| Club: | Orange County SC |
| Season: | 2024 |
| Manager: | (until June 25) (Interim, June 25 - July 19) (Official, from July 19) |
| Stadium: | Championship Soccer Stadium Irvine, California |
| League: | USL Championship |
| League Result: | Western Conference: 8th |
| Cup1: | USL Championship Playoffs |
| Cup2 Result: | Round of 32 |
| Prevseason: | 2023 |
| Nextseason: | 2025 |
| Highest Attendance: | 5,000 (Twice) |
| Lowest Attendance: | League: 3,353 (August 3, against North Carolina FC) All Competitions: 1,749 (May 7, against Loudoun United FC) |
| Chairman: | James Keston |
| American: | true |
| Chrtitle: | Owner |
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The 2024 Orange County SC season is the club's fourteenth season of existence, and their fourteenth consecutive season in the United Soccer League Championship, the second tier of American soccer.
Orange County experienced a coaching change in the middle of the season, with head coach Morten Karlsen transferring to coach in Denmark, and lead assistant coach Paul Hardyman being promoted to Head Coach.[1]
During the offseason, Orange County experienced two major changes. In the January transfer window, the 2022 and 2023 Orange County season leading goal scorer, Milan Iloski, brother of Brian Iloski, made a transfer to Danish Superliga team FC Nordsjælland.[2] [3] Additionally, interim head coach Morten Karlsen signed a multi-year contract with Orange County during the offseason to become the official head coach of Orange County.[4]
In their season opener, Orange County drew 2–2 with the Sacramento Republic FC away in Sacramento,[5] with Colin Shutler scoring a header during a corner kick three minutes into stoppage time. With his header, Shutler became the first Orange County, and only the third ever USL Championship goalkeeper, to score in a match.[6] [7]
Orange County had a hot start to the season, not losing their first six games. However, after losing six of the next nine games, Orange County held a 6-6-2 record in the Western Conference in late June,[8] resulting in Head Coach Karlsen making a transfer to Danish Superliga team Lyngby BK, with head assistant coach Paul Hardyman being promoted to interim head coach,[9] [10] [11] until he was eventually promoted to being the official head coach of the team on July 19.[12]
| President of Soccer Operations & General Manager | Peter Nugent | |
| Interim Head Coach | Paul Hardyman | |
| Assistant Coach | Didier Crettenand | |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Victor Nogueira | |
| Performance Data Analyst | Amanda Preciado | |
| Performance Consultant | Dan Guzman | |
| Head Academy Scout | Shawn Beyer | |
| Team Operations Coordinator | Mario Lemus |
In preparation for the 2024 USL Championship season, Orange County played in seven pre-season friendlies, mainly against collegiate and fellow USL Championship teams.[14]
See main article: 2024 USL Championship season.
On December 18, 2023, the USL Championship released the regular season schedule for all 24 teams.[15]
All times are in Pacific Standard Time.
See main article: 2024 U.S. Open Cup. As a member of the USL Championship, Orange County entered the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 32.[16] It was announced by the U.S. Soccer Federation on April 18, 2024, that Orange County would face off against fellow USL Championship team Loudoun United FC at home.[17]