The San Diego Toros were a professional soccer team based in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. Founded in 1967 as the Los Angeles Toros, the team was one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team was relocated to San Diego as a member of the new league. While in Los Angeles, the Toros played its home matches at

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a me ...

and at

Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–Californ ...

when it moved to San Diego. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.

History

In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups, with one given to

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

owner

Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for a ...

. The Toros secured a lease at the

, which would also host the

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer Leagu ...

of the rival USA during the 1967 season. The Toros began the season on April 16, 1967, with a home 3-2 win against the

New York Generals The New York Generals were an American professional soccer team based in New York City that competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. Founded as charter members ...

in front of a crowd of over nine thousand. The team finished the season in fifth place in the Western Division with a record of 7 wins 10 loses and 15 draws with an average attendance for the season of 3,595. Dan Reeves sold the team to a group that included Bill Cox who acted as general manager. With the merger of the NPSL with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

it was announced that Los Angeles would be one of the 20-teams in play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Prior to the 1968 season, the Toros were moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

to avoid the league having two teams in the same market of Los Angeles playing their home games at

. Midway through the 1968 NASL season, Cox took a position with the St. Louis Stars and sold the team to

Emilio Azcárraga Milmo Emilio Azcárraga Milmo or Emilio Azcárraga Jr. (September 6, 1930 in San Antonio, Texas - April 16, 1997 outside Miami, Florida) was a Mexican-American businessman and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and Laura Milmo Hickman. He was educ ...

. The team finished the season in first place of the Pacific Division with a record of 18 wins, 8 loses and 6 draws earning the highest points total in the league. The team defeated the Kansas City Spurs with an aggregate score of 2 - 1 over 2 matches in the Conference Finals, but were defeated by the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 1 ...

with an aggregate score of 3 - 0 in the NASL Final 1968. The Toros were one of 12 teams that folded between the 1968 and 1969 NASL seasons.

Year-by-year

Source:

Notes

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) T Defunct soccer clubs in California National Professional Soccer League (1967) franchises 1967 establishments in California 1967 disestablishments in California North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in California 1968 establishments in California 1968 disestablishments in California