San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference.

History

San Antonio FC was awarded the thirty-first USL franchise on January 7, 2016. The establishment of the club, along with the concurrent purchase of Toyota Field by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, was part of a plan by local officials to obtain an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer. As a result, the San Antonio Scorpions franchise of the North American Soccer League was shut down. The first head coach in club history was former Elon University men's soccer coach and Orlando City SC Pro Academy Director, Darren Powell. Carlos Alvarez was the club's first player signing on February 2, 2016.

After failing to make the playoffs in its inaugural season, San Antonio FC finished the 2017 USL regular season with a 17–11–4 (W-D-L) record, finishing second in the USL Western Conference standings and earning their first playoff berth in club history. SAFC advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before being eliminated. San Antonio failed to make the playoffs in consecutive years in 2018 and 2019 by a combined 4 points in the conference table.

San Antonio FC parted ways with head coach Darren Powell on October 30, 2019 after four seasons with the club. He accumulated an overall competition win-draw-loss record of 59–39–44. He led the club to its only playoff appearance in 2017, but failed to make the playoffs in the other three seasons under his management. His assistant coach, Alen Marcina, was named to replace Powell on December 9, 2019 in preparation for the 2020 USL Championship season. He led the former San Antonio Scorpions to their only NASL championship in the 2014 season.