San Diego Loyal President Warren Smith spent the last several weeks taking stock of his mental health and his life.
Over the last 18 months, Smith lost family and friends as the pandemic raged on. He uprooted his life by moving to San Diego, only to be isolated and unable meet new people. He ran the upstart USL Championship club exclusively over Zoom.
On Friday, he decided he needed to step away from it all.
“My scorecard over the last couple years has been stacking up. I just had deal with some personal issues,” Smith said in a phone interview with the Union-Tribune.
“I’ve had a tremendous amount of loss, like a lot of people have. You put everything on top of everything and it was just a pressure cooker that needed some attention. I needed to take it off the stove.”
Smith, the first president of the Loyal, announced he was reg after two years leading the front office.
Smith was also part of the ownership group that brought the club into existence in 2019.
Chairman Andrew Vassiliadis will serve as interim president as the USL Championship club begins a search to fill Smith’s role. The Loyal indicated Smith will remain part of the ownership group even as he steps away as president.
“I want to thank Warren for his many years of hard work and dedication to our city. We wish him the best as he continues to work on his health and creating an ideal work-life balance,” Vassiliadis said in a prepared statement.
During his tenure, Smith became known for his efforts to get the Loyal to build their own stadium in San Diego. Currently, the team plays on the campus of USD at Torero Stadium.
Understanding the Loyal receive most of their revenue from fan attendance, Smith was hoping the following of the team would eventually justify outgrowing the 6,100-seat capacity space at USD and moving into their own venue. The pandemic, however, hit during the Loyal’s inaugural season in 2020 and stunted the growth of those plans.
“I think your challenge in San Diego has really been that you haven’t had a facility,” Smith told the Union-Tribune in 2019.
As he exits, though, Smith indicated he believes the club can continue to grow with or without a stadium of its own. He praised Torero Stadium and cited the atmosphere as one of the bright spots of the organization.
Presumably, a new stadium would make the Loyal a viable candidate to become a member team of MLS.
“I’m not really going to get into anything about the MLS because who knows what can happen with that,” Smith said. “… I will say that it has been our goal to be the pinnacle of soccer clubs in the United States of America. I think the Loyal is well on that path.”
“I know that it can be the top club in any league it chooses to be in.”
Smith will stay in San Diego and take time off to be with his wife. They just moved into a new home in Kensington. Potentially, when the recharge is over, he will move into a consulting role in sports.
“I just think this was the right move for me and the club,” Smith said. “It is always hard to step away from your baby that you created. … But I need to recharge my batteries.”
