Full name	Santa Ana Winds FC
Nickname(s)	Winds FC Los Vendavales Golden City FC LA Winds
Founded	2006
Ground	Lake Forest Sports Park Championship Stadium Santa Ana College
Owner	Leonel López
Head Coach	Marco Paniagua
League	United Premier Soccer League
Home colors Away colors

Santa Ana Winds FC, also known asWinds FC, is asoccer team founded inSanta Ana, California, and a foundingUnited Premier Soccer League club currently playing at the Lake Forest Sports Park, with occasional matches played at Championship Stadium at the Orange County Great Park. The club takes its name from aSouthern California weather condition known as theSanta Ana winds. Santa Ana Winds FC, an elite amateur and professional development club, has played international development squads in the past, namely matches against aClub Atlas U-20 squad in March 2011, and aChivas de Guadalajara U-20 squad in November 2011.^[1][2] On November 18, 2017, the club made history by qualifying to the2018 U.S. Open Cup for the first time. On Tuesday, June 5, 2018, Winds FC winger Juan Arellano became the first player to transfer directly from Santa Ana Winds FC to an international professional club.

Santa Ana Winds FC was founded in 2006 by Leonel López and brothers.

Santa Ana Winds FC played in the SoCal Premier League from 2006 to 2011 before joining theNational Premier Soccer League West Region-Flight Southwest Conference, also in 2011.^[3] The club played in the 2006–07 Raúl Briones Cup, Group B, that they shared with Morelos,PSA and OC United. Winds FC finished third behind Morelos and PSA.^[4]

Winds FC finished second in the NPSL Southwest Conference during their sole NPSL season, made the playoffs and fell in the first round toHollywood United Hitmen, a national finalistthat year, by a score of 3–1.

The club left the NPSL after one season due to a split between owners. One faction of ownership left and kept the Santa Ana Winds FC name, while forming a startup development league called theUnited Premier Soccer League, which was also founded in Santa Ana. The other faction of ownership continued to operate in the NPSL with the borrowed nameFullerton Rangers, and later called themselves Orange County Spartans, and then OC Pateadores, before disappearing from the NPSL.^[5][6][7] Winds FC shared the NPSL West – Flight Southwest conference withFC Hasental,Lancaster Rattlers (now FC Santa Clarita),San Diego Boca F.C. and theSan Diego Flash.

Santa Ana Winds FC was a founding club of the United Premier Soccer League, established in 2011. The club has been playing UPSL, Open Cup and State Cup matches since inLake Forest, California orIrvine, California consistently in the last few years, while attempting to find a home field in the City of Santa Ana. Winds FC has oneUPSL Championship title, from the2012–13 season, aleague cup title (later namedAdmiral Cup) from 2014, twoWestern Conference, SoCal Division Championship titles and oneWestern Conference Championship title from the Spring-Summer 2018 season. The club played all of their Spring 2016 league matches at the Lake Forest Sports Complex in Lake Forest, approximately 17 miles away from the City of Santa Ana, and began scheduling UPSL summer/fall season matches atSanta Ana College in July 2016. Other fields where the club has played UPSL matches include theOrange County Great Park and Las Lomas Park, both in Irvine.

The club began playing UPSL matches at theSAUSD Sports Complex Stadium, also known asValley Falcons Stadium, in April 2017. On December 7, 2017 Santa Ana Winds FC played their first UPSL league match at the newly built Championship Stadium at theOrange County Great Park against the LA Wolves, a game Winds FC won 3–1. Winds FC returned to Championship Stadium on January 7, 2018 in a playoff match againstOrange County FC, a game Winds FC won 6–5 in penalty kicks. On January 13, Winds FC defeated theEast Bay Stompers Juniors in the UPSL National Semi-final at Championship Stadium.

On Tuesday, June 5, 2018,Club Sport Cartaginés of Costa Rica, coached byPaulo Wanchope announced new player signings ahead of their 2018 season among which Winds FC winger Juan Arellano was included. Juan Arellano became the first player to transfer directly from Santa Ana Winds FC to a professional club. Juan Arellano spent a week-long trial with the club prior to being invited to preseason and subsequently presented withC.S. Cartaginés.

In 2017, a Mexican development club using the Santa Ana Winds FC name sprouted inMexico City, in the Avante section of theCoyoacán borough. The team trained and played at the Jesús Clark Flores sporting park, between Santa Ana and Avenida Calzada de la Virgen streets. Winds FC founders Leonel López and Pedro Magallón granted use of the club name to Mexico-based trainer Roberto Vásquez.

