San Jose Earthquakes

Team information

Inaugural season: 1996

Home field: PayPal Park San Jose, California

Owner: Earthquakes Soccer, LLC

Team colors: Black, blue, red, and white

Overview

The San Jose Earthquakes is a professional soccer team that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). Based in San Jose, California, the team—then known as the Clash—was one of ten founding members of MLS, which began play in 1996. After adopting the nickname Earthquakes in 2000, San Jose began a run of success that saw it win two championships in three seasons. However, stadium concerns eventually forced the team to relocate to Houston in 2005. As part of an arrangement with MLS, the franchise name and records remained attached to San Jose. Then, in 2008, a new ownership group placed an expansion franchise in the city and revived the Earthquakes name. While this new version of the team was not able to duplicate its earlier success, San Jose did have Chris Wondolowski, one of the most dynamic goal-scorers in MLS history, on its squad for more than a decade.

History

For most of the twentieth century, professional soccer was immensely popular in most of the world, but struggled to catch on in North America. The most successful professional league on the continent was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which lasted from 1968 until it folded in 1985. San Jose was granted an NASL team in 1974, but league officials wanted the team name attached to the city of San Francisco, which is fifty miles to the north. After lobbying the NASL, team management succeeded in having the team identified with San Jose. The team chose the name Earthquakes as a nod to the area’s seismic activity. San Jose played in the NASL until the league dissolved, and then shifted to the regional Western Soccer Alliance. The Earthquakes franchise eventually folded in 1988.

That same year, the United States was named host of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the world’s premier international soccer tournament. The event turned out to be such a success that many Americans began to pay more attention to the sport. To take advantage of the trend, a new professional soccer league was formed in 1995 and began play a year later. The first Major League Soccer teams were placed in ten cities—New York, Tampa Bay, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, New England, Colorado, San Jose, and Columbus.

The new San Jose franchise was called the Clash upon the insistence of the sports apparel company Nike, which was a major sponsor of the team. Its original logo was a black and red scorpion with the word “Clash” written between its claws. San Jose kept the name Clash through the 1999 season, but decided to rebrand for the 2000 campaign. The team decided to draw upon the past and revived the name Earthquakes. Their new logo also featured the team’s signature colors of black, blue, and white. In 2014, the logo was redesigned to feature a sleek triangular black shield outlined in white and blue. A soccer ball lies at the center with a two sets of black and blue alternating stripes off to the upper right. The stripes are meant to symbolize the moving tectonic plates responsible for the region’s earthquakes. At the top of the shield is the large word “Quakes” with “San Jose 1974” in smaller type underneath. The “1974” is in red as a tribute to the founding of the NASL’s Earthquakes.

San Jose went 15–17 in its first MLS season but was ousted from the playoffs by the LA Galaxy, beginning a fierce rivalry between the two Californian clubs. San Jose missed out on the playoffs for the next four seasons, three as the Clash and one as the Earthquakes. Then, in 2001, San Jose posted a regular-season record of 13 wins, 6 ties, and 7 losses and advanced to the MLS Cup Final. Its opponent was the LA Galaxy, which jumped out to a 1–0 lead only to have the Earthquakes battle back to tie. The game went into overtime where San Jose cemented its first championship with a game-winning goal six minutes in. After losing in the 2002 playoffs, San Jose fought through an injury-plagued 2003 season to earn the best record in the Western Conference. During the playoffs, the team once again squared off against its archrival, the Galaxy. San Jose lost 2–0 in the first of a two-game series and fell behind 2–0 in game two. With the winner determined by total goals scored in the two games, this essentially left San Jose in a 0–4 hole. However, the team responded to score four goals in regulation and won the series with a fifth goal in overtime. The Earthquakes would go on to advance to the MLS Cup Final where it won a second championship with a 4–2 victory over the Chicago Fire.

Despite its success, San Jose still faced an uncertain future brought about by financial pressures that were common in MLS at that time. Upon entering the league, the San Jose franchise was owned by MSL. In 1999, it was sold to the Kraft Sports Group—the same company that owns the NFL’s New England Patriots. By 2002, the team had been sold to the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). The Earthquakes had been playing home games at San Jose State University’s football stadium. AEG management had been lobbying for a soccer-only stadium to be built in San Jose, but had failed to secure a commitment from the city.

