California Victory

California Victory
Full name	California Victory
Nickname(s)	Victory, Vics
Founded	2006-2007 (defunct)
Ground	Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California, United States (Capacity 10,000)
2007	12th, did not make playoffs
Home colours 　 Away colours

The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but folded in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdrew its support.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Name 3 Management 4 Supporters 5 SaveTheVictory.org 6 Final squad 7 Year-By-Year 8 External links 9 Sources

History

On October 12, 2006, USL President Francisco Marcos announced Dmitry Piterman, a Ukrainian-American and chairman of Spanish club Deportivo Alavés, had officially acquired a USL First Division franchise beginning in the 2007 season.^[2] The Victory was the first European owned team to compete in any level of the United Soccer Leagues, and also the first USL First Division team in California since the demise of the San Diego Flash in 2001. The club played at Kezar Stadium, the former home of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. The Victory may resume play in 2009 if a deal with local ownership can be worked out.^[3]

Name

The name Victory is derived from Alavés’ home city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital city of both the province of Álava and the Basque Country of Spain.^[4]

Management

Terry Fisher, a longtime soccer executive and coach, was the team's first general manager.^[4] The team was managed and coached by Glenn Van Straatum, while US international Hugo Perez was as an assistant. ^[5]

Supporters

1906 was the blanket term for the supporters of the California Victory. The term 1906 referred to the 1906 earthquake and fire of San Francisco. The 1906 had its roots in early fan support of the San Francisco Seals soccer team and the San Jose Earthquakes, who were on hiatus from MLS when the Victory began play. They were identifiable by their custom t-shirts, colorful chants and banners draped over the rails. California Victory Supporters Association (CVSA) was the official supporters club of the Victory. Seeing a need for community support of the club, several loyal 1906ers met at The Pig & Whistle with members of the Victory front office. There, the attending 1906ers established the CVSA. Through the sales of handmade merchandise and community outreach, the CVSA had effectively created a fan base for the Victory.

SaveTheVictory.org

SaveTheVictory.org is a movement set in motion by the Victory's official supporters club, the CVSA. The goal of the group was to raise enough money by accepting memberships to purchase the club, an ownership model based on the NFL's Green Bay Packers and influenced by My Football Club.

Final squad

As of November 1, 2007

No. Position Player 1 GK Dominik Jakubek 3 DF Kiel McClung 5 DF Hugo Casillas 6 MF Chris Schwarze 7 MF Chuck Kim 10 MF Mike Muñoz 11 MF Omar Aguayo

No. Position Player 13 MF Ricardo Sanchez 15 MF José Retiz 16 FW Yuri Morales 17 MF Josh Tudela (on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy) 22 GK Eric Reed 23 FW Federico Bianchi 24 FW Aaron Chandler 26 DF Mike Randolph (on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy)

Year-By-Year

Year	League	Reg.Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
2007	USL First Division	12th	Did not qualify	3rd Round

External links

• Official site
• Official Save The Victory site
• 1906 Supporters
• Article on the California Victory
• Deportivo Alaves fans site (Spanish)
• Deportivo Alaves' website (Spanish)

Sources