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San Francisco Glens Soccer Club, commonly known as SF Glens, is an American soccer club based in San Francisco that was founded in 1961. Their men's first team currently competes in USL League Two and their women's first team in the USL W League, both in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid.
Before establishing a USL League Two franchise in 2018, the Glens had been a longtime member of the San Francisco Soccer Football League (SFSFL) and were once affiliated with the San Francisco Seals' PDL team, which is now defunct. The Glens continue to field three SFSFL teams, but the USL League Two franchise is now the club's official first team.
Since the hiring of Executive Director Mike McNeill, who also doubles as General Manager of the USL2 first team, the club has grown from two local youth teams to the largest soccer club in San Francisco. The Glens' nationally renowned academy program is the only one in the city with all age groups for MLS Next, that begins at Under-13 level and runs concurrently through the Under-19 level. In 2022, The U19 team became the first San Francisco team to advance to the MLS NEXT Cup final, where they were edged by the New England Revolution 1-0.
Combined as one entity (USL League Two and USL W League first teams, SFSFL second, third, and fourth teams, and SF Glens Academy youth teams), the Glens field over 90 teams and over 1,300 active players.
The Glens also have ties abroad as the official North American partner of 2. Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel. In addition to having the MLS NEXT full pathway, they are the only youth club in San Francisco with membership in the USL Academy.
They also have an official partnership with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. Recent examples of that arrangement is current U.S. Youth National Team midfielder Cruz Medina, who played with the Glens Academy before joining the Earthquakes, as well as the Glens hosting MLS Next Pro games for the Quakes in San Francisco.
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Beginnings
The Glens were founded on January 28, 1961 by Dr. Michael McFadden as one of a number of Irish American amateur sides that had emerged in the SFSFL during the 1960s. The emergence of the Glens during this period was based on the coaching of Irishman Neil Hagan coupled with a talented crop of young players like Tom and Steve Ryan, Jim Boyle, and Tom and Tim Harvey, among others.
It was also during these early years when the club struck up a friendship with Celtic F.C. that still endures today, when the European giants visited San Francisco in 1966 to play two friendly matches at Kezar Stadium and provided the Glens with their spare strips and they became the Glens first team kits for a number of years.
National Amateur Success
The result of Hagan's leadership was promotion to the SFSFL's Premier division by the end of the decade. The Glens went on to national prominence by advancing all the way to the National Amateur Cup final in 1979 where they lost 1–0 to Atlanta Datagraphic. Their national success also spilled over into qualification for the prestigious U.S. Open Cup three times in a five-year stretch from 1978 to 1982.
SFSFL Title Teams
The untimely death of Hagan in 1981, who died on the field while coaching the Glens, left a void that might have been the end of other amateur clubs. However, Sean Shannon stepped into the spotlight and quietly remolded the team into a championship-winning outfit by bringing in players such as Paul Mitchell and Mal Roche. By 1984, the Glens captured their first SFSFL championship in 1984—the first by an Irish side. In 1990, they returned to the National Amateur Cup final that season. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong side of another 1–0 result, this time to the St. Petersburg Kickers. Three years later under Shannon, the Glens captured their second SFSFL title.
Return to the SFSFL
After a brief hiatus, the SF Glens returned to the SFSFL in 2015 with a Premier Division and reserve team open to all comers. Three years later behind coach Bill Chu, the SFSFL Glens earned a berth in the California Soccer Association North (CSAN) State Cup Final, falling to Club Marin in extra time, 4–2.
A New Era in USL League Two
In 2018, the Glens announced the establishment of a new franchise in the USL Premier Development League with dual intentions: to create a top of the pyramid for their SF Glens Academy youth program and SFSFL teams, and also to set a foundation to enter the professional ranks in the future. J. Ramon Estevez was hired as the PDL franchise's inaugural team president/general manager and Javier Ayala-Hil as head coach. Mike McNeill, executive director of football for the youth side, doubled as a member of the PDL front office as well.
Though the Glens missed the playoffs in their first PDL season, they closed the campaign on a four-game unbeaten streak and were one of only two teams to take points from eventual Southwest Division champion FC Golden State Force.
In September 2018, the club announced that U.S. World Cup veteran and MLS Cup champion Jimmy Conrad had agreed to become their new technical director and associate head coach. In December 2018, Mike McNeill took on the reins of the team presidency. One month later, the Glens had four players selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft and two (Sam Junqua and Roy Boateng) in the first round—a first for any San Francisco club and the third-most among all clubs in the PDL, now rebranded as USL League Two.
The Glens entered an official partnership with 2. Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel in 2019, as San Francisco and Kiel are sister cities. The team had a tough USL League Two season on the field, but Nabilai Kibunguchy stood out as a midfielder on the Western Conference Team of the Year.
In February 2020, the club announced that Ayala-Hil would step down as head coach and McNeill named Conrad his successor. However, the 2020 USL League Two season was canceled due to safety concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2021, the club announced the future construction of a soccer-specific facility at Treasure Island, a first for a local club in the 120-year history of soccer in San Francisco. Meanwhile, coaches Bill Chu and Cameron Chu led a banner year for the Glens' SFSFL teams, as the Second Team qualified for the Premier Division playoffs, the Third Team finished in the top four of the Majors Division, and the Under-23 Fourth Team won the First Division.
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