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D.C. United

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Template:MLS team D.C. United is a professional soccer club located in Washington, D.C. that participates in Major League Soccer. The club's official nickname is the "Black-and-Red" and home uniforms are black and white with accents of red. The team's name refers to Washington, D.C. being the capital of the United States, and is also an allusion to "United" commonly being part of the names of soccer teams in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.[1] To date, D.C. United is the most successful team in MLS.

The team's home field is the 56,692-seat Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium located on East Capitol Street, which is owned by the government of the District of Columbia and is shared with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. There are plans to build a 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium near Poplar Point on the east side of the Anacostia River, directly across the river from the proposed site for the Washington Nationals' stadium.[2] The city is considered to be one of the most supportive of soccer in the country.[3] D.C. United's supporters' clubs include La Barra Brava, the Screaming Eagles and La Norte. "Talon", an eagle, is the team mascot.

History

File:DCUnited96.gif
Original D.C. United logo 1996

The club was one of the founding ten members of the MLS in 1996 in the league's early years was the most successful of all the teams. United won the first "double" in modern U.S. soccer history in 1996, beating the Los Angeles Galaxy to take the MLS Cup and the USL First Division club the Rochester Raging Rhinos to win the U.S. Open Cup. They have also been successful in CONCACAF competitions, winning the Champions' Cup and the Interamerican Cup in 1998.

Following his domestic successes, the club's first coach Bruce Arena went on to direct the national team. Arena's departure from United would signal a significant downturn in the team's fortunes. While the club again won the MLS Cup in coach Thomas Rongen's first season of 1999, lackluster seasons in 2000 and 2001 led to Rongen's departure and replacement by Ray Hudson in 2002. The team did not fare much better under Hudson, however, and Piotr Nowak replaced him before the start of the 2004 season. That season was marred by injuries in the early going, and some players were known to have complained about Nowak's methods. Nevertheless a strong finish (assisted in large measure by the late-season acquisition of Argentine midfielder Christian Gómez) propelled United into the playoffs as the second seed, where they advanced past the New England Revolution on penalty kicks in what some have called "the greatest MLS game ever played."[citation needed] United then defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3–2 to take their fourth MLS Cup.

On December 21, 2006 Coach Piotr Nowak left United to become an Assistant Coach of the United States National Soccer Team under Bob Bradley. Tom Soehn replaced him.

File:DC United corner.JPG
Christian Gomez takes a corner kick at RFK Stadium versus the Columbus Crew. Also pictured are Ben Olsen, Jaime Moreno and Freddy Adu.

D.C. United's primary rival is the New York Red Bulls, formerly known as the MetroStars. The two teams compete annually for the Atlantic Cup, a minor title instituted by the two teams' management that goes to the team that gets the most points across the teams' four meetings throughout the year. DC United also has a unique (among MLS teams anyway) rivalry with the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer Leagues, as they compete every time they face one another for the Coffee Pot Cup, a trophy established by the two sides' supporters.

Famous players for United have included the US internationals Roy Lassiter, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, John Harkes, Tony Sanneh, Ben Olsen, Carlos Llamosa, Bobby Convey and Santino Quaranta. Foreign stars have included Marco Etcheverry, Raul Diaz Arce, Jaime Moreno, Christian Gomez, Ryan Nelsen, and Hristo Stoichkov.

On November 18, 2003, MLS made sports history by signing Freddy Adu, a 14-year-old soccer prodigy and on January 16, 2004 he was officially selected by United with the first pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. When Adu entered United's regular-season opener as a second-half substitute on April 3, 2004, he became the youngest player in any professional sport in the United States since 1887. On December 11 2006, D.C. United traded Adu and goalkeeper Nick Rimando to Real Salt Lake in exchange for a major allocation, goalkeeper Jay Nolly, and future considerations[4].

In 2005, the club made MLS history by becoming the first US-based team to ever participate in a South American club competition, entering the Round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana.

In 2006, United played well against international competition, beating Scottish champions Celtic F.C. 4-0 at RFK Stadium and tying Real Madrid 1-1 in Seattle. In addition, the MLS All-Star Team, which included 8 United players and was managed by United's manager Piotr Nowak, defeated English champions Chelsea 1-0. United, by virtue of winning the 2006 MLS Supporters Shield, will represent MLS in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup. The team will also host the 2007 MLS Cup.

