El Farolito SC
Soccer club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El Farolito Soccer Club is a soccer club based in San Francisco, California. It currently plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), generally considered the fourth tier of U.S. Soccer, within the Golden Gate Conference. In the 2026 season El Farolito have also returned a team to the San Francisco Soccer Football League. The club is best known for its 1993 U.S. Open Cup championship under its previous name, Club Deportivo (CD) Mexico.
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| Full name | El Farolito Soccer Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Faro Burrito Boys[1] | |
| Founded | 1985 | |
| Stadium | Boxer Stadium | |
| Capacity | 3,500 | |
| Owners | Salvador Lopez | |
| Head Coach | Santiago Lopez | |
| League | National Premier Soccer League | |
| 2026 | Golden Gate Conference: 1st Playoffs: Champions (2nd Title) | |
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History
The club was founded in 1985 by Salvador "Don Chava" Lopez and was named after Taqueria El Farolito, the owner's chain of restaurants. They played at Boxer Stadium and were a new force in the San Francisco Soccer Football League (SFSFL), where they started in the lower divisions.[2] El Faro fielded teams with immigrant players, including former professionals, and employees of the restaurant chain.[3] The team earned successive promotions to the top division of the SFSFL within five years.[citation needed] By the 1991–92 season, the club had won the SFSFL championship and had reached the final of the National Amateur Cup. The following season, El Faro retained the title as 'Club Deportivo Mexico'.
In 1993, San Francisco C.D. Mexico won the U.S. Open Cup, an American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation (USSF) affiliated teams. The team pulled off wins against the defending tournament champion San Jose Oaks, Milwaukee Bavarian SC, before defeating United German Hungarians in the final.[2][4][5] As U.S. Open Cup champions, C.D. Mexico qualified for the 1994 CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup and played Club Necaxa of the Mexican First Division in the quarterfinals. They lost 5–1 in San Jose.[6]
When the California Premier Soccer Association (CPSA) was formed in 1993, CD Mexico was one of the SFSFL representatives along with Greek-American A.C., SF United, and Concordia. The CPSA was developed as a 'super league' composed of teams from the SFSFL, Peninsula Soccer League, and the San Joaquin Valley Soccer League. The team, returning to their original name El Farolito, won multiple titles over the next two and a half decades.
On November 20, 2017, El Farolito announced it would field a team in the National Premier Soccer League for the 2018 season.[7]
On March 22, 2023, El Farolito defeated Inter San Francisco 3–0 in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, scoring all three goals in extra time.[8] The team lost in the second round to fellow Bay Area team Oakland Roots SC of the USL Championship.[9]
El Farolito once again qualified for the Open Cup and defeated MLS Next Pro side Portland Timbers 2 in the first round on March 19, 2024. The reserve team was representing their parent team, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer.[3] El Farolito defeated Central Valley Fuego FC, another third-division team, but were eliminated in the third round by the Oakland Roots for the second consecutive year.[10] El Farolito won their first NPSL championship in 2024 by defeating FC Motown, a four-time finalist, 2–1.[11]
El Farolito once again performed well in the 2025 US Open Cup, beating Real Monarchs of MLS Next Pro 3–1 in the first round and Monterey Bay FC of USL Championship 2–1 in the second. After that, their US Open Cup season came to a close, as they were defeated by USL Championship side Sacramento Republic in the third round on April 16th, 1–0.[12] The club won its second NPSL championship in 2026, defeating Bristol Rhythm AFC 3-0.[13]
Year-by-year
| Year | League | Regular season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limited information available on early seasons in the San Francisco Soccer Football League | |||||
| 1991–92 | SFSFL[a] | 1st, Major Division[14] | did not qualify | ||
| 1992–93 | 1st, Major Division[14] | Champions | Defeated United German-Hungarians, 5–0, in U.S. Open Cup Final | ||
| 1993–94 | No information available | ||||
| 1994–95 | |||||
| 1995–96 | 1st, Premier Division[14] | did not qualify | |||
| 1997 | No information available | ||||
| 1998 | |||||
| 1999 | 1st, Premier Division[14] | did not qualify | |||
| 2000 | 3rd, Premier A Division[15] | did not qualify | |||
| 2001 | 1st, Premier Division[14] | did not qualify | |||
| 2002 | 2nd, Premier Division[16] | did not qualify | |||
| 2003 | 1st, Premier Division[17] | did not qualify | |||
| 2004 | 4th, Premier Division[18] | did not qualify | |||
| 2005 | 3rd, Premier Division[19] | did not qualify | |||
| 2006 | 3rd, Premier Division[20] | Semifinal[21] | did not qualify | Lost to San Francisco Glens SC in CPSA Semifinal | |
| 2007 | 1st, Premier Division[22] | Champions | did not qualify | Defeated San Francisco Glens SC, 4–1, in the CPSA Final | |
| 2008 | 2nd, Premier Division[23] | Semifinals | did not qualify | Lost to Olympic Club in the CSPA Semifinal | |
| 2009 | 1st, Premier Division[24] | Champions | did not qualify | Defeated Rosal FAS, 2–0, in the CSPA Final | |
| 2010 | did not qualify | ||||
| 2011 | 2nd, Premier Division[25] | did not qualify | |||
| 2012 | 1st, Premier Division[26] | Champions | did not qualify | Defeated Olympic Club, 1–0, in Cup Final | |
| 2013 | 2nd, Premier Division[27] | Champions[28] | did not qualify | Defeated Olympic Club, 1–0, in Cup Final | |
| 2014 | 3rd, Premier Division[29] | Semifinals | did not qualify | Lost to Olympic Club in Cup Semifinal | |
| 2015 | 1st, Premier Division[30] | Champions[31] | did not qualify | Defeated Olympic Club, 1–0, in Cup Final | |
| 2016 | 2nd, Premier Division[32] | League Final | First Qualifying Round | Lost to Olympic Club in Cup Final | |
| 2017 | 1st, Premier Division[33] | Champions[34] | First round | Defeated Olympic Club, 3–2, in Cup Final | |
| 2018 | NPSL | 1st, Golden Gate Conference | Regional semifinal | Disqualified[35] | Lost to FC Mulhouse Portland in Regional semifinal |
| 2019 | 5th, Golden Gate Conference | did not qualify | Second round | ||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[36] | ||||
| 2021 | Finalist, Golden Gate Conference Playoffs | Golden Gate Conference did not participate in regular league play | Not held | Lost to Academica SC in conference playoffs | |
| 2022 | 2nd, Golden Gate Conference | Regional Finals | Did not qualify | Lost to Crossfire Redmond in Regional Finals | |
| 2023 | 1st, Golden Gate Conference | Regional Finals | Second round | Lost to Crossfire Redmond in Regional Finals | |
| 2024 | 1st, Golden Gate Conference | Champions | Third round | Defeated FC Motown, 2–1, in NPSL National Championship Game | |
| 2025 | 1st, Golden Gate Conference | Finalist | Third round | Lost to Sacramento Republic FC 0–1 | |
Honors
San Francisco Soccer Football League
- Division 1 Champions (11):[b] 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2017
- Playoff Champions (6): 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017
National Premier Soccer League
- National Championship (2): 2024, 2026
- Golden Gate Conference Champions (6): 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
- Participants (1): 1994
Hank Steinbrecher Cup
- Champions (1): 2025
Notes
- Beginning in 1993, the SFSFL formed the California Premier Soccer Association (CPSA) along with the Peninsula Soccer League and the San Joaquin Valley Soccer League. The CPSA housed the top teams from all 3 leagues with yearly promotion and relegation cycles. In the late 2000s, the "Premier Division" name was adopted by the SFSFL as its new top division and the league began to only house teams from within its own ranks.
- Includes California Premier Soccer Association titles