Were soccer fields booted by 49ers?

The 49ers have managed to anger a group you never want to mess with: youth soccer players and their parents.

A crowd of more than 400 soccer supporters attended a Santa Clara City Council meeting Tuesday night to protest what many believe is an attempt by the 49ers to ditch a promise made to the community.

“I’m disappointed that we don’t seem to be finding common ground,” said Steve Robertson, vice president of the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League.

For a decade, kids have played soccer on pristine cityowned fields adjacent to the 49ers’ training facility. When the 49ers campaigned to build their stadium directly across from the fields, Jed York told the community that the team understood the fields’ importance and wanted to be a good neighbor. In 2012, as the need for stadium parking became apparent, York wrote a letter indicating that the 49ers would fund replacement fields if the current fields were annexed by the club.

The 49ers, worth an estimated $ 1.6 billion, might be backsliding on that promise. They put forth a proposal to lease the soccer fields long- term, with an up- front payment of $ 15 million.

The public speakers pointed out that the proposed price wasn’t fair- market value. And that the city could be taxed twice: Taxpayer money originally built the soccer facility and Santa Clara would face new expenses to build another, even if offset by the lease revenue.

“The proposal was going to circumvent what we would consider the normal process,” Robertson said. “We need a legitimate alternative location.”

Said 49ers spokesman Bob Lange: “We look forward to any suggestions that come from the public process. We will continue to explore other avenues with our community partners to expand our support of youth sports.”

Last season, access to the fields was frustrating for everyone. Now the 49ers might have lost the trust of a segment of the community.

“I was supportive of the 49ers coming to Santa Clara as long as they were committed to being good neighbors,” Robertson said. “But they’re not owning up to what they originally campaigned on. ... I think the soccer community feels emboldened.”