The Story of Year One — Tom Penn on Identity, Moments & the Innocent Rise of SDFC

For the final time in Year One, Behind the Flow returns to reflect on a season nobody expected and a connection nobody could have predicted.

San Diego FC’s inaugural campaign is now complete. We’re joined in this episode by CEO Tom Penn, who reflects on the “20-month sprint” and, in his words, the “innocent rise” of SDFC. A year that began with questions grew into belief, and ended with a playoff run that captured a city.

Adrian García-Márquez is joined by Katia Castorena and Darren Smith to look back on the moments that defined this first chapter: the rise from “tipped to struggle” to Western Conference contenders, the postseason growth, and the nights from Galaxy to LAFC to Vancouver that showed what this club has already become.

And to close out Year One in style, we present the inaugural Behind the Flow Awards: five categories celebrating the players, moments, and identity that shaped San Diego’s first season in MLS.

Now that we know how the story ends, for anyone who doesn’t yet know how it began, we invite you to revisit the first ten episodes of this series: the definitive origin story of how this football club was built from scratch.

ROLL CALL
Executive Producer — Jake Warren
Series Producer — Macalister Bexon
Producer — Mark Kendrick
Assistant Producer — Tiago Dias
Field Producer — Rebecca Waer
Sound Editor — Lizzy Andrews
Production Coordinators — Tiago Dias & James Cox
Music Composition — Tom Biddle

A Message Heard & COPA90 production for iHeart.

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