The First Issue — September 1988
The beginning of Soccer Magic Magazine, including the surviving original production artwork.
Read storyAn Independent Soccer Publication
Soccer Magic Magazine began in 1988 to cover the game at a time when soccer received limited mainstream attention. The publication focused on Northern California soccer, local clubs, players, coaches, youth soccer, professional soccer, and the wider growth of the game.
This site preserves the issues, artifacts, stories, and surviving material connected to the magazine.
Original production artwork for the first issue, September 1988. Click for full size.
Featured Stories
Historical Recognition
A book on 50 years of San Jose soccer recognized Soccer Magic as part of the historical record.
Read storyIndependent Soccer Coverage
A local newspaper profile captured the magazine's independent approach and local soccer coverage.
Read storySoccer Magic Night — 1996
A San Jose Clash poster giveaway from the inaugural MLS era and the ad-supported deal behind it.
Read storyBrowse the Issues
The archive is organized by year. More issues can be added as they are scanned and converted into readable flipbooks.
The next chapter
From Soccer Magic to QuakeMagic.com
As publishing moved onto the early internet, before “cloud” and “blogging” were even part of the internet vocabulary, Soccer Magic expanded beyond the printed magazine. SoccerMagic.com created a new place for original articles, local reporting, player interviews, fan conversation, and faster coverage of the game.
When we became part of the network building city websites for Major League Soccer, that online work evolved into QuakeMagic.com—a publication built around the San Jose Earthquakes and their supporters.
Beginning in 2000, its online and paper editions worked together. The best material from the website was selected for a printed edition distributed at San Jose Earthquakes home games.
Why It Still Matters
Soccer Magic Magazine preserved the teams, players, coaches, businesses, and stories that shaped a local soccer community before anyone could post, share, or archive them online.
These issues are more than old publications. They are a surviving record of people and moments that might otherwise have disappeared—and a reminder that local soccer history only survives when someone takes the time to document it.