The 2023 San Diego Loyal SC season was

San Diego Loyal SC San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship. ...

's fourth, and last, season of existence and their fourth season in the USL Championship (USLC), the second division in the American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

system. After the announcement of a new MLS expansion franchise, called San Diego FC, the club announced they would cease operations at the end of the season, citing stadium struggles. With supporter groups running with the catchphrase, "Bury Us With The Cup", the Loyal would qualify for the USL Playoffs as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference, and played in what would end up being their final match in the Western Conference Quarterfinals on October 22 at Torero Stadium, in a 4–3 loss in extra time to Phoenix Rising FC.

Season summary

During the offseason, the Loyal experienced a coaching change when coach Landon Donovan made the move to the front office. He was latter replaced by Nate Miller. As a member of the USL Championship, the San Diego Loyal entered the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

in the second round on April 5, matched up against third division club Albion San Diego, a member of the National Independent Soccer Association. After winning 2–0 at home, the Loyal would be matched up against the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, a member of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, the highest division in soccer. After forcing

added extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

away in Washington with a stoppage time goal by defender Kyle Adams, the Loyal would eventually lose 5-4 via a stoppage time penalty kick goal by Sounders'

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Fredy Montero. On August 24, 2023, owner Andrew Vassilanis released a statement that he would shut down the team, and the USL announced that it would transfer the franchise rights of the Loyal due to an inability to find a "viable near- and long-term stadium solution", with the 2023 season set to be the club's last. The team had searched for a venue to replace Torero Stadium but were unable to find suitable facilities in San Diego County; a plan to relocate to Santa Barbara was also considered, but negotiations failed to produce a solution. The announcement came three months after

's newest expansion franchise, San Diego FC, was announced. The Loyal qualified for the USLC Playoffs with a 16-9-9 record, securing home advantage for the first round of the playoffs on October 8. Despite winning home advantage, they played their final match in the Western Conference Quarterfinals on October 22 at Torero Stadium in a 4–3 extra time loss to Phoenix Rising FC, who would eventually win the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs.

Roster

Competitions

USL Championship

Regular season

= Standings

= Results summary

= Match results

= On January 9, 2023, the USL Championship staff released the schedule for all 24 teams. ''All times are in Pacific Time.''

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

USL Cup Playoffs

U.S. Open Cup

References

{{2023 in American men's soccer San Diego Loyal SC