<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The professional American football team the Los Angeles Chargers was founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League . The team played the 1960 season in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego the following year, where they played from 1961 - 2016 . The Chargers' returned to Los Angeles in 2017 . </P> <P> The team began as the Los Angeles Chargers and was established in 1959 with seven other American Football League teams: the Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders, New York Titans, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, and Boston Patriots . The Chargers' original owner was hotel heir Barron Hilton, son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton . The team held a contest searching for a team name, and Gerald Courtney of Hollywood won a trip to Mexico for submitting "Chargers," according to the team website and other sources . Other sources quote Conrad Hilton, "I liked it because they were yelling' charge' and sounding the bugle at Dodgers Stadium and at USC games ." </P>

When did the chargers move to san diego