Having to fight to keep your stadium might be the nightmare scenario for supporters of most soccer clubs. But for Orange County SC (OCSC), it may have provided the spark that ignites a flame.

When it emerged that the LA Galaxy were looking move their MLS NEXT Pro team, LA Galaxy II, into the Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, which would in turn evict Orange County from their home of five years, the fans immediately mobilized.

Hundreds turned out to a city council meeting in early August, where the stadium’s future was on the agenda, to let the LA Galaxy and council members involved in discussions know exactly how OCSC felt about the very threat to their identity.

„There were 400 people turned up at the council meeting and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a council meeting, but they’re not meant to be fun,“ Orange County president of business operations Dan Rutstein told 90min in an exclusive interview.

„Those council chambers are not often full. And there it was full. And it wasn’t just people in suits, this was people in orange shirts with flags and drums.

„It was somewhat raucous. We got up one at a time and our fans told their stories. Some were in tears, some were there with their kids, telling the story of why it mattered that this club stays there.“

It wasn’t just Orange County supporters showing support for the club, however. Fans of rival clubs like Phoenix Rising and San Diego Loyal backed the USL Championship club, as did supporters of the Galaxy themselves.

„Galaxy fans were very supportive as well because they didn’t quite understand why their team were doing what they were doing to us,“ said Rutstein. „So it was actually very heartwarming as the president of the club to see how much our club means.“

For their part, the Galaxy released a statement of their own in August insisting they had no intention of evicting Orange County from the stadium. However, emails obtained from the City of Irvine show talks between the club and council had been ongoing since at least April 2022.

Sources also provided 90min with a document detailing three separate courses of action proposed by the City of Irvine:

1. Continuing the current stadium model: Orange County SC renews its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and continues its use of the stadium for approximately 18 home games.
2. Partner with the LA Galaxy for use of the stadium: The LA Galaxy II would play all of its MLS Next Pro home matches at the Championship Stadium. This course of action would end Orange County’s MOU with the City of Irvine, while allowing for zero days of use at the stadium for professional sports teams. Under the pre-existing MOU with OCSC, 22 games per year were allowed to be hosted for other professional sports teams.
3. Convert the existing grass field to artificial turf: Lowering maintenance costs but potentially limiting access for professional soccer teams, who traditionally prefer grass.

Through a series of meetings and battles, Orange County were able to secure their future at Championship Stadium for 2023.

Rutstein described the ‚overwhelming wave of relief‘ that came across him and all others associated with OCSC upon hearing the news.

However, this is just a one-year stay of execution. Orange County still remain unclear on the Galaxy’s long-term plans and whether the five-time MLS Cup champions intend to revive their bid to move into the stadium.

But at the very least, in the face of a crisis, OCSC have proved they have loyal fanbase willing, quite literally, to go all the way to court to defend their team, while even supporters of their nearest rivals are willing to come out and stick up for ‚David‘ when he’s pitted against ‚Goliath‘.

„I think the relationship between clubs and fans, there’s a bond there that you can’t take away,“ said Rutstein.

„People who had never heard of us, have heard of us now. Our fans are buying season tickets in a way they never have before. Other clubs have got a soft spot for us that they didn’t have before and I think it’s been an incredible experience for the staff to know how much the club means to the fans.“

Rutstein concluded: „We’ll look back on this moment at some point in the future, and we are still a bit raw now, but at some point we’ll look back and this will be maybe the defining moment for the club that we really understood the thing we’ve been building for years.

„This isn’t in Europe where teams are a hundred years old. We’re nine years old, but the thing we are building is working and we’ve built a community-first club from the ground up, and it means a lot to our fans and that’s just fantastic for us.“

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