Courtesy of SD Loyal Super Fan, Glenn Maddock Glenn posted this on a FB group dedicated to San Diego Loyal Soccer Club, and he graciously allowed
Courtesy of SD Loyal Super Fan, Glenn Maddock
Glenn posted this on a FB group dedicated to San Diego Loyal Soccer Club, and he graciously allowed SoccerNation to share it. Soccer courses through the veins of the San Diego lifestyle, and it has for decades. Thank you, Glenn, for sharing this with us!
Imagine it’s 1968…..
LBJ is President, you’re listening to the Beatles, The Doors & Aretha Franklin on the radio. The Padres are in final season of AAA, and Chargers were 9-5 in the new San Diego Stadium (which is still there in Mission Valley).
The San Diego Toros
And a new pro soccer team in the NASL, is playing at old Balboa Stadium: the San Diego Toros. A brilliant, but short lived gem in our history.
– The Toros don’t have a single American on the roster
– They are the 2nd best club in new league, winning Western Conference
– 18-8-6 record, with 65 goals
– They lose Championship Series to Atlanta Chiefs
– #9 Pepe Fernandez, from Uruguay, scores 29 goals
– #10 Vava, from Brazil, was considered 2nd best to Pele in 1960’s
Average attendance: 4800
– The Toros averaged an attendance of 4800, which wasn’t bad for 1968. – They drew 9000 for playoff game
– The NASL was poorly funded, and 12 clubs folded at season end, including San Diego
and San Diego would wait another 7 years for a pro soccer team….
Chapter 2: coming soon!
