The San Diego Football Club will welcome fans for the first time to Snapdragon Stadium Saturday as they look to continue a surprising start against 2023 expansion side St. Louis City SC in their inaugural home opener.
SDFC upset reigning MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy, 2-0, in their first game Sunday, with Danish striker Anders Dreyer scoring twice in the second half in Carson.
On Saturday, the SDFC expects the largest crowd in Snapdragon Stadium history for the team's inaugural home opener, previously 64,130 for a Jason Aldean concert. The highest attendance for soccer in the stadium was 34,248 for a 2023 exhibition match between Manchester United and Wrexham AFC.
The squad joins Major League Soccer as the 30th team, following closely on the heels of Saturday's opponent, St. Louis City SC, which joined the league in 2023 and set a MLS expansion team record last season with 17 victories. However, in 2024 the team struggled, finishing 12th in the Western Conference and missing the playoffs.
While kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, the stadium lot opens at 2:30 p.m. and from 3:30-6:30 p.m., SDFC FanFest will feature music, food and activities outside Snapdragon.
The first 30,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative scarf presented by DIRECTV.
Transit officials on Friday encouraged fans to take transit to avoid parking difficulties. San Diego's Metropolitan Transit System's Green Line trolleys provide direct access to Snapdragon Stadium. SDFC will host special events at Old Town and Grossmont trolley stations, featuring giveaways, raffles, music and more.
Soccer fans can ride MTS to Snapdragon Stadium at a discounted price with the SDFC All-Season Pass. Fans can ride the trolley to all 17 home matches for $56, a 33% discount off normal fares. Details can be found at sdmts.com/sdfc-all-season-pass.
Sunday's win over the Galaxy was the first in MLS for Dreyer and Hirving "Chucky" Lozano, the new team's designated players.
The 29-year-old Lozano played for Mexico in the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. He began his professional career as an 18-year-old in 2014 with Pachuca of Mexico's Liga MX. He signed with PSV Eindhoven of the Dutch first division in 2017, Napoli of Italy's Serie A in 2019 and returned to PSV Eindhoven in 2023.
San Diego FC acquired Lozano as its first designated player on June 6, 2024, reached an agreement with PSV Eindhoven to transfer him to SDFC on Jan. 1 and signed him to a four-year contract through the end of the 2028 MLS season with two option years.
The 26-year-old Dreyer was acquired by SDFC on Jan. 22 on a permanent transfer from RSC Anderlecht of the Belgian Pro League. The Dane began his professional career in 2017 as an 18-year-old with Esbjerg fB of the Danish Superliga.
Dreyer later played for St Mirren of the Scottish Premiership, Heerenveen of the Dutch first division, Midtjylland of the Danish Superliga and FC Rubin Kazan of the Russian Premier League.
San Diego FC's roster includes two players from the San Diego area — goalkeeper Jacob Jackson, who played for Rancho Bernardo High School, the San Diego Surf Academy and San Diego Soccer Club, and midfielder Luca de la Torre, who played for the San Diego-based Nomads Soccer Club and San Diego Surf before moving to England when he was 15 to train at the academy of the English Premier League team Fulham FC.
The roster consists of five players from the United States, three each from Denmark and Ghana, two each from Colombia and Mexico and one each from Argentina, England, Finland, Germany, Northern Ireland, Norway, Panama, Senegal, Sweden and Tunisia.
