekes no chance and Ventura County the lead.
If SF City's fans were frustrated by the first goal they were downright stunned by the second, which came in the 30th minute off a confused and inadequate effort to clear the ball following a Ventura corner kick. This time Korber saw the ball deflected to him right on his shooting foot, and he enthusiastically fired home from point-blank range.
The team responded splendidly. “We were the better side up to that point,” said center back Ben Brewster of confronting the deficit. “We were creating chances, we were confident that the way were playing was fine. If we could get one back before halftime we’d be fine, and we wound up getting both back.”
Trust in their abilities brought them the goals they needed to do it. In the 38th, Gerardo Mendoza’s run down the right saw him play Beqaj into the right channel of the Fusion box, where the Cal man drew a nasty collision from his defender, and the referee pointed instantly to the spot. Kirkland calmly sent Watkin the wrong way and cut the lead to one.
It vanished altogether just four minutes later after a Kirkland free kick. The captain beat the wall from just beyond the center of the box, and although Watkin got his hands to the ball, he couldn’t hold onto the shot. With both sides desperately trying to get to the ball as it hit the ground, it wound up sneaking inside the post to level the score.
For his part, Coyne credited not only Kirkland’s role on the field in erasing the 2-0 deficit, but also his role as a leader. “Our captain spoke to the players, and they went out there and won that penalty through pressure, and scored that, and then the energy was high again, and then we brought it level.”
With most of the momentum coming out of the locker room, SF City pressed for the lead in the early second half and found it through a well-worked team goal. Substitute Edu Calvo-Salinas, on the most dangerous of his many threatening runs on the afternoon, found right back Manny Padilla, who played a nifty square ball into the center of the box. Carranza ran onto it and made no mistake with his one-time shot, putting SF City into the lead for the rest of the match.
Ventura County’s attempts to tie the score as the game went on rarely troubled Weekes, but they did force a number of awkward clearances and desperate scrambles in the box for the SF City defense to deal with. It was SF City who were came the closest to adding to what would be the final scoreline, when in second half stoppage time Christian de Luna found Chris Kennedy over the top with the offside trap beaten, and Kennedy forced a stretched save from substitute Fusion goalkeeper Eric Kam before SF City’s Bernardo Berardinelli’s rebound shot went over the bar.
As they try to build on the momentum of the moment, SF City remain at home next week, when they host the Fresno Fuego at Negoesco at 1pm on June 4. The Fuego are known for bringing along a large and vocal continent of road fans, so SF City will look to pack the stands with as many of the faithful as possible.
By Gabe Zitrin
Coming off a tough loss is a challenge every soccer player will know at some point in his life, and an opportunity that every team now and then must seize to pull together to right their ship. San Francisco City FC will get that opportunity at 1pm Sunday at Negoesco Stadium as they look to move past last weekend’s defeat away to Burlingame Dragons by taking down Ventura County Fusion.
Despite the difficulties of their trip down the Peninsula a week ago, SF City have a few factors going in their favor -- a full week’s rest, the return of head coach Paddy Coyne after a two-match absence, and the still-fresh memory of having defeated the Fusion once already, a comfortable 3-0 triumph in Ventura on May 6. The second-half outburst, with goals from Bryce Kaminski, Danny Kirkland, and Ben Brewster, was all the more impressive given that SF City had played a full 90 minute competitive match the previous day.
The Fusion have an impressive history in the PDL, and their 2016 incarnation featured three first round picks in the 2017 Major League Soccer draft. They’ve recovered a bit from their home loss to SF City, with a win and a draw since then, and last year avenged a similar home loss to SF City by winning in San Francisco later in the year, a feat they hope to repeat Sunday afternoon.
Either team could use the three points on offer as the Southwest Division of the Premier Development League is starting to crowd in the middle after four weeks of action, and mid-division teams don’t make the PDL playoffs.
SF City FC is proud to announce its official broadcast partner with JHarrel Productions for the 2017 Season. All home games will be streamed in high definition for the rest of the 2017 home slate including this weekend's upcoming match with Ventura County Fusion! On the call providing play-by play and analysis is Charles Wollin. Now in his 3rd season as commentator with SF City, Wollin is a British born Marin native and dual-citizen. Wollin currently serves as the voice of the W.tv's coverage of soccer broadcasts at the University of San Francisco. He has been calling Division I College Soccer since 2009, including stints at Stanford University and Santa Clara.
Wollin is one of the lead voices of Street Soccer USA and their National Cup campaign program across the United States. In 2015, he became a sideline reporter for Comcast and BAOSN.tv where he covers the high school football and basketball game of the week broadcasts.
In 2014, he travelled to Brazil to cover the FIFA World Cup for the full duration of the tournament. His prior work experience also includes calling matches for the San Jose Earthquakes, National Premier Soccer League, and Tourbeau Sports Network. He has also been a featured pundit and impersonnator on Fox Soccer Channel and Wynalda Talks Football on Sirius XM. Wollin began his career at his alma mater, the University of Arizona, covering men's basketball for Zona Zoo TV.
In addition to broadcasting, Wollin is a professional impersonator, voiceover artist, activist and is a proud Member of the San Francisco Spikes. You can follow Charles Wollin on Twitter @cwollin.
Jason Harrel is the creator and main broadcast director for JHarrel Design. A native of Portland, Oregon. Jason has had the opportunity to work with many teams throughout his young career. Before switching to live broadcast, Jason spent time as a Media Relations contact for teams such as the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes. In 2015, Jason decided to take a step back from writing and take a stab at motion graphics and video production. Since then, Jason has hit the ground running running with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the NASL and the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse as the main contact for all their digital and video content.
Jason grew up in Portland, Oregon and got his undergrad degree from Western Oregon University. He is wrapping up his master degrees in Motion Graphics and Media Communications and Media Technologies at the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
By Gabe Zitrin
Matt Wiesenfarth's banner day was too much for San Francisco City Football Club, as the UC Davis product scored four goals and assisted on a fifth as SF City went down 5-0 on the road to Burlingame Dragons. The loss, on a sunny and even hot afternoon at Burlingame High School, sees SF City drop to the middle of the Southwest Division as they await an opportunity to climb back up in the standings.
A week after the two teams drew 1-1 in SF City's home at Negoesco Stadium, the rematch proved not to be as closely fought even from the opening minutes. A second-minute cross from the right side found Wiesenfarth with just enough space at the far post, and he bounced his one-time header past SF City goalkeeper Alex Clewis for an early Dragons lead that they would hold for the rest of the match.
City answered with a quick scoring push, as they would for most of the afternoon after conceding, but could never push one past Dragons goalkeeper Remi Prieur. Instead, they fell further behind as Wiesenfarth found Jamael Cox in the 20th minute with a throughball in the left channel. Cox was nearly dispossessed on his way through but stuck with the play and forced his way in on goal, finishing low past Clewis and putting SF City in a 2-goal hole.
