when did san diego chargers move to los angeles
History of the San Diego Chargers The professional American football team now known as the Los Angeles Chargers previously played in San Diego, California as the San Diego Chargers from 1961 to 2017 before relocating to Los Angeles where the team played their inaugural 1960 season. The Chargers franchise relocated from Los Angeles to San Diego in 1961. The Chargers' first home game in San Diego was at Balboa Stadium against the Oakland Raiders on September 17, 1961. Their last game as a San Diego-based club was played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego against the Kansas City Chiefs on January 1, 2017. They lost their last game in San Diego to the Chiefs with a final score of 30â€“13.[1]
Los Angeles Chargers According to the official website of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Barron Hilton agreed after his general manager, Frank Leahy, picked the Chargers name when he purchased an AFL franchise for Los Angeles: "I liked it because they were yelling ‘charge’ and sounding the bugle at Dodgers Stadium and at USC games."[10] The Chargers initially considered playing at the Rose Bowl, but instead signed a lease to play at the Los Angeles Coliseum.[11] There is also an alternative theory about a man named Gerald Courtney of Hollywood who won an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico City and Acapulco for submitting "Chargers" in a name-the-team contest.[12] The Chargers only spent one season in Los Angeles before moving to San Diego in 1961.[5] From 1961 to 1966 their home field was Balboa Stadium in Balboa Park. As of August 1967, they moved to the newly constructed SDCCU Stadium (then named San Diego Stadium), where they played their home games until 2016.