Nearly four years ago, San Diego soccer fans caught a glimpse of a potential local tradition.
Two professional soccer clubs — the San Diego Loyal of the United Soccer League and Albion San Diego of the National Independent Soccer Association — met in two thrilling matches as part of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. That’s the country’s oldest ongoing soccer tournament, open to elite amateur and professional soccer clubs across the country.
Fans at a packed Canyon Crest Academy Stadium, and SDSU Sports Deck a year later, saw a passionate local rivalry comparable only to the annual matchup between the SDSU and University of San Diego basketball teams, dubbed the “City Championship.”
The Loyal have since folded, but the runaway success of the San Diego Football Club in its inaugural Major League Soccer season shows the promise of an annual soccer matchup for city bragging remains.
SDFC will have a full plate in its second season, including competing in the Concacaf Champions Cup starting on Feb. 3 against Liga MX side Pumas UNAM. The MLS regular season starts on Feb. 21 with a match against CF Montréal. And SDFC is already locked into the Baja Cup, an annual rivalry game against Club Tijuana.
But there’s still an opening for a recurring head-to-head tilt against two hometown teams.
NISA has yet to announce which teams will be part of its 2026 season — or if it will once again receive professional level sanctioning from the United States Soccer Federation.
Even if it doesn’t, Albion has been successful in the National Premier Soccer League, reaching the national semifinal in 2019 while playing at Mission Bay High school.
The team could also land in the USL League One or MLS Next Pro, which already enjoys professional sanctioning.
These are not far-fetched options. MLS teams often play lower-division teams from their own metro areas in the US Open Cup. The clearest examples of these “derby” matches are Portland Timbers vs. Portland Timbers 2 and North Carolina FC vs Charlotte FC.
Albion also has its own legacy to celebrate. It has developed high-level players for decades. Three of its youth players — Dylan Groeneveld, Giuliano Whitchurch and Noah James — were selected in the MLS SuperDraft on Dec. 18. One of its most notable alumni, CJ Fodrey, played for the San Diego Loyal and is currently playing in the MLS with FC Austin. And its under 19 team came in third of 115 teams at the MLS Next Fest in Arizona last month.
A regular matchup between SDFC and Albion could further cement San Diego’s role as one of the nation’s top soccer regions.