Cox returned the favor just two minutes later, sending in a long ball for Wiesenfarth that split the center of the SF City defense. Wiesenfarth had enough speed to chase the ball down and fire from close range, giving Clewis no chance and Burlingame an intimidating halftime lead.
Backs to the wall, SF City came out firing in the second half and managed its best chances of the match, having a goal disallowed for offside and then forcing two point blank saves from Prieur in quick succession. But the visitors couldn't sustain that energy, and Wiesenfarth finished off his hat trick in the 55th minute to finish off an impressive display of ball movement from the Dragons.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, SF City did begin creating more chances from the run of play. Halftime substitution Davi Ramos was especially active, taking a Gerardo Mendoza throughball to work himself space for a cross from the righthand side in the 65th minute and sending it in towards fellow substitute Johannes Demarzi, whose one-time shot hit the side netting. Ramos then tried to play provider for Robert Hines with a pretty ball flipped over the Dragons defense, but Hines was at a difficult angle and pulled his shot just wide.
Wiesenfarth's final goal of the afternoon was just gravy for Burlingame, and the result of good fortune more than his others. Second-half substitute Diego Lopez's cross from the left side was deflected off a defensive foot, which somehow sent it right to Wiesenfarth's head for a close-range header that Clewis did well just to get a hand to on its way in.
SF City have a week to work out their issues, as they return home to face Ventura County Fusion on May 28, hoping to rediscover the form that saw them win 3-0 in Ventura County earlier this month.
By Gabe Zitrin
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. If no one succeeded in your first rivalry game of the year -- a tense 1-1 draw that ended with a 90th minute equalizer and one stoppage time near-miss apiece -- your second one eight days later should be one firecracker of a match.
So it will be when San Francisco City Football Club heads to the Peninsula to take on Burlingame Dragons, at 4pm on May 21st at Burlingame High School, after Bryce Kaminski’s header earned SF City a point at home at Negoesco Stadium on the 13th. Burlingame’s Matt Wiesenfarth opened the scoring for the Dragons earlier in the second half with a one-timed shot from the top of the box, but the visitors couldn’t quite hold the lead to the final whistle.
SF City is coming into the match the more rested of the two sides, and maybe the one with more momentum, after the Dragons’ 2-1 midweek defeat in U.S. Open Cup competition. But Burlingame dominated possession for stretches of the Negoesco match, and will be eager to take more than a point from a rematch in front of their home fans.
The early goings of the nine-team Southwest Division of the Premier Development League have been as chaotic as advertised, but what is clear is that each of these teams will almost certainly need to take points off the other in their three games this season if they want a spot in the PDL playoffs when the regular season is over. SF City’s roller-coaster season shows no signs of settling into a pattern after their third match, with one entry each in the win, loss, and draw columns. But they have shown flashes of their ability to take over long stretches of games and finish enough scoring chances to be a force in the Southwest.
Despite stretches of quality play on Saturday, the Dragons, an affiliate of Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes, have started slowly in their first year under former Earthquakes goalkeeper and U.S. international Joe Cannon. Their goal against SF City was well-worked and well-finished, but it also remains their only goal of the PDL season after three matches, and they will need a better showing against SF City on Sunday to register their first win.
Just as intense as the battle on the field is the growing rivalry between the two fan bases, as each has pretty easy access to the other’s home base just 15 miles away. SF City’s Northsiders supporters group is planning a noisy appearance at its usual perch at the far side of Burlingame High’s bleachers, and the history between these two sides has proven that the Northsiders know how to influence a match from the stands. Their leadership has long let it be known that they need and expect all the help they can get from SF City fans who make the brief trip South to cheer on the Iron and Gold.
SF City will be without head coach Paddy Coyne for the second straight game, after a sideline collision with an opposing player of FC Golden State Force in the season opener. In his absence, assistant coach Shaun Ramsden once again has the reins, and a rested and fully stocked roster to work with. Coyne is scheduled to return for SF City’s May 28 home clash with Ventura County Fusion.
By Gabe Zitrin
Late heroics, hard challenges, screaming fans, a sun-drenched setting -- San Francisco City FC’s 2017 Premier Development League home opener had everything except a winner, as they finished drawn 1-1 with local rivals Burlingame Dragons. A 90th minute header by SF City forward Bryce Kaminski cancelled out a 61st minute one-time strike by Burlingame’s Matt Wiesenfarth, and the two teams will have to wait at least eight days until their rematch on the Peninsula to claim full bragging rights in the derby.
The game started under bright sunshine before a strong pro-City crowd, and the Iron and Gold obliged their fans by starting strong themselves, with Carlos Carranza drawing the biggest applause of the first half for a weaving 13th minute run that beat several defenders but ended in a toe-poked shot that went inches wide. Wiesenfarth let it be known soon after that he would be the toughest man for SF City to contain on the day, as he worked a left-footed shot for himself in the 21st minute that drew a full-extension, fingertip save from SF City’s Alex Clewis.
The visitors remained in control for much of the first half, and after a near miss from distance by Elli Padilla, it was Wiesenfarth who created the best chance of the half. The UC Davis man stole the ball in an advanced position in the 41st minute and drove in on goal, laying the ball off to Diego Lopez. But SF City’s John Quintanilla was alert and saved Lopez’s shot off the line to send the game into the break scoreless.
15 minutes after the half, the Dragons finally broke the deadlock, as Gabe Silveira made a long run down the left sideline and cut the ball back into the box for Wiesenfarth, who expertly kept his shot down and gave Clewis no chance to save. With strong spells of possession, and crisp passing, it looked as if the visitors might send SF City’s first crowd of the year home grumpy. But SF City’s attacking quartet of Kirkland, Kaminski, Bobby Edwards, and substitute Ashley Watson came alive in the final 15 minutes of the game, creating several half-chances and forcing last-ditch clearances from the Dragons.
Their pressure and persistence finally paid off just as the game entered the 90th minute with an equalizing goal that began with a handball call against Burlingame 40 yards from out. Dead-ball specialist Kirkland, who played his college soccer at Negoesco as a USF Don, put a soaring left-footed ball into the box, where Kaminski, who plays at USF now, leapt to meet it, narrowly beating Dragons goalkeeper Mitch North to the ball and heading into an open net. The stadium erupted, and Kaminski headed straight for the Northsiders supporters club, leaping into the arms of the fans.
With only second-half stoppage time remaining, both teams somehow used the time to very nearly snatch outright victory out of nothing. First, Kaminski followed up his goal with an audacious attempt to chip the goalkeeper from the center circle, and though he wasn’t beaten over the top, North nearly let the ball sneak past him. Crisis averted, Burlingame almost stole a win with the last play of the game, as an attempt to save a headed shot from 12 yards saw Clewis slip on the turf and the ball bounce off the crossbar before being cleared to end the match.
