What does Leagues Cup mean for San Jose Earthquakes?

The 2024 Leagues Cup began on Friday evening, bringing hope of major silverware to all 47 MLS and Liga MX teams. But for San Jose Earthquakes, rooted at the bottom of the Western Conference, this summer’s tournament is also a chance for the team to pay back a little of the loyalty shown by it’s long-suffering supporters.

The Quakes are currently nine points adrift at the bottom of the West and 18 points from the playoff places. Their final, remote chance for silverware comes in the Leagues Cup but they were given a tough group stage draw. First up it’s Mexican giants Chivas Guadalajara, a club with a significant following and a controversial history in the Golden State. Then they face LA Galaxy, the other half of the California Clásico, often cited as the most historic rivalry game in MLS.

Even the most optimistic of supporters will admit that the Quakes have only the slimmest chance of success in this summer’s Leagues Cup. But for a fanbase looking to reconnect with an embattled team, the next few weeks could help to repair the divide between the two.

Quakes’ 50th birthday party crashed

This year is the 50th anniversary of the San Jose Earthquakes, a team who made it’s debut in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1974. After the collapse of the league in 1988 the Quakes went on a hiatus, before returning to join MLS in 1996 as one of the league’s founding clubs. There were MLS Cup wins in 2001 and 2003 and a brace of Supporters’ Shield titles in 2005 and 2012. But nothing of note since that 2012 triumph and this season’s performances have dipped further still.

Last month San Jose Ultras (SJU), the team’s oldest fan group, issued a rare public statement outlining their frustrations. Their complaint had surprisingly little to do with the poor on-field results. Rather, it concerned the sense of a growing gulf between the team and its most loyal supporters. It read: “We don’t expect preferential treatment, but we do expect fairness. We believe we deserve at least a fraction of the respect we have shown to this organization for over two decades.”

SJU co-founder Dan Margarit tells AS USA that this season’s struggles have robbed fans of the chance to celebrate this landmark season, half a century on from the start of their story. Having picked up just four wins in their first 25 MLS fixtures, there has been precious little to cheer about in 2024.

“Of course, considering how many bad seasons we had since 2012, we were not expecting a championship team, but we were definitely expecting a superior team to what we had the previous year,” Dan explains. “For us, as ultras, the 50th anniversary of the club we love means a lot.”

California’s soccer hotbed

The Quakes boast a history that few in US soccer can match but they are now just one part of a thriving soccer scene in the Golden State. San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy were California’s two MLS founding members, while LAFC have enjoyed real success since entering the league. Expansion team San Diego FC are set to join in 2025, becoming the fifth Cali-based franchise in MLS history.

The other, lesser-known Californian representative was the short-lived Chivas USA, who played in Carlson from 2005 to 2014. An offshoot of the illustrious Liga MX side of the same name, Chivas USA was a fairly cynical attempt to extend into the American market and tap into a rich vein of soccer fandom on the West Coast.

For league officials, California offers a huge media market and legions of soccer fans eager for new teams. But for San Jose, the oldest of those Cali teams, the strength of the competition has made survival difficult. A case in point, Saturday’s Leagues Cup opener against Chivas will not be played at their PayPal Park home, but at the vast 68,500-seater Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Ultras founder Dan predicts that the majority of those in attendance will be cheering for Chivas.

He dismisses Leagues Cup as a “money-grabbing event,” citing the Quakes’ decision to temporarily decamp from their permanent home in a bid to maximise gate revenue. It may prove more profitable for the club but SJU struggles to replicate their usual matchday atmosphere at Levi’s Stadium, their black and blue fan culture diluted in a sea of bright red seats. Flags, the language of soccer’s ultras groups, will be heavily regulated in the stands.

What does Leagues Cup mean for San Jose?

The last time San Jose Earthquakes won a playoff game was in 2012, when they beat an LA Galaxy team featuring David Beckham and Robbie Keane. They will not add another playoff victory this season but they do get the chance to hit back against Chivas and the Galaxy, two clubs that have posed a real challenge to the Quakes and its support.

Chivas, for some fans, represents a failed attempt to cash in California’s widespread soccer culture. Galaxy are the glamourous and successful neighbours, set to challenge for titles again this season. Meanwhile the Quakes have no realistic chance of success in Leagues Cup and a sizable section of their support is ambivalent, or openly hostile, to the newly-expanded competition. This is not a season that will end with tickertape in San Jose but these games can demonstrate something even more important for the Earthquakes and their support, loyalty.

Ultras founder Dan explains: “I tried to implement and exhibit loyalty since 2003 when, together with a handful of friends, I started the San Jose Ultras. We created something beautiful that I am very proud of, we changed the culture and the typical American fan mentality, and you can see it in the passion that we exhibit for the Quakes at every single game, despite so many bad seasons.”

Loyalty is the guiding principle in the ranks of the San Jose Ultras. Their commitment to the team is not defined by the quality of the players or the on-field successes. It goes beyond a conscious choice. For those who have stood with the team, and continue to stand, throughout a success-starved decade, these Leagues Cup results will soon be forgotten. Loyalty is the only thing that matters.