Los Angeles Soccer History - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The first professional soccer team was formed in the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

area in 1955 when the owner of the Fall River Marksmen

Fall River Marksmen

Fall River Marksmen was a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They originally played as Fall River United before becoming known as the Marksmen after their owner, Sam Mark. During the 1920s and early 1930s they were one of the most successful soccer clubs in the United...

, Sam Mark

Sam Mark

Sam Mark is a former United States soccer club owner. During the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of Fall River Marksmen, one of the era’s most successful teams. Mark’s continued to own the team after it relocated and became the New York Yankees and then New Bedford Whalers. He also briefly...

, moved the team to the West Coast. In an effort to promote soccer on the west coast, he encouraged highly decorated soccer athletes from Fall River to transfer to the west coast creating the Los Angeles Kickers

Los Angeles Kickers

The Los Angeles Kickers are an amateur American soccer team established in 1951 which has won two U.S. Open Cups.In 1951, Albert Ebert and Fritz Ermit founded the Los Angeles Kickers as a predominantly German immigrant team. Within a few seasons, it shed its German identity and became a powerhouse...

soccer club (later known as the Los Angeles Wolves

Los Angeles Wolves

Los Angeles Wolves are a former United States professional soccer team, owned by Jack Kent Cooke, that played for two seasons during the 1960s...

). With the formation of the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

, the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

soccer team would again change names to the Los Angeles Aztecs

Los Angeles Aztecs

The Los Angeles Aztecs were a soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League from 1974-81. The team was based in Los Angeles, California and part-owned by Elton John.-History:...

. In addition, the Los Angeles Skyhawks

Los Angeles Skyhawks

The Los Angeles Skyhawks was a professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California that was a member of the American Soccer League. Founded as part of the American Soccer League's expansion to the west coast in 1976, they were the first professional sports team to be based in the San Fernando...

participated in the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

from 1976-1979. In 1993, the city’s team became known as the Los Angeles Salsa

Los Angeles Salsa

The Los Angeles Salsa was an American Professional Soccer League franchise. The club played on the campus of California State University, Fullerton at Titan Stadium in a suburb of Orange County, California...

when the restaurant’s chain owner Jose Rodriguez

Jose Rodriguez

José Rodríguez or Jose Rodriguez may refer to:*José Alfredo Rodríguez, an undefeated Mexican Boxer and current WBA Light Flyweight Champion.*Jose Rodriguez , a Canal Zone-born peace activist*José Rodríguez , Argentine Olympic fencer...

purchased the team. In 1995, Anschutz Entertainment Group

Anschutz Entertainment Group

The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...

became the owner of the primary team in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

and named it the Galaxy after the “Galaxy of Hollywood Stars” in Southern California. The team joined Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

in its inaugural season of 1996.

Entering the 2007 season, the city of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

has won over 1500 professional matches, twelve league soccer championships and nine Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Championships. In International club football, Los Angeles Galaxy

Los Angeles Galaxy

The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...

have won the city's only official title, the CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.The Gold Cup is held every two years and when it does not fall the same year as an...

in 2000. This should have qualified them for the 2001 FIFA World Club Championship, which up until 2000 had been an unofficial fixture open only to the European and South American champions. The 2000 tournament was the first official competition which expanded to allow North American, African, Asian and Oceanic teams. Although deemed a success, the tournament was still heavily criticised in Europe as they felt the new teams were still not ready to take on their elite clubs, especially as Manchester United had been forced to withdraw from the prestigious FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

in order to travel to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

to take part. FIFA scrapped the competition for 2001 thus ending the only chance to date of a Los Angeles team playing competitively against European opposition. The competition was revived in 2004 but neither Galaxy nor Chivas

C.D. Chivas USA

Club Deportivo Chivas USA is an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada....

have yet qualified.

In recent years, the US men's national team

United States men's national soccer team

The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

has taken part in the Copa America

Copa América

The Copa América —previously known as South American Championship—is an international football competition contested between the men's national teams of CONMEBOL, the sport's continental governing body...