The final whistle of the match was only temporary when it comes to this local rivalry, as these two teams will play each other twice more before the regular season ends. Burlingame gets no rest after today’s affair; they return home to face Fresno Fuego tomorrow. SF City have more than a week to prepare to face the Dragons again, this time at Burlingame High School at 4pm on Sunday, May 21.
By Gabe Zitrin
The long-awaited return home for San Francisco City FC finally arrives at 1pm on Saturday at the University of San Francisco’s Negoesco Stadium, as the Iron and Gold take on peninsula rivals Burlingame Dragons in their 2017 Premier Development League home opener. After taking three points from two games on the road to start the season, SF City will need to make home a fortress throughout the year to climb to the top of the PDL’s Southwest Division.
SF City’s loyal fans have been waiting for months through a long off-season and extended pre-season to see the team in action when it counts, and to do it against the club’s arch-rival is the icing on the cake for the biggest supporters. The SF City faithful are sure to show up in numbers and full voice, and for 2017 they’ll get to do it in a venue that puts fans right up against the touch lines.
Unsurprisingly, SF City players are ready and waiting to hear the cheers of the home crowd after spending opening weekend in Southern California, but with Burlingame so close by, and with so many Bay Area natives on their roster, a number of Dragons fans are likely to make the trip North for the occasion to contribute to a rivalry atmosphere found nowhere else in Bay Area soccer. Past SF City-Dragons matches have brought out the loudest and most intense behavior on both sides among fans, players, and coaches alike (and on one memorable occasion, a mascot -- we’re told that’s unlikely this time around).
SF City’s early doings on the road have been anything but boring, and they arrive at Negoesco having tasted both victory and defeat in their opening weekend, after losing to FC Golden State Force on May 5 and rebounding remarkably with a resounding win over Ventura County Fusion the next day. A second-half scoring outburst against the Fusion netted goals from Ben Brewster, Bryce Kaminski, and captain Danny Kirkland, and the rest of the roster is anxious to get in on the action. Kaminski and Kirkland are two of a host of current or former USF Dons who will return to familiar ground on Saturday at Negoesco as they look to continue their winning ways with SF City. Brewster, meanwhile, earned a PDL Team of the Week nod for his efforts.
Soccer games on back-to-back days are rare and very tiring, but fatigue is often chased away by excitement. “We thought maybe we were looking at a bit of a reset after two games in two days,” said SF City head coach Paddy Coyne, “but in training everyone’s coming out with a lot of energy. The lads are excited about getting to play at home, it’s a rivalry match, so nobody needs a rest. We’re ready to go.” For the Burlingame match itself, however, Coyne will give way on the sideline to assistant coach Shaun Ramsden, having been sent off after an unfortunate sideline collision during the FC Golden State match.
Ramsden says he isn’t particularly concerned about the switch. “If you’re have a good flow, if you’re starting to pull it together in training, a change in coach for a short time shouldn’t matter too much,” he said Wednesday. “They’ve got Paddy’s voice in their heads for 90 minutes by now even if he’s in another country. And they’re going to have mine for real.”
“Paddy or no Paddy, I’m really excited for the new players especially,” added SF City President Jacques Pelham. “This’ll be the first chance they really get to see the fanbase, the Northsiders, the full display of the support they have as players for this club. It’s special to me to see it every game, I imagine it will be even more special for them.”
Burlingame, meanwhile, are coming off a 4-0 defeat away to Fresno Fuego in their season opener, but even with the high rate of turnover on their roster and the loss of several players to the professional ranks, they can’t be dismissed after a 2016 season when they led their division in scoring and made the PDL playoffs for the second straight year. An affiliate of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, the Dragons are now led by new head coach and former Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon, but some adjustments are likely after a tough trip to Fresno.
By Gabe Zitrin
A year removed from an exciting, exhausting, and frustrating, and electrifying debut in 2016, San Francisco City FC are just days away from their second Premier Development League season, and the anticipation has built to a fever pitch. Almost 70 percent of Major League Soccer draft picks since 2010 played in the PDL first, and SF City’s players know their opponents will harbor that dream every bit as much as they do. But the Iron and Gold are firing on all cylinders as they prepare to take on the hyper-competitive Southwest Division.
SF City were just three points short of a playoff spot in their first PDL season, but with a number of strong new opponents in the division this year, they’ll have to find consistent quality play to reach the postseason in 2017. “This should absolutely be a playoff team, and we’re not looking at anything less,” said head coach Paddy Coyne. “I’m not just saying that looking at the team sheet, I’m saying that looking at how we’re playing out there on the pitch, how we’re coming together and playing as a unit. This is a talented bunch of guys, guys with great attitudes, and they keep each other in the right mindset to win games.”
The PDL regular season is 14 games long, seven on the road and seven at home. As the northernmost team in the Southwest Division, most of SF City’s road trips take them to the greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas, but of course a derby visit to peninsula archrival Burlingame Dragons is circled on the schedule, too.
The roster boasts a healthy mix of veteran holdovers and energetic newcomers as Coyne and his staff seek the right chemistry and depth for the grueling schedule. Captain Danny Kirkland, a former University of San Francisco Don, returns to center midfield, vice captain Ben Brewster and USF stalwart Christian De Luna will once again anchor the back line, former Stanford Cardinal Bobby Edwards returns to the wing, and San Francisco State alum Ashley Watson is another face familiar to the fans.
Elsewhere around the pitch, the competition for regular season minutes has been fierce between a host of new faces that have taken the chance to impress during a successful preseason campaign. “There’s very few places where we don’t have a bunch of guys making a good case,” said Coyne. “I have a lot of the kind of problems right now that most managers want.”
The 72-team, 10-division PDL has a new alignment for 2017, and all of SF City’s opponents now reside with them in the nine-team Southwest, including familiar opponents like Ventura County Fusion and Fresno Fuego, and a host of brand new ones like Southern California Seahorses and FC Golden State Force. But it's the Dragons, an affiliate of Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes, who figure most prominently in SF City’s season as three-time opponents, including for SF City’s home opener and their regular season finale.
But before they can play for their home fans, SF City face the season’s opening weekend, which may be among the year’s most challenging. FC Golden State Force will face SF City for the first time on May 5, coming off a playoff year in 2016. The Glendora club tied for the Southwest Division lead in goals last year with 38 in just 14 games, and will be a strong season-opening test for SF City FC’s re-tooled back line. Just a day later, SF City travel up the road to Ventura for a clash with Ventura County Fusion, who narrowly missed out on a playoff spot last year themselves. SF City will look for a repeat performance from a year ago, when they won similar early-season road match against the Fusion 3-1.
