When the announcement came late last year that the Burlingame Dragons FC was setting up shop on the Peninsula, a lot of Bay Area soccer aficionados took notice. Owned by Nick Swinmurn, founder of Zappos.com, and David Ebersman, former CFO of Facebook and Genentech, the Dragons cemented their status when they signed on to be the San Jose Earthquakes U-23 PDL club affiliate in 2015.
The Quakes last summer had affiliated with a team in Turlock, but after a one-year stay in the central valley, decided to move operations closer to home. Burlingame, which is just south of San Franicisco International Airport, is only a 30 mile drive down Interstate 101 away from the Earthquakes home at Avaya Stadium.
The Dragons recently announced that Dana Taylor would be the team's first ever head coach. Taylor was also the coach of the Quakes affiliate in Turlock, so he is familiar with the operations of the club. As a way to introduce their new coach to local fans, the Dragons will hold a question and answer session this Monday in downtown Burlingame, hosted by Earthquakes defender and Dragons "founding fan" Jordan Stewart.
The Dragons will begin play later this spring as part of the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Earthquakes will be in charge of identifying players for the Dragons roster, a process that began back in January during the club's annual open tryout.
Burlingame officials welcomed the soccer club to their city with open arms, and a team representative stated that the club hoped to sell over 3000 season tickets for its inaugural season. As of mid-February, Burlingame is almost of third of the way there, having sold 918 season seats at last count. The Dragons will play at Burlingame High School for the 2015 season, but hope to move to a soccer-specific stadium on the Burlingame waterfront as early as next year.