, the regional tournament of South American nations. This may yet pave the way for USA club sides being invited to play in the elite Copa Libertadores, the South American club championships regarded as the second most important club competition after the Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

in Europe.

In 2009, Los Angeles became home to a third top-level professional team, the Los Angeles Sol, a charter member of Women's Professional Soccer

Women's Professional Soccer

Women's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion...

. WPS is the second attempt to establish a fully professional women's league in the U.S., after the demise of the Women's United Soccer Association

Women's United Soccer Association

The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to the WUSA, was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States...

(which did not have an L.A. representative). The Sol shared The Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center is a multiple-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. It is located approximately 10 miles south of Downtown Los Angeles. Its title sponsor is hardware retailer The Home Depot. The $150 million complex was...

with the Galaxy and Chivas USA, before ceasing operations in January 2010.

Los Angeles Soccer Year-by-year

Season	Conference	Position	League Record							League Sports league League is a term commonly used to describe a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can be an...	US Open Cup	CONCACAF Champions League CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region ....	Club World Cup	Top Scorer
			P	W	L	D	F	A	Pts
1955	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Final	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1956	Western American Soccer League	2nd								Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1957	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Quarterfinal	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1958	Western American Soccer League	NA								Champions	Champion	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1959	Western American Soccer League	2nd								Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1960	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Final	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1961	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Final	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1962	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Semifinal	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1963	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Final	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1964	Western American Soccer League	1st								Champions	Champion	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1965	Western American Soccer League	3rd								Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify
1966	Western American Soccer League	2nd								Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did not qualify	Eli Durante Eli Durante Eli Durante is a retired Brazilian association football player who played in the North American Soccer League from 1967 to 1975.In 1967, Durante moved to the United States and signed with the Los Angeles Toros of the National Professional Soccer League. He was the league's third leading scorer...	15
1967	USA	1st	12	5	5	2	21	14	21	Champions	Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did not qualify	Ernie Hunt Ernie Hunt Roger Patrick "Ernie" Hunt is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Swindon Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City, and for the Los Angeles Wolves in the United Soccer Association. At international level, he was capped...	14
1968	NASL Pacific	3rd	32	11	8	13	55	52	139	Conference Quarterfinal	Quarterfinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Carlos Metidieri Carlos Metidieri Jose Carlos Metidieri is a retired Brazilian-American soccer forward. He played professionally in Canada and the United States where he was the leading scorer of the North American Soccer League in 1970 and 1971 and named the league's Most Valuable Player - the only player in the league's history...	16
1969	NASL	3rd								Conference Quarterfinal	Quarterfinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1970	Amateur	Various teams								No NASL representation	Final	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1971	Amateur	Various teams								No NASL representation	Quarterfinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1972	Amateur	Various teams								No NASL representation	Champion	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1973	Amateur	Various teams								No NASL representation	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify
1974	NASL Western	Champions	20	11	2	7	41	36	110	Champions	Semifinals	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Doug McMillan Doug McMillan Douglas “Doug” McMillan is a former Scottish-American soccer forward. He was both the 1973 American Soccer League Rookie of the Year and the 1974 North American Soccer League Rookie of the Year. He earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1974....	10
