San_Jose_Earthquakes_(NASL_team)
San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988)
Defunct American soccer club
The San Jose Earthquakes were a professional soccer club that played from 1974 to 1988. The team began as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), and was originally set to play in San Francisco; but slow season ticket sales led to a late switch to San Jose's Spartan Stadium. The switch to sports-starved San Jose was an immediate hit, and the Earthquakes led the league with attendance over 15,000 per game in 1974, double the league average. The team's success led Spartan Stadium to be chosen as site of the first NASL Soccer Bowl in 1975. From 1983 to 1984, the team was known as the Golden Bay Earthquakes. During this time, it also played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League and in the NASL's indoor circuit, winning the first ever NASL indoor tournament in 1975. Their indoor games were first played at the Cow Palace and later at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
Following the collapse of the NASL in 1984, the team's name reverted to San Jose Earthquakes prior to joining the Western Soccer Alliance in 1985, where it played until the league's folding after the 1988 season.
The name Earthquakes was created by general manager Dick Berg. While it was criticized due to San Jose's proximity to the San Andreas Fault, the name stayed on. In 1999, the Earthquakes name returned when San Jose's Major League Soccer franchise renamed themselves from the Clash to Earthquakes. A rebranding in 2014 added "1974" to the MLS team's crest, an explicit reference to the original NASL team.[1][2][3]