It’s happening, that moment the Bay Area has been collectively anticipating: the inaugural home game for Bay FC, the Bay Area women’s professional soccer team.
“I’m so excited — I can’t wait to see all those fans in the crowd. I know it’s going to be an amazing atmosphere, and I know the (team’s) stoked to get out there and represent the Bay,” says Bay FC midfielder Joelle Anderson, who grew up in San Jose.
Bay FC’s game against the Houston Dash will get underway under the bright lights of PayPal Park at 7 p.m. Saturday with over 18,000 fans — a sellout crowd — in (or out of) their seats as the team takes the field.
“There seems to be this energy, this buzz, about this team,” acknowledges Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya, a Major League Soccer veteran who played on the San Jose Clash (now Earthquakes).
Bay FC is part of the National Women’s Soccer League, which held its inaugural season in 2013.
With Bay FC joining the NWSL as the 14th team in the league, which itself is now in its 12th season, NWSL has surpassed the duration and total team numbers of its predecessors, Women’s Professional Soccer (2009-2012, seven teams — down to six in 2012 — four seasons) and the Women’s United Soccer Association (2001-2003, eight teams, three seasons).
The numbers are indicative of things going well for the NWSL — and for Bay FC, as their PayPal Park sellout is unprecedented for a Bay Area women’s professional team.
“The fact that we’ll be at PayPal in front of a sold-out crowd this weekend, that says it all,” said Montoya. “That’s just something that we haven’t experienced here in the Bay Area.”
And Montoya would know, as he served as the head coach of the Women’s Professional Soccer Bay Area team FC Gold Pride from 2009 until 2012, when the WPS league folded.
He notes that even during his head-coaching heyday of the Pride — whose roster included Brazilian phenom Marta and Canada’s national team’s Christine Sinclair — attendance at their game was nowhere close to what will be this Saturday.
“Even when the Pride won a championship, when we were in the finals, I think we had maybe 4,000, 5,000 in the stands,” said Montoya. “I’m not even sure it was 5,000, and this is now a home opener in front of 18,000 fans. … The media that’s come out and just the energy behind it is something I’ve never experienced at the pro- level, even when I was in DC last year.”
Prior to coming onboard as Bay FC’s lead coach, Montoya was an interim coach for the NWSL’s Washington, D.C.-based team, the Washington Spirit, in 2022.
“They have a huge following, but this has exceeded all of our expectations,” he says of Bay FC.
Bay FC was founded in 2023 by former U.S. Women’s National Team players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner and is backed by the investment group Sixth Street. The Bay FC’s governing board members include Wagner, Sixth Street CEO Alan Waxman, tech executive Sheryl Sandberg and former Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts.
The Bay Area has seemingly been ready, not only for the presence of a women’s pro soccer team in the region, but also for the team’s inaugural season of play. This much was evident at the well-attended “FC Day for the Bay” event, held on the Presidio’s Main Parade Lawn in San Francisco last June to celebrate the official formation of Bay FC as the Bay Area’s NWSL team.
Excitement about Bay FC was also palpable on Tuesday at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza, where local youth teams, along with their families and coaches, gathered to see and meet the Bay FC team in person. City officials at the event included San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who donned a red and navy Bay FC scarf.
With the backdrop of City Hall behind them, Montoya, the Bay FC team, CEO Brady Stewart and staff stood in a semi-circle behind Breed as she spoke of the significance of their presence in the Bay Area.
“We are so glad to have you all here,” she said. “To these incredible, talented players of Bay FC, we want to say thank you for coming out here and being an inspiration to the next generation of football players.”
We’re looking forward to celebrating them, watching them and enjoying them in the Bay Area as a Bay team, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that one day they’ll be playing in San Francisco,” she added.
At the event, Bay FC players gave Breed an official team letterman jacket, featuring the “Bay FC” emblem on its front and the wording “South Bay, East Bay, North Bay,” in white lettering on the left sleeve.
Bay FC has had two away games so far in this 2024 NWSL season: They headed to Los Angeles for their first-ever game as part of the league, where they played Angel City FC on March 17 and won 1-0. Last Saturday, they were in the nation’s capital at Audi Field, playing against Washington Spirit. They lost their second game 2-1.
“We’re just going to build off the past two games, and just go back and review what we can work on. It’s just the first two games, so obviously we still have a lot we need to do, but I think it’s a good starting point … to see how we’ve all come together so quickly, and the results are going to come, so we’re confident going forward,” says Anderson, the midfielder and San Jose native.
Anderson, who was in the starting lineup for both games, was acquired from the Dash, so she’ll be up against some familiar faces on the pitch this Saturday evening.
Standings-wise, Bay FC currently ranks seventh, and Houston Dash ranks 12th.
The team is taking it one game at a time this inaugural season — the focus is on growth, improvement, supporting one another and working out kinks.
But that doesn’t mean nabbing the title of “2024 season champions” is out of the question.
“There’s pressure to win a championship because the (WUSA’s San Jose) CyberRays won in the first year, (the WPS’s FC Gold) Pride won it in the second year. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, so we’re going to win right away!’ I’m like, ‘Sure, I hope. I would like to,’ But, as everyone’s seen, this is a very competitive league. Every single game goes down to the last play of the game. And it’s going to take a bit of time. But who knows? We might do something special — I think we have players to do so,” says Montoya.
The players and fans have had to wait until this third, upcoming game against the Houston team to come together on Bay FC’s home turf.
Defender Emily Menges shares, “I at first was kind of bummed that our first game wasn’t our home opener. But actually, I think it’s better. Our first game was always going to be mass chaos this first year. It just (affects) everybody’s nerves, not really ever playing together against a team other than a boys’ team or ourselves. And so I’m glad that we’ve had two games under our belt, and now at the home opener, hopefully we can bring it all together.”
Menges, also in the starting lineup for Bay FC’s first two games, was acquired from the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, with whom she played for 10 seasons. She wore the captain’s armband at the Washington Spirit game. A veteran NWSL player, Menges sees the Bay FC team as continually developing and familiarizing themselves with each other on the pitch.
“This is my first time, besides when I was a rookie, coming together with a brand-new team. … The most we have coming from a single team is three players, so we’re really kind of a hodgepodge of players and learning about each other — things like getting used to ‘Joelle’s a lefty. I play to her left foot’ and Deyna (Castellano’s) body language when she wants the ball. Just little things that you learn about players and how they play and that’s all chemistry, and it’s coming together,” says Menges.
For Montoya, Menges, Anderson and the rest of Bay FC, this week is all about preparing for Houston, including drills and practices at San Jose State University’s training facility and spending some time at PayPal Park to, as Anderson says, “get out there and have a feel for the field and just get used to it.”
For the players, preparation also involves taking it easy, resting and eating well (and enough) prior to facing the Houston Dash. Both Anderson and Menges have their families in town this weekend, with plans to find a good spot in San Jose for a pre-game meal.
“I’m so thrilled. With this being my hometown, it’s been a dream come true to play for this team. I think once it hits and I see everyone in the crowd, I think it’s going to be one of the top moments of my career to see that and be in that stadium and play,” says Anderson.
As sightings of fans wearing Bay FC gear such as hats, shirts, jerseys and sweatshirts are commonplace these days, one can surmise that such team pride will be visible throughout the PayPal Park crowd on Saturday.
“The atmosphere is going to be electric. … The fact that we finally have a Bay Area team here in the women’s league — with a fan base — it’s going to be really exciting. Now we just have to put on a good show, so the fans keep coming out and it’s not just a one-time event,” says Montoya.
For information on how to watch the game, go here.