MLS

Austin Bold FC will host San Antonio in first home match

Chris Bils / American-Statesman Correspondent
A rendering shows the 5,000-seat stadium being built for Austin Bold FC, a United Soccer League franchise that will begin play next spring at Circuit of the Americas. The team held a ground breaking for the stadium on Wednesday. [Courtesy Austin Bold FC]

The new era of professional soccer in Austin will get a Texas-sized kickoff, with Austin Bold FC playing its first home match against San Antonio FC.

The United Soccer League announced home openers for all 36 teams in the USL Championship on Friday.

Austin will open its season March 9 with an away match beginning at 9:30 p.m. CT against Las Vegas Lights FC. The home opener against SAFC is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, at the team's new 5,000-seat Bold Stadium at Circuit of the Americas. The match will take place the week after the first IndyCar Classic at COTA.

“The announcement of the home opener at Bold Stadium is another huge milestone for our club and the Austin community,” Austin Bold FC General Manager Roberto Silva said in a press release. “We are excited to share the first soccer-specific stadium in Central Texas and to be facing San Antonio makes it even more special.”

RELATED: Austin Bold FC breaks ground on stadium, signs former Liga MX midfielder

The USL Championship will have four Texas teams in 2019, up from two in previous years. El Paso Locomotive FC is the other expansion side, joining existing franchises SAFC and Rio Grande Valley FC in Edinburg. All four Texas teams will compete in the 18-team Western Conference, the league announced earlier this week.

Bold FC has signed 13 players so far, including World Cup veteran Edson Braafheid, Brazilian forward Kléber Gladiator, Argentine midfielder Darí­o Conca and Liga MX veteran midfielder Xavier Báez. The team's head coach is Marcelo Serrano, a former U.S. youth national team coach with experience coaching in Brazil's first division.

The San Antonio FC match will be a reunion of sorts for a couple of local products, Sonny Guadarrama and Kris Tyrpak. Both players began the 2018 season with SAFC and have signed with the Bold. The league is hoping the proximity of the Central Texas sides can spark a rivalry.

Austin will play a 34-game regular season schedule, with 17 home matches. A full schedule release is expected in the coming weeks.