Orange_County_SC

Orange County SC

Orange County SC

American soccer team

For the USL League 2 team, see Orange County SC U-23.

Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship.

Quick Facts Full name, Founded ...

The team plays its home games at Championship Soccer Stadium, located inside Great Park in Irvine.

History

The then Los Angeles Blues were founded by Iranian-American businessman Ali Mansouri in 1998 and announced as a USL Pro expansion franchise on December 7, 2010.[1][2][3][4][5] The team was associated with the United Soccer Leagues W-League team LA Blues, and is part of the larger Orange County Blues organization, which has competed in Los Angeles-area amateur leagues since 1998. They introduced their first three players—goalkeeper Oscar Dautt and midfielders Cesar Rivera and Josh Tudela—at a formal launch event on December 14, 2010.[6]

After an extensive pre-season, the Blues played their first games in the Caribbean over the weekend of April 15–17, 2011, a 3–0 victory over Sevilla Puerto Rico, and a 2–1 victory over Antigua Barracuda. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Cesar Rivera.[7]

In January 2012, the Blues announced the hiring of Steve Donner (formerly CEO of Orlando City) as vice president of business operations to focus on improving marketing for the club and to bring professionalism to the front-office.[8] The first game of the 2012 season reflected these efforts with a 2,432 attendance compared to 696 for the first home game in 2011 (the Blues averaged 382 during the 2011 season).

In 2016, the team was purchased by American businessman James Keston, rebranded to Orange County SC.[2] Prior to the 2017 season, Orange County became the USL affiliate of Los Angeles FC in a multi-year deal, which was ended after 2018.[9][10] The team won the Western Conference Regular Season Title in 2018 with 20 Wins, 8 losses and 6 ties. They defeated Saint Louis FC and Reno 1868 FC before losing 2–1 to Phoenix Rising FC in the Western Conference Final.[11] Thomas Enevoldsen scored 20 goals and was named to the All-League First Team along with Aodhan Quinn.[12]

In the 2021 season, Head Coach Braden Cloutier was dismissed mid-season and replaced by Assistant Coach Richard Chaplow.[13] OCSC went on to finish second in the Pacific Division, and advance to the USL Championship Final defeating Tampa Bay Rowdies in St. Petersburg, Fla., 3–1 in regulation.[14]

The 2022 season saw Richard Chaplow earn a last place Western Conference finish, despite Milan Iloski earning the USL Championship Golden Boot award.[15] Orange County SC finished the 2022 season 7-14-13 with 34 points, last in the Western Conference.[16]

The 2023 season also did not start strong for Orange County, with just one win in eight games, with a 1-4-3 record before the team relieved Chaplow of duties and promoted newly hired assistant coach Morten Karlsen to interim head coach on May 1, 2023.[17] Karlsen led the team to a season-end 2nd place Western Conference placement at 17-11-6, earning two consecutive USL Championship Coach of the Month awards for July and August.[18] Coach Karlsen was appointed as Head Coach on a multi-year contract, announced November 2023.[19]

Stadium

In October 2023, it was announced the City of Irvine and Orange County SC had drafted a 5-year agreement for the team to operate Championship Soccer Stadium.[20] On October 23, City Council voted unanimously to approve the deal, striking a stadium naming right clause in the agreement for separate negotiation and later City Council approval.[21] The 5-year agreement includes one 5-year renewal.

Club culture

Rivalries

Orange County competes in the 405 Derby against rivals LA Galaxy II.[22] The clubs are, as of late 2022, in a dispute over who will play at Championship Soccer Stadium, Orange County SC's current home stadium, after leaked documents showed the Galaxy organization is attempting to seize full-time usage of the venue.[23]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of April 1, 2024[24]

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

More information No., Pos. ...
  1. ^
    USL Academy Contract

Front office

  • United States James Keston – Owner & CEO[25]
  • Switzerland Oliver Wyss – President of Soccer Operations & General Manager
  • England Peter Nugent – Sports Director
  • England Dan Rutstein - Interim President of Business Operations

Technical staff

Head coaches

Record

Year-by-year

Main article: List of Orange County SC seasons

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the club. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Orange County SC seasons.

More information Season, League ...

^ 1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
^ 2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league play, playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, and other competitive matches.

Honors

References

  1. [1]
    "Irvine-based soccer team changes ownership". Orange County Register. September 8, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  2. [2]
    USLSoccer.com Staff (September 8, 2016). "Blues Purchased by Southern California Businessman Keston". United Soccer League. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  3. [3]
    "Mehrshad Momeni: Consumed by the Game". OurSports Central. August 10, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  4. [4]
    "OC Blues 2015 Player Postmortem: Mehrshad Momeni". Angels on Parade. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  5. [5]
    LA Blues Set to Play in USL PRO Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. [6]
    "Los Angeles Blues Sign First Three Players". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  7. [7]
    "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  8. [8]
    Scott French (April 13, 2012). L.A. BLUES: Starting over, with a plan. ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  9. [9]
    USLSoccer.com Staff (December 7, 2016). "LAFC, Orange County Blues FC Announce Multi-Year Partnership". United Soccer League. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  10. [10]
    MLSSoccer.com Staff (December 14, 2018). "LAFC announce end of USL affiliation with Orange County SC". Alicia Rodriguez. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  11. [11]
    Merk, Carson (November 4, 2018). "Record Season for Orange County Ends. Phoenix Rises". OrangeCountySoccer.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  12. [12]
    "Orange County SC Aodhan Quinn and Thomas Enevoldsen Named to 2018 USL All-League First Team". Orange County SC Staff. OrangeCountySoccer.com. November 5, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Orange County SC dismiss head coach Braeden Cloutier".
  14. [14]
    "Orange County SC drops Rowdies to win its first USL Championship title - SBI Soccer". sbisoccer.com. November 30, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  15. [15]
    "MILAN ILOSKI WINS THE FIRST GOLDEN BOOT IN CLUB HISTORY". Orange County SC. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  16. [16]
    "Standings". uslchampionship.com. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  17. [17]
    "CLUB STATEMENT". Orange County SC. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  18. [18]
    "HEAD COACH MORTEN KARLSEN BECOMES THE FIRST COACH IN CLUB HISTORY TO WIN USL CHAMPIONSHIP COACH OF THE MONTH". Orange County SC. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  19. [19]
    "ORANGE COUNTY SC APPOINTS MORTEN KARLSEN AS HEAD COACH WITH NEW MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT". Orange County SC. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  20. [20]
    "Orange County SC - City of Irvine - Great Park Championship Soccer Stadium Use Proposal". Orange & Black SoccerCast. October 8, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  21. [21]
    https://irvine.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=irvine_abf1f033e995c906f5d334e4952c0a44.pdf&view=1. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. [22]
    "EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN ORANGE COUNTY SC VISITS LOS DOS". orangecountysoccer.com. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  23. [23]
    Calhoun, Damian (August 8, 2022). "Irvine City Council's plans to discuss use of Championship Soccer Stadium moved off of agenda". The Orange County Register. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  24. [24]
    "Roster". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  25. [25]
    "Front Office". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
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