Chargers fans knew for several years that this dreaded day could be coming, that their beloved NFL team might move up the freeway to tap the perceived riches of Los Angeles.

That didn’t make it any easier Thursday, when the San Diego Chargers ceased to exist after 56 seasons.

They’re now the Los Angeles Chargers, set to join the recently relocated Rams to give the nation’s second-largest media market two NFL teams for the first time since 1994.

Team chairman Dean Spanos, who tried to move to LA a year earlier, announced the move to his employees at a morning meeting at Chargers Park. At the same time, the team posted a letter on its Twitter account, which was rebranded as the Los Angeles Chargers.