The faithful home fans finally end their wait on May 13, as SF City host Burlingame Dragons at Negoesco Stadium. The rivalry games were knock-down, drag-out affairs last year, with the Dragons dominating SF City on the peninsula before SF City’s season-ending 4-0 revenge in front of the home crowd. Picking up where the rivalry left off will be the first order of business for players and fans on both sides. “The road games are critical, and we all know they count just as much in the standings,” said club President Jacques Pelham, “but the Dragons are what I’m looking forward to the most. It’s a statement game, it’s a rivalry game, it’s the only two Bay Area teams in the league, it’s the home opener. It’s everything, it’s crunch time.”
And then eight days later, the two teams do it all over again, this time with the Dragons at home at Burlingame High School. No word on whether Pelham is capable of staying that revved up the whole week off, but SF City players and fans will surely relish any opportunity for another derby, whether it’s to exact revenge or to inflict more punishment.
Between that remarkable quartet of opening games and the regular season finale against the Dragons at Negoesco on July 15, SF City’s schedule takes them around the Southwest Division at home and on the road, from Fresno to San Diego to Los Angeles, with every match liable to make the difference in the final standings between playoff soccer and an early exit. Given the thin line between the two that formed last year, the intensity of play is unlikely to let up at any point during the season, but Pelham seems to think that is just what the doctor ordered.
“This is our league now,” he says, “and it’s a league where you fight for your life week in and week out. That’s perfect. That’s what soccer should always be.”
San Francisco City FC is excited to announce that we have partnered with our new neighbors at The Yard at Mission Rock to provide exclusive SF City Member Benefits.
This is just another step in our continuing efforts to create a club with a genuine community connection. We hope to see you at YOURnew Clubhouse & Team Store!!
NEW!! 2017 Member Benefits at The Yard / Team Store: (With your Member Card)
By Gabe Zitrin
Ashley Watson returned to torment his former team with a goal, and Chris Kennedy alertly added another, as San Francisco City FC remained undefeated in five preseason games with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Gators of San Francisco State at SFSU’s Cox Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
SF State opened the affair by working a few half-chance shots from the perimeter, including a free kick shot on goal in the fifth minute, but none significantly stretched SF City goalkeeper Alex Clewis. SF City went on to create the better of the chances for the rest of the first half, nearly scoring off a free kick near the right corner flag in the 19th minute. Captain Danny Kirkland’s in-ball headed for SF State’s back post and was headed inches wide.
Watson, a Gators player last year in addition to his work with SF City, finally broke through in the 44th minute. After a foul was called against SF State about 40 yards out on the left-hand side, Kirkland put his free kick on a dime into the center of the box, where it was headed down by Kennedy in front of the charging goalkeeper. Watson ran onto Kennedy’s header, took a touch to the left, and fired into a largely open goal.
SF City’s second came out of nothing six minutes after the restart as a reward for its high-pressing strategy. Kennedy smartly charged at an errant back pass that was within his reach near the edge of the SF State area, and the forward made no mistake with a one-time shot, doubling the lead in an instant and very much giving the game the feeling of having already been decided.
Three minutes later, it looked as though he’d created another goal under similar circumstances as he worked hard to dispossess his man at the edge of the box and play quickly to winger Bobby Edwards, who found Kirkland before the defense could recover for a shot that sailed inches high.
Though they weren’t able to convert any more of their chances on the day, SF City closed out the rest of the match without really looking in danger of conceding a goal, even as the game opened and sped up in the final half-hour. Their persistence in midfield consistently disrupted SF State’s passing and prevented many long spells of possession by the Gators, and allowing few threatening attacks.
SF City have two more games remaining on the postseason schedule, the next being played April 22 at 1pm at San Jose State University. Their second Premier Development League season begins on May 5 at FC Golden State Force, with their home opener coming on May 13 against peninsula archrival Burlingame Dragons.
By Gabe Zitrin
San Francisco City FC head coach Paddy Coyne barely cracked a smile, but his squad move forward towards the Premier Development League season with an unmistakable shot in the arm after winning 1-0 over back-to-back NCAA Champion Stanford University in a preseason friendly on Friday in drizzly Palo Alto. Stanford alum Felipe Noguerol’s 77th minute header and a spectacular performance from their back line helped SF City avenge their 4-1 defeat at the hands of the champs a year ago, and build momentum and sharpness for the rest of the preseason schedule.
Both teams managed only half-chances in the early going, but Stanford, whose starting eleven featured no fewer than four players set to join SF City this Summer, began to show by the late first half why the last two NCAA championship trophies are theirs. A sensational buildup play with a soft back pass left past and future SF City player Bryce Marion with time alone in the center of the box in the 38th minute, but SF City goalkeeper Alex Clewis came up with the most important save of the night to keep the match scoreless.
Sam Werner was the next Cardinal headed for SF City in the Summer to make a mark on his future teammates, after he took a beautiful throughball from midfielder Jared Gilbey to beat the SF City defense and fired just wide right with a left-footed strike in the closing seconds of the first half. The visitors managed a number of half-chances and shots on goal during the half, but none appreciably stretched Cardinal goalkeeper Charlie Furrer.
As the second half progressed, the hosts continued to enjoy most of the possession, but kept running into physical and athletic defense from the SF City back line, with John Quintanilla, Ben Brewster, and Christian De Luna each cutting out numerous attacks with force and finesse. With the rain picking up again, Stanford managed the most solid chances of the early second half through future SF City players Marion and Foster Langsdorf, reigning co-Player of the Year in the Pac-12, and it looked as though they were likelier to break the deadlock.
But a trio of second half substitutes for SF City had other ideas. Johannes Demarzi played a diagonal ball for the consistently lively Gerardo Mendoza, who worked space along the right side of the end line and lofted a cross to the far side of the box, where Noguerol was waiting to torment his former team with a looping header that left no chance for Furrer and found the top left corner.
With the first goal of the game, the speed of the hosts’ play went haywire, and the closing minutes saw SF City forced into a number of desperate clearances to hang onto their lead, but they came up with every one that they needed, and held on for a tough, valuable win.
There’s no rest for the weary, though, as SF City’s next friendly comes Sunday night at Division II’s Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. But it can’t be denied that they know a lot more about their capabilities and can’t help but feel more optimistic as the start of their second PDL season draws closer.
SF City Man of the Match: Ben Brewster
Game stats:
Fouls: Stanford 10, SF City 10
Corners: Stanford 10, SF City 1
Shots (on goal): Stanford 7(2), SF City 7(5)
Offside: No one? The whole night? Huh.
Cautions: Barry McCabe (SF City), 27’ (hard challenge)
Ejections: none
By Gabe Zitrin
With the final whistle blown on the third annual Bay City Derby, San Francisco City FC says goodbye for now to some familiar faces, including past and future teammates, on the University San Francisco Dons squad. But the next game brings a new storyline that few would have anticipated a year ago. When SF City heads to Palo Alto to take on the reigning back-to-back NCAA champion Stanford Cardinal on Friday, they’ll find no fewer than five future teammates lined up against them, most still basking in Tournament glory.
