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MLS Next Pro soccer team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ventura County Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Greater Los Angeles area town of Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, California, United States that plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy and was formerly known as LA Galaxy II from its founding in 2014 until 2024. The team previously played in the USL Championship until the end of the 2022 season.
| |||
| Full name | Ventura County Fútbol Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short name | VCFC | ||
| Founded | January 29, 2014, as LA Galaxy II | ||
| Stadium | William Rolland Stadium, Thousand Oaks, California Dignity Health Sports Park Track & Field Stadium Carson, California | ||
| Capacity | 2,000 (Thousand Oaks) 5,000 (Carson) | ||
| Owner | Oak Sports Holding LA Galaxy (AEG) | ||
| Manager | Matt Taylor | ||
| League | MLS Next Pro | ||
| 2023 | 14th, Western Conference Playoffs: Did not qualify | ||
| Website | https://vcfcpro.com/ | ||
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It was announced on January 29, 2014, that the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer would be fielding their own team in the USL Pro to serve as their reserve team beginning with the 2014 USL Pro season. The Galaxy chose to create their own team in the league instead of affiliating with a current USL Pro team after the two leagues formed a partnership the previous year. The current assistant coach of the senior squad, Curt Onalfo, would become head coach of the reserve squad. The club would play its home matches at Dignity Health Sports Park's Track & Field Stadium, a 1,200-seat stadium near the main stadium, home to the senior club.[1] Onalfo had led the Galaxy's previous reserve squad to two consecutive MLS Reserve League West Division titles.[2] In the process, the LA Galaxy became the first MLS club to own and operate its own USL Pro side.[2]
About forming the reserve team, Galaxy President Chris Klein said, “The creation of LA Galaxy II, through USL PRO, provides the Galaxy with a fully realized, in-house player development program starting with the Under-12 Academy through the LA Galaxy first team. The investment of AEG and the Galaxy for LA Galaxy II will allow us to continue to develop the best players in Southern California while closing the gap between the Galaxy Academy and the LA Galaxy.”[1]
The club's first match took place on February 13, 2014, as they defeated Fresno Fuego of the USL Premier Development League 2–1. Travis Bowen scored the team's first-ever goal.[3] The team made its USL Pro debut on March 22, 2014, defeating the league's other LA club, the Orange County Blues FC, 3–1 at home. Charlie Rugg scored their first goal in USL Pro competition.[4][5] In the regular season, the Galaxy II earned third place in the league's standings, having a 15–6–7 (W-L-T) record, qualifying for the playoffs. The Galaxy II had faced against the Rochester Rhinos during the quarter finals, who they defeated and advance to face Sacramento Republic FC in the semifinals. The Galaxy II were defeated against Sacramento Republic therefore being eliminated, and ending their inaugural season.
Daniel Steres was named captain, and was named Defender of the Year.[6][7]
Los Dos finished 5th in the Western Conference during the regular season of the newly formatted USL. During the playoffs, The Galaxy II defeated Sacramento Republic in overtime, advancing to face first seeded OKC Energy in the Conference Finals. Los Dos became Conference champions, after defeating OKC Energy, and went on to face Rochester Rhinos in the USL championship. The Galaxy II were defeated in the championship game.
Daniel Steres was again named Defender of the Year.[6][7]
MLS announced that it would be one of the new eight teams to join MLS Next Pro in 2023.[8]
In March 2024, the team announced a partial relocation to Thousand Oaks, California and rebranded to Ventura County FC.[9]
The club currently plays at William Roland Stadium on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. The team previously played in the Track & Field Facility at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California[10] Occasional games would be played at the main stadium at Dignity Health Sports Park, which holds 27,000 attendees and is the home of the LA Galaxy first team.
When in USL, LA Galaxy II competed in the 405 Derby against rivals Orange County SC.[11] In 2022 the clubs were in a dispute over which team would play at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California, Orange County SC's current home stadium, after leaked documents showed the Galaxy organization was attempting to seize full-time usage of the venue.[12]
The squad of VCFC is composed of an unrestricted number of first-team players on loan to the reserve team, players signed by Galaxy II, and LA Galaxy Academy players. Academy players who appear in matches with VCFC retain their college eligibility.[1]
| Role | Name | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | Matt Taylor |  United States |
| Assistant Coach | Alex Yi | United States |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Ian Feuer | United States |
| Video Analyst | Grant Heywood |  England |
| Year | Division | League | Regular season W-T-L | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Avg. attendance | Top scorer | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 3 | USL | 3rd: 15–6–7 | Semifinals | 3R | 597 | Chandler Hoffman |
14 |
| 2015 | USL | 5th, Western: 14–3–11 | Runner-Up | 2R | 969 |  Ariel Lassiter |
11 | |
| 2016 | USL | 5th, Western: 12–11–7 | Conference quarterfinals | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | 1,211 | Jack McBean |
15 | |
| 2017 | 2 | USL | 13th, Western: 8–5–19 | did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | 1,215 | Justin Dhillon Adrian Vera |
6 |
| 2018 | USL | 14th, Western: 10–7–17 | did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | 1,048 |  Frank López |
13 | |
| 2019 | USLC | 9th, Western: 12–12–10 | Play-in round | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | 881 | Ethan Zubak Kai Koreniuk |
9 | |
| 2020 | USLC | 8th, Western: 8–2–6 2nd Group B |
Conference quarterfinals | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | N/A |  Augustine Williams |
13 | |
| 2021 | USLC | 11th, Western: 11-6-15 | did not qualify | Canceled | N/A | Preston Judd |
17 | |
| 2022 | USLC | 11th, Western: 11-7-16 | did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | N/A | Preston Judd |
13 | |
| 2023 | 3 | MLSNP | 14th, Western: 5-6-17 | did not qualify | Not eligible (MLS Reserve Team) | N/A |  Aaron Bibout |
14 |
| Coach | Nationality | Start | End | Games | Win | Loss | Draw | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curt Onalfo |  United States |
January 29, 2014 | December 13, 2016 | 95 | 46 | 29 | 20 | 48.42 |
| Mike Muñoz | United States |
January 12, 2017 | July 19, 2019 | 85 | 23 | 42 | 20 | 27.06 |
| Junior Gonzalez (Interim) | United States |
July 19, 2019 | January 8, 2020 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 40.00 |
| Junior Gonzalez | United States |
January 8, 2020 | December 18, 2021 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Yoann Damet |  France |
January 28, 2022 | July 1, 2022 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 38.89 |
| Marcelo Sarvas |  Brazil |
August 2022 | 2023 | |||||
| Matt Taylor | United States |
January 22, 2024 |
| Year | Player | Country | Position | Honor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Chandler Hoffman | United States |
Forward | All-League First Team |
| André Auras | France |
Midfielder | All-League Second Team | |
| Daniel Steres | United States |
Defender | All-League Second Team | |
| 2015 | Daniel Steres | United States |
Defender | All-League First Team |
| 2016 | Jack McBean | United States |
Forward | All-League First Team |
| 2018 | Efraín Álvarez |  Mexico |
Midfielder | Young Player of the Year |
| 2020[14] | Augustine Williams | Sierra Leone |
Forward | All-League First Team |
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