San Francisco Bay Blackhawks

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks was a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL). In 1993, the team competed in USISL as the San Jose Hawks, but left organized competition at the end of the season.

Based on the west coast of the United States, the Western Soccer Alliance (WSA) came into existence in 1985 as a means of providing semi-pro and amateur clubs an opportunity to compete outside of their local areas. The WSA was given additional impetus by the collapse of the North American Soccer League (NASL) at the end of the 1984 NASL season. One former NASL team, the San Jose Earthquakes, entered the WSA as a charter member. In 1988, the Earthquakes' new owner, Bill Lunghi, withdrew the Earthquakes from the WSA. In response, the WSA awarded a franchise to Dan Van Voorhis, a San Francisco Bay Area-based real estate lawyer. Van Voorhis had gotten his start in real estate when he and his partner provided the legal expertise for the creation of the Blackhawk Ranch housing development.^[1] Van Voorhis named his new team, which competed in the newly renamed Western Soccer League's North Division, the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks.

In 1989, the Blackhawks immediately put their stamp on the league as one of the top teams. It ran to an 11–5 record and 98 points, second only to the San Diego Nomads 12–4 record and 99 points. In the playoffs, the Blackhawks downed the Los Angeles Heat in penalty kicks before losing 1–0 to the Nomads in the final game.

At the end of the 1989 season, the WSL merged with the east coast-based American Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). While this was notionally the first true national soccer league since the collapse of the NASL in 1984, in actuality, the WSL and ASL continued as separate leagues with teams from the two leagues meeting only in the championship game. The Blackhawks had the best record in the WSL this year. In the playoffs, they first defeated 2–1 the Colorado Foxes, then won the title series two games to one over the Los Angeles Heat. In the APSL championship game, the Maryland Bays stopped the Blackhawks’ run with a victory in penalty kicks.^[2]

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