Orange County Blues FC

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For the USL Premier Development League team, see Orange County Blues U-23.
Orange County Blues FC
150px
Full name Orange County Blues Football Club
Nickname(s) OC Blues FC
Founded 1998
as Los Angeles Blues
Stadium Anteater Stadium
Irvine, California
Ground Capacity 2,500
Owners Ali Mansouri
Maryam Mansouri
Head Coach
General Manager		 Oliver Wyss
League USL
2015 1st, Western Conference
Playoffs: Conference Semifinals
Website Club home page
Current season

Orange County Blues is an American soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Irvine, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in the United Soccer League, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team plays its home games at Anteater Stadium on the campus of University of California, Irvine. The team's head coach is Oliver Wyss.

History

The then Los Angeles Blues was announced as a USL Pro expansion franchise on November 7, 2010[1] The team is associated with the United Soccer Leagues W-League team LA Blues, and is part of the larger Orange County Blues organization, which has competed in Los Angeles-area amateur leagues since 1998. They introduced their first three players—goalkeeper Oscar Dautt and midfielders Cesar Rivera and Josh Tudela—at a formal launch event on December 14, 2010.[2]

After an extensive pre-season, the Blues played their first games in the Caribbean over the weekend of April 15–17, 2011, a 3–0 victory over Sevilla Puerto Rico, and a 2–1 victory over Antigua Barracuda. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Cesar Rivera.[3]

In January 2012, the Blues announced the hiring of Steve Donner (formerly CEO of Orlando City) as vice president of business operations to focus on improving marketing for the club and to bring professionalism to the front-office.[4] The first game of the 2012 season reflected these efforts with a 2,432 attendance compared to 696 for the first home game in 2011 (the Blues averaged 382 during the 2011 season).

Colors and crest

  • Los Angeles Blues logo (2010-2012).png

    The inaugural Los Angeles Blues Soccer Club logo.

  • Los Angeles Blues logo (2012-2013).png

    LA Blues logo through the 2013 season.

  • Orange County Blues FC.png

    Orange County Blues logo (2014)

The Blues play in a combination of sky blue, dark blue and white. The club's logo features the blue of the California sky and the dark azure of the Pacific as the main characteristics, paying homage to its home region. The club's inaugural logo itself was a derivation of its sister club's logo from the Pali Blues.[5]

Stadium

Players and staff

Current roster

No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Josh Cohen      United States
2 Defender Jackson McCracken      United States
4 Midfielder Grady Howe      United States
5 Midfielder Nikola Ilich      United States
6 Defender Maurice Pluntke      Germany
7 Forward Christopher Santana      United States
8 Midfielder Christian Silva      United States
9 Forward Trevin Caesar      Trinidad and Tobago
10 Midfielder Pavle Popara      Serbia
11 Forward Tyler Feeley      Serbia
12 Defender Andrae Campbell      Jamaica
14 Forward Akwafei Ajeakwa      United States
15 Defender Ryan Felix      United States
16 Midfielder Mats Bjurman      United States
17 Midfielder Verneri Välimaa (on loan from Tampa Bay Rowdies)     Finland
18 Midfielder Dušan Stevanović      Serbia
19 Midfielder Ivan Mirković      Serbia
20 Midfielder Oriol Cortes      Spain
21 Midfielder Didier Crettenand       Switzerland
22 Forward Gevorg Karapetyan      Armenia
23 Defender Brenton Griffiths      Jamaica
24 Forward Joe Baccielo      United States
25 Defender Steve Purdy      El Salvador
33 Goalkeeper Brandon Miller      United States
37 Defender Roy Meeus      Belgium

Staff

Head coaches

Record

Year-by-year

Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup Attendance
Los Angeles Blues
2011 3 USL 3rd, National Divisional Semifinals 3rd Round 382
2012 3 USL 8th Did not qualify 2nd Round 666
2013 3 USL 6th Quarterfinals 3rd Round 542
Orange County Blues
2014 3 USL 13th Did not qualify 2nd Round 760
2015 3 USL 1st, Western Conference Semifinals 4th Round 1,398

Honors

United Soccer League

  • Western Conference (Regular Season)

References

  1. ↑ LA Blues Set to Play in USL PRO
  2. ↑ Los Angeles Blues Sign First Three Players
  3. ↑ http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/stats/2011/2175587.html
  4. ↑ Scott French (13 April 2012). L.A. BLUES: Starting over, with a plan. ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  5. ↑ Los Angeles Blues Officially Introduced

External links

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