The USL will have another new face for the 2016 season as the league welcomed San Antonio as its 31st franchise, it was announced Thursday. The team is owned by the Spurs Sports Entertainment group, the same ownership that runs the San Antonio Spurs, who have won five NBA titles.
According to the release, the club also announced its first head coach, as Darren Powell was introduced to lead the team in its inaugural season who enjoyed successful stints with Orlando City SC and Elon University.
“We’re thrilled to be here in San Antonio,” said USL President Jake Edwards at Thursday’s press conference. “We see the Spurs organization as a perfect fit for our ownership group. Like our league, they’re ambitious, they’re forward thinkers, and under the leadership of Peter Holt this has become one of the most dynamic and respected and admired sports organizations in North America.”
San Antonio will play at Toyota Field, and joins Rio Grande Valley FC as the USL’s second expansion club in Texas for the 2016 season.
“It has been seven years that we’ve been talking to the USL,” said SS&E President of Business Operations Rick Pych. “Over those seven years, we grew more and more to admire and respect the people that run that league. It’s not by chance that the league continues to expand and grow, and it’s due to their professionalism, it’s due to their hard work, it’s due to their ethical approach to soccer, and the more we worked with them, the more we were convinced the USL was the league we wanted to be in.”
After his introduction as heach coach, Powell said he was excited by the reception he had received in the city since his arrival, and looked forward to playing in front of the passionate support that was present through the Crocketteers and others at the press conference.
“I was told how passionate and enthusiastic the fans and supporters of San Antonio are,” Powell said. “If the last 24 hours is anything to judge by, you’re far more passionate, far more enthusiastic than I could have ever imagined. I can’t wait for opening night when we get started in the USL at the end of March. I’m really looking forward to that opportunity, and I hope to see many of you there that evening so we can pack this house.”
