Published for Colorado Springs Switchbacks fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 23, 2026
⛰️ Switchbacks Fans — Your Black and Blue Is Built for Altitude!
The 2024 champions steadied the ship, beat an MLS team in the cup, and locked a sixth straight playoff trip. At 6,035 feet, November soccer hits different — wear the black and blue.
The Club
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC were founded on December 5, 2013, when the Ragain family was awarded the franchise; the name — chosen by fans in a contest — honors the switchback trails climbing Pikes Peak above the city. The club kicked off in 2015, and 2026 is its 12th season, every one of them in the USL Championship’s Western Conference. The colors are blue and black — the Black and Blue — and the supporters are the Trailheads, roaring from the Base Camp behind the south goal with Ziggy the mountain goat never far away.
Home is Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs, opened in 2021 with a capacity of 8,000 — and one superpower no other club in America can copy. At 6,035 feet above sea level, it is the highest-elevation stadium used by a professional soccer team in the United States. Visiting teams feel it in their lungs by the hour mark; the Switchbacks just call it Tuesday.
The dugout changed hands in November 2025. One year after James Chambers led the club to the 2024 league title, Colorado Springs parted ways with Chambers and sporting director Stephen Hogan and promoted from within: Alan McCann, on staff since 2021 as analyst, technical director and assistant coach — part of the title staff — took the head job. He was voted the USL Championship Coach of the Month for April 2026. Owned and operated by Weidner Apartment Homes, this is a club that backs its own people.
The searches tell the story of a fanbase that expects things again: switchbacks schedule, switchbacks roster, switchbacks playoffs. Two years removed from the mountaintop, Colorado Springs believe the road back runs through Weidner Field — and through the thin air.
⭐ FAN FAVORITE
#90 Bennett — Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Style Jersey
$59.99
The Jamaica international who became the attack’s engine — the club’s clear top scorer and a nightmare at altitude. Fan-inspired apparel for the Trailheads faithful.
Last Season (2025): The Hangover
Defending a title is the hardest trick in sports, and the 2025 Switchbacks never quite pulled it off. The champions finished eighth in the Western Conference — 37 points from 30 matches, 10 wins, seven draws, 13 defeats, just 35 goals scored — and needed the final day simply to grab the last Western playoff spot, even after losing their regular-season finale at FC Tulsa.
The playoff run lasted one night: a 1–0 extra-time defeat at FC Tulsa on November 1, 2025, Stefan Lukić scoring the winner for a Tulsa side that marched all the way to the Final. The league’s lowest shooting-accuracy rate told the story of an inconsistent attack, and the bill came due within days — Hogan and Chambers, the men who delivered the 2024 championship, were gone in November. A hard reset, ordered from the top.
Best Players Right Now
Khori Bennett — #90, centre-forward. The headline signing became the headline act: 13 goals across 24 starts and two substitute appearances per the latest October profile, a brace that beat Miami FC in July, and Jamaica call-ups in 2026. The No. 90 is the most dangerous shirt in the Springs attack by a distance.
Jonas Fjeldberg — #7, winger. The Norway-born wide man, at the club since 2023, is having a career-best year: five goals and eight assists by early September, his 100th club appearance, and a new contract through 2027 signed September 2. The engine of the left side and the set-piece threat.
Juan Tejada — #27, centre-forward. Club history in person: the Panama international scored the game-winner and was named MVP of the 2024 USL Championship Final. Still leading the line in 2026, still the man the big nights find.
Yosuke Hanya — #20, right winger. A 2024 title winner — his cross created Tejada’s final opener — and among the goals again in the 2026 USL Cup run, scoring in the 4–0 group win over New Mexico United. Direct, tireless, and a Weidner Field favorite.
Adrien Pérez — #10, forward. One of five players on the roster with MLS experience, and the wearer of the No. 10 shirt — a veteran creator-forward in a side that leans on its know-how in tight games.
Colin Shutler — #22, goalkeeper. Signed as the presumptive No. 1 for 2026 and the starter behind a defense that has conceded just 38 goals in 29 league matches — veterans Matt Mahoney and Duke Lacroix in front of him. The clean sheets behind the unbeaten run start here.
Star Spotlight
The mountaintop night. November 23, 2024. A sold-out Weidner Field, a league-record 431,000 watching on CBS, and a 3–0 win over Rhode Island FC in the USL Championship Final: Juan Tejada’s volley on 22 minutes, Jairo Henriquez before halftime, Ronaldo Damus to seal it. The first league title in club history, in its 10th anniversary season — and Tejada, the Final MVP, is still wearing the shirt.
The night they beat MLS. April 14, 2026, U.S. Open Cup Round of 32: McCann’s Switchbacks beat Sporting Kansas City at Weidner Field — the club’s first-ever win over an MLS opponent — then went toe-to-toe with the Colorado Rapids in the I-25 Derby a round later, drawing 2–2 through extra time before falling on penalties. McCann’s April Coach of the Month award was earned in those two weeks.
Bennett’s summer. July 2026: Khori Bennett’s brace beat Miami FC and stretched a three-match winning run, underlining his status as one of the league’s most dangerous centre-forwards — form that carried the No. 90 into the Jamaica national team picture in 2026.
