MLS Commissioner Don Garber came to San Diego Friday on the eve of the inaugural home match of San Diego FC, the league’s 30th club that began with the league’s 30th season.
“We worked hard for years and years to get an MLS team here,” Garber said. “Now sitting here today, being in Snapdragon and seeing what’s been happening with the community. The university coming together with our club [and] the Wave, this is a great outcome.”
The club was officially announced as the 30th MLS team in May 2023. Now 22 months later, San Diego hosted its inaugural home match on March 1, less than a week after they stunned the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy on their home pitch.
Garber cited San Diego’s close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and the league’s recent partnership in the Leagues Cup with Mexican league Liga MX as a big reason for bringing a team to the market.
“You’re talking a lot about building a soccer nation in our country and requires a lot of work, a lot of dream. I think about the dream of building this league in a city like San Diego [and the] Right to Dream Academy being a part of it,” Garber said.
Garber visited SDFC’s performance center in El Cajon during his trip to San Diego on Saturday. The club will share its performance center with the Right to Dream Academy which will launch its fourth location in 2025.
The Right to Dream Academy is the first of its kind in North America and has other academies in Denmark, Egypt and Ghana. Similar to its partnership with San Diego FC, it also partnered with clubs FC Nordsjælland in Denmark and FC Masar in Egypt.
San Diego acquired two Danish players, forward Marcus Ingvartsen and midfielder Jeppe Tverskov, from partner club FC Nordsjælland and hired head coach Mikey Varas who could implement the style of play similar to what the Right to Dream Academy does.
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Featured image: MLS Commissioner Don Garber spoke with media following the press conference announcing San Diego FC as the league's 30th franchise at Snapdragon Stadium on May 18, 2023. (Photo credit: Steven Richardson)