San_Diego_WFC_SeaLions
San Diego WFC SeaLions
Soccer club
San Diego WFC SeaLions was an American women's soccer team, founded in 1988 with the local Peninsula Soccer League and originally called the "Has-Beens".[1] The Has-Beens went on to win the Peninsula championship that year. In 1997 Auto Trader Publications became the team's first commercial sponsor and changed the team name to Auto Trader Women's Select and later San Diego Auto Trader. The team was invited to tour Europe to face clubs in Germany, Hungary, and Italy where they went 4-0.[1]
The team became a founding member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, finishing in 2nd place. The next year they traveled to Mexico City to play two games against the Mexico Women's National Team, helping it prepare for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1] They won the Las Vegas Silver Mug Tournament with an 8-0 record, allowing only 1 goal. After beating Las Virgines and the So Cal Blues for the California State Cup title, they then traveled to St. Louis where they won the U.S. National Cup over New Jersey's Patrick Real Wykoff in a 14-0 win. Capping-off the year with another 2nd place finish in the WPSL.
In 2000, the San Diego Auto Traders changed their name to San Diego WFC and went on to win their first WPSL Championship.[2] Due to their success, they became a sponsored team of the WUSA's San Diego Spirit.[1] They won another Las Vegas Silver Mug title and took second place in the WPSL despite losing several players to the Spirit the following year. In 2002, the San Diego WFC becomes the SD Spirit's "developmental squad," and scrimmaged the U.S. Under-16, Under-19, and Under-21 Women's National Teams.
By 2006 and led by USWNT member Jen Lalor-Neilsen, Chinese National Team captain Zhang Ouying, and Irish National Team member Sarah Halpenny, the SeaLions advanced to the WPSL's first Final Four Tournament, held in Salt Lake City, UT.
The team folded after the 2019 season.[3]
The team played its home games at Manchester Stadium on the campus of Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, California. The club's colors were sky blue, royal blue and white.