Winds FC named Costa Rican soccer personality José Luis Bustos Director of International Soccer Operations for Costa Rica and Central America in October 2018. Part of Bustos's tasks include forming a partnership with a professional Costa Rican club and organizing a tournament in Costa Rica where Winds FC along with Asociación Deportiva Carmelita are set to participate in.^[8][9]

The first Santa Ana Winds FC crest dates from 2006 to 2013 and features the Spurgeon Building's clock tower, located in theDowntown Santa Ana Historic District and named after city founderWilliam H. Spurgeon.^{[10][better source needed]}

The second Santa Ana Winds FC crest (2014–17) was redesigned in 2014 by sports logo artist Slavo Kiss for Sigma Kappa Brands, based in theSlovak Republic. The crest featured the City ofSanta Ana Water Tower, visible from theSanta Ana Freeway, also known as the Interstate 5 Freeway or Golden State Freeway, which connects the cities ofLos Angeles andSan Diego, and connects at theMexico–United States border to the city ofTijuana.

The third and most-current Santa Ana Winds FC crest was redesigned in late 2017 again by Slavo Kiss looking to 2018 and the club's debut in the U.S. Open Cup.

• The Golden City Classic (an all-Santa Ana rivalry versus La Máquina)
• The Sunset Derby (versus LA Wolves FC)
• The I-5 Derby (versus Orange County FC)

The Aeolian Guard^[11]
The Angeltown Post
The I-Fivers

The following players were called to the September 23 Open Cup qualifying match versus Outbreak Soccer.

Player Number, Name, Position:

1. Adrian Urquizo, GK

2. Ezequiel Estrada

3. Juan Fuentes, RB

4. Oscar Sandoval

5. Israel Espinoza

8. Kyle O'Brien, MF

9. Carlos Andrade

13. Khalil Zaid

14. Quinn M. Harter, CB

16. Derek Solano

17. Juan Arellano, LW

19. Ruben Ortiz

20. Osvaldo Hernandez

21. Kramer Runager, F

23. George Zuniga

• Jordan Gorman
• Omar Perez

• Leonel López: Founder, President
• Marco Paniagua: General Manager

• Marco Paniagua (2018–present)
• Jose Lopez (2016–2018)
• Arturo Martínez (2016)
• Cesar Reyes (2015–2016)
• Mele López (2013–2014)

Western Conference, SoCal Division Champion

National Finalist, Runner-Up

Winds FC defeated regional powerhouse and conference rival La Máquina FC on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at Santa Ana Stadium by a score of 2–1.

Santa Ana Winds FC were scheduled to host fellow UPSL club La Habra City FC at Lake Forest Sports Park on Sunday, September 18 in a qualifying match to the first round of the2017 U.S. Open Cup, but had the match moved to Colton High School inColton, California. Santa Ana defeated La Habra City FC by a score of 5–0 in the first-ever U.S. Open Cup qualifying match for either team.

The October 23 Open Cup qualifier vs La Máquina was cancelled due to a thunderstorm in Irvine, and was rescheduled for October 30 at 6 pm at Orange County Great Park.

• UPSL National Championship: Runner-Up, 2019–20
• UPSL Western Conference Champion, Fall-Winter 2019-20
• UPSL Western Conference, SoCal Division Champion, Fall-Winter 2019-20
• UPSL Western Conference Champion, Spring 2018
• UPSL Western Conference, SoCal Division Champion, Spring 2018
• UPSL Western Conference, SoCal Division Champion, Fall-Winter, 2017–18
• UPSL National Championship: Runner-Up, Fall-Winter 2017–18
• UPSL, Admiral Cup Champions: 2014
• United Premier Soccer League Champions: Fall-Winter 2012–13

• National United Premier Soccer League Most Valuable Player: Kyle O'Brien, Fall 2017
• National Player of the Week: Jordan Gorman, 2017, Western Pro Premier Division, Week 17
• National Player of the Week: Adan Coronado, 2017, Western Pro Premier Division, Week 3

• U.S. Open Cup: Qualified, First Round, 2018
• UPSL Fall-Winter National Championship: Runner-Up, 2017–18
• Cal South State Cup, Quarterfinals, 2018
• Cal South State Cup, Quarterfinals, 2017
• US Open Cup, Second Qualifying Round, 2016

• Heritage Park Field;Irvine, California (2006–2008)
• Rancho Capistrano;San Juan Capistrano, California (2006–2008)
• Centennial Park Field;Santa Ana, California (2009–2010)
• Oak Creek Park Field;Irvine, California (2009–2010)
• Westgrove Park;Garden Grove, California (2009–2010)
• Santa Ana Stadium;Santa Ana, California (2011–2013)
• Santa Ana College;Santa Ana, California (2013)
• Orange County Great Park;Irvine, California (2013–2016)
• Las Lomas Community Park; Irvine, California (2014)
• Lake Forest Sports Park;Lake Forest, California (2016–2017)
• Championship Stadium at OC Great Park; Irvine, California (Dec. 2017)

• Score Sports, 2018–21
• Admiral Sportswear, 2014–18
• Molten, 2014–18

• Official website

• Lake Forest, California
• Sports in Irvine, California
• Sports in Santa Ana, California
• United Premier Soccer League teams
• Association football clubs established in 2006
• 2006 establishments in California
• Soccer clubs in Orange County, California

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox football club with unknown parameters
• Football team templates which use American parameter
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from April 2018