Ventura County Fusion

Football club infobox
clubname = Ventura County Fusion


fullname = Ventura County Fusion Soccer Club
nickname = The Fusion
founded = 2006
ground = Bulldog Stadium
capacity = 7,500
chairman = flagicon|England Ranbir Shergill
manager = flagicon|England Graham Smith
league = USL Premier Development League
season = 2008
position = 3rd, Southwest Division

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Ventura County Fusion are an American soccer team, founded in 2006. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference, against teams from Azusa, Bakersfield, Calabasas, Fresno, Irvine, La Mirada, Lancaster, San Francisco and San Jose.

The Fusion play the majority of their home games at Bulldog Stadium on the grounds of Buena High School in the city of Ventura, California, 60 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. Occasionally, games are also held at Panther Stadium on the grounds of Newbury Park High School in the city of Thousand Oaks, California, 15 miles east of Ventura. The club's colors are blue, orange and white.

The team has a sister organization, the Ventura County Fusion Women, who play in the women's USL W-League, and also fields a team in the USL’s Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella.

2008 Roster

Year-by-year

Competition History

The Fusion entered the league in 2007 as the first ever soccer franchise from the Ventura County area of Southern California. They played their first competitive game on April 28, 2007, beating fellow expansion franchise Lancaster Rattlers 2-1, and setting the wheels in motion for what turned out to be a promising first season. Four wins in their next five games - including impressive victories over traditional regional powerhouses Fresno Fuego and Orange County Blue Star - propelled the Fusion to the top of the table by mid-season. However, a spate of injuries began to take its toll on their roster, and by the middle of July the Fusion were stuttering towards the finish line, still in with a shout of making the playoffs, but being hampered by damaging defeats to Fresno and the Southern California Seahorses. By the time the final set of games came round, Fusion needed three points from their final two games to leapfrog the San Fernando Valley Quakes into the playoffs, but two consecutive ties - 3-3 with Southern California Seahorses and a hugely disappointing 0-0 with Los Angeles Storm - meant that they finished their debut season fourth in the table. English striker Mark Draycott was the team's leading marksman, notching an impressive ten goals, while soon-to-be-MLS-bound Eric Avila and Chance Myers led the assist stats.

In the offseason, Fusion played against English Premier League side Everton in a closed friendly at the Home Depot Center on July 24, 2007. The match was organised by their head coach, Graham Smith, who "wanted it to be a reward for their great play during their inaugural season". Later, in early 2008, Fusion hosted games against Hammarby of the Swedish Allsvenskan, and Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew of MLS. The Fusion enjoyed a 1-0 victory over Columbus, despite playing without all their college players, due to NCAA regulations.

Notable former players

* Vardan Adzemian
* Johnny Alcaraz
* Eric Avila
* Mark Draycott
* Eric Frimpong [http://indy.liberationmedia.com/news/2008/jan/24/story-eric-frimpong/]
* Chance Myers
* Nelson Pizarro

Coaches

* Graham Smith 2007-date

tadia

* Bulldog Stadium, Ventura, California 2007-date
* Panther Stadium, Thousand Oaks, California 2007-date (2 games)

Average Attendance

*2008: 1,217
*2007: 1,176 (5th highest in PDL)

External links

* [http://www.venturacountyfusion.com Ventura County Fusion]