1975	4th	3rd	20	11	2	7	40	41	36	Conference Quarerfinals	Champion	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Uri Banhoffer	14
1976	1st	1st	44	25	6	14	89	41	15	Champions	Semifinal	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	George Best George Best George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...	15
1977	6th	2nd	26	14	12	0	37	44	37	Conference Semifinal	Champion	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	George Best George Best George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...	14
1978	6th	3rd	30	21	9	0	63	69	36	Conference Final	Champion	Did not qualify	Did Not Qualify	Jim Rolland	17
1979	4th	2nd	30	18	12	0	54	62	47	Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON , known as Johan Cruyff, is a retired Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team as well as a member of the AFC Ajax board of directors. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with...	13
1980	3rd	2nd	32	20	12	0	60	61	52	Conference Final	Final	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Luis Fernando Luís Fernando Luís Fernando or Luiz Fernando is a given name, may refer to:Luiz Fernando CarvalhoLuís Fernando Gomes da Costa, Portuguese footballerLuiz Fernando GuimarãesLuís Fernando Rodrigues dos Santos...	28
1981	4th	2nd	32	20	12	0	60	61	52	Conference Quarterfinal	Champion	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Chris Dangerfield Chris Dangerfield Christopher George "Chris" Dangerfield is a retired English footballer. He began his career in England before playing ten seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least one in the Western Soccer Alliance....	35
1982	4th	4th	32	17	12	3	54	58	53	Conference Quarterfinal	Final	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Chris Dangerfield Chris Dangerfield Christopher George "Chris" Dangerfield is a retired English footballer. He began his career in England before playing ten seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least one in the Western Soccer Alliance....	21
1983	6th	4th	32	15	12	5	50	58	53	Conference Quarterfinal	Second Round	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Chris Dangerfield Chris Dangerfield Christopher George "Chris" Dangerfield is a retired English footballer. He began his career in England before playing ten seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least one in the Western Soccer Alliance....	20
1984	8th	4th	48	24	24	0	72	69	67	Conference Quarterfinal	Third Round	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Poli Garcia Poli Garcia Jose “Poli” Garcia is a former U.S. soccer player. He spent at least four seasons in the American Soccer League, three in the North American Soccer League and four in the Major Indoor Soccer League...	29
1985	8th	4th	48	24	22	2	74	68	69	Conference Quarterfinal	Quarterfinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Poli Garcia Poli Garcia Jose “Poli” Garcia is a former U.S. soccer player. He spent at least four seasons in the American Soccer League, three in the North American Soccer League and four in the Major Indoor Soccer League...	27
1986	3rd	1st	34	24	5	5	79	68	47	Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Michael Brady Michael Brady Michael Brady, a native of Coventry, England is a retired English-American soccer player who is an assistant coach for the Duke University men's soccer team. He previously coached the American University women’s soccer team. He played professionally, both indoors and out, in the United States. He...	11
1987	1st	1st	32	22	5	5	71	66	45	Conference Semifinal	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Michael Brady Michael Brady Michael Brady, a native of Coventry, England is a retired English-American soccer player who is an assistant coach for the Duke University men's soccer team. He previously coached the American University women’s soccer team. He played professionally, both indoors and out, in the United States. He...	15
1988	1st	1st	32	20	5	7	67	56	42	Conference Final	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Michael Brady Michael Brady Michael Brady, a native of Coventry, England is a retired English-American soccer player who is an assistant coach for the Duke University men's soccer team. He previously coached the American University women’s soccer team. He played professionally, both indoors and out, in the United States. He...	19
1989	1st	1st	32	21	4	7	70	66	42	Conference Final	Quarterfinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Michael Brady Michael Brady Michael Brady, a native of Coventry, England is a retired English-American soccer player who is an assistant coach for the Duke University men's soccer team. He previously coached the American University women’s soccer team. He played professionally, both indoors and out, in the United States. He...	16
1990	3rd	2nd	20	11	9	0	60	39	39	Conference Final	Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Jerry O'Hara	10
1991	3rd	2nd	20	11	6	3	66	41	39	Conference Final	Third Round	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Jerry O'Hara	17
1992	4th	2nd	20	10	6	4	64	41	39	Conference Semifinal	Second Round	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Jimmy Hutchinson	15
