Stanford Cardinal men's soccer

The Stanford Cardinal men's soccer team represents Stanford University in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. The Cardinal play in the ACC. Their first season as a varsity program was in 1973.

Roots to a Stanford's first soccer team can be traced to Nov. 16, 1909, when a notice was published in The Daily Palo Alto, now the Stanford Daily:

It has been decided by Instructors Long and Maloney of the Hygiene department to organize soccer teams from the various gymnasium classes. The men have shown such a decided interest in the soccer as played during the gymnasium hours that it was suggested by certain members of the classes that permanent teams be organized.

The article also stated that "good soccer players usually make good rugby players". That announcement came after the 1905 Big Game at Stanford Field, when Stanford president David Starr Jordan and Cal president Benjamin Ide Wheeler held a secret meeting in response to the increasing complains about the brutality of American football. In the meeting, both presidents determined that Stanford and Cal would abolish football, and did so.^[1] From then on, both schools switched to rugby,^[2][3] which was the code of football played until 1919 when American football returned.^[1]

Harry Wilfred Maloney, hired by Stanford at age 32 in 1908 as an assistant instructor at Encina Gymnasium,^{[n 1]} saw soccer as a way to help fuel the rugby program used in those years. The first version of a Stanford soccer team carried a heavy rugby influence, with H.L. Hubbard appointed as Stanford soccer's first captain. Benny Erb shone as the team's first star. The first team were called the Stanford's Reds, played a series of exhibition matches.^[1]

The first soccer match between Stanford and Cal was on March 5, 1910, and won by Cal 1-0 in front of 2,000 spectators in Berkeley. Cal's team just learned the rules of soccer in the run-up to the match and used the sport as a training method for rugby. Other matches played by Stanford were vs Bobby Burns (a team named after a Scottish poet) (3–3), and the San Francisco's Olympic Club (4–1), English Warship (sailors from the HMS Shearwater sloop-of-war. The team played other matches to complete a 2–3–2 season, being invited to join The California Football League^[1]

With a budget of $210, Stanford played a 14-match league schedule in 1910-11, finishing fifth and reaching the cup semifinals before losing to the Vampires. After the season concluded, The Stanford Quad wrote:

Considering the short time they have had to learn the game from its very rudiments, these teams have done remarkably well, especially when it is considered that in most of their matches they have been playing with teams which have been practicing the game for years.

The program was granted varsity status in 1911 and Maloney remained as coach for 29 years (1908–1944). He achieved a 104-60-40 record, ranking #3 in program history in coaching victories as of 2021. The Stanford's soccer venue was renamed Maloney Field in 1941, and then rededicated in 1966.^[1]

The Cardinal have appeared in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament 19 times since 1973, including 14 times in the 23 seasons from 1997 to 2019. They have made five appearances in the College Cup, including winning the 2015, 2016, and 2017 national championships, only the second time ever that a program won three consecutive championships (Virginia won four from 1991 to 1994).

As of September 25, 2024^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

As of March 7, 2025

As of September 25, 2024

• NCAA Division I tournament (3): 2015, 2016, 2017

• Pac-12 Conference (7): 2001, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020
• Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (1): 1997
• Northern California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference (2): 1962, 1963
• University and Club Soccer League (6): 1915, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922
• California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference (1): 1931

• Official website