Orange County Blues FC

For the USL Premier Development League team, see OC Pateadores Blues.
Orange County Blues FC
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

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

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 Cohen, JoshJosh Cohen      United States
3 Defender Paunic, NikolaNikola Paunic      Canada
4 Midfielder Blanco, MiltonMilton Blanco      United States
6 Defender Turner, JimmyJimmy Turner      United States
7 Forward Santana, ChristopherChristopher Santana      United States
8 Midfielder Santana, JiovanniJiovanni Santana      United States
9 Forward Cortez, ChrisChris Cortez      United States
10 Midfielder Petričević, LukaLuka Petričević      Montenegro
11 Forward Slager, DenzelDenzel Slager      Curaçao
12 Forward Walker, AmaniAmani Walker      Jamaica
13 Midfielder Momeni, MehrshadMehrshad Momeni      Iran
16 Midfielder Ju Kim, SeungSeung Ju Kim      South Korea
17 Midfielder Ilich, NikolaNikola Ilich      United States
18 Goalkeeper Thompson, BillyBilly Thompson      United States
19 Midfielder Barron, JacobJacob Barron      United States
20 Defender McCracken, JacksonJackson McCracken      United States
21 Midfielder Crettenand, DidierDidier Crettenand       Switzerland
23 Defender Griffiths, BrentonBrenton Griffiths      Jamaica
27 Forward Feeley, TylerTyler Feeley      Serbia
30 Goalkeeper Miranda, PepePepe Miranda      Cuba
31 Defender Felix, RyanRyan Felix      United States
87 Midfielder Popara, PavlePavle Popara      Serbia
Forward Caesar, TrevinTrevin Caesar      Trinidad and Tobago
Defender Ellis-Hayden, ZachZach Ellis-Hayden      Canada
Goalkeeper Miller, BrandonBrandon Miller      United States
Midfielder Silva, ChristianChristian Silva      United States

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

References

External links

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