San Diego Wave FC

San Diego Wave FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Wave began play in the 2022 season as an expansion team. The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Wave won the NWSL Shield in the 2023 season, the team's first trophy. The team won the NWSL Challenge Cup in its 2024 edition.

History
The team is San Diego's first women's professional soccer team since 2003, when the Women's United Soccer Association folded and forced the San Diego Spirit to disband.

In January 2021, Lisa Baird, the commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), announced that an expansion team in Sacramento, led by Ron Burkle and in conjunction with Sacramento Republic FC's expansion bid into Major League Soccer, would join the NWSL in 2022. However, Burkle never confirmed the news publicly before exiting the Sacramento Republic's ownership group. Instead, on June 8, 2021, the NWSL announced San Diego as the location for an expansion team owned by Burkle to begin play in 2022. On November 9, it was announced the team would be called Wave Fútbol Club.

2022: Inaugural season
San Diego Wave FC officially began play on March 19, 2022, in the NWSL Challenge Cup against fellow expansion team Angel City FC on the road, where they drew 1-1. They were eliminated from the Challenge Cup after finishing third in their group. The team began their inaugural season on May 1 and opened with three straight wins, sitting on the top of the table for over half the season before finally falling to the KC Current 2–1. Although briefly gaining the top spot twice late in the season, the Wave finished 3rd and qualified for the quarter-finals of the playoffs. After defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2–1, the team traveled to Providence Park to play against the Portland Thorns in the semi-finals, losing 2-1 following a Crystal Dunn goal in the final minutes of the game.

2023
In the 2023 season, the Wave continued their winning ways, slightly improving upon their record in 2022 and securing the NWSL Shield with two games to spare after beating the Portland Thorns on September 30 and guaranteeing a bye for the playoffs. The Wave faced OL Reign in the semi-finals, losing 1-0 after Veronica Latsko scored in the 47th minute, marking the second year in a row the Wave were eliminated in the semis. Defender Naomi Girma was named U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year, recognizing her excellence for the Wave and for the U.S. Women's National Team.

2024
In the 2024 NWSL Draft, the Wave selected Kennedy Wesley with the 12th pick in the first round and Mya Jones with the 42nd pick in the third round. The Wave had traded away their natural 26th round pick in the second round, 40th pick in the third round, and 54th pick in the fourth round.

On March 14, owner Ron Burkle announced the sale of San Diego Wave FC to Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, managers of the Levine Leichtman Capital Partners investment firm, for $113 million and a total (and, at the time, league record) team valuation of $120 million. The new owners immediately paid $35 million for 35% of the team, and will then pay $78 million for the remaining 65% of the team at the end of the 2024 NWSL season. This represents a large increase in team value from the $2 million Burkle paid just two years previously as an NWSL expansion fee.

On March 15, the Wave won the Challenge Cup 1-0 over 2023 champion NJ/NY Gotham FC with an 88th minute goal from Alex Morgan.

On March 22, one day before their regular season opener, the Wave announced they had signed 16-year-old midfielder Kimmi Ascanio through the NWSL's Under-18 Entry Mechanism.

On March 23, the Wave set the current record for NWSL season home opener attendance with 32,066 fans attending their 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Current.

Colors and crest
On December 15, 2021, the team revealed its crest for its upcoming 2022 season in a press release, stating "the crest, encased in a shield, is a symbol of strength, for the city and team, to proudly stand behind. A powerful wave, cresting in the rich blues of the Pacific Ocean, sits front and center as the iconic mark of the Wave. And under the proud banner of the city’s name, are the vivid colors of the horizon, celebrating the beauty, fun, and vibrant culture of the city and its people".

Stadium
The club began play at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego for its inaugural season. It moved to Snapdragon Stadium, located in the Mission Valley campus expansion of San Diego State University, for its last two home games of the 2022 season. The Wave's opener at the new stadium against regional rival and fellow 2022 NWSL entry Angel City FC on September 17 drew a sellout crowd of 32,000, setting a new NWSL single-game attendance record.

Year-by-year
As of June 25th, 2024

Head coaching record
Only competitive matches are counted. Includes NWSL regular season, playoffs, and Challenge Cup matches.

Honors

 * NWSL Shield
 * Winners (1): 2023
 * NWSL Challenge Cup
 * Winners (1): 2024