To be frank, your opinion on American soccer names is irrelevant. It would be the same way if I tried to comment on Italian soccer names, as an American it is not my place, and I do not expect you to care at all about what my opinion is. As well I don't think you have a good enough understanding about just how completely irrelevant the old NASL is to America but a very very small minority of people. There are people who are heavily into soccer, they live and breath it, who don't even know the NASL ever existed. Most people who know about it only know that Pele played here on a team in New York, but have no idea what that team was named or what league they played in. That league was just the tiniest of blips on American culture. I think you are overvaluing NASL history.
You clearly have no idea why Chivas USA failed. It wasn't because it had a Mexican sounding name they failed... It was because they artificially limited themselves to US based fans of Chivas Guadalajara. Just having a Spanish language name does not do that. Nor does it associate anything with "Mexican Immigration". Most things in California have some ties to Spanish or Mexican Culture. In fact the largest ethnic group in California are Latinos. You may be viewing the entire US through some warped post-Trump prism, but that sorely limits your view of the US my friend, and California in particular which is not Trumpland.
leaving politics outside, it's well known that the ethnic label (sport for immigrants, not american and so on) has been a big obstacle for ages, and this is written on american soccer history books and websites...things have luckily changed but I guess a spanish name would not sound good beacause it would exclude the americans as it would looklike something made just for latinos. Not to get back to the old NASL once again (which to me is the big bang for Us soccer) but for instance when the team in Los Angeles was called Aztecs it was a great idea, a name aking to the history of latin population but in english, so it should be for SD, Let alone that conquistadores is not really politically correct (but I am not either) to me it should be San Diego Conquerors and not conquistadores
Ok, I see no point in continuing this discussion. You clearly have never been to California or understand anything about it.
I prefer Union over the Atoms or Fury personally and so do a lot of Philly fans. Currently all the popular old NASL names are being used. The rest should stay in the past.
The fact that you think Donald Trump is representative of the United States, or California in particular, belies the fact you've no clue what you're talking about.
Luckily, my irony meter is under warranty. 1976 - Philadelphia Atoms play their final NASL game. 1978 - Philadelphia Fury plays their first NASL game. March 28, 1979 - Three Mile Island incident. Will. You. Please. Shut. Up?
You must be related to Giorgio Chinalgia. When it comes to brains that is not a compliment. Are you a criminal and unethical liar also?
Anyway back to the topic of NASL Expansion in San Diego. Neither team seems poised to play in San Diego proper, so all of this "old San Diego" (nevermind old non-San Diego) name BS is pointless. They'll come up with some new names befitting their locations in North County and Chula Vista (which have never hosted any type of NASL soccer before). They have however both hosted D2 soccer before with the old A-League's San Diego Flash.
I think this is two separate things, and I wish to make a distinction. (Also, twentysomethings who discovered soccer an hour and a half ago aren't exactly the best barometers.) The original NASL was hugely important in the history of the game in this country. The fact Millennials who wear Chelsea shirts aren't aware of it ( a ) doesn't change that and ( b ) kind of puts paid to the notion that they eat, breathe and live the game because you do all that without having a sense of history at your own risk. But it IS true that there's a fine line between nostalgia and necromancy. The trend that restored the Timbers, Whitecaps, Sounders and Earthquakes to our top domestic flight (and the Rowdies et al below) is fine because those were iconic brands, whether today's coveted beer-and-scarves demographic is aware of that or not. But the organizations currently wielding those brands have actually done the work. (Well, except for the Strikers, obviously.) You can't just say, "We'll bring this brand from the 70s out of mothballs and it will do the work for us!" In respect to the Los Angeles Aztecs, great name, fine. But almost nobody gave a rat's ass about the original Aztecs (the soccer team, I mean, not the original original Aztecs), and just slapping that name on something today is not a guarantee of success. Anyone who thinks you can is overvaluing the power of nostalgia, not NASL history. History is what happened. And the NASL was hugely important to our soccer landscape (even if, as you who were not around for it claims, it made hardly a blip on the culture, to which I would ask if you are aware of the youth participation boom that followed the league's heyday). That's not in question. The question is how much do those retro brands really influence ticket-buying and fan commitment decisions today? In many cases, maybe not a lot, surely not by themselves. But some resonate more with people in their markets than others. Few people pine for the return of the Aztecs or the Rogues or the Hurricane or Team Hawaii. Almost no one alive saw Bethlehem Steel play. (And, to be fair, a lot of the people who have co-opted the Cosmos are doing it to put their soccer bona fides in a microwave because they just showed up.) The name itself cannot do magical things. There is a whole lot more work that has to be done. Only simpletons think we absolutely need to restore an old brand every time someone puts a team in a city that used to have an NASL club.
As a kid in the 80s I had heard of the name Bethlehem Steel, I had no idea what sport they play but I knew it was a team. Back to SD, whether its one or two NASL team in the area I believe both would have the name San Diego on it, not Chula Vista or North County.
Yeah, I cannot imagine not using San Diego (unless it's "California" or something). I cannot imagine Chula Vista FC being a thing.
I am hoping that both groups are smarter than that. I could see Albion being named Albion SB or something like that (southbay). However, if they start play as localized names and if the MLS team never materializes then I can see them make a play to the greater san diego area.