A football club is coming to San Diego, California in 2018. They will be part of the NASL and play in a 10,000-seat stadium that could open as early as next August. Their ownership group includes Chelsea FC star and 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard. Joining him in the ownership group is his former Chelsea teammate Demba Ba, as well as Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow who played with Eden Hazard at Lille.
Here’s the new club’s hype video:
The NASL (North American Soccer League) is the second tier of American football/soccer behind MLS (Major League Soccer) and on par with USL (United Soccer League).
“San Diego is a beautiful place and the love and passion the people have for soccer made this an easy choice for us,” reads a statement from Eden Hazard. “My friends and I are honored to turn this dream into a reality and we can’t wait to get started and win some games.”
The statement from Demba Ba reads:
“Success is our goal – with the club, with the community, with everything that we do. One of our goals is to sign players who have a strong passion for the game, who are competitive and love to win.
All my life as a football player, I lived with competition and competition is going to be good for us and for San Diego. I look forward to competing against our fellow California clubs and the rest of the NASL, as well as MLS clubs in the U.S. Open Cup. It is going to be up to us to be the best.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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