A San Diegan’s guide to San Jose, a city I have a connection to. The first move happened back in 2015 to attend San Jose State University. My intention was always to stay for two years and then move back to San Diego. The move back to SD lasted for five years before returning for a job to San Jose from 2022 to 2023. While I earned my bachelor’s degree at SJSU, it’s also where I learned the hard lessons of football. It was in San Jose that I began watching the Premier League, Liga MX, and MLS in preparation for what was to come in San Diego.
On Sunday, August 17th, San Diego FC will take the field at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA, for the first time. This date is significant to me because it’s my dad’s birthday, and it was also 10 years ago that day that I had to move away from San Diego to San Jose. It’s not a move I wanted to do, but the opportunity was calling, and I knew this was the first step toward becoming my own person.
A Budding Soccer Fandom
Back in August 17th, 2015, San Diego sports was in a difficult position. The Padres were 56-62 and facing their fifth consecutive losing season. Meanwhile, the Chargers were in training camp and in limbo about whether they would move or stay in San Diego. In the Bay Area, the Golden State Warriors had just won a championship at the end of the 2015 season, and the San Francisco Giants had just won a championship in 2014. This was a stark contrast for a kid from San Diego who hadn’t seen a major championship in their lifetime. To stay connected to home, I listened to Darren Smith on the Mighty 1090. Smith would also have another podcast called the Unnamed Soccer Podcast, with Jordan Carruth.
When it came to soccer, I was very much a casual fan but soccer was always being shown in my family’s household. My mom is a very big Chivas fan. She would watch every Chivas match and make it a big deal, and we would have tortas ahogadas, just like you would in Guadalajara. I hardly watched any Chivas matches and would focus more on the World Cup because I thought it mattered more. But the real reason I didn’t watch Chivas is that they just weren’t my local team. Being at a live sporting event and experiencing everything in person is a big deal to me and having a team to watch locally was a bit difficult.
Then, in 2016, 1904 FC was founded, and they announced they would start playing in the NASL. This was finally a chance to catch some professional outdoor soccer in San Diego. Also seemed like a great opportunity to give the Unnamed Soccer Podcast a listen and maybe start watching a team so I could be invested in football. I did, and the team I started watching was Tottenham Hotspur. I knew nothing about them other than some guy named Harry Kane would score all the time. So now I was listening to a podcast that kept me informed on all things soccer, I was watching soccer every week, and I was also expecting a team to watch back home in San Diego.
Then, something happened in San Diego. In 2017, the San Diego Chargers announced that they were moving to Los Angeles. Obviously, there was a large group of disappointed fans, and Qualcomm Stadium was left abandoned. Soon, ideas for what to do with the land emerged, and one idea was “Soccer City,” a plan to demolish Qualcomm Stadium, renovate the land in Mission Valley and bring MLS to San Diego. As a new soccer fan, this perked my ears up. As a person paying attention to events 500 miles away, it was time to study the MLS. What better way to get to know the league than to follow the team that was in my current backyard.
My MLS Education: The San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes were originally founded in 1974 in the North American Soccer League. Like many teams in North America, they would play in and out of various leagues. First, in the NASL from 1974-1984, then in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1982-1983, and also in the Western Soccer Alliance. In 1996, for MLS’s inaugural season, the San Jose team began as the San Jose Clash, playing their games at San Jose State’s Spartan Stadium. The first-ever MLS match was hosted at Spartan Stadium and featured the San Jose Clash against the eventual MLS Cup winners of the 1996 season, DC United. The Clash made the playoffs that season, but it would be a while until their next successful season.
In 1999, San Jose reverted to their original name, Earthquakes, and two years later, in 2001, they acquired an MLS legend, Landon Donovan, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen. That 2001 season was very successful for the Earthquakes, as they won their first-ever MLS Cup. They went to the playoffs again in 2002 and won their second MLS Cup in 2003. Landon Donovan was the Quakes’ leading scorer that year and became U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.
In 2005, the Earthquakes finished in the top spot and won the Supporters’ Shield. They lost in the playoff semifinals to the eventual champion, LA Galaxy. At the conclusion of the season, AEG, the owners of the Earthquakes, announced their move to Houston, and the team would take all players and staff with them to become the Houston Dynamo. This was all due to a city-led plan to build a soccer-specific stadium that was rejected. This left the soccer community in San Jose devastated. It was more disappointing as the Houston Dynamo, with all the same players and staff that San Jose had the year prior, won the MLS Cup in back to back seasons in 2006 and 2007. The gap during the 2006 and 2007 seasons was officially called a hiatus in San Jose. That was until the owners of the then Oakland Athletics brought an expansion team back to the Bay Area in 2007, and they would begin play in the 2008 season.
