The Loyal walked off the pitch in the middle of a match on
A week earlier, the Loyal asked to forfeit their 1-1 tie at the Los Angeles Galaxy II to protest San Diego’s
Donovan and the Loyal felt enough was enough. Donovan knew wearing rainbow-colored armbands in honour of what would have been San Diego Pride weekend and wearing alternate kit with “Black Lives Matter” across the back in their return from a four-month COVID-19 shutdown would be empty gestures unless there was real action.
The Loyal’s season ended short of the playoffs, yet their actions led to positive developments by the second-division
“The league, to its credit, has done a great job of putting together a social impact committee that is discussing these types of things on a regular basis. The league will soon be implementing a discipline policy league-wide that hopefully will have a real impact,” said Donovan, who begins his second season as coach when
“The intention was never to ruin a player’s life or a coach’s life or a referee's life,” the former
“We’ve worked throughout the off-season with both players and our team as a whole about how we deal with that and how we try to grow from it and also help people learn why that was unacceptable, so it’s an ongoing process.”
Ontiveros was suspended six games for the use of foul and abusive language. The following morning, Galaxy II announced that they had mutually agreed to part ways. If Ontiveros is signed by a USL team in the Championship or
Flemmings was suspended for six games for the use of foul and abusive language in the form of a homophobic slur. His suspension covered the playoffs. He was not brought back by
With the support of the USL Players’ Association and
The league also launched
The Loyal were leading 3-1 when they walked off the field against
Loyal president and CEO
“From the overall perspective, I think he did an outstanding job, especially in light of the fact of the values he lives by and the values we live as a club by, and then making sure that we stick to those,” Smith said.
“I think that culture he created on that field, frankly, is kind of the unsung story, if you will. He’s really, really, really driven by bringing the boys together and helping each and every one of them be better men and then good players. But he’s also very interested in their lives and trying to find a way to enhance them. It’s a servant leadership in a way and that was a surprise and frankly, I think his best attribute.”
Donovan, one of the greatest
The Loyal debuted in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 6,100 on
They will play their first two home games at 33% capacity and hope to play their third, on
“For the most part it’s been very enjoyable and there are a lot of challenges,” Donovan said. “But I really do like it. I’m learning a lot, I’m growing a lot and I feel like I’m having a positive impact on a lot of lives. It’s been rewarding for me.”
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