San Francisco City FC fans worry that local soccer is becoming increasingly driven by politics and financial motives. As the team plays its last full season at Kezar Stadium, fans are also cutting ties to the 2026 FIFA World Cup a few weeks before the Bay Area hosts games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\nA young fan joins chants in support of the San Francisco City Football Club during their game against Davis Legacy Soccer Club at Kezar Stadium on May 17. 2026. This will be the team’s last full season based at Kezar Stadium.<\/span>\u00a0(Aryk Copley for KQED)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Indeed, for many SF City fans, rooting for their team means embodying the spirit of San Francisco itself.<\/p>\n \u201cSF City is grassroots. It\u2019s DIY,\u201d said Ozzy Palacio, a fan who also helps run a zine for club members<\/a>. They were surrounded by the loudest group of fans in the stadium. Drums beat nonstop, kids and adults alike started chants and banners identified the team\u2019s supporter groups \u2014 Northsiders<\/a>, Kezar Union<\/a>, Faultline Offenders<\/a>, YOFC<\/a> \u2014 each with their own identity and history, but rallying under the banner of Bah\u00eda de Frisco<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many fans have team memberships, which give them the right to vote on almost every major decision. Similar to what professional teams in Germany do, SF City runs on a 50+1 ownership model<\/a>, where club members hold a majority of team shares.<\/p>\n \u201cChoosing SF City was never a question for me,\u201d Palacio said. A fourth-generation Bay Area resident, they grew up surrounded by lovers of the beautiful game. Palacio\u2019s father played for the Oakland Stompers, and they themselves played soccer for more than a decade before becoming SF City fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much love here,\u201d Palacio said. \u201cIt\u2019s sharing beers and giving somebody a scarf to borrow that doesn\u2019t have one \u2014and teaching somebody what offside means.\u201d<\/p>\n Thunderous cheers cut off Palacio. Forward Kai Oppenheim scored the team\u2019s first goal before the third minute of the match. Boosted by this momentum, SF City went on to win 3-0.<\/p>\n But the fantastic home opener was also a bittersweet reminder for the team that this will be its last full season based at Kezar Stadium: the first home of the San Francisco 49ers on the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park.<\/p>\n Next year, an entirely new team funded by private investors and backed by city officials will take over, leaving SF City without a home field.<\/p>\n For many SF City supporters, the change is evidence that soccer in the Bay Area is becoming more beholden to financial and political interests \u2014 something they say is also happening on a global stage ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup. And unlike other teams in the region, SF City is not promoting the tournament, which includes six matches at Levi\u2019s Stadium<\/a> in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n Instead, fans say that supporting existing local soccer teams will help keep the sport accessible for all.<\/p>\n Kezar Stadium stands as a survivor of San Francisco\u2019s sporting past, a physical link to the eras of the now-demolished Candlestick Park and Seals Stadium.<\/p>\n Opened in 1925, it has hosted the city\u2019s high school football championship game \u2014 the legendary Turkey Bowl<\/a> \u2014 for almost a century, along with dozens of different professional and amateur teams over the decades. And SF City fans relish being part of this history.<\/p>\n \u201cMuni bus, take me home \u2026 to the place I belong,\u2019 supporters sang throughout the match against Davis Legacy to the tune of John Denver\u2019s \u201cTake Me Home, Country Roads\u201d: \u201cKezar Stadium, San Francisco, take me home \u2026 Muni bus.\u201d<\/p>\n While SF City has called Kezar Stadium home for the past decade, it\u2019s part of a long line of soccer teams that have used the space as a launching pad to grow the sport\u2019s popularity \u2014 in a city where baseball and American football usually dominate.<\/p>\n Next year, the field will welcome Golden City FC, which will play in the MLS Next Pro league. (In the United States soccer league system, this is one rung \u201cabove\u201d<\/a> the USL League Two, which is where SF City plays.)<\/p>\n San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie himself broke the news of Golden City FC\u2019s arrival last year through a social media video<\/a>. The new team, Lurie said, would invest in renovating the historic stadium. \u201cIt\u2019s going to make Kezar even better.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n This is good news for San Francisco,\u201d he insisted. In a press release<\/a>, the Mayor\u2019s office called it \u201ca landmark public-private partnership\u201d that would also help boost local businesses.<\/p>\n City officials soon after negotiated a permit agreement with Golden City FC ownership \u2014 which the Board of Supervisors approved unanimously<\/a> \u2014 giving the team the right to use the stadium for all regular season home games and playoff matches. In return, Golden City FC is expected to invest $10 million in upgrades, with over half going to renovating the field turf, and some spent on improving the seating areas and scoreboard.<\/p>\n But questions have dogged Golden City FC since Lurie\u2019s announcement. The San Francisco Standard reported<\/a> a few days later that one of the team\u2019s co-owners is a longtime donor to Tipping Point \u2014 a nonprofit founded by Lurie, which raised some ethical concerns about potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n And most recently, SFGATE looked into<\/a> whether the team will actually be able to meet the city\u2019s Sept. 30, 2027, deadline to complete 50% of the required stadium improvements and play their first match by that same date.