MLS San Diego strikes a unifying vibe during announcement

Toward the end of the hour-long presentation at Snapdragon Stadium on Thursday, which officially introduced San Diego as the newest team in Major League Soccer starting in 2025, the final speaker was MLS San Diego CEO Tom Penn.

Penn spoke for about eight minutes and during that time he struck the right tone while paying homage to all the clubs that have had an impact in America’s Finest City when it comes to growing what we all know as the beautiful sport.

“For those who have done such great work in this community for this sport,” said Penn. “The San Diego Loyal have embraced this community. Andrew Vassiliadis, and Landon Donovan, huge shout out to what they have done as an organization.”

The words were noticed by the many San Diego Loyal fans and members of its supporters’ groups who clapped and cheered at that precise moment.

“How about the San Diego Wave led by Jill Ellis and what they have done for this community,” he continued. “The San Diego Sockers, Albion, 1904, the San Diego Flash. All that work that’s been done we look to embrace and build on, and it’s not the organizations, it’s the supporter groups that give of their time and their talent and their passion.”

Among the supporter groups that were recognized by name were The Locals, Chavos de Loyal, the Sirens, and American Outlaws as Penn gave all a cordial invite to be part of the process of helping build what San Diego fans hope will be a formidable team that can compete right off the bat.

The most recent city to enter the league is St. Louis, which currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference standings and has already beaten teams like the Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, and San Jose Earthquakes that have already lifted the MLS Cup (San Jose doing twice in 2001 and 2003 when Landon Donovan played there).

As for the work that MLS San Diego has in its immediate future it includes reaching out to the fan base and getting the community involved in everything from picking a name, colors, and kit design to shaping the culture and values of the team that San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave, Albion San Diego, and San Diego Sockers have done so well.

“All the passionate supporter groups, we want to hear from you, we want to learn with you, we want to work with you and build something special to go after Los Angeles, and I’m talking about both of them up there.”

MLS San Diego has already hit the ground running sending out street teams to engage with residents of Chula Vista and the beach communities with the rest of the county to follow. There will also be a public event at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, May 20 at 7 p.m. where community members can interact and learn more about the team and the game plan over the next 20 months.