From 2008-2014, the San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the playoffs twice, in 2010 and 2012. 2012 was a big year because they won the Supporters Shield for a second time in franchise history, and they broke ground on what would be their soccer-specific stadium, Avaya Stadium. For the next five seasons, San Jose would miss the playoffs and finish towards the bottom of the Western Conference. Avaya Stadium would open in 2015, but San Jose wouldn’t see success in the league until 2017.
A Moment to Remember: Decision Day 2017
The 2017 San Jose Earthquakes were an interesting group. They had a 10-5-2 home record but a 3-2-12 away record. They were called, The Goonies because “Goonies never say die” and were led by 34-year-old Chris Wondolowski and had a 26-year-old Anibal Godoy. I had attended one match at Avaya Stadium before, but the second match I attended might have been the best in the stadium’s history. I bought a $25 ticket from Ticketmaster and went to Avaya Stadium for this match. The day was October 22nd, 2017, also known as Decision Day. The San Jose Earthquakes played Minnesota United at home. This was a big match for San Jose, as they needed three points to get into the playoffs for the first time in Avaya’s history and the first time since 2012. The starting XI for San Jose included Anibal Godoy, and on the bench was former San Diego Loyal player Collin Martin.
The match started well for San Jose with a 15th-minute goal from Danny Hoesen, but then Jerome Thiesson of Minnesota United tied it up in the 36th minute. San Jose would take another lead in the 55th minute from a Chris Wondolowski goal, but Francisco Calvo tied it up for Minnesota United in the 81st minute. I remember Calvo’s goal and the crowd being dead silent. The Earthquakes needed three points, and one point wasn’t going to be good enough. In the 88th minute, head coach Chris Leitch subbed in Marco Ureña. In stoppage time, goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell sent out a long goal kick to get the ball on the Minnesota side of the pitch. Victor Bernardez chested it down for San Jose just outside the penalty area. The ball went towards the far side post to Quincy Amarikwa. Quincy’s shot was deflected off the goalkeeper and ricocheted to his left. Wondolowski was able to reach the ball just outside the near post and pass it back to Marco Ureña inside the 6-yard box. Ureña then scored the goal that would send the San Jose Earthquakes to the playoffs for the first time in five years. The place absolutely erupted in celebration. I have never been to a live event that was filled with so much joy and happiness. The San Jose Ultras in the south end stands went wild. I know Krazy George, a San Jose legend, was out there somewhere in the stands banging his drum. It was complete pandemonium at Avaya.
If Marco Urena doesn’t make that goal and send San Jose into the playoffs, I am not sure if I would be here writing or on a podcast talking about soccer. That match was the indication I needed that MLS was a fun league. The league was still growing, and the quality was still getting better, but that match back in 2017 was so much fun. I wanted MLS for San Diego because I believed that with the soccer culture we have, we deserved a team in the highest division in this country. I wanted to to relive that moment I had with those Earthquake fans but do it in San Diego. So far, this San Diego FC season, each new match has brought on another memorable moment. That is what sports are all about: the moments we remember and cherish forever.
My time in San Jose can be easily summed up as a person growing into the person they wanted to be. I really wanted to be a person working in a baseball front office. When that didn’t happen, I turned my attention to helping small businesses. But with the help of the Unnamed Soccer Podcast, watching Tottenham, Premier League, Liga MX, and MLS on a weekly basis during my time in San Jose, it made me into the person I am now. I will forever be a student of the game. As for the match on Sunday, this is a match I have been waiting years to watch. From the first time I walked around at Avaya, I knew that San Jose and San Diego would play a match someday.
For those of you flying in and going straight to the match, the stadium is right outside the airport. You can take the number 60 bus right to the front of the stadium from the airport. For those of you that may stay a bit longer and have some time, I can’t recommend Taplands enough for some good beer and food. They have the best tap list anywhere in Silicon Valley and are a few minutes away from PayPal Park. If you’re looking for breakfast or lunch, Cafe Roselena has some of the best breakfast burritos in San Jose, and you don’t want to forget the orange sauce. For coffee, Crema Coffee Roasting Co and Chromatic Coffee are the places to go. If you’re looking for a good Nashville Chicken Sandwich, I would go and eat at Scratch in downtown. If you need any more tips for your San Jose trip, please feel free to message me.
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