Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Snohomish County Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Snohomish County FC, which I’ll shorten to SnoCo FC, is located in the northwestern part of Snohomish County Washington. Specifically, the club plays in the Smoky Point area of the county. Smoky Point is about 40 miles north of the city of Seattle, which is located in the far Northwestern part of the United States.
The club currently play in the Western Washington Premier League (WWPL). The WWPL is a regional elite adult amateur league connected to FIFA via membership with Washington State Adult Soccer, US Adult Soccer and US Soccer. The United States doesn’t have a true soccer pyramid and there are technically no divisions below the 3 professional divisions, but the WWPL is likely the equivalent of a 5th or 6th division league if US Soccer had a proper pyramid.
SnoCo FC’s home ground is the Dick Cardinal Stadium on the campus of Lakewood High School in North Lakewood, WA. As you can see from our photo, the school was recently rebuilt in 2018 and a turf surface was added to the stadium. The stadium was originally erected in 1983 and holds about 2,500 people.
Origin
Snohomish County has a population approaching 900,000 people and, at time of recording, is the most populated county in the United States WITHOUT a 4-year college. So, soccer players must move away to play at the higher levels. So, the club was formed to offer a place for locals to come home and play at a high level.
In January of 2017 a “name the team” vote was held online and “Steelheads” was voted as the top choice in a close vote. Steelheads won 53-47% over the other choice, which was “Cedars.” The club played friendlies in 2017 and 2018, increasing the number of matches and the quality of opponents. It applied to join the WWPL in July of 2018 and were accepted in for the 2019 season.
The Steelheads made their league debut on April 27, 2019 at Wilson High School in Tacoma against Tacoma Narrows FC, claiming a 1-0 away result. The club would go unbeaten in the league and win the championship their first full league season. SnoCo FC was started by players and then a general manager and head coach came on board as the structure was filled in. The Steelheads were assisted by supporters who donated $2,000 to get the club going in its early stages.
Nicknames
We’ve already touched on the club’s nickname of Steelheads. The Steelhead is the state fish of Washington. They run in local Snohomish County rivers. Additionally, the nickname honors the memory of those lost in the Oso Landslide of 2014. The horrific landslide killed 43 people who lived on “Steelhead Drive” in “Steelhead Haven” before the neighborhood was wiped away by the terrible accident.
Other nicknames for the club are the Fish, SnoCo FC, and Snohomish County. All of those nicknames should be pretty self-evident.
Crest
The club’s crest is a circle with the club’s name along the outside ring of the circle and a Steelhead fish on the inside of the circle.
The club’s colors of orange, black and tan are featured prominently in the crest. The orange color represents one of the most popular lure colors for catching Steelhead fish. It’s also a color that represents excitement, energy and a bold sense of purpose.
The color black was chosen to balance against the orange color as black warns outsiders that danger may be ahead.
Lastly, the color of tan represents the colors found on stream beds and beaches. It serves as a reminder that Steelhead fish are extremely adaptable and able to survive in both salt and freshwater.
It’s a very unique crest and I particularly like the hexagonal scales on the fish.
Important Events
I’d like to highlight 5 important events in the club’s history
In April 2017, the club debuted in a friendly at South Sound FC. The Steelheads only had a few trained players on hand and no coach for the match. SnoCo FC took a surprise 1-0 lead on a goal by co-founder Andrew Escalante. That was the only positive on the day as the club lost 11-1 and the result solidified that they needed a coach.
They found that coach one month later in May 2017. Daghan Kesim agreed to come on as head coach that month. The club saw an immediate turnaround with their organizational play, but results didn’t come right away.
Flash forward almost a year and the Steelheads began their second season with a 2-1 win away to Grays Harbor Gulls in April of 2018. The result showed that the club can compete AND travel, as the match was 4 hours away from Smoky Point.
The next event I’d like to highlight was in May 2019. SnoCo FC travelled more than 5 hours to Salem to play USL-2 side Portland Timbers U23. The Steelheads had a goal called back in an eventual 2-1 loss. Though the club lost, it was boosted by the team’s performance. It would be the only loss of the team’s 2019 season.
And the final even I’d like to highlight came in July 2019. The Steelheads played away at top of the table Crossfire Redmond. Snohomish won the match 1-0, which put them above Cross Fire and into first place in the table. A few days later the Steelheads won the WWPL when all league matches became final.
Supporters
Steelheads supporters are part of the “Founders Club,” which has members around the Pacific Northwestern part of the United States, all over the US, and even some international members. Founders donated $100 for lifetime passes and inaugural scarves to support the club. The farthest away Founders came from Hong Kong which is more than 6500 miles away from Smoky Point, WA.
Noteworthy Players
The Steelheads feature local players coming up in their careers or coming back from pro careers and college.
The club’s goalkeeper, Dorian Lair, was the starting goalkeeper for the Cascadia National Team’s debut in Washington. The Cascadia National team made its CONIFA debut in 2019.
One other player to highlight is John Troka, nicknamed “Ginger Jesus” for good reason as you can see here. He is a standout defender who also has worked in the summer on an Alaskan Fish trawler.
Noteworthy Managers
At time of recording, the club has only had 1 manager: Daghan Kesim. Kesim was a professional footballer in Turkey, in the Galatasaray system. An injury ended his career but he came to the states and formed “Gala FC,” a youth club which now partners with the Steelheads. He has unique and innovative soccer systems, and his defensive scheme helped the Steelheads only surrender 8 goals over 14 matches in 2019.
Rivals
The club is still too new to have any real rivals. The Steelheads do have clubs that they admire and would someday like to be rivals with, such as Bellingham United, which is a successful outdoor and indoor soccer club located 50 miles north of Snohomish County FC.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of September 2019, which is when we are recording this video.
The Steelheads have spent one season in the WWPL.
The club has 1 title: the 2019 WWPL League Championship.
The Steelhead’s record first team appearance holder is team co-founder and forward Andrew Escalante, who has about 30 first team appearances.
The club’s record goal scorer is Rio Alcorta who had 8 goals in 2019.
SnoCo FC’s clean sheet record holder is Dorian Lair with 3 clean sheets.
All 3 of the record holders for appearances, goals, and clean sheets are still active members and will likely add to their tallies in the future.
And a few last interesting facts about the club:
Snohomish County FC gave up 11 goals in its first-ever match. 3 years later, the club only gave up 8 goals over an entire 14-match season!
And lastly, the club’s “Hex” 2019 away kit was selected to be sold at ClassicFootballShirts.co.uk which was quite an honor for the club. You can see that the shirt is quite unique and worthy of that selection.
So there you have it… a bit of history on Snohomish County Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below the video.
Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again soon. Cheers!
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