California dreaming? No, Ross is living life to the full with Sacramento
Nick Ross took the plunge when he signed for Sacramento Republic – but insists he wouldn’t swap it for anything.
The former Dundee and Inverness midfielder joined the USL Championship Western Conference side back in 2022, having previously enjoyed spells with El Paso Locomotive in Texas as well as Sepsi Osk in Romania as he sought a new challenge away from Scotland.
Ross, 32, has since grown both on and off the park and the Invernessian admits he’s loving life in California.
He said: “I honestly didn’t know what to expect moving to Sacramento as the team was going through a bit of a rough patch.
“It’s turned out to be a successful move though. Over the last two years, the team has improved a lot and we’ve established ourselves as one of the best teams in the league.
“The city is right behind the team and we’re consistently getting around 10,000 fans at the games which is one of the best average attendances across the league.
“We reached the open cup final in 2022 which was a huge moment for the club. It’ s the equivalent of a Championship team in Scotland reaching the Scottish Cup final and knocking out three Premier ship team son the way.
“The semi-final against Sporting Kansas City was such a big occasion especially with it being at home. Then to win on penalties was incredible.
“Another highlight was last season when we won the regular season. In this league, with so much travel and, at times, difficult conditions to play in, it’ s not an easy thing to do.
“We were top for the whole season – apart from one week – but unfortunately we lost in the play-off final.”
Ross isn’t the first Scottish born-player to embrace life in America.
They include former Dundee United striker Johnny Russell at Sporting Kansas City, ex-Celtic winger Lewis Morgan for New York Red Bulls, and another ex-Tannadice kid, Ryan Gauld, who’s flourishing
with Vancouver Whitecaps. Ross is regularly asked by fellow Scots what it’s like to play in America and he added: “I’d recommend it. I get a lot of messages from players back home asking about moving out here.
“Although it’s not the glamour of the MLS, the USL is still a good league and the standard is a lot higher than it gets credit for.
“A lot of people still have the perception of the leagues over here being for older players close to retirement but that couldn’t be more wrong.
“Things are definitely changing even at Sacramento where the majority of our players are between 26-30. The interest in the game is growing every year and it’s a great time to be playing football in America especially with Lionel Messi playing in the MLS and the World Cup coming in 2026.
“It’s been completely life-changing for me moving out here. I met my wife in El Paso in 2019 and now we have a baby boy.
“Before moving out here, I played a few games in the Highland League and had been without a club for three to four months. Moving out here has been great for my career and also my personal life.”
Ross has settled so well into life in the US that he’s already of a mind to remain there once he hangs up his boots.
He said: “I think I’ll probably end up staying over here when I do stop playing.
“Obviously, it depends on where you are, but I’ve been fortunate enough to be in places with unbelievable weather all-year-round, so I wouldn’t want to swap that for the Scottish rain.
“Also, I think there’s more opportunities out here in terms of a career after football.
“I already do a lot of private coaching and you can make a decent living from that over here as the demand is huge.”