The San Diego Sockers are an American professional indoor soccer team based in San Diego County, California, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). The team plays its home games at Frontwave Arena. The Sockers began play in the 2009–2010 season.

History

1978–1996 The original San Diego Sockers began as the Baltimore Comets in 1974 but moved to San Diego as the San Diego Jaws in 1976. After a one-year stay in Las Vegas as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, the team returned as the San Diego Sockers in 1978. They were owned by Bob Bell and played their indoor games at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Initially, victories came slowly for the club but mounted quickly and they experienced moderate success over their outdoor history winning several division titles. However, the San Diego Sockers won the North American Soccer League (NASL) Indoor Championships of 1981–82 and 1983–84. Success was far from over for the San Diego Sockers. When the NASL folded, the San Diego Sockers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League and won eight championships: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The Sockers carried their success from one league to the next. They switched to the Continental Indoor Soccer League for three more years from 1993 to 1995. However, after several ownership changes, Sockers folded after the 1996 season.

2001–2004 The second version of the San Diego Sockers were a team in the new Major Indoor Soccer League. The team began play in the World Indoor Soccer League in 2001, and joined the MISL when it merged with the WISL for the 2002–2003 season. Just before the beginning of the 2004–2005 season, the Sockers were sold to Raj Kalra, owner of the Vancouver Ravens of the National Lacrosse League. However, barely two months after the purchase, it was revealed that Kalra had not paid the Sockers' players, staff, or rent since taking over, and the league voted to discontinue the franchise on December 30, 2004.

2009–present

The current Sockers franchise were founded in 2009 by David Pike, Carl Savoia and Phil Salvagio. This was the second attempt to revive the Sockers name. The current Sockers team have enjoyed a significant amount of success since they began play having won both the PASL-Pro championship and US Open Cup of Arena Soccer in their first four seasons. The Sockers hold the record for the longest winning streak in United States professional soccer history. The streak, which began on December 29, 2010, was snapped after 48 games by a 6–5 overtime road loss to the Dallas Sidekicks on January 27, 2013.

In January 2019, former USMNT player Landon Donovan joined the Sockers in the Major Arena Soccer League. The team during the 22/23 season held a record of 22–2–0 in the regular season. They went on to play three games for the Ron Newman Cup Conference Finals where they lost the championship, 1–0 to Chihuahua Savage in overtime. It was documented that "Over the past two seasons, the Sockers have compiled a 45–2–1 regular season record." Starting in the 2024 season, the San Diego Sockers will move to Oceanside to play at Frontwave Arena. This is where all of their 12 home games will be hosted.

Colors and badge At their inception the Sockers featured a color scheme primarily consisting of the royal blue, white, and yellow colors often used by the previous Sockers teams and utilized a modified version of their immediate predecessor's logo. For the 2011 season the team modified their uniforms dropping the yellow in favor of a smaller amount of gold. Their logo also changed to a new shield logo that corresponded to their new uniforms that utilized the 1978 founding date of the original Sockers franchise which the team claims ties to as well as stars representing the 14 titles won by the combined Sockers franchises.

Arena The Sockers have represented the San Diego area since 2009. The Sockers first played home games at Chevrolet Del Mar Arena at the Del Mar Fairgrounds adjacent to the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. They moved to Pechanga Arena, the original home of the MISL Sockers, for the 2012–2013 season. The Sockers moved to Frontwave Arena, a 7,500 seat multi-purpose indoor sports arena in Oceanside, in 2024.

Chevrolet Del Mar Arena (2009–2012) Pechanga Arena (2012–2024) Frontwave Arena (2024–present)

Personnel As of January 21, 2022.

Active players

Inactive players

Staff

As of January 21, 2022.

Head coach: Phil Salvagio (2009–present) Assistant coach: Rene Ortiz Assistant coach: Chiky Luna Goalkeeper coach: Victor Melendez Athletic Trainer: Paul Savage General Manager: Sean Bowers (2016–present) Owners: David Pike and Carl Savoia (2009–present)

Honors 2009–10, 2010–11 PASL-PRO Western Division champions 2011–12 PASL Western Division champions 2012–13 PASL Pacific Division champions 2014–15 MASL Pacific Division regular-season champions 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 MASL Pacific Division champions 2021–22 MASL West Division champions 2009–10, 2010–11 PASL-PRO Champions 2011–12, 2012–13 PASL Champions 2021-22, 2022-23, 2025-26 MASL Shield 2021, 2022, 2026 MASL Ron Newman Cup Champions 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 U.S. Open Cup of Arena Soccer Champions 2012 FIFRA Club Champions

Year-by-year League championsRunners-upDivision championsPlayoff berth SeasonLeagueWonLostGFGAFinishPlayoffAvg. attendanceU.S. Open CupOther2009–10PASL-Pro133146911st, WesternChampions1,7052009–10 Champions2010–11PASL-Pro142136791st, WesternChampions2,6082010–11 Champions2011–12PASL160165781st, WesternChampions2,1972011–12 ChampionsFIFRA Club Champions2012–13PASL151188711st, PacificChampions3,7442012–13 Runners-up2013–14PASL133141832nd, PacificDivisional Final3,625Round of 162014–15MASL164179991st, PacificDivisional Final2,8812015–16MASL1371381112nd, PacificDivisional Final3,0512016–17MASL146149901st, PacificConference Final3,8442017–18MASL193166841st, PacificConference Final3,2842018–19MASL231185921st, PacificConference Final4,1812019–20MASL1561241042nd, WesternNo playoffs2,7462021MASL4641435th, MASLChampionsNHG*2021–22MASL231182981st, WestChampions1,3522022–23MASL222160991st, WestConference Final1,6062023–24MASL1861711271st, WestConference Final1,5872024–25MASL2041521192nd, MASLRunners-up3,3722025–26MASL1681491211st, MASLChampions3,579Total14 Seasons2145120891244 * The Sockers had no home games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Playoff record YearWinLossGFGAAvg. attendance2009–102015132010–11201792011–122019132,390 2012–134039263,557 2013–141114154,116 2014–1501674,279 2015–163237362,497 2016–172327305,048 2017–182221163,421 2018–192116133,607 2021613527NHG*2021–226144211,535 Total32122902263,186 * The Sockers had no home games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References Sockers Returning To Original Home

External links