Los Dos is no more. Hello Ventura County FC
This comes days after Earthquakes II were replaced by "The Town FC"
The Los Angeles Galaxy were the first MLS team to put a reserve team in a professional league. As a result “Los Dos” became the gold standard for second units fielded by MLS teams both when they were in USL (for ten seasons) and their lone season in MLS Next Pro.
On the eve of the 2024 opener for LAG 2 in MLS Next Pro, the club which had previously tried to move to Orange County has moved north and re-branded as Ventura County FC.
This club is of course this is not to be confused with the Ventura County Fusion of USL-2 which is one of the most successful clubs at developing talent in the recent history of United States men’s soccer.
The intrigue goes even further because the opening match tomorrow for this “new” club is against The Town FC. That is of course the club that earlier in the week assumed control of the San Jose Earthquakes reserve squad.
The bottom line is this. MLS is seeking to create a certain degree of brand confusion about reserve teams that are being placed slightly out of market in order to compete with existing USL clubs.
There is nothing per se wrong with this, but it seems a very clear strategy designed to make clubs appear local. I would not be surprised to see a few more set ups like this before the 2025 season and also more reserve teams moved out of market as well.
I really do expect to see this strategy expanded. It will really create a different feel for NP teams, as they get re-branded and intermix with independent clubs. I'm a "USL guy", but this is a smart move for MLS.
This snacks of a poorly thought out and hasty --even desperate-- move by MLS. Googling The Town FC vs VCFC reveals NOTHING, other than a lot of links for VC Fusion, the USL2 team. So this move may backfire and bring more fans and business to VC Fusion!
But Orange County FC is no doubt breathing a vast sigh of relief!