Orange County SC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the USL League 2 team, see Orange County SC U-23.

Orange County SC
Orange County SC logo.svg
Full nameOrange County Soccer Club
Founded1998, as Los Angeles Blues
StadiumChampionship Soccer Stadium
Irvine, California
Capacity5,488
OwnerJames Keston
CoachRichard Chaplow (interim)
LeagueUSL Championship
20203rd, Group B
9th, Western Conference
Playoffs: DNQ
WebsiteClub website
Away colors
Current season

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

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 became the USL affiliate of Los Angeles FC in a multi-year deal, which was ended after 2018.[9][10] The team later changed its name to Orange County SC and was purchased by American businessman James Keston.[2] 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]

Stadium[]

Players and staff[]

Current roster[]

As of August 29, 2021[13]
No. Pos. Player Nation
1 GK Patrick Rakovsky  Germany
2 DF Kevin Alston  United States
3 MF Dillon Powers  United States
4 DF Rob Kiernan  Republic of Ireland
6 DF Michael Orozco  United States
7 FW Thomas Enevoldsen  Denmark
8 MF Seth Casiple  United States
9 FW Eero Markkanen  Finland
10 MF Brian Iloski  United States
11 FW Ronaldo Damus  Haiti
12 FW Adam Jahn (on loan from Atlanta United)  United States
13 MF Tommy McCabe  United States
15 MF Eric Calvillo (on loan from San Jose Earthquakes)  El Salvador
16 DF Brent Richards  United States
17 FW Darwin Jones  United States
18 FW Aidan Apodaca (on loan from El Paso Locomotive)  United States
19 FW Sean Okoli  United States
20 MF Ben Mines (on loan from FC Cincinnati)  United States
21 MF Francis Jacobs  United States
22 MF Jack Imperato  United States
23 DF Kobi Henry  United States
24 DF Nathan Smith  United States
25 MF Mikko Kuningas  Finland
26 MF Raymond Drai  United States
28 MF ([A])  United States
30 FW Sean McTague ([A])  United States
33 GK Abraham Romero  Mexico
48 GK  United States
— GK ([A])  United States

Out on loan[]

No. Pos. Player Nation
5 DF Blake Malone (at Union Omaha)  United States

Front office and technical staff[]

  • Switzerland Oliver Wyss – General Manager & President of Soccer Operations
  • England Peter Nugent – Assistant general manager & Senior vice president of player recruitment & soccer operations
  • United States Jeff Garner - President of Business Operations[14]
  • Netherlands Frans Hoek – Technical director & senior advisor
  • England Richard Chaplow – Interim head coach
  • United States Victor Nogueira – Goalkeeping coach
  • Peru Jerry Tamashiro – U23 head coach
  • Switzerland Didier Crettenand – U23 assistant coach
  • Argentina Claudio Trabattoni – Strength & conditioning coach

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.

Season League Position Playoffs USOC Continental / Other Average attendance Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts PPG Conf. Overall Name Goals
3 USL 30 12 14 4 39 41 −2 40 1.33 8th 15th QF R2 DNQ 1,010 Trinidad and Tobago Trevin Caesar 10
2017 2 USL 32 11 11 10 43 47 –4 43 1.34 10th 18th DNQ R4 2,575 United States Irvin Parra 11
2018 USL 34 20 8 6 70 40 +30 66 1.94 1st 2nd SF R2 3,095 Denmark Thomas Enevoldsen 21
2019 USLC 34 15 10 9 54 43 +11 54 1.59 5th 12th R1 R2 3,192 Jamaica Michael Seaton
United States Darwin Jones		 13
2020 USLC 16 7 6 3 18 18 0 24 1.50 9th 17th DNQ NH 3,188 United States Sean Okoli 7

^ 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.

By Team (regular season)[]

*as of end of 2011-2020 season

Opponent W L D W%
Antigua Barracuda 7 4 1 58.33
Austin Aztex 1 1 50.00
Austin Bold FC 1 1 0.00
Charlotte Eagles 3 3 1 42.86
Charleston Battery 1 3 1 20.00
Chivas USA 1 100.00
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 6 4 1 54.55
Dayton Dutch Lions 5 1 3 55.56
El Paso Locomotive FC 1 2 33.33
FC Tulsa 4 5 1 40.00
Fresno FC 3 1 75.00
Harrisburg City Islanders 2 3 4 22.22
LA Galaxy II 8 12 6 30.77
Las Vegas Lights FC 5 1 1 71.43
New Mexico United 1 1 50.00
OKC Energy FC 4 8 2 28.57
Orlando City SC 3 1 0.00
Phoenix FC 1 100.00
Phoenix Rising FC 7 10 6 30.43
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4 1 1 66.67
Portland Timbers 2 6 2 2 60.00
Puerto Rico United 1 100.00
Real Monarchs 6 4 1 54.55
Reno 1868 FC 3 2 2 42.86
Richmond Kickers 1 2 4 14.29
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros 3 4 1 37.50
River Plate Puerto Rico 1 0.00
Rochester Rhinos 2 3 1 33.33
Sacramento Republic FC 5 9 3 29.41
Saint Louis FC 2 3 0.00
San Antonio FC 3 3 2 37.5
San Diego Loyal 1 1 1 33.33
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico 1 100.00
Swope Park Rangers 3 1 1 60.00
Tacoma Defiance 6 3 2 54.55
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 7 1 1 77.78
VSI Tampa Bay 1 0.00
Wilmington Hammerheads 2 5 1 25.00
Total 100 91 55 40.65

Honors[]

USL Championship

  • Western Conference (Regular Season)

References[]

  1. ^ "Irvine-based soccer team changes ownership". Orange County Register. September 8, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b USLSoccer.com Staff (September 8, 2016). "Blues Purchased by Southern California Businessman Keston". United Soccer League. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Mehrshad Momeni: Consumed by the Game". OurSports Central. August 10, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  4. ^ "OC Blues 2015 Player Postmortem: Mehrshad Momeni". Angels on Parade. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  5. ^ LA Blues Set to Play in USL PRO Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Los Angeles Blues Sign First Three Players". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Scott French (April 13, 2012). L.A. BLUES: Starting over, with a plan. ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  9. ^ USLSoccer.com Staff (December 7, 2016). "LAFC, Orange County Blues FC Announce Multi-Year Partnership". United Soccer League. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  10. ^ MLSSoccer.com Staff (December 14, 2018). "LAFC announce end of USL affiliation with Orange County SC". Alicia Rodriguez. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  11. ^ Merk, Carson (November 4, 2018). "Record Season for Orange County Ends. Phoenix Rises". OrangeCountySoccer.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  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. ^ "Roster". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  14. ^ Communications, Orange County SC (June 12, 2019). "ORANGE COUNTY SOCCER CLUB NAMES JEFF GARNER TEAM PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""