Monterey Bay F.C.

Monterey Bay Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Monterey County, California. The club was established on February 21, 2021, and is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer league system. It began playing during the 2022 USL Championship season as a member of the league's Western Conference.

History

Former Monterey Bay teams

The Monterey Bay had its first professional team in 1993 when Santa Cruz Surf joined the USISL. The team would only last through the 1994 season, but professional soccer's absence would not last long as the Monterey Bay Jaguars were established for the 1995 season. The following season the Jaguars would change the location in their name to "California" and have their most successful season, defeating the Richmond Kickers 2-1 to win the USISL Select League Championship. The Jaguars would continue to play in USL affiliated leagues until their folding after the 1999 USL D3 Pro League season.

National club soccer would not return to the Monterey Bay until 2004, when the Salinas Valley Samba joined the Men's Premier Soccer League for its second season. The 2007 NPSL season would see two Monterey Bay teams playing in the same league, with the Santa Cruz County Breakers established. However this would not last long, as the Breakers would fold their NPSL club in 2008. The Samba themselves would fold the following year, with the 2009 season being their last. In 2018, a decade after the initial Breakers team folded, the club reestablished their first-team side and joined the USL PDL under the name Santa Cruz Breakers FC.

From Fresno to the Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay F.C. is a continuation of the USL Championship's former Fresno FC franchise.