In 2005, the Earthquakes won the Supporters’ Shield for achieving the best record in MLS. After the season, AEG announced the team would be leaving San Jose for Houston, where it would be called the Houston Dynamo. However, AEG and the league agreed that the Houston team would be treated as a new franchise—despite the fact its roster was composed of Earthquakes players. The San Jose franchise, name, and team records would remain tied to the city and not transfer over to Houston.

As the Dynamo went on to win back-to-back MLS Cup Finals in 2006 and 2007, San Jose was left without a team. In 2006, the owners of Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s bought the rights to an expansion franchise in the San Jose area. The new team would begin play in 2008 as the Earthquakes and inherit its two MLS championships and all club records.

Since reentering the league, San Jose has struggled to recapture its former glory. Apart from the 2012 season—when the Earthquakes won the Supporters’ Shield with a 19–9–6 record—San Jose has never finished with anything higher than the league’s eighth-best record from 2008 to 2021. During that time, the Earthquakes have made only four playoff appearances and posted a franchise-worst mark of 4–9–21 in 2018.

Notable players

The first major star for San Jose was striker Ronald Cerritos who played for the team from 1997 to 2001 and again in 2005. Cerritos, who hails from El Salvador, was the leading goal-scorer on the Earthquakes’ 2001 MLS Cup championship team. As of 2021, he is second on the all-time franchise list for both goals scored (61) and assists (47). American forward Landon Donovan played with San Jose from 2001 to 2004 before going on to even greater success with the LA Galaxy. In sixteen seasons with the Earthquakes and Galaxy, Donovan recorded 136 assists, the most in MLS history. He was part of two championships with San Jose and four more with LA, giving him an MLS-record six titles. His 32 goals scored with San Jose remains third on the team’s all-time list.

Canadian midfielder/forward Dwayne De Rosario was part of two championship squads in San Jose and two more with the Houston Dynamo. He played for the Earthquakes from 2001 to 2005, finishing with 27 goals, fourth-best in franchise history. He was named Most Valuable Player of the 2001 MLS Cup Final. Swiss defender Jeff Agoos played for San Jose from 2001 to 2004 and won the MLS Defender of the Year Award in 2001. American winger Shea Salinas began his MLS career with San Jose in 2008 and 2009 and returned to the team in 2012. Still active as of 2021, Salinas is the franchise’s all-time assist leader with 50.

The best player in team history is undoubtedly American forward Chris Wondolowski who played in San Jose in 2005 before moving with the team to Houston in 2006. Wondolowski returned to the Earthquakes in 2009 and blossomed into a prolific goal-scorer a year later. Wondolowski won two Golden Boot Awards as the league’s top goal-scorer in 2010 and 2012. Wondolowski scored a then-MLS record 27 goals in 2012 and has five of the team’s top six highest-scoring seasons. Upon his retirement in 2021, Wondolowski holds the team record for most goals scored with 167 and is also the top scorer in MLS history with 171 goals.

Bibliography

Boehm, Charles. “‘No Regrets’: MLS Legend Chris Wondolowski Reflects as New San Jose Chapter Begins.” MLS.com, 10 Nov. 2021, www.mlssoccer.com/news/no-regrets-mls-legend-chris-wondlowski-reflects-as-new-san-jose-chapter-begins. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

“Club History.” San Jose Earthquakes, 2021, www.sjearthquakes.com/club/history. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021

“Four Earthquakes Players Selected to The 25 Greatest.” San Jose Earthquakes, 9 Dec. 2020, www.sjearthquakes.com/news/news-four-earthquakes-players-selected-25-greatest-0. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021

Moussavi, Sam. San Jose Earthquakes. Abdo, 2021.

Rucker, Jael. “Major League Soccer History: How MLS Became A Big Business.” ONE37pm, 18 Feb. 2021, www.one37pm.com/strength/sports/major-league-soccer-history. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021

“San Jose Earthquakes Logo.” Logos-World.net, 26 Apr. 2021, logos-world.net/san-jose-earthquakes-logo/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

“San Jose Earthquakes Stats and History.” FB Reference, 2021, fbref.com/en/squads/ca460650/history/San-Jose-Earthquakes-Stats-and-History. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

“San Jose Earthquakes Team History.” Sports Team History, 2021, sportsteamhistory.com/san-jose-earthquakes. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.