South Texas Derby
South Texas Derby logo
LocationSouth Texas
Teams
First meetingMay 7, 2016
Latest meetingRGV 0–0 San Antonio
2023 USLC (August 30, 2023)
Statistics
Meetings total26
Most winsSan Antonio (11)
Top scorerÉver Guzmán (5 goals)
All-time recordRio Grande Valley: 6
Drawn: 9
San Antonio: 11
Largest victoryRGV 3–0 San Antonio
2016 USL (September 24, 2016)

The South Texas Derby was a regular season series between American soccer clubs Rio Grande Valley FC Toros of Edinburg, Texas and San Antonio FC of San Antonio, Texas.[1][2] Both teams competed in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of soccer in the United States. The teams were located in cities situated in South Texas and were separated by roughly 237 miles (381 km). The series ended when RGV FC ceased all soccer and business operations of December 18, 2023.[3]


Rivalry

The first match in the series was on May 7, 2016, at Toyota Field in San Antonio. RGV's Rob Lovejoy scored the first goal in the rivalry in the 69th minute.[4] San Antonio came back from being down 0–2 but eventually lost to RGV as Lovejoy secured the win with a stoppage-time goal.[5] Needing a win in their final regular-season match to secure a place in the 2016 USL Playoffs, San Antonio FC lost to RGV 0–3 in Edinburg. The loss kept San Antonio out of the playoffs in their inaugural season, while RGV went on to the playoffs, losing in the First Round. RGV FC took the 2016 season series with three wins, one draw, and no losses.[6]

The 2017 USL season saw San Antonio FC earning its first win of the season, and in the Derby, against RGV on March 26, 2017. San Antonio would go on to win two out of the three meetings in the series. In a reversal from their inaugural seasons, San Antonio FC finished in second place in the Western Conference standings; making their first playoff appearance, while Rio Grande Valley FC finished in 11th place, failing to make the playoffs for the first time in their history.

The 2018 USL season was the first time that both teams failed to qualify for the playoffs. San Antonio missed out by just three points and one place in the standings, while RGV ended up in 13th place. In the Derby, 2018 was the first season that RGV failed to win a single match against San Antonio. From the last match in the 2017 season, SAFC went on a four match unbeaten streak against RGV, the team's longest in the rivalry. Beginning with the 2019 season, the rivalry began being scheduled as an equal home-away format. Since the 2019 season, both RGV and San Antonio's derby matches have also been counted in the Copa Tejas competition that pits the four USL Championship clubs from Texas to determine the best in the state.[7]

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the announcement of the updated competition format for the remainder of the 2020 USL Championship season, the South Texas Derby competition did not play-out as originally scheduled. Both teams were placed in Group D.[8] The revised 2020 schedule was released on July 2 with four scheduled South Texas Derby matches in an equal home-away format.[9]

Both clubs moved to the Mountain Division of the USL Western Conference for the 2021 USL Championship season where RGV opened the series with a 1–0 win that pulled the club even on wins with its rival at 6 apiece.[10][11] After a pair of 1-1 draws, San Antonio would end the season series with a 2-1 road victory over RGV giving the Alamo City club the lead in wins over their south Texas rival. The South Texas Derby would be played once again in 2021, this time as part of the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs in the Conference Semi-final round held in San Antonio. This was the first post-season Derby between the two sides. San Antonio went on to win 3-1 over RGV which advanced them to the Conference Finals for the first time in club history.[12]

RGV ceased operations on December 18, 2023 effectively ending the derby after 8 seasons.

Results

Home team is listed on the left, away team is listed on the right. Home team's score is listed first.

Top goalscorers

As of the latest matchup on August 16, 2023[13] Does not include own goals. List is sorted by last name when total goals are equal
Position Name Team Goals
1 Mexico Éver Guzmán San Antonio FC 5
2 Colombia Santiago Patiño San Antonio FC 4
3 United States Justin Dhillon San Antonio FC 3
Brazil Nathan San Antonio FC
5 Venezuela Juan Carlos Azócar Rio Grande Valley FC 2
United States Eric Bird Rio Grande Valley FC
Argentina Gonzalo Di Renzo San Antonio FC
United States Jesús Enríquez Rio Grande Valley FC
Turks and Caicos Islands Billy Forbes San Antonio FC
United States Rob Lovejoy Rio Grande Valley FC
Argentina Cristian Parano San Antonio FC
Belize Michael Salazar Rio Grande Valley FC
Panama Carlos Small Rio Grande Valley FC
Argentina Luis Solignac San Antonio FC
El Salvador Christian Sorto Rio Grande Valley FC
United States Mitchell Taintor San Antonio FC
17 25 players 1

Competitive matches only. Players in bold are still active players with the team.

Players who played for both clubs

As of August 30, 2023[14][15]
Player Rio Grande Valley FC career San Antonio FC career
Span Apps Goals Span Apps Goals
Venezuela Juan Carlos Azócar 2020–2021 27 7 2023- 7 0
Jamaica Deshane Beckford 2019–2020 22 3 2022 15 1
United States Jesús Enríquez 2018–2019 61 10 2020 3 0
Honduras José Escalante 2016–2017 37 7 2018 24 1
United States Kai Greene 2016–2018 68 1 2019–2020 44 0
Cuba Frank López 2021– 55 10 2019 14 8
United States Carter Manley 2020–2021 46 2 2022– 36 3
United States Kyle Murphy 2016–2017 56 10 2018 17 1
England Charlie Ward 2016–2017 43 0 2018 12 1

Players in bold are still active players with the team.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
  2. 1 2 Capacity limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "Local squad prevails in season opener". March 27, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  2. ↑ USL (March 26, 2017). "Who will have the bragging rights after the first South Texas Derby of the season? @RGVFC or @SanAntonioFC? #RGVvSA #RaiseYourGamepic.twitter.com/d5IqrbdpWQ". Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ "OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Rio Grande Valley FC Cease Operations". www.RGVFC.com. Rio Grande Valley FC. December 18, 2023. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (May 7, 2016). "San Antonio FC Narrowly Falls To RGVFC In Final Seconds On Saturday". Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Battle for South Texas". May 8, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ Communications, San Antonio FC (March 24, 2017). "SAN ANTONIO FC OPENS 2017 USL SEASON ON THE ROAD AGAINST RGV FC". Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Copa Tejas". copatejas.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019.
  8. ↑ USLChampionship com Staff (June 24, 2020). "USL Championship Unveils 2020 Season Format". USL Championship.
  9. ↑ USLChampionship com Staff (July 2, 2020). "USL Championship Unveils Revised 2020 Regular Season Schedule". USL Championship. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  10. ↑ Murray, Nicholas (May 17, 2021). "Western Talking Points: Toros' Victory Adds to Building Belief". USL Championship. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The Striker Texas". TheStrikerTexas.com. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Championship Playoffs Report: Patino at the Double as San Antonio Downs Toros". November 13, 2021.
  13. ↑ "San Antonio FC vs. Rio Grande Valley FC - July 19, 2020 | USLChampionship.com". uslchampionship.com.
  14. ↑ "Roster". sanantoniofc.com.
  15. ↑ "Roster". rgvfc.com.
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