While USF has always been a natural strategic partner for SF City given their close ties in the San Francisco community (and as of 2017, shared home stadium), City have significantly ramped up their operations with the influx of talent from such a major national program. In just their second Premier Development League season, it’s clear City intend to forge ties throughout the entire Bay Area in their push for San Francisco soccer greatness.
“Stanford is a local phenomenon to San Francisco fans,” said SF City President Jacques Pelham, “their players are Bay Area players, people we get to say we saw play, from John Elway to Jordan Morris. It’s a name the kids in the community recognize and look up to from a very young age, it’s a place a lot of them dream of being one day.”
Of course, the same could be said of Stanford archrival UC Berkeley (well, if you replace Elway with Aaron Rodgers and Morris with David Bingham), and the Golden Bears have made their mark on City, too, in the form of defender Trevor Haberkorn. Will we see more Cal players in the future, and City become the famous rivalry’s demilitarized zone? Pelham just smiles. “Club soccer makes for some strange bedfellows.”
It certainly did for Morris and Stanford striker Foster Langsdorf, soon to join SF City after winning co-Player of the Year in the Pac-12 in 2016. Products of rival MLS academies, they battled hard for Seattle and Portland’s youth teams, respectively, before joining up at Stanford to put past differences aside and win a championship together.
Sam Werner, Stanford and soon-to-be SF City midfielder, is another Timbers Academy product. He had similar observations on the eve of battling his future teammates. “It’s kind of fun making those connections all across college soccer,” Werner said. “Almost any game I’m playing, I’m going against players I’ve known from somewhere. That’s the setup with the amalgam of the PDL.” As one of a growing number of college standouts looking to stay sharp in the PDL between NCAA seasons, Werner saw San Francisco as an ideal spot. “It’s a great destination just to be able to spend time outside of being on the field,” he said. ”I have teammates playing for the Burlingame Dragons, too, so that’s going to be a fun rivalry game.”
But before enjoying the benefits of their growing South Bay partnership, City will have to fight for respect first against the champs, after having lost 4-1 in Palo Alto last year to a team coming off a national title and building towards what would become another. Strong play by their soon-to-be teammates is just one more obstacle to overcome in a game every SF City player is intent on winning.
By Gabe Zitrin
San Francisco’s signature annual friendly lived up to its billing on a cool and clear Saturday night at the foot of Lone Mountain, but no one could pull ahead in the all-time Bay City Derby as San Francisco City FC and the University of San Francisco Dons fought to a 1-1 draw at Negoesco Stadium.
Carlos Carranza’s headed strike gave SF City the lead at the half, but Aaron Lombardi equalized for USF, and the Dons defense held off a furious late charge to claim a share of the spoils. Of course there were no points on offer, just bragging rights – but fans of both teams will now have to wait a long year for another shot at a full complement of those.
With SF City’s 4-1 win in 2015 and USF’s 3-1 revenge game last year, with current and former players of each team suiting up for the other, and with both teams calling Negoesco their home field for 2017, expectations and spirits were running high for the third annual matchup. A near-capacity Negoesco crowd saw an entertaining Bay City Derby, if maybe a frustrating final scoreline for the most competitive fans.
The game began with high pressure from the Dons and two tightly packed defenses, and solid chances were difficult to come by. The first real chance of the game took until the 29th minute to develop, when City winger Bobby Edwards made a run around his man along the end line and cut the ball back into the box, but the shot from a charging Jose Mendoza was palmed over by alert USF goalkeeper Andre Glasnovic.
City’s breakthrough came seven minutes later through the work of its two most active attackers of the game, as Ash Watson worked himself space for a left-footed cross that found Carranza’s head at the far post with pinpoint accuracy. Carranza made no mistake from close range and gave Glasnovic no chance, and City took the lead.
City, through Carranza’s cutting runs and Edwards’ galloping down the left side, managed the better of the chances in the early second half, but were unable to extend the lead and instead saw it evaporate in the 72nd minute, just after Carranza’s exit. Lombardi found the ball on the right side and worked his way clear of SF City’s defense for a left-footed shot, and although SF City goalkeeper Peter Swinkles got a punch to the ball, it wasn’t enough to keep it out of the net.
SF City responded well to giving up the lead and built several strong chances. Second half substitute Gerardo Mendoza was a consistent threat with long, patient runs and well-worked shots, but couldn’t find the target as the game opened up in the final 20 minutes.
The teams traded half-chances in the waning moments in an effort to break the deadlock, with Dons fullback Manny Padilla striking the side netting in the 88th, setting off a premature celebration from the assembled USF fans. Both defenses bent but neither broke, and with the final whistle the all-time derby still stood at one win apiece.
As USF continue preparations for the 2017 West Coast Conference season, SF City look to recharge quickly before heading to Palo Alto to take on reigning back-to-back NCAA champions Stanford on April 7.
San Francisco City FC Man of the Match: Carlos Carranza
GAME STATS:
Shots (on goal): USF 4(2), SF City 8(4)
Fouls: USF 11, SF City 10
Corner kicks: USF 2, SF City 1
Offside: USF 1, SF City 4
Cautions: Ben Brewster (SF City), 50’ (hard foul)
Ejections: None
By Gabe Zitrin
Among the other storylines spinning around the third annual Bay City Derby, kicking off Saturday at 7pm between the San Francisco City FC and the University of San Francisco Dons, is the tale of three players on each side who will be using the match to be better and more effective when they join forces in a few months’ time.
Not only does San Francisco City boast three former Dons players -- defenders Christian De Luna and Ludwing Vargas, and midfielder Danny Kirkland, but is soon to boast three more that are likely to show up as opponents on Saturday -- midfielder Matt Orr, forward Bryce Kaminski, and midfielder Jordan Hughes, in his second season playing with both teams.
In a sport where a player’s sharpness can fade in far less time than it takes for an offseason to conclude, the West Coast Conference stalwarts and Premier Development League newcomers each have a strong incentive to help their players develop year-round. In practice, and given the strong connections both teams share with San Francisco, this has led to the sharing of a great deal of talent between USF and SF City. Of course, it also leads annually to the sight of past, future, and what amount to current teammates battling it out in San Francisco’s signature derby.
“To tell you the truth, I think it’s a part of why this is such a big game,” said SF City Head Coach Paddy Coyne. “Everyone knows each other, everyone wants to help each other be the best players they can be, but at the same time no one wants to lose. And when no one wants to lose, that’s what brings out the best in all the players.”
De Luna says playing against current and former teammates kick's everyone’s competitive drive into a higher gear. “I’m still close to a lot of the [USF] guys and I know they are really excited to be playing against some USF alumni. There is definitely a lot of smack talking, but it’s all in good fun. I definitely can’t wait to teach the young USF boys a thing or two.”