On January 8, 2007, the operating rights to D.C. United were sold by Anschutz Entertainment Group to D.C. United Holdings, a newly-formed group venture that includes real estate developer Victor MacFarlane, William H.C. Chang (chairman of Westlake International Group), Blue Devil Development (headed by former Duke basketball players Brian Davis and Christian Laettner), and D.C. United president Kevin Payne. D.C. United Holdings is also in talks with Discovery Communications founder John Hendricks in what is a "majority-minority" ownership group. The sale price was reported to be $33 million, an MLS record fee for operating rights to a club.[5]

Television and radio

D.C. United appear on Comcast Sports Network, with matches sometimes moved to CN8 or News Channel 8 when there are scheduling conflicts. Dave Johnson handles play by play, and former MLS goalkeeper Garth Lagerway does color.

All matches are broadcast via radio on WMET in English and WACA in Spanish. Tony Limarzi does English play-by-play, Herbert Baires does play-by-play in Spanish, Danilo Noel Diron is the Spanish color commentator, and Wilson Romero is the sideline reporter in Spanish.

Honors

Current roster

As of February 5, 2007 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United States USA Troy Perkins
5 DF Argentina ARG Facundo Erpen
6 MF United States USA Domenic Mediate
8 MF United States USA Justin Moose
10 MF Argentina ARG Christian Gómez
11 FW Brazil BRA Luciano Emilio
12 DF United States USA John Wilson
14 MF United States USA Ben Olsen
15 MF Russia RUS Rod Dyachenko
16 MF United States USA Brian Carroll
17 MF United States USA Joshua Gros
18 MF United States USA Devon McTavish
19 MF United States USA Clyde Simms
21 DF Jamaica JAM Stephen deRoux
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 FW United States USA Jamil Walker
24 MF United States USA Jeff Carroll
26 DF United States USA Bryan Namoff
30 GK United States USA Ryan McIntosh
32 DF United States USA Bobby Boswell
99 FW Bolivia BOL Jaime Moreno
— MF United States USA Bryan Arguez
— GK United States USA Shawn Crowe
— FW Ivory Coast CIV Guy-Roland Kpene
— DF United States USA Jay Needham
— GK United States USA Jay Nolly
— FW United States USA Brad North
— FW United States USA Ricky Schramm
— MF England ENG Kasali Casal
Source: http://web.mlsnet.com/players/roster.jsp?club=t103
Source: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2007/02/dcus_rookies_choose_numbers.html
Source: http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20070212&content_id=83474&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

Changes for the 2007 MLS Season

In

Out

Notable players

Head coaches

Team records

MLS regular season only, through 2006 season

Home stadium

Ownership

D.C. United Park

D.C. United Park was located near Franklin Farm, Virginia and Herndon, Virginia and served as the soccer training facility for D.C. United. It is in Fairfax County, Virginia and is very close to Dulles International Airport. The club own the grounds which are situated in a business park known as Renaissance Park. It also used to serve as the Redskins training ground and was sold to a church in 2000 as part of the estate sale of former Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke. The team now trains on an auxiliary field outside RFK Stadium. The field also hosts United's reserve team games.

Famous supporters

Year-by-year

Year Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup
1996 2nd, East Champions Champions
1997 1st, East* Champions Final
1998 1st, East Final Did not enter
1999 1st, East* Champions Round of 16
2000 4th, East Did not qualify Quarterfinals
2001 4th, East Did not qualify Semifinals
2002 5th, East Did not qualify Did not enter
2003 4th, East Quarterfinals Semifinals
2004 2nd, East Champions Round of 16
2005 2nd, East Quarterfinals Quarterfinals
2006 1st, East* Semifinals Semifinals

* Won MLS Supporters' Shield

International competition

Average attendance

regular season/playoffs

  • 1996: 15,262/18,946
  • 1997: 16,698/20,202
  • 1998: 16,008/14,903
  • 1999: 17,419/12,647
  • 2000: 18,580/missed playoffs
  • 2001: 21,518/missed playoffs
  • 2002: 16,519/missed playoffs
  • 2003: 15,565/15,202
  • 2004: 17,232/18,842
  • 2005: 16,664/20,089
  • 2006: 18,215/20,504
  • All-Time: 17,619

Notes

  1. ^ However, DCU departs from the common British practice in which "United" typically refers refer to a club formed by the union of two existing constituent clubs. ""Football Culture. Names Explained"". British Council Korea. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  2. ^ "D.C. United make stadium proposal" November 16, 2005 (MLSnet.com)
  3. ^ "Washington is our best market, by far. It's the most authentic, the most passionate." July 30, 2005 (Washingtonpost.com)
  4. ^ "Ready for Freddy! Real Salt Lake acquires teen phenom Freddy Adu from D.C. United". mlsnet.com. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2006-12-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "MacFarlane leads group in purchase of Major League Soccer's D.C. United" (press release), D.C. United Media Relations, January 8, 2007.
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