1993	6th	4th	32	12	12	8	44	41	37	Final	Semifinal	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Paulinho Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese diminutive name.It is frequently used as a nickname of various people named Paulo . In this case it is often combined with an epithet, sometimes a demonym referring to their place of origin, to distinguish them from other people with the same nickname, as shown in several...	15
1994	7th	4th	32	12	8	12	48	36	22	Conference Final	Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Paul Wright Paul Wright (soccer) Paul Wright is a U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career in the U.S. indoor leagues. He began his career with the San Diego Nomads in the Western Soccer Alliance, led the American Professional Soccer League in scoring in 1994 and played four seasons with the Kansas City Wizards in Major...	12
1995	1st	1st	10	8	1	1	24	17	7	No Playoffs	Did Not Enter	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Paul Wright Paul Wright (soccer) Paul Wright is a U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career in the U.S. indoor leagues. He began his career with the San Diego Nomads in the Western Soccer Alliance, led the American Professional Soccer League in scoring in 1994 and played four seasons with the Kansas City Wizards in Major...	6
1996	1st	1st	32	19	13	0	59	49	49	Final	Did Not Enter	Did Not Qualify	Did Not Qualify	Eduardo Hurtado Eduardo Hurtado Eduardo Estíguar Hurtado Roa is a footballer who play as a striker. He has the record of being the 2nd all-time leading scorer for the Ecuador national football team with 26 goals in 74 caps.-Early history:...	21
1997	2nd	2nd	32	16	16	0	55	44	44	Conference Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Final	Did not qualify	Welton Welton Welton may refer to:EnglandWelton, CumbriaWelton, East Riding of YorkshireWelton, LincolnshireOnce the centre of Welton Rural DistrictWelton, NorthamptonshireWelton, SomersetWelton le Marsh in Lincolnshire*Welton le Wold in Lincolnshire...	11
1998	1st	1st	32	24	8	0	85	44	68	Conf Semifinal	Did Not Enter	Did Not Enter	Did not qualify	Cobi Jones Cobi Jones Cobi N'Gai Jones is a retired American soccer player who formerly served as assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer , with whom he had been involved as a player and coach since the team's inaugural season in 1996...	19
1999	1st	1st	32	20	12	0	49	29	54	Final	Quarterfinals	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Cobi Jones Cobi Jones Cobi N'Gai Jones is a retired American soccer player who formerly served as assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer , with whom he had been involved as a player and coach since the team's inaugural season in 1996... /Carlos Hermosillo Carlos Hermosillo Carlos Manuel Hermosillo Goytortúa is a Mexican former football player. He is one of the top all-time goalscorers for the Mexican national team. He is also known as "El Grandote de Cerro Azul"....	8
2000	2nd	2nd	32	14	10	8	47	37	50	Semifinals	Semifinals	Champions	Did not qualify	Cobi Jones Cobi Jones Cobi N'Gai Jones is a retired American soccer player who formerly served as assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer , with whom he had been involved as a player and coach since the team's inaugural season in 1996...	7
2001	1st	1st	26	14	7	5	52	36	47	Final	Champions {Galaxy}	Not Held	Did Not Enter	Luis Hernandez Luis Hernández Luis Hernández may refer to:* Luis Hernández , Mexican long-distance runner* Luis Hernández , Venezuelan baseball player* Luis Hernández , Mexican Olympic fencer* Luis Hernández , Mexican footballer...	8
2002	West	1st	28	16	9	3	44	33	51	Champions	Final {Galaxy}	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Carlos Ruiz	24
2003	West	5th	30	9	12	9	35	35	36	Conference semifinal	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Did not qualify	Carlos Ruiz	15
2004	West	2nd	30	11	9	10	42	40	43	Conference Semifinal	Fourth Round	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Carlos Ruiz	11
2005	West	4th	32	13	13	6	44	45	45	Champions	Champions {Galaxy}	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Landon Donovan Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan is an American soccer player for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer in the United States. He usually plays as a withdrawn forward, and can also be used as an attacking midfielder on either wing....	12
2006	West	4th	32	11	15	6	37	37	39	Did Not Qualify	Final {Galaxy}	Quarterfinals {Galaxy}	Did Not Qualify	Landon Donovan Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan is an American soccer player for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer in the United States. He usually plays as a withdrawn forward, and can also be used as an attacking midfielder on either wing....	12
2007	West	5th	30	9	14	7	38	48	34	Did Not Qualify	Third round	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	Landon Donovan Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan is an American soccer player for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer in the United States. He usually plays as a withdrawn forward, and can also be used as an attacking midfielder on either wing....	8

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.