San Diego FC crowd trouble is becoming a pattern after LA Galaxy visit | OneFootball

Once again, fan behavior at a San Diego FC home game has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons.

According to numerous reports, San Diego's 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday was marred by postgame fighting between fans that began at the stadium and spilled into adjacent parking lots.

While the exact scope of the incidents isn't clear, it was substantive enough that the clubs felt it appropriate to issue a joint statement condemning such behavior and promising discipline for those found to be violating the league's fan code of conduct, including potential stadium bans.

The source of these events is always a little difficult to discern. But there's enough of a history now through three months to say definitively that a pattern is developing at San Diego FC home matches that is beginning to feel like it may require league intervention of some sort.

The emerging pattern

While this may be the first recorded incident of widespread skirmishes inside the stadium, they follow video recordings that appeared in the aftermath of another SDFC home game against a neighbor club.

Following LAFC's visit to Snapdragon Stadium for the first time on March 29, those videos appeared to show postgame skirmishes in the parking lots around the stadium, with security personnel struggling to give a coherent response.

There was also the emergence of a well-known homophobic chant during the club's inaugural MLS match that prompted manager Mikey Varas to directly condemn its use in the opening portion of his postgame remarks.

That's more high-profile crowd incidents in one season than some clubs have had in their whole existence. And while the are several potential explanations for the pattern, and the sooner San Diego FC and MLS can figure out which is most accurate, the better.

At 35,000 seats, Snapdragon Stadium is slightly larger than the average soccer-specific ground built for MLS use. Perhaps as a result, there is more potential for larger presences of fans from opposing clubs and possible friction points.

Additionally, it may simply be a matter of local authorities not being very familiar with the average security needs of pro men's soccer matches, which are typically different from the NWSL and college football games that also take place at the venue.