Oakland Roots & Soul Sports Club has never lacked ambition.

You could easily argue what the club has accomplished since its launch in 2018 as a purpose-driven soccer club, adding numerous Bay Area luminaries from sports and entertainment as investors, moving up the ranks in the men’s game to the USL Championship, and adding a wildly popular and successful women’s squad in the USL W League has been one of the most impressive build-outs in lower division soccer over the past decade.

So, the organization’s announcement on Thursday that it had submitted a proposal for a 25,000-seat stadium located at Howard Terminal should have come as no surprise at all to those who’ve followed Roots & Soul closely.

“This moment demonstrates our commitment to building a stadium in Oakland,” said Roots & Soul President Lindsay Barenz. “We believe that our success at the Oakland Coliseum in 2025 will showcase why this Club deserves a world-class stadium to call home, one that proudly represents our City to the world.

• FILLING THE VOID: Howard Terminal was one of numerous sites proposed around the City of Oakland as a location for a new home for Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics. This past September, with the A’s confirmed to move out of the city in 2025, Port of Oakland requested proposals from developers for the site. Roots & Soul submitted their proposal before Thursday’s deadline with the aim of creating a long-term home for the club.

• COLISEUM BECKONS: The proposal arrives a few months before Roots is set to move into the historic Oakland Coliseum for its 2025 season. The club’s aim is to use 2025 as the proving ground for the Roots’ local support, with the club using a 15,000 capacity for the upcoming campaign.

• SCALING UP: That would match the initial 15,000-capacity the club would intend to bring to Howard Terminal as part of a two-phase build. An additional 10,000 seats could then be added in the second phase as the organization continues to grow. 

Howard Terminal isn’t the be-all and end-all for Roots & Soul’s stadium search. As it announced its proposal, it was also clear the organization is actively pursuing other options around the city, including the Coliseum. Even if the Howard Terminal proposal came to pass, the timeframe for construction would make this a long-term project for the club.

In the expanding landscape of soccer-specific stadiums in the USL Championship, however, it would become a landmark venue to rival any other.

What’s more, it would provide the club which has shown its passion and commitment to The Town a cathedral it could call its own.