The San Francisco 49ers team plays its home games in San Francisco, California, while the club's headquarters and practice facility are located in Santa Clara.

The 49ers began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC merged into the older league.

Though the team currently shares the record for most Super Bowl victories (five) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers were the first team ever to win 5 Super Bowls.

During the 1980s, they failed to make the playoffs only twice --- in 1980, and again in the strike-shortened 1982 season which saw them go 0---5 at home and 3-1 on the road --- the only time in NFL history that a team went winless at home while winning more than half its away games in the same season.

Denise DeBartolo York, and her husband, Dr. John York, took over operations of the team shortly after.

Following the season, head coach Steve Mariucci -- whose published statements about his degree of power in the organization had frayed already-strained relations with management -- was fired by John York, despite a winning record.

During the coaching search, three defensive coordinators emerged as candidates for the job, but the offensive-minded Erickson was chosen despite the fact that Erickson's offensive philosophy was very different from the West Coast Offense.

The San Francisco 49ers would finish that season with a record of 2---14, and thus finished last in the NFC West division for the first time since 1979, ending what had been the NFL's longest active streak for not finishing last in a division.

2010 San Francisco 49ers tickets and schedule