Orange County SC
Full nameOrange County Soccer Club
Founded1998, as Los Angeles Blues
StadiumChampionship Soccer Stadium
Irvine, California
Capacity5,000
OwnerJames Keston
CoachMorten Karlsen
LeagueUSL Championship
20232nd, Western Conference
Playoffs: Conference Semifinals
WebsiteClub website

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.

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]

Stadium

Club culture

Rivalries

Orange County competes in the 405 Derby against rivals LA Galaxy II.[15] 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.[16]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of January 16, 2024[17]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF United States USA Owen Lambe
5 MF United States USA Dillon Powers
6 DF England ENG Andrew Fox
8 MF United States USA Seth Casiple
10 MF United States USA Brian Iloski
11 FW United States USA Bryce Jamison
12 FW United States USA Cameron Dunbar
15 MF United States USA Ashish Chattha
19 MF United States USA Kevin Partida
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 GK United States USA Colin Shutler
21 FW Cameroon CMR Thomas Amang
23 DF Norway NOR Ryan Doghman
26 MF United States USA Kyle Scott
30 DF Norway NOR Markus Nakkim
33 DF United States USA Ashton Miles
— DF United States USA Charlie Asensio
— FW El Salvador SLV Christian Sorto
— FW United States USA Ethan Zubak
  1. ^
    USL Academy Contract

Front office

  • United States James Keston – Owner & CEO[18]
  • 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

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
2019 2 USLC 34151095443+1154 1.59 5th 12th R1 R2 DNQ 3,192 Jamaica Michael Seaton
United States Darwin Jones		13
2020 USLC 167631818024 1.50 9th 17th DNQ NH 3,188 United States Sean Okoli7
2021 USLC 32 15 10 7 44 37 +7 52 1.63 2nd 7th W NH 3,302 Haiti Ronaldo Damus 16
2022 USLC 34 7 14 13 49 59 -10 34 1.00 13th 23rd DNQ R3 4,230 United States Milan Iloski 22 ♦
2023 USLC 34 17 11 6 46 39 +7 57 1.68 2nd 5th SF R3 4,411 United States Milan Iloski 17

^ 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. ↑ "Irvine-based soccer team changes ownership". Orange County Register. September 8, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  2. 1 2 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. ↑ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  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. ↑ "Orange County SC dismiss head coach Braeden Cloutier".
  14. ↑ "Orange County SC drops Rowdies to win its first USL Championship title - SBI Soccer". sbisoccer.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  15. ↑ "EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN ORANGE COUNTY SC VISITS LOS DOS". orangecountysoccer.com. July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "Roster". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Front Office". Orange County Soccer Club. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
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