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D.C. United

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D.C. United
D.C. United logo
Full nameD.C. United
Nickname(s)United, Black-and-Red
Founded1995
GroundRFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Capacity56,692
OwnerUnited States D.C. United Holdings
CoachUnited States Tom Soehn
LeagueMajor League Soccer
20071st (Eastern Conference)
Playoffs: Conference semifinals

D.C. United is a professional soccer club located in Washington, D.C. that participates in Major League Soccer, the United States' top-tier soccer league. Considered one of the most successful clubs in American soccer, the club has won the U.S. Open Cup[1] and holds the record for most MLS Cups and MLS Supporters' Shields with four apiece. Furthermore, D.C. United is the only club to be awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield back-to-back (2006 and 2007) and the first club to win back-to-back MLS Cups (1996 and 1997).[2] In 1998 D.C. United became the first American club to win the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Copa Interamericana, defeating Club Toluca of Mexico 1-0[3] and Vasco da Gama of Brazil on 2-1 aggregate[4] respectively.

The team's home field is the 56,692-seat Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, owned by the District of Columbia and located on East Capitol Street. However, the team has proposed to build a 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium near Poplar Point on the east side of the Anacostia River, directly across from Nationals Park.[5] The future of this proposal is unlikely and the team is currently looking at other sites in the area.[6]

D.C. United has one of the strongest fan bases in the league and country,[7] with three supporters' clubs (La Barra Brava, the Screaming Eagles, and La Norte) and one of the highest attendance averages 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 derives from 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[8], for example Manchester United or Leeds United.

Internationally, D.C. United is already scheduled this year to play in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, and SuperLiga.

History

Original D.C. United logo 1996

The club was one of the founding ten members of MLS in 1996, and 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 has been called one of the best games in MLS history.[9][10][11][12][13] 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.

D.C. United's primary rival is Red Bull New York, formerly known as the MetroStars. The two teams compete annually for the Atlantic Cup, a competition 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.

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.

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[14].

In 2005, the club made MLS history by becoming the first (and, to date, only) US-based team to participate in Copa Sudamericana, entering in the Round of 16.

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 9 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, was one of two MLS teams to participate in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup in which they reached the semi-finals, losing to CD Guadalajara on aggregate 3-2. United lost to LA Galaxy 2-0 in the semifinals of the newly-created SuperLiga with 4 teams from the Primera División and 4 from the MLS.

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.[15]

In May 2007, United entered into an initial one-year strategic partnership with Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro. The goal of the partnership is to enhance the sporting and commercial success of the respective clubs by sharing expertise and experience as well as creating new opportunities for the clubs in both areas. [16]

Television and radio

D.C. United appear on Comcast SportsNet. Dave Johnson handles play by play, and former United coach Thomas Rongen does color commentary. Certain home matches are shown in High Definition on Comcast SportsNet HD. Select matches are also available on ESPN 2 and ESPN 2 HD.

All matches are broadcast via radio on WFED in English and WACA-AM 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 Romer is the sideline reporter in Spanish.

Honors

Domestic

International

Invitational

Players

Current Squad

As of April 17, 2008 The players in bold have senior international caps [17] 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 Zach Wells
2 DF Argentina ARG Gonzalo Peralta
4 DF United States USA Marc Burch
5 MF United States USA Quavas Kirk
6 MF United States USA Domenic Mediate
7 MF Brazil BRA Fred
10 MF Argentina ARG Marcelo Gallardo
11 FW Brazil BRA Luciano Emilio
12 GK Peru PER José Carvallo
13 MF United States USA Jeremy Barlow
14 MF United States USA Ben Olsen
15 MF Russia RUS Rod Dyachenko
16 MF England ENG Dan Stratford
17 DF United States USA Dane Murphy
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF United States USA Devon McTavish
19 MF United States USA Clyde Simms
21 DF United States USA Pat Carroll
22 MF United States USA Ryan Cordeiro
23 DF Colombia COL Gonzalo Martínez
24 MF United States USA Jeff Carroll
25 FW United States USA Santino Quaranta
26 DF United States USA Bryan Namoff
30 GK United States USA James Thorpe
34 FW Argentina ARG Franco Niell
99 FW Bolivia BOL Jaime Moreno (captain)
— DF United States USA Jeff Curtin
— DF United States USA Mike Zaher

Sources:http://web.mlsnet.com/players/index.jsp?club=t103, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider

Notable players

Head coaches

Team records

MLS regular season only, through October 20, 2007

  • All-Time regular season record: 177-137-54 (Through Oct. 21, 2007)

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.

Year-by-year

Year Reg. Season MLS Playoffs U.S. Open Cup CONCACAF
Champions' Cup 		SuperLiga CONMEBOL
Copa Sudamericana
1996 2nd, East Champions Champions Did not Enter Started in 2007 Started in 2002
1997 1st, East* Champions Final Third Place
1998 1st, East Final Did not enter Champions
1999 1st, East* Champions Round of 16 Third Place
2000 4th, East Did not qualify Quarterfinals Fourth Place
2001 4th, East Did not qualify Semifinals Not Held †
2002 5th, East Did not qualify Did not enter Round of 16 Did not qualify
2003 4th, East Quarterfinals Semifinals Did not qualify Did not qualify
2004 2nd, East Champions Round of 16 Did not qualify Did not qualify
2005 2nd, East Quarterfinals Quarterfinals Semifinals Round of 16
2006 1st, East* Semifinals Semifinals Did not qualify Did not qualify
2007 1st, East* Quarterfinals Round of 16 Third Place Semifinals Round of 16
2008 TBD, East TBD Qualified Semifinals Qualified TBD

* Won MLS Supporters' Shield

† Finished runner-up in the CONCACAF Giants Cup that was held in 2001 instead of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup

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
  • 2007: 20,967/19,438
  • 2008: 20,161/TBD (as of March 5, 2008)
  • All-Time: 17,619

References

  1. ^ "Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Finals, 1995-2007" Accessed January 11, 2008 (USOpenCup.Com)
  2. ^ "Major League Soccer:History:Overview" Accessed January 11, 2008 (MLSnet.com)
  3. ^ "SOCCER -- CONCACAF CUP; D.C. United Wins Tournament" August 17, 1998 (New York Times)
  4. ^ "D.C. United downs Vasco da Gama to take InterAmerican Cup" December 07, 1998 (CNN/SI)
  5. ^ "D.C. United make stadium proposal" November 16, 2005 (MLSnet.com)
  6. ^ D.C. United: Stadium: Poplar Point
  7. ^ "Washington is our best market, by far. It's the most authentic, the most passionate." July 30, 2005 (Washingtonpost.com)
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Harkes keeps both feet in the soccer world". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "10 of the best... MLS games". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Revolution Ready to Take Another Shot". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "D.C. United & Comcast SportsNet to launch 'Brunch with D.C. United'". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Looking back: Unforgettable in every way". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "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)
  15. ^ "MacFarlane leads group in purchase of Major League Soccer's D.C. United" (press release), D.C. United Media Relations, January 8, 2007.
  16. ^ "D.C. United enters into strategic partnership with Brazil's Clube Atlético Mineiro" (press release), D.C. United Media Relations, May 4, 2007.
  17. ^ Sources: mlsnet.com, Soccer Insider
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