No, not a tremblor on the Richter scale but the return of professional soccer to San Jose. Major League Soccer (MLS) recently announced that it awarded a franchise to an investor group led by Oakland A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher thus leading to the return of the San Jose Earthquakes in 2008. While the Earthquakes will be playing in temporary venues the first two seasons, there are plans to build a privately funded, soccer-only stadium near downtown San Jose by 2010. The proposed location is on Coleman Avenue across from Mineta San Jose International Airport.

It’s too bad that Lew Wolff couldn’t get his Oakland A’s to downtown San Jose. Instead, professional soccer and David Beckham are on their way.

The previous MLS franchise based in San Jose moved to Houston, Texas and now plays as the Houston Dynamo. The San Jose Earthquakes are now accepting deposits for 2008 season tickets.