Angel City Football Club is a

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

expansion team that began play in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. The team is based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime ...

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the U ...

, and

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

. The team is the Los Angeles area's first women's professional soccer team since the

Los Angeles Sol The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The team was co-owned and operated by Blue Star, LLC and AEG, a subsidia ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

folded in 2010.

History

On July 21, 2020, the

announced that Los Angeles would be awarded an expansion franchise for the 2022 season. The team was announced with a majority female ownership group led by actress

, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur

Julie Uhrman Julie Uhrman is an American soccer executive and entrepreneur who is president of Angel City FC, a National Women's Soccer League team based in Los Angeles, California, that Uhrman also co-founded. She was previously an executive at Playboy Enterpr ...

, and venture capitalist

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Stev ...

. Other founding members of the team included professional tennis player

, actors

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an ...

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. ''Time'' ...

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featur ...

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compan ...

, and

, late night talk show host and

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

Lilly Singh Lilly Saini Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber. Singh began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username until 2019. In 2016, she was in ...

, YouTuber

Casey Neistat Casey Owen Neistat (; born March 25, 1981) is an American YouTube personality, filmmaker, vlogger and co-founder of the multimedia company Beme, which was later acquired by CNN. In 2018, he founded ''368'', a creative space for creators to c ...

, and former members of the United States national team including

Julie Foudy Julie Maurine Foudy ( ; born January 23, 1971) is an American retired soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1988 to 2004 ...

Rachel Van Hollebeke Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke ( ; ; born August 26, 1985) is an American former soccer player who last played as a defender for the Portland Thorns FC and the United States women's national soccer team. In 2015, Van Hollebeke retired from ...

Shannon Boxx Shannon Leigh Boxx Spearman (; born June 29, 1977) is an American retired soccer player and former member of the United States women's national soccer team, playing the defensive midfielder position. She last played club soccer for the Chicago Re ...

Amanda Cromwell Amanda Caryl Cromwell (born June 15, 1970) is an American professional soccer coach and former player, and former head coach of Orlando Pride in the National Women's Soccer League. Cromwell was previously the coach at the University of Centra ...

Lorrie Fair Lorraine Ming Fair (born August 5, 1978) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder who was a member of the World Cup Champion United States national soccer team. Over the span of ten years, she was a part of one World Cup Team and ...

Ronnie Fair Veronica Fair Sullins (; born August 5, 1978) is an American retired professional soccer player who represented the United States national team, winning three caps. She played professional club soccer for New York Power and San Diego Spirit of ...

Joy Fawcett Joy Lynn Fawcett (; February 8, 1968) is a retired American professional soccer player. She earned 241 caps with the United States women's national soccer team (WNT) and retired from the WNT in 2004 as the highest scoring defender for the U.S. W ...

Angela Hucles Angela Khalia Hucles Mangano (; born July 5, 1978) is an American sports executive and former professional soccer player. Hucles Mangano is currently the vice president of player development and operations at Angel City FC of the National Women's ...

Shannon MacMillan Shannon Ann MacMillan (born October 7, 1974) is an American retired soccer player, coach, FIFA Women's World Cup champion, Olympic gold and silver medalist. Named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year for 2002, MacMillan played for the United Stat ...

Tisha Venturini Tisha Lea Venturini-Hoch (; born March 3, 1973) is a former American soccer player and current National Spokesperson for Produce for Better Health. She is a gold medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a world champion in the 1999 FIFA Wome ...

Saskia Webber Saskia Johanna Webber (born June 13, 1971) is a retired United States, American association football, soccer goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who previously played for the United States women's national soccer team as well as the New ...

Lauren Holiday Lauren Cheney Holiday (born Lauren Nicole Cheney; September 30, 1987) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder and forward for the United States women's national football team from 2007 to 2015. She is a t ...

, and

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

. It was also announced during the team's launch that they would be announcing their official name before the end of the year but were going to use 'Angel City' as a tentative nickname. The team was also in discussions with various groups for a stadium agreement, including the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

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 ...

. In the time since the club's name was confirmed as Angel City FC on October 21, 2020, additional members of the ownership group were announced, among them tennis great

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

, former tennis player and current tennis administrator

Ilana Kloss Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001-21. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She w ...

, WNBA star

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los An ...

, NHL star

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, a ...

, actress and activist

Sophia Bush Sophia Anna Bush Hughes (born July 8, 1982) is an American actress. She starred as Brooke Davis in The WB/ CW drama series ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012), and as Erin Lindsay in the NBC police procedural drama series ''Chicago P.D.'' (2014– ...

, Latin pop star

, actor and TV host

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...

, former US men's international soccer star Cobi Jones, NFL offensive lineman

Ryan Kalil Ryan Joseph Kalil (born March 29, 1985) is an American film and television producer and former NFL center. He played college football at USC, where he was a member of two national championship teams, was named a first-team All-American, and won ...

, and "The Vlog Squad" member Natalina Mariduena. Angel City FC hosted Mexican football club

Tigres UANL Femenil Tigres UANL Femenil is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico that competes in the Liga MX Femenil. The club has been the women's section of Tigres UANL since 2017. The team plays its home matches ...

in the club’s first-ever International Friendly match in August 2022, which Angel City FC won 1-0. The first edition of the Copa Angelina on September 5, 2022 saw Angel City FC fall 2-0 to the

Mexico women's national football team The Mexico women's national football team represents Mexico on the international stage. The squad is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and competes within CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associatio ...

off a goal by

Scarlett Camberos Scarlett Nefer Camberos Becerra (born 20 November 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for NWSL club Bay FC. Born and raised in the United States to Mexican parents, she represents the Mexico women's national team. Col ...

and an own goal.

Naming controversy

The announcement of the Angel City ownership group's franchise agreement caused backlash on social media among women's sports fans and particularly

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

fans due to the long-standing existence of the popular

Angel City Derby Angel City Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006 by a collective of skaters, the league is composed of nearly 200 members divided into four teams who skate on a flat track and compete ...

. The groundbreaking

WFTDA The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues C ...

team was established in 2005 by female skaters and consistently ranks among the top derby teams in the world. On October 21, 2020, the club officially confirmed that it would keep the name "Angel City Football Club".

Colors and crest

Angel City FC's official colors are "asphalt" and "armour" with "sol rosa" as an accent color, a pink-tinted hue unique to the club. On June 30, 2021, the club revealed its crest featuring an angel with wings inspired by the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

and shaped to mimic the area’s

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

, with the top of the crest sloping at a 22-degree angle to represent their 2022 entry into the league. The crest was designed by Amedea Tassinari. The club collaborated with supporters in the design of the colors, crest, and kit to ensure the club represented

Sponsorship

On November 17, 2021 the club unveiled its primary kit which is made from recycled materials. The all-black primary look features hints of sol rosa and an art deco pattern. The kit will also feature an ‘empowering phrase’ above player names. The club's eight-figure deal with

DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56% mar ...

as the main kit sponsor is the largest in the

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

Stadium

In November 2020, it was announced the team would play its home matches at

Banc of California Stadium Banc of California Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC. Opened on ...

in Exposition Park near

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

. Banc of California Stadium is also home to

Los Angeles Football Club Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The clu ...

Players and staff

Current squad

Out on loan

Management and staff

Records

Year-by-year

Head coaching record

Only competitive matches are counted. Includes NWSL regular season, playoffs, and Challenge Cup matches.

References

External links

* {{Natalie Portman 2020 establishments in California Association football clubs established in 2020 National Women's Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Los Angeles Proposed sports teams Sports in Los Angeles Women's soccer clubs in the United States Women's sports in California