Former Major League Soccer legend Landon Donovan's USL Championship expansion side has a name and a crest.
The team that will take the field for the first time in 2020 will be known as San Diego Loyal Soccer Club, which was unveiled, along with the squad’s crest, at a community event in downtown San Diego Saturday morning. Donovan, the club's Executive Vice President for Soccer Operations, attended the event.
“San Diegans are incredibly loyal to their soil; we wanted to declare the same and what better way to do it than by calling our club San Diego Loyal,” Chairman and San Diego native Andrew Vassiliadis said in a statement. “We know through thousands of conversations with the community that we are all here by choice. This is a place we choose to live, because of our shared passion for the region’s beauty and outdoors, and the diverse and independent spirit of its locals.”
The club conducted listening sessions, surveys and one-on-one chats with San Diego residents about what they love about their city and what they want from their soccer club.
“The greatest soccer crests in the world are iconic to the place and people they represent and built by the community,” San Diego Local president and co-founder Warren Smith said. “San Diego Loyal is no different. The crest that our players and fans will wear over their hearts is one that will be here to stay. For now. For always. For San Diego.”
San Diego Loyal Soccer Club will begin play in March 2020 at Torero Stadium on the campus of University of San Diego.
