Santa Ana Winds FC

Winds FC
Full name Santa Ana Winds FC
Nickname(s) Winds, Vendavales
Founded 2006
Stadium Santa Ana Stadium
Santa Ana College
Orange County Great Park
Lake Forest Sports Park
Ground Capacity 0-9000
Owner MexicoUnited States Leonel López
Head Coach MexicoUnited States José López
League United Premier Soccer League

Santa Ana Winds FC, also known as Winds FC, is a soccer team founded in Santa Ana, California, currently playing at Santa Ana College and Lake Forest Sports Park. The team played in the So Cal Premier League from 2006 to 2011 before joining the National Premier Soccer League West-Southern Conference, also in 2011.[1] Winds FC finished second in the West - Southern Division of their sole NPSL season, made the playoffs and fell in the first round to Hollywood United Hitmen by a score of 3-1.

Winds FC left the NPSL after one season due to a split between owners. One faction of ownership left and kept the Santa Ana Winds FC name, while forming a startup development league called the United Premier Soccer League, which was also founded in Santa Ana.[2] The other faction of ownership continued to operate in the NPSL with the borrowed name Fullerton Rangers, and later called themselves "Orange County Spartans," and then "OC Pateadores," before disappearing from the NPSL.[3][4][5] With their exit, Orange County was left without representation in the NPSL. However, many Orange County clubs sprouted and thrived in the upstart UPSL.

The club has been playing in Lake Forest, California and or Irvine, California consistently in the last few years, while attempting to find a home field in Santa Ana as a major goal. Winds FC played all of their Spring 2016 league matches at the Lake Forest Sports Complex in Lake Forest, approximately 17 miles away from the City of Santa Ana. The club began scheduling UPSL regular season matches at Santa Ana College in July 2016.

Winds FC has also held occasional playoff matches at Santa Ana College, and occasional exhibition games at Santa Ana Stadium, namely a match against a Chivas USA U-18 squad in January 2011, a match against a Club Atlas U-20 squad in March 2011, and a match against a Chivas de Guadalajara U-20 squad in November 2011.[6][7][8]

Current Season

Santa Ana Winds FC recently completed their 12-game, 2016 Spring season in the United Premier Soccer League, finishing 7th and not qualifying for UPSL postseason.

Winds FC completed a preseason, with matches against 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup entrants La Máquina FC and L.A. Wolves FC. Santa Ana Winds FC faced La Máquina at Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California) on April 27, 2016 at 8 pm, and L.A. Wolves FC in Manhattan Beach.

The Summer-Fall 2016 season began for Winds FC on July 16 at Santa Ana College, with the club hosting and defeating So Cal Troop FC of Cypress, CA by a score of 4-1, followed by a 4-4 tie against a club "Newcastle United" of Upland, CA on July 23.

Match reports

U.S. Open Cup Record

Santa Ana Winds FC were scheduled to host fellow UPSL club La Habra City FC at Lake Forest Sports Park on Sunday, September 18 in a qualifying match to the first round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, but had the match moved to Colton High School in Colton, California. Santa Ana defeated La Habra City FC by a score of 5-0 in the first-ever U.S. Open Cup qualifying match for either team.

The October 23 Open Cup qualifier vs La Máquina was cancelled due to a thunderstorm in Irvine, and was rescheduled for October 30 at 6 pm at Orange County Great Park.

Club Crest

The current Santa Ana Winds FC crest was redesigned in 2014 by sports logo artist Slavo Kiss for Sigma Kappa Brands, based in the Slovak Republic. The crest features the Santa Ana water tower, visible from the Santa Ana Freeway, also known as the Interstate 5 Freeway or Golden State Freeway, which connects the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, and connects at the Mexico-United States border to the city of Tijuana.

The first Santa Ana Winds FC crest dates to 2006 and features the Spurgeon Building's clock tower, located in downtown Santa Ana and named after city founder William H. Spurgeon.[9]

Sponsors and Current Partners

Admiral Sportswear

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
0 United States GK Adrian Urquizo
1 United States FW Alex Heilman
2 United States DF Gabriel Moreno
3 United States DF Zach Bryan
4 United States DF Kenny Cruz
5 United States MF Justin Burroughs
6 Argentina FW Alexis Diaz
7 Brazil DF Antonio Perez
8 United States FW Joey Allemand
9 United States MF Robert "Casey" McNeil
10 Mexico MF Richard Lopez
11 Brazil MF Tiago Saint Clair
12 United States MF Manuel Juarez
13 United States MF Julien Sperling
14 United States FW Javi Curiel
15 United States DF Hector Leon
16 United States MF Ronny Cruz

Year-by-year

Year Division League Combined Season Playoffs Open Cup
2006 USASA So Cal Premier 7th, Premier Division
2007 USASA So Cal Premier 7th, Premier Division
2008 USASA So Cal Premier 8th, Premier Division
2009 Hiatus
2010 USASA So Cal Premier 7th, Premier Division
2011 USASA So Cal Premier 7th, Premier Division
2011 USASA NPSL 2nd, West - Southwest Conference 1st round
2012 USASA UPSL Unavailable
2013 USASA UPSL 1st, Southeast Champions Did not qualify
2014 USASA UPSL NA NA Did not qualify
2015 Hiatus
2016 USASA UPSL Winter 7th, Southeast Did not qualify Did not qualify
2016 USASA UPSL Summer/Fall 4th, Southeast (Ongoing) Pending Pending

Head Coaches

Home Fields

References

  1. ↑ "So Cal Premier 2007 Final Standings". SoCalPremier.org. So Cal Premier League. 2007. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  2. ↑ "California Secretary of State Business Search". California Secretary of State. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  3. ↑ Omar Ávalos Gallegos (2013). "Santa Ana Winds FC Rebrands and Moves to Fullerton, Sort of". The Santa Ana Sentinel. Omar Ávalos Gallegos. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  4. ↑ Omar Ávalos Gallegos (2013). "Fullerton Rangers Become OC Spartans FC". The Santa Ana Sentinel. Omar Ávalos Gallegos. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  5. ↑ "OC Spartans Merge with Pateadores". Parlor City Football. 2013. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  6. ↑ Olivia Cervantes (2011). "Chivas USA U-18 Team Defeats Santa Ana Winds FC". CDChivasUSA.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  7. ↑ Celestino Orozco (2011). "Se le escapa la victoria al Santa Ana Winds". OCExcelsior.com (Now UnidosSC.com). Excelsior de Orange County / Freedom Communications. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  8. ↑ Omar Ávalos Gallegos (2011). "Chivas Comes to Santa Ana". Santaniego. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  9. ↑ "Original Santa Ana Winds FC Crest". Twitter.com. Santa Ana Winds FC. 2011. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

External links

Template:UPSL

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