Mass, then the Glens

Dr. Michael McFadden founded San Francisco Glens SC on January 28, 1961, one of several Irish American amateur teams in the San Francisco Soccer Football League.^1,2 Those teams were community hubs.²

“You're Irish, you go to mass on Sundays, and then you'd have the Glens games afterward.”

The club's green and white go back to Celtic, which gave its kits to the Glens during a U.S. tour in the years before its 1967 European Cup. Those kits became the first-team shirts, and they inspired the clover on the badge.^1,2,3 Coached by Irishman Neil Hagan, the team reached the league's Premier Division by the end of the 1960s.¹

Two finals, two 1–0 losses

The Glens were at their strongest around the turn of the 1980s, qualifying for the U.S. Open Cup three times between 1978 and 1982. Steve Ryan, an early Glen, went on to the San Jose Earthquakes in 1979.¹ Twice they reached the National Amateur Cup final, and both finals went the same way.¹

In 1981 Hagan died while coaching on the field. Sean Shannon took over, and in 1984 the Glens became the first Irish team to win the San Francisco league. They also won the 1983–84 California State Cup.^1,2

Open to the city

Money trouble in the early 1990s led the club to open up to players who weren't Irish.² The Glens played on through the 2000s, winning the league's second division in 2001, then stopped fielding a senior team for a while before returning to the Premier Division in 2015.¹

The bigger change came through children. The club started a recreational youth program around 2010 and merged with Evolution SC about five years later to form the SF Glens Academy.^3,4 By 2025 it had 90 teams and over 1,000 players. As a non-profit it reinvests its fees, and in 2022 it gave more than $200,000 in need-based scholarships.²

To the USL and Treasure Island

The Glens launched a USL Premier Development League team in 2018, playing at Boxer Stadium, with the club still fully member-owned.^1,3 Former U.S. international Jimmy Conrad became technical director that September and head coach in 2020. Four Glens went in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, including first-round picks Sam Junqua and Roy Boateng.¹

The Treasure Island Development Authority approved the club's stadium plan in February 2021, a 1,500-seat ground on the west end of the island.⁴ The club broke ground on September 7, 2022, on a site of old bowling alleys and shipping containers, and turned the containers into changing rooms, meeting spaces and a pub.^1,2

The women's team began in the USL W League in 2023, and in that first season won its division and the Western Conference before losing 3–2 to Indy Eleven in the national semifinal. Nádia Gomes was the league's national player of the year.¹ Wikipedia now lists 44 men and 13 women who went from the Glens to professional soccer.¹

The current season is on the club page.