Not surprisingly, the USF players have much the same idea.
By Gabe ZitrinTo find the origin of one of the most identifiable players in San Francisco soccer, who has captained not one but two of its best-known teams, you might not think to look 5,000 miles East-Northeast of Negoesco Stadium. But that’s where the path to San Francisco soccer greatness began for San Francisco City FC captain and former University of San Francisco Dons captain Danny Kirkland, who reflected on the path that brought him to this point as he prepares to lead his current squad against his former one in the third Bay City Derby at Negoesco on Saturday.
“I come from a small town called Chesterfield, less than 10 miles outside of Sheffield,” Kirkland told me. “It’s a much smaller community where everybody knows everybody and it’s football-mad. Growing up, all kids want to do is become a professional footballer – it’s a lifestyle.”
The same was true of Kirkland, a central midfielder known for his powerful and accurate left foot and quick decision-making on the ball. He joined the youth system of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club in England’s second division, but took a different path as he reached his prime playing years. Wednesday’s Academy Director had played in the US, and suggested that university soccer in the States might be Kirkland’s best move -- especially in one of the most beautiful cities in the US or anywhere else. “All I knew is that I wanted to play in California,” Kirkland says. “I signed my [National Letter of Intent] without even visiting San Francisco – I knew it was the place to be.”
And he’s never had cause to second-guess that decision. “Looking back now,” he says, “I was extremely lucky to be able to live and play in San Francisco. The experience of training day in, day out in a city as great as this one isn’t an opportunity that comes around all that often.” Not that the changeover went off without a hitch: “It took a while for me to adjust – to everything. The style of football was completely different to what I was used to, the culture, and also moving from a relatively small town to a vibrant city, it took time to settle in. It’s much faster pace here and obviously technologically more advanced.”
Technologically? “Uber isn’t a thing in Chesterfield!”
Ride-sharing services aside (he declined to say whether he considers Uber’s presence a good thing or a bad), there’s been no adjustment period needed for Kirkland to form a close bond with the fans of San Francisco. He’s been a clear fan favorite since first suiting up for the Iron and Gold, and the feeling is mutual. “The SF City fans and the Northsiders are incredible – passionate, dedicated, loyal people and some of the best fans I’ve ever played for. Soccer has grown immensely since I arrived here almost six years ago and I imagine it will continue to become more and more popular, especially considering the number of children in the City that are all involved in the sport.”
Trialing and then playing at SF City after his final year with the Dons, alongside fellow USF alum and current Los Angeles Galaxy defender Dave Romney, Kirkland instantly found that the club fit his vision of the game. “We were involved in the Open Cup run and I really believed in what the club was trying to do. There is such a community feel around the place, between the players, staff and fans.”
As he prepares to face the Dons on Saturday, perhaps no one else involved in the game has as deep a connection to SF City’s opponent or to the Bay City Derby as an institution. But the past is the past, and Kirkland knows where his loyalties lie. “I had four great years at USF and a lot of memories there so of course it will be nice to be back,” he says, “It’s crazy to think that the current seniors were just freshmen during my last season. But I’m an SF City player now, so naturally I want a win for us. If I was out injured, I’d be stood watching the game with the Northsiders!”
A battle between brothers on a hilltop amid the rolling fog -- in just its third year, the Bay City Derby between the University of San Francisco Dons and San Francisco City FC has already captured the imaginations of the soccer community as the year’s showcase evening for the beautiful game in San Francisco. The teams’ shared status as San Francisco soccer institutions and commitment to growing the game in the City have transformed their annual friendly into a full-scale celebration on turf.
Along with the two teams’ long histories and their roots in San Francisco culture, there is a growing familiarity and overlap between the players and fan bases of USF and SF City. SF City boasts a number of current and former Dons players, including Christian de Luna, Ludwing Vargas, and captain Danny Kirkland, and Dons Jordan Hughes, Matt Orr, and Bryce Kaminski are set to join SF City as well when the NCAA season ends. For good measure, SF City color commentator Joe Dugan is also a former Don, having played under legendary coach Steve Negoesco.
With such deep ties between the two clubs, players and fans alike have fond memories of the two previous editions of the Derby -- the Iron and Gold’s 4-1 win in 2015, and the Dons’ 3-1 triumph in 2016 -- and are primed and ready for Saturday’s rubber game. The winner takes the lead in the series, and the loser begins a long year waiting for a chance to make amends.
Another new twist in the 2017 version of the Bay City Derby is that the venue, Negoesco Stadium, is now the home stadium for both teams playing. San Francisco City FC joins USF at the field at the foot of Lone Mountain for their 2017 slate of games, so for one night fans of both clubs can get all their cheering done at the same time. For everyone associated with USF and SF City, in uniform and out, the excitement for this game runs as high as its mountain setting.
We are thrilled to announce that we will soon be moving to our new retail and office space at The Yard at Mission Rock, at 100 Terry A. Francois Boulevard.
Our new home base sits right on McCovey Cove, at the South end of the 3rd Street bridge -- across from AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, steps from the Anchor Beer Garden and Street Soccer USA Park. It will carry all your favorite SF City FC merchandise, function as the club’s administrative headquarters, and host special fan, youth, and Member events that we couldn’t be more excited to participate in.
We look forward to having our official opening on Sunday, April 23rd, in conjunction with our Jersey Unveiling and Season Kick-Off celebration.
By Gabe Zitrin Given a rare opportunity to witness and participate in Bay Area soccer history, San Francisco City FC rose to the occasion Saturday with a 2-1 away win over Napa Valley 1839 FC. NV1839, playing their first match ever against outside competition, scored their first goal in team history three minutes in through Bryan Marin, but SF City calmly erased the deficit and secured the lead before the half, and held on stoutly to go home winners.
The Napa community was well-represented at the Redwood Middle School field for their team’s first public appearance, before the season opens next week at Napa’s Memorial Stadium. And the local fans didn’t have to wait long for something to celebrate, with Marin’s spectacular display kicking off the game. The left winger collected the ball on the sideline near midfield, beat the SF City back line with a tremendous burst of speed, and with no help anywhere nearby, finished from a tight angle past SF City’s Peter Winkels.
SF City were knocked back on their heels but recovered their composure quickly, and their skill in winning possession and space got them level nine minutes later. Left winger Bobby Edwards, a constant threat throughout his shift, beat his man off a turnover and drove into the box, forcing a hard foul from Napa Valley’s central defense and earning a penalty kick. SF City captain Danny Kirkland calmly converted low and to the right past goalkeeper Roberto Llamas to make the score 1-1.
For the rest of the half, SF City continually forced turnovers in threatening spots – midfielder Ashley Watson won the ball in the 25th and drove in on goal himself, firing inches high, but NV1839 wasn’t so lucky in the 37th when SF City forward Chris Kennedy won the ball 30 yards from goal with Llamas a hair off his line. Kennedy quickly got off a shot that left the keeper no chance to recover, giving SF City a 2-1 lead.
The second half whistle brought a break in the clouds that would last the rest of the afternoon. Facing an entire squad of debutants, SF City Head Coach Paddy Coyne used the pre-season environment to trot out a few of his own, with immediate dividends. Jamal Bernardez took over the right wing at the half and nearly helped double the lead in the 61st with a beautiful lofted ball over the top to a streaking Kennedy. Kennedy tried to chip the goalkeeper for his second of the day, but Llamas’ flying leap was enough to block the shot.
SF City’s defense kept NV1839’s chances to a bare minimum throughout the second half, denying them the passing lanes they’d seen earlier, and the home team’s only real chance to equalize came in the 82nd minute. A long free kick from the right side seemed to threaten the SF City box, but a foul was called even as SF City keeper Taylor Bailey made an athletic leaping grab to highlight his 15-minute debut performance. SF City were able to close out the game with little trouble to claim their first win of the young pre-season, taking home a little bit of history in the process.
SF City return home to prepare for the highlight of their preseason on April 1, a rivalry match against the USF Dons at Negoesco Stadium, while NV1839 open their season on March 25 at home against CD Aguiluchos.
SF City Man of the Match: Bobby Edwards
by Gabe Zitrin As they train, tinker, and strategize in advance of their second Premier Development League season, the players and coaches of San Francisco City FC are also using a packed and exciting pre-season schedule to prepare themselves for the rigors of the Western Conference. Seven games, against six local NCAA schools and one brand new semi-pro club, stand between SF City and their May 5th season opener at Glendora’s FC Golden State Force.
“It’s a tough schedule, it’s what we need,” said SF City Head Coach Paddy Coyne. “It’s going to force us to find our depth, play together as a team, make sure the chemistry’s there. We’ve got some matches back-to-back in the PDL to start off, so we can train for how that’s going to affect us, how we’re going to handle a quick turnaround.”
“It’s definitely a challenging month and a half,” said club President Jacques Pelham, “but that’s what we were looking to do. We went out basically looking for the games, looking for the opponents that Paddy needs to get the roster where he wants it, games the fans will like, that test the whole organization.”
After March 8th’s closed-door scrimmage with Sacramento Republic FC, SF City will launch their pre-season schedule on March 18th, on the road against newborn opponents Napa Valley 1839. Founded last December as members of the National Premier Soccer League, NV1839 will be playing their first-ever friendly match against outside competition when they host City at Napa’s Redwood School, before they move into Napa’s Memorial Stadium to open their first NPSL season a week later.
City’s competition gets a lot more seasoned from there on, as they take on the University of San Francisco Dons at Negoesco Stadium -- SF City’s new home field -- on April 1st. There won’t be many secrets left between these two sides, as a host of USF players have gone on to play for SF City. The Iron and Gold and the four-time NCAA champions have traded pre-season wins the past two years, with City winning 4-1 in 2015, and the Dons getting a measure of revenge with a 3-1 win last year.
“This is the one we have circled on the schedule, as far as the pre-season,” Coyne said. “It’s not just a friendly, it’s a showcase, it’s the big night of the year for football in San Francisco. The last two have been some of the most fun rivalry games I’ve been involved with, and you can really just feel tradition in the making when it’s City against USF.”
If USF are strong NCAA competition for SF City to face, then the back-to-back reigning NCAA Champions are as tough as it gets, as City visit the Stanford Cardinal at Steuber Rugby Stadium in Palo Alto on April 7. This game will also see some familiar faces on opposite sides of the ball, as City’s roster has some Stanford blood in its veins. The Cardinal counter with a squad with a few pieces missing from its recent championship runs, but all the tools they feel they need to mount a third one.
Just two days later, City head back to the Peninsula to face Belmont’s Notre Dame de Namur University on April 9. The Argonauts play in the Pacific West Conference in NCAA’s Division II, and will be more of a mystery to City than the familiar opponents of the previous two friendlies. With such a short turnaround time, there will be many City players on the field looking to make the most of their pre-season opportunity to earn playing time in the rapidly-approaching regular season.
Back in San Francisco, City will make a trip to Cox Stadium to face NCAA Division II’s San Francisco State University Gators on April 15. They go a little further afield to face the San Jose State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on April 22, before wrapping up an intense pre-season schedule against the Urban Knights of Academy of Art University, another Division II opponent, on April 29.
Match Report by Gabe Zitrin Substitute Adnan Gabeljic’s last-second penalty brought them level, and San Francisco City FC enjoyed a solid start to their 2017 pre-season on Wednesday, with a 1-1 draw against USL side Sacramento Republic FC on a bright and windy day in the Central Valley.
The closed-door scrimmage at Sacramento’s Cosumnes River College marked the first match of SF City’s 2017, and head coach Paddy Coyne sent a largely veteran squad out to face a Sacramento team that mixed established starters with trialists and academy products. The home team took the lead nine minutes after the restart through Daniel Trickett-Smith, and surrendered it only with the game’s final kick of the ball after SF City’s Jose Mendoza was fouled while heading for goal.
“You can always train as much as you want,” Coyne said of the return to action, “but games are where you really see who’s fit, who’s sharp, who’s ready to go.” SF City center midfielder Danny Kirkland concurred, calling the day’s outing a “good test for us, good opposition, coming up here and playing against a pro team, a well-established team.”
Both sides struggled to create chances in the first half, with Sacramento’s team speed and SF City’s defensive skills snuffing out many half-chances before they’d begun. Kirkland and SF City center back Ben Brewster each made several vital interventions to short-circuit Sacramento attacks.
SF City managed the first real chance of the game 17 minutes in through winger Johannes Demarzi. The veteran found enough space for a cutting diagonal ball into the left channel aimed at the onrushing Carlos Carranza, whose one-time left-footed shot tested the reflexes of Sacramento goalkeeper Dominik Jakubek, who punched the ball over for an SF City corner. The hosts countered as the half went on with charging runs down the wings, and managed the best chance of the half in the 34th minute. SF City were lucky to escape unscathed after a corner kick from the right side bounced fortuitously to a Republic academy product on the far post, but the shot was scuffed inches wide.
The hosts would eventually break through in the 54th minute after a tough, physical play from forward Lamin Suma, who retained possession against two SF City defenders in the left channel, and forced enough space to put a lofted cross into the SF City box. Trickett-Smith was waiting at the far post and easily headed in past SF City’s Peter Swinkles for the lead.
With SF City chasing the game for some of the second half, play began to open up, and both teams created space for open shots from outside the box that went wide of their targets. SF City second-half substitution Dylan Murphy was a consistent threat to shoot from the perimeter, but was unable to equalize.
But SF City’s persistence would eventually pay off at the close of the game, after a quick one-two play in the box saw Mendoza get possession with a look at goal. Suma attempted to clear, but missed the ball and clipped Mendoza instead, and the referee pointed to the spot immediately. Gabeljic cooly finished low and to the right past Republic’s academy substitute goalkeeper to even the score. “In the second half we got our legs back, created a few more opportunities,” Coyne said. “I think the penalty was well deserved, it was coming.”
Not a moment too soon, as the next turn of events was the final whistle.
SF City have a ten-day break before their pre-season resumes, with a first look at brand new club Napa Valley 1839 on March 18 at Napa’s Redwood Middle School -- this time open (and free) to fans. Kirkland, captain for the day, summed up the team’s overall mood after the match: “It’s nice to be back.”
Game Statistics: Shots (on goal): Republic FC 13 (4) SF City FC 10 (6)
Fouls: Republic FC 12 SF City FC 8
Saves: Republic FC 5 SF City FC 3
Corner kicks: Republic FC 2 SF City FC 1
Offside: Republic FC 2 SF City FC 5
SF City Man of the Match: Ben Brewster
Remember when Andrew Epstein made some final winning heroics in the 2016 College Cup Final!? Well now we're playing Stanford, the back-to-back Division I National Champions in a preseason tune-up. SF City midfielders, Bryce Marion and Trevor Hyman are also two time National Champions with the Cardinal! Join us on April 7th at 7pm live at the Steuber Rugby Stadium (adjacent to Laird C. Cagan Stadium) for this special preseason match!!
Also added to the calendar is an April 22nd match vs. San Jose State at 1pm.
SF City has been named as Presenting Sponsor of Street Soccer USA Park’s inaugural “FIFA 17” tournament series. The monthly competition will feature local players battling it out on the virtual fields of the highly popular video game. Street Soccer USA Park, located at The Yard across from AT&T Park, will play host to the monthly competitions as players compete in a single elimination format to decide who will be named champion. SF City will provide all participants with tickets to a 2017 Home Game at Negoesco Stadium and as well as prizes for all semi-finalists, champions and runners-up.
Street Soccer USA Park’s General Manager Christian Martin stated, "We are very happy about this partnership because we know the work SF City FC is doing to unite San Francisco through soccer. These FIFA 17 tournaments will be a great way to bring members of the San Francisco soccer community together, whether your passion for the sport comes from playing out on the field or behind a game controller.”
“We are excited to continue our support of Street Soccer USA and the SSUSA Park’s ongoing efforts to serve the SF soccer community” said San Francisco City FC President Jacques Pelham. “The SSUSA Park is an amazing asset and we think this will be fun and entertaining way to help further SSUSA’s mission of using soccer for social good.”
City Fans, please welcome back Manager Paddy Coyne and 1st Team Coach Shaun Ramsden! The duo took over the reigns of SF City FC in the 2015 during the NorCal Premier League Summer session and have been with SF City ever since. In 2015, they guided SF City through a tough qualification process to get to the 1st Round of the U.S. Open Cup. For a first year club in the PDL, Coyne and Ramsden amassed a 6-6-2 record, finishing in 3rd place of the Central Pacific Division, narrowly missing a playoff berth.
Coyne, who has coached on 4 different continents and in 5 countries is delighted to be back stating, "I'm super excited for the upcoming season. We have some great players returning to the fold, as well as new talent to announce in the upcoming months. Our new stadium's playing surface will suit our fast passing game and I'm sure the atmosphere will be very special with our wonderful support."
With 20 years of coaching experience in the United States, Ramsden added, "Representing this City and the fans is something that makes me very proud. We learned so much about the league and its demands in our inaugural season. With more time to recruit, a new home venue, we are extremely excited and motivated to bring a winning mentality this summer."
We look forward to having Paddy and Shaun leading our coaching staff in 2017!!
hink you've got what it takes to compete in the USL PDL?!? Well now's your chance to play for SF City! On March 19th from 11am-1pm, we're hosting tryouts for the club at Crocker Amazon Soccer Fields. Sign-up today at https://goo.gl/fmvaac as spots are limited.
Questions? Please e-mail tryout@sfcityfc.com. Thank you!
SF City FC is delighted to announce that we'll be playing our 2017 PDL season on the campus of the University of San Francisco at Negoesco Stadium. Nestled and tucked away at the corner of Parker and Golden Gate Avenue, it's one of San Francisco's only soccer specific stadiums. Named after legendary USF Dons coach Steve Negoesco, the stadium was completed and opened in 1982. Negoesco was responsible for winning 5 National Championships at USF. Negoesco Stadium has hosted the likes of the MLS' San Jose Earthquakes, L.A. Galaxy, China's Shanghai Shenhua in addition to the Mexican and Senegalese Olympic National Teams in 2012. However, the last San Francisco based club that called Negoesco Stadium home was the San Francisco Seals. The Seals played at Negoesco from 1992-1997 and from 2006-2008 also as PDL franchise.
"We're extremely excited to announce Negoesco Stadium at the University of San Francisco as our home stadium for 2017. The University of San Francisco has one of the deepest soccer traditions in the U.S. and a legacy of representing San Francisco at the highest levels of American soccer. We are honored to continue the tradition of San Francisco soccer alongside the USF Men's and Women's soccer programs at Negoesco and thank University staff, coaches, and administrators for partnering with SF City to present our 2017 Home Season at Negoesco Stadium," said President Jacques Pelham.
In 2016, Negoesco Stadium received some notable upgrades. The pitch received a brand new AstroTurf playing surface. The new turf replaced the former artificial surface that had been in use for eight years, and features a "green" natural infill consisting of a pumice-like material specially formulated for soccer facilities. The stands were recently refurbished and new seats have been added.
SF City will play up to 7 home games at Negoesco Stadium including our preseason match vs. USF on April 1st at 7pm, which is just two months away!
Hey SF City Fans and Members!! The wait is over! We know you want to see the Iron and Gold back on the pitch very soon. Well, you don't have to wait much longer at all. We'll be playing 5 matches in the lead up to our 2017 USL PDL season, which starts in May 2017. Not a Member or don't have season tickets yet?!?! Click here for more!
*Game times TBD
"The balance of playing collegiate, semi-professional and professional clubs, will give us a good gauge of where we're at and will test our new potential players in the best of soccer environments. Roll Fog!" said Manager Paddy Coyne.
They say, vote early vote often...Voting is important. It is essential. Here at SF City FC we want your voice to be heard!! Each year, our Members vote on multiple issues per year, plus a (9) person Board of Directors every October.
Members can take part in the special tradition of voting on our Member designed scarf until January 31st, 2017 at 12:01am.
To cast your vote, click here!!
If you're not a Member already, do so for as low as $25 and click here!!
