San Jose Frogs

Football club infobox
clubname = San Jose Frogs


fullname = San Jose Frogs Football Club
nickname = The Frogs
founded = 2005
ground = James Lick Memorial Stadium
capacity = ????
chairman = flagicon|Germany Hartmut Esslinger
manager = flagicon|USA Aaron Castro
league = USL Premier Development League
season = 2008
position = 5th, Southwest Division

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American=true

The San Jose Frogs was an American soccer team that was founded in 2005. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when the team left the league and the franchise was terminated.

The Frogs played their home matches at James Lick Memorial Stadium on the campus of James Lick High School in the city of San Jose, California. The team's colors were red and black.

The club's nickname, the Frogs, came from the club's owner, German industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger, whose company Frog Design Inc. was responsible for the first Apple Macintosh computer in 1981, amongst other things.

2008 Roster

Year-by-year

Competition History

The Frogs began life in 2005 as an announced expansion franchise in the National Premier Soccer League, but they failed to take to the field in their original season. They finally made their debut in 2006 and impressed immediately, finishing their freshman season with a 12-4-4 record and second in the table behind eventual national champions Sacramento Knights. The Frogs played in PAL Stadium in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, with good support from local soccer fans who were left without a team when the San Jose Earthquakes, a Major League Soccer team, relocated to Houston and became the Houston Dynamo.

In the 2006-07 offseason, seeking a greater challenge, the team made the previously uprecedented jump from the NPSL to the PDL. Right out of the gate, the Frogs were as impressive in the PDL as the were in the NPSL, winning five of their first six games, including a pair of 2-1 victories against traditional divisional powerhouses Orange County Blue Star and Southern California Seahorses. The consistent run of form continued throughout the season, and despite a couple of defeats to Bakersfield Brigade and Ventura County Fusion, remained one of the four teams in contention for a playoff spot as the season wound down. A 3-2 loss to Fresno Fuego at the beginning of July put a spoke in the wheel, and despite ending their campain with 2 wins - 4-1 over Orange County Blue Star and 2-0 over the San Francisco Seals - other teams results went against them, and they finished the season a close third, just one point adrift of Fresno Fuego and the San Fernando Valley Quakes. Jacob Wilson was the top scorer of the very impressive opening campaign; testament to this was the fact that, in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, seven Frogs were drafted by Major League Soccer, including Brandon McDonald and Luke Sassano.

For the 2008 season, the Frogs moved to a new home ground, James Lick Memorial Stadium on the campus of James Lick High School, an artificial turf field with permanent American football lines. Also in 2008, the San Jose Earthquakes returned as an expansion franchise, bringing top-flight soccer back to the area. In August 2008, the Frogs organization announced that the franchise was closing down, citing a "lack of community interest in top amateur soccer" for the team's demise. [http://www.sjfrogs.com/] The team's attendance dropped significantly in their final season to a mere 20 paid tickets a game.

Notable former players

* Peter Lowry
* Matt Marquess
* Brandon McDonald
* Luke Sassano
* Adam Sloustcher
* Adam Smarte
* Rob Valentino
* Stephen Wondolowski

Coaches

* Franco Benevento 2006
* Peter Weiss 2007
* Jorge Espinoza 2008
* Aaron Castro 2008

Stadia

* PAL Stadium, San Jose, California 2006-07
* James Lick Memorial Stadium, San Jose, California 2008

Average Attendance

*2008: 194
*2007: 194

References

External links

* [http://www.sjfrogs.com San Jose Frogs]
* [http://www.sjfrogs.com/blog/ San Jose Frogs Blog]