“We will be football - not soccer” -San Diego FC CEO
The CEO of San Diego FC, Tom Penn, said that the team will be referred to using the term “football” despite being in Major League “Soccer”.
Last week, it was announced that San Diego would be getting a Major League Soccer team. The CEO of the new team, Tom Penn, spoke exclusively with AS USA about the new name and the team’s plans for the future.
The name of the club has not yet been decided, but Penn said they will definitely be referred to as a football club rather than soccer.
“We know we will be football, and not soccer, because we want to be relevant in the global world of football,” said Penn. “And everyone uses that word. Even though we’re in Major League Soccer.”
It’s true that most Americans still refer to the sport as soccer and the league itself uses the word. Despite that, of the 29 teams (soon to be 30), only three use the word “soccer” in their name - Nashville SC, Orlando City SC, and St. Louis SC. All the others refer to themselves as “Football Club” or neither football nor soccer.
As for whether the San Diego team will be in Spanish or English, that has yet to be determined.
“We haven’t decided yet on ‘football’ or ‘futbol’” said Penn.
“Mr. [Mohamed] Mansour said he looked all over and chose San Diego. Why? Because of the organic and authentic love of football here,” said Penn. “And the ability to produce amazing players, both from America and from Mexico.”