Los Angeles Skyhawks

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Los Angeles Skyhawks

Founded	1976
Dissolved	1979
Stadium	John Shepard Stadium
Owner	Robert Nordskog
League	American Soccer League

The Los Angeles Skyhawks was an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California, that was a member of the American Soccer League. Founded as part of the American Soccer League's expansion to the west coast in 1976, they were the first professional sports team to be based in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. The ASL, under commissioner Bob Cousy, had expanded in an attempt to compete with the North American Soccer League. Coming into the league with the Skyhawks were the Oakland (later Golden Bay) Buccaneers, Tacoma Tides, Sacramento Spirits, and the Utah Pioneers (later Golden Spikers). These teams formed the Western Division, while the Eastern Division had the established teams New York Apollo, Connecticut Yankees, Rhode Island Oceaneers, Chicago Cats, New Jersey Americans, and Cleveland Cobras.^[1]

The Skyhawks played their games at Birmingham High School Stadium for the 1976 and 1977 seasons. At the time, Birmingham was the largest stadium in the valley with a capacity of 10,000, and it was centrally located. Many of the players commented that the field conditions and lighting were better than that at many lower division European stadiums. After 1977, the Skyhawks moved to Shephard Stadium at Los Angeles Pierce Community College.