Houston Dynamo FC
Template:MLS team Houston Dynamo is a professional soccer club based in Houston, Texas that plays in Major League Soccer. The team was created on December 15, 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes were relocated, due to San Jose's failure to secure a soccer-specific stadium. Even though all of San Jose's players and coaches moved to Houston, the team's name, logo, history, and statistics were not transferred. The name "Dynamo" refers to Houston's industrial economy and is an allusion to the various Eastern European soccer teams who are called "Dynamo", most notably FC Dynamo Moscow. Although unrelated, there was a previous professional soccer team called the Houston Dynamos that played in the old United Soccer League in 1984. The team colors are orange, white, and black.
Houston Dynamo play their home matches at Robertson Stadium—a 33,000-seat sports stadium located on the University of Houston campus in southeast Houston. A three-year lease was signed to play at the stadium while plans for a soccer-specific stadium are finalized.
The club's supporters group is known as the Texian Army.
History
On January 25, 2006, Houston 1836 was first announced as the team name. This did follow an online survey for the fans to provide unofficial (non-determining) input for the new team, with given options of: Apollos, Bulls, Eagles, Gatos, Lonestars, Stallions, Toros, Americans, Buffalos, Generals, Houston 1836, Mustangs, and Stars. As told by MLS & AEG, who chose the name, the 1836 name referred to the year that the city of Houston was founded by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, though it had perceived ambiguity, as it is the year of Texas independence from Mexico. Houston 1836's logo featured a silhouette of General Sam Houston, perhaps the city's, and state's, most famous historical figure.
The choice of Houston 1836, however, coincided with an apparent lack of market insight. While their stated intent was that link to the founding year of the city, the team name was changed to Houston Dynamo after the Houston 1836 name raised a furor among some locals of Mexican descent—the team's target audience—who related 1836 with the war for Texas independence. Sylvia Garcia, Harris County's first Hispanic commissioner in more than a century, rallied for a boycott of the team name. The name was dropped, due to this political pressure and considerable pressure from potential Hispanic community, media, and sponsors. Incidentally, TiVo still uses the name "Houston 1836". The ensuing Dynamo name does pay homage to Houston's electric industry and a sliver of Houston's soccer past, the Houston Dynamos. Since then, MLS has announced that they will no longer do online surveys for future expansion teams; they had also taken a poll to name Real Salt Lake, which itself was an unpopular choice.
Club owner, Anschutz Entertainment Group, is hoping to finalize an agreement to construct a 20,000 to 25,000-seat soccer specific stadium on the site of Houston Independent School District's Delmar Stadium, located at the intersection of I-610 and U.S. 290. The company would like the school district to help share the costs of building the $65 to $80 million stadium. In the event that this plan went through, the current Delmar Stadium would be razed and replaced with the soccer-specific venue. Like the Pizza Hut Park stadium agreement in Frisco for FC Dallas, the stadium would be shared with the school district's high school football teams and the facility would be surrounded by community soccer fields.
Dynamo played their first game on April 2, 2006. Amidst a crowd of 25,462 people in Robertson Stadium, Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids 5–2. Brian Ching led the charge for Dynamo with four goals, all of which were set up with assists from teammate Dwayne De Rosario. In stoppage time, Alejandro Moreno scored MLS' Goal of the Week with a game-clinching bicycle kick. On May 6, 2006, Houston Dynamo won their first intrastate rivalry game against FC Dallas, 4–3 at Robertson Stadium.
Following the 1966 FIFA World Cup held England and broadcast in the United States, promoters came together to start up two professional soccer leagues in U.S - the United Soccer Association (sanctioned by FIFA and the United States Soccer Federation) and the National Professional Soccer League (not sanctioned).
The U.S. leagues virtually imported full teams from foreign countries, placing them in U.S. cities, thus forming American teams for a summer league (summer season represented the offseason for European and South American leagues around the world). Brazil's Bangu Atlético Clube became the Houston Stars and joined 12 original teams in the United Soccer Association. The other international teams were: Scottish clubs Dundee United (Dallas Tornado), Hibernian (Toronto City), Aberdeen (Washington Whips), English clubs Sunderland (Vancouver Royal Canadians) and Stoke City (Cleveland Stokers), Uruguay's Cerro Porteno (New York Skyliners), Holland's ADO Den Haag (San Francisco Golden Gate Gales), Northern Ireland's Glentoran of Belfast (Detroit Cougars), Italy's Cagliari (Chicago Mustangs), Ireland's Shamrock Rovers (Boston Rovers).
The 12-game season began in late May of 1967 and ran through July, with Los Angeles defeating the Washington Whips 6-5 in overtime in the first Championship game. The Houston Stars, playing their games at the Houston Astrodome, finished in fourth place in the Western Division and placed four players on the League Best XI team: defenders Mario Tito and Jose Fidelis, midfielder Ary Clemente and forward Paulo Borges.
In April, 1967, the 10-team National Professional Soccer League also kicked off with a 32-game schedule. The Oakland Clippers defeated the Baltimore Rays in a two-game championship series.
In December of 1967, the two leagues (United Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League) merged and 17 of the 22 teams remained to form the North American Soccer League (NASL) - which remained the top U.S. soccer league until 1984. The league had its ups and down however. Following the first full season, 12 of the teams folded. While keeping the NASL running with five teams in 1969, the league grew and 18 teams finished the 1977 season.
The Houston Hurricane became one of six expansion teams to enter the NASL in 1978, which was then at its all-time high of 24 teams. Houston was the last city awarded a franchise and finished with a 10-20 record in the American Conference's Central Division - eliminated from playoff contention.
In 1979, the Hurricane were the surprise team of the NASL, posting a 22-8 record but falling to Philadelphia in the Conference Quarterfinals. The Hurricane's head coach Timo Liekoski was recognized as the NASL Coach of the Year while goalkeeper Paul Hammond was named to the NASL All-Second Team.
Houston's last season in the NASL was in 1980, when they posted a 14-18 record and lost to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs. The team folded following the season along with two other teams. The NASL would continue for four more seasons as an outdoor league and folded as a league following the 1984 season.
In February 1984, the United Soccer League was born and competed against the NASL for one season - hoping to correct the reasons of the declining interest in the NASL. The USL sought to focus on controlling finances, becoming more regional in nature, and featuring more American players.
The Houston Dynamos joined the USL in 1984 and were led by Jose Neto - the "Babe Ruth" of a previous league called the American Soccer League. The Dynamos lost in the Championship finals to Fort Lauderdale and folded after just one season. Neto was League MVP and Gary Hindley was selected Coach of the Year. The League played only half of the following 1985 season before also folding.
Shortly after the demise of the United Soccer League of 1984 , the Lone Star Soccer Alliance was founded in 1987 as a regional soccer league in the Texas area. The Houston Dynamos returned and joined the Dallas Express, Austin Thunder, and San Antonio International. The Houston Alliance joined the regional league in 1998. In 1991, with the league now also including teams in Oklahoma, the Dynamos changed their name to the Houston Internationals. However, both Houston teams folded following the 1991 season.
The current-day United Soccer Leagues (USL) began in 1986 - as an indoor league that was called the Southwest Independent Soccer League and has grown into the largest professional league ever in the United States, comprising over 140 teams in both indoor, outdoor, amateur and women's leagues. Houston's first entry in this league was the Houston Express, which joined the 12-team regional indoor league (SISL) for the 1988-89-season but folded after two seasons.
The Southwest Independent Soccer League (SISL) was able to sustain and grow to also include outdoor regional leagues and in 1991 became the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL). The USISL was in essence a collection of other regional leagues, comprising both pro and amateur levels. The Puerto Rico Islanders of the Pro league moved to Houston and became the Houston Force before the 1995 season but the team folded midway through the season.
Before the 1996 season, when the USISL made additional changes and added a new "Pro Select League", the Houston area saw the return of the old NASL team name - the Houston Hurricane joining the USISL Pro Select League. The team played for four seasons and folded following the 2000 campaign.
The most recent organized team competing in the USL was the amatuer Houston Toros which played in the Premier Development League (also a part of the USL) in 2002 and 2003. The PDL highlights Under-23 players from Florida to Canada. The PDL provides top college and youth players with the opportunity to perform in a professional setting during the summer while maintaining their college eligibility. The Toros played their games at the Freedom World Ranch.
Houston has also had two women's teams play in the United Soccer Leagues (USL). From 1999-2001 the Houston Tornados played in the W-League. Since 2003, the Houston Stars have been part of the Women's Premier Soccer League of the USL. Houston Indoor Soccer
The Houston Summit, joined the new 6-team Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) in 1978 and finished atop the standings with an 18-6 record. The team, made up mainly of players that also played for the NASL's Houston Hurricance, also finished first in 1979, when the league had grown to 12 teams. However, the Summit lost in the Championship Game 7-4 to the New York Arrows. Following the season, the team moved to Baltimore.
When the MISL folded following the 1992 season, the owners started up the league in the summer and called it the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). The Houston Hotshots, owned by Giorgio Borlenghi, entered the CISL in the 1994 season when the league was at 14 teams. The team lost in the championship finals in 1996 and 1997, however folded with the league following the 1997 season.
In 1999, the World Indoor Soccer League debuted after the collapse of the CISL. The original idea of the name World Indoor