🔥 More Fan Favorites
More Switchbacks stars, same black and blue.
This Season (2026): The Bounce-Back
The colorado springs switchbacks standings show a club that found itself again: fifth in the Western Conference on 44 points from 29 matches — 12 wins, eight draws, nine defeats — with 42 goals scored and just 38 conceded. The playoffs are secured with a match to spare: a sixth consecutive postseason trip for the Black and Blue, with the seeding settled on the final weekend.
The shape of the season is defensive steel rediscovered. Colorado Springs arrive at Decision Day unbeaten in six — a 2–1 win over San Antonio, goalless draws with New Mexico, Detroit and Oakland, a 1–1 at Sacramento, and a 1–0 win at Monterey Bay — hard to beat, admittedly short on goals, and built for knockout football. Around the league campaign sat a famous cup year: the first-ever win over an MLS side, a USL Cup group topped in style with a 4–0 win over New Mexico, and a semifinal finish in that competition. McCann’s promotion-from-within gamble has been vindicated in full: this looks like a Switchbacks team again — organized, altitude-armed, and nobody’s idea of an easy quarterfinal draw.
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There is pedigree running through this squad: Juan Tejada is a Panama international who scored the game-winning goal and was named MVP of the 2024 USL Championship Final, and Jonas Fjeldberg is having a career-best year — rewarded with a new deal in September 2026 running through 2027. With the West’s tightest seeding race coming down to one night at Weidner Field, Colorado Springs hold their fate in their own hands: beat FC Tulsa on Saturday, and the Switchbacks take the seeding edge into the playoffs — the first step on a road this club has travelled all the way to a title before.
Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, October 24, 2026 — vs FC Tulsa, Weidner Field. The regular-season finale is a revenge fixture: Tulsa ended the Switchbacks’ title defense in last year’s quarterfinal and won the 2025 finale between the sides. A win protects the No. 5 seed.
October 30 – November 1, 2026 — Western Conference Quarterfinal. Colorado Springs will play in this round — opponent and venue set on the final weekend. As the No. 5 seed as the table stands, the Switchbacks would travel to the No. 4 seed.
November 6–8, 2026 — Conference Semifinals. Then the Conference Finals on November 13–15 — the road the 2024 champions know ends with a star if you survive it.
Saturday, November 21, 2026 — the USL Championship Final (12:00 p.m. ET, CBS). The biggest day in the league’s calendar, live on the CBS Television Network. Weidner Field hosted this game in 2024. Nobody in the Springs has forgotten how it felt.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. New Mexico United. The closest Western neighbor and the club’s defining league rivalry — regional, regular and usually tight. The 2026 league meeting at Weidner Field finished 0–0 on September 19, while the USL Cup produced the fireworks: a 4–0 Switchbacks win at Weidner Field in the group stage, with Fjeldberg, Hanya and Aidan Rocha on target. Bragging rights, split down the middle and due again soon.
2. Colorado Rapids — the I-25 Derby. The in-state cup war against the MLS club 70 miles north reached its biggest chapter yet on April 29, 2026: a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 tie that finished 2–2 through extra time before the Rapids advanced on penalties. A USL club taking Colorado’s MLS side to a shootout in a knockout game is now permanent Switchbacks folklore.
3. FC Tulsa. A rivalry written by the playoffs. Tulsa ended Colorado Springs’ title defense 1–0 after extra time in the 2025 Western Conference Quarterfinal and also won the 2025 regular-season finale between the sides — breaking a five-game Switchbacks unbeaten run in a series Colorado Springs still lead 10-6-1 all-time. The October 24 finale at Weidner Field is the immediate rematch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have the Colorado Springs Switchbacks ever won the USL Championship?
Yes — the Switchbacks won their first league title on November 23, 2024, beating Rhode Island FC 3–0 in the USL Championship Final at Weidner Field, with goals from Juan Tejada (the Final MVP), Jairo Henriquez and Ronaldo Damus. Tejada still plays for the club in 2026.
Where do the Switchbacks play, and why do visiting teams hate it there?
The Switchbacks play at Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs (capacity 8,000), which sits at 6,035 feet above sea level — the highest-elevation professional soccer stadium in the United States. The altitude is a genuine home advantage, and tickets are sold through the club’s official site, switchbacksfc.com.
Who coaches the Switchbacks in 2026?
Alan McCann, promoted from technical director and assistant coach in November 2025 after the club parted ways with 2024 title-winning coach James Chambers. McCann was named USL Championship Coach of the Month for April 2026 after the club’s first-ever win over an MLS team in the U.S. Open Cup.
Are the Switchbacks in the 2026 USL Championship playoffs?
Yes — Colorado Springs have qualified in fifth place in the West on 44 points with one match left, at home to FC Tulsa on October 24, 2026. Their Conference Quarterfinal will be played on the weekend of October 30 – November 1, 2026.
⛰️ Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Fan Shop
The full altitude trio — Bennett, Fjeldberg and Tejada in black and blue.
Sources & official links: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC official site · USL Championship official site · Colorado Springs Switchbacks tickets
Black and blue at 6,035 feet — the mountain is waiting, Colorado Springs.