<\/p>\n The team is on track to start work on the field in December after the end of the high school football season, said Tamara Aparton, deputy director of communications for the city\u2019s Recreation and Park Department. \u201cIt\u2019s a little tricky because there are windows they can work in,\u201d she said. \u201cThere haven\u2019t been any changes to the schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n Golden City FC also confirmed to KQED that the team is on track to start improvements in December and aims to compete in the 2027 MLS Next Pro season.<\/p>\n In the meantime, the team has kept its online presence minimal. Its website<\/a> only shows the team\u2019s initials and contact information, while its Instagram account<\/a> had not posted anything by late May.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really quiet, and it\u2019s very intentional,\u201d a team spokesperson told KQED. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working behind the scenes on go-to-market strategies \u2026 But to be fair, we won\u2019t hit the on button until probably sometime late first quarter [of 2027].\u201d<\/p>\n As Golden City FC establishes itself at Kezar Stadium next year, SF City will get a lot less playing time on the field. Team leadership said next season may include only one game at Kezar Stadium \u2014 down from four this current season. Cox Stadium at San Francisco State University will host most of SF City\u2019s home games next season, but details are still being finalized.<\/p>\n Players will adapt to this change to keep giving their best, SF City head coach Berdi Merdanov said. \u201cI like to think that we\u2019re here to expand our territory. Cox Stadium is new territory,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s very optimistic about the team\u2019s athletic potential. As of this story\u2019s publishing, the team remains undefeated and is leading its division.<\/p>\n \u201cHome is home in San Francisco,\u201d Merdanov said.<\/p>\n Fans like Palacio say they\u2019ll stick with the team when it moves to new turf. But there\u2019s also some uncertainty from losing a space that\u2019s so beloved by supporters, they added. \u201cThe uncertainty comes from not knowing where we\u2019re going to play,\u201d they said. \u201cIf our team and everybody\u2019s going to be able to get there. Because it\u2019s a point of access at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Others see SF City\u2019s move away from Kezar as an outright injustice. \u201cThis is very clearly the community club, the San Francisco club,\u201d said fan Asa Vaziri, who throughout the 90-minute game did not stop waving the team\u2019s massive banner above his head. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of just being kicked out by money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI strongly believe football should be accessible,\u201d he explained, adding that teams like SF City provide affordable opportunities to watch a live soccer game in a time when more visible soccer tournaments, like the World Cup, are out of reach for those who cannot afford ticket prices.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [FIFA] has proven it\u2019s more about profits,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just so blatant this year that I really have no desire to partake. I\u2019m glad that SF City offers something else.\u201d<\/p>\n FIFA has frustrated many soccer lovers over how it has managed the 2026 World Cup, which starts June 11 in Mexico City. Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara will host five group stage matches and one from the knockout phase of the competition.<\/p>\n Gianni Infantino, who heads the sport\u2019s governing body, was criticized<\/a> for mixing sports with politics when he awarded President Donald Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize last year.<\/p>\n As for the price of game tickets, he\u2019s said that demand has been unpredictable and that revenues go to support<\/a> soccer programs around the world.<\/p>\n Most recently, California state officials have begun an investigation<\/a> of FIFA\u2019s ticketing system following reports from ticketholders who say they were assigned seats in a different category than what was advertised when they bought their tickets.<\/p>\n During the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, SF City announced it would not participate in any events related to that tournament, citing the host country\u2019s history of labor rights violations and criminalization of homosexuality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are totally vocally anti-fascist,\u201d team board member Pete Bogdis told KQED earlier this year. \u201cThe club doesn\u2019t like the way the World Cup has turned into a giant \u2018sportswashing\u2019 machine.\u201d<\/p>\n Professional teams like the San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> and Bay FC<\/a> are helping organize watch parties for the tournament. SF City, on the other hand, is not promoting any of the matches.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to pay thousands of dollars to watch a game outside the city, you\u2019re happy to go watch FIFA,\u201d team board member Isaiah Cornejo said. \u201cIf you want to spend $8-$12 to come join a community and watch a good sport inside the city, come to an SF City game.\u201d<\/p>\n For fan and filmmaker Daniel Diaz, the fight to keep soccer accessible is both global \u2014 at the World Cup level \u2014 and local \u2014 making sure a smaller, supporter-owned team can keep playing close to its fans. Winning their home opener is a victory in that fight, too, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cLaying claim to our home, packing out the stadium, a lot of familiar faces, singing familiar songs and joined by a whole crew of new people,\u201d he said. \u201cThat energy shows why this is our home and why we\u2019ll follow our club wherever.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/05\/260522-SF-City-FC-vs.-Davis-Legacy-AC-05-KQED.jpg\")
Take me home to Kezar Stadium?<\/h2>\n
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\u2018Why this is our home\u2019<\/h2>\n
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