Los Angeles Galaxy (LAFC)

LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, is an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Galaxy participates in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The club began playing in 1996 as one of 10 members of the league.

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LA Galaxy: History

The Galaxy were founded in 1994 and are owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group (also owners of 50% of the Los Angeles Kings as well as a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers). In the early years, the club played their home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Since 2003, they have played at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The team rivals the San Jose Earthquakes in the California Clasico and used to play in the SuperClasico against urban rivals Chivas USA before that team closed in 2014. After Chivas closed, Los Angeles FC was formed and a new derby began in 2018 under the unofficial name El Trafico.

The franchise is one of Major League Soccer’s most successful teams, with a record five MLS Cups and four additional Finals appearances, and has won the Western Conference regular season title eight times, four Fan Shields, two US Open Cups and one CONCACAF Champions Cup. In 2017, the club added a dubious MLS wooden spoon to its trophy box for finishing at the bottom of the MLS table.

In 2007, the club made international headlines after signing Englishman David Beckham from Real Madrid, the most high-profile Major League Soccer deal at the time. The club fielded other famous international players including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Luis Hernandez, Giovani dos Santos, Mauricio Cienfuegos , Jonathan dos Santos, Jorge Campos, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Javier Hernandez and American Landon Donovan, who is the club’s all-time leading scorer. Forbes ranked the club as the second most expensive club in the league in 2019, with a value of about $480 million.

The Los Angeles Galaxy is one of the 10 founding clubs in Major League Soccer. The name “Galaxy” came from the fact that Los Angeles is home to the “stars” of Hollywood. The team began competing in the first season of the then-new league, which took place in 1996.

In their first season, the Galaxy finished first in the Western Conference and participated in the first MLS Cup final, finishing second behind DC United . They started 1997 1-7, but led 15-9 before the end of the season to make the playoffs. “The Galaxy finished second in their conference, losing to the Dallas Burn. In 1998, the Galaxy broke the streak, eventually finishing 24-8. “The Galaxy beat Dallas Byrne 9-3 on a two-game winning streak. In the semifinals, they lost to Chicago Fire 2-1 on a two-game winning streak.