California Kickers were a

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 ...

club based in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. They joined the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

in 1986. They initially played as Hollywood Kickers before changing their name for the following season. In 1990 the team name was changed again, becoming the California Emperors when they joined the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. After the 1991 season, the team left the league to become an amateur club. In 1986 the first year the Kickers held open tryouts for the highest adult level players along with Collegiate players looking to play professional soccer, which was scarce once NASL folded their teams. On this first roster, there were standout local plays like:

Martín Vásquez Martín Vásquez Gómez (born December 24, 1963) is an American former professional soccer player. The first of five players to have played for both the United States and Mexico, he has served as a coach since retiring. Playing career Youth a ...

(Cal State LA and former indoor player for LA Lazers), Alberto Bru (Cal State LA player), Steve Singleman (Cal State LA), and Mike Page (Cal State LA), Mike Getchel (UCLA), Paul Krumpe (UCLA), Steve Ledezzma (Simi Valley High School), Rudy Ybarra (Former LA Aztecs and Santa Barbara), Armando Ceja (Cal State LA), Daniel Behrendt (UC Berkeley), Brian Myrdal (Mt. San Antonio) Getulio (Brazilian International player, São Paulo Brazil) Short season and no playoffs the Hollywood Kickers played consistently to win the first title of the Western Soccer Alliance expansion. Their home field was Birmingham High Stadium in Van Nuys California. Coached by Dieter Hochheimer from Germany.

Owners

Jaime Legaspi and Dean Foley ( 1990–2004 ) John Ajemian (1987-1989)

Head coach

Dieter Hochheimer Dieter Hochheimer (born 24 September 1952 in Hattersheim am Main) is a former German football player and manager. Playing career Hochheimer played three games for the German U-16 in 1968, the year he moved to Kickers Offenbach. He also played ...

Year-by-year

References

Soccer clubs in Los Angeles Defunct soccer clubs in California Western Soccer Alliance teams Soccer clubs in California Association football clubs established in 1986 1986 establishments in California {{LosAngeles-sport-stub