San Jose Earthquakes

The San Jose Earthquakes were founded on 15 June 1994 as one of Major League Soccer's charter clubs and began play in 1996 as the San Jose Clash. They won the league's first match, 1-0 against D.C. United at Spartan Stadium, with Eric Wynalda scoring the first goal in MLS history. In October 1999 the club took the Earthquakes name of the city's 1974 NASL team. Since 2015 the club has had its own stadium near San Jose airport, opened as Avaya Stadium and called PayPal Park since 2021.

Coached by Frank Yallop, San Jose won MLS Cup in 2001, beating LA Galaxy 2-1 with a golden goal by Dwayne De Rosario, and again in 2003; that year's playoffs included a recovery from four goals down to beat the Galaxy 5-4 on aggregate. After the 2005 Supporters' Shield, the players and coaches moved to Houston to form what became the Houston Dynamo, while the name and records stayed in San Jose. The club returned in 2008 and won a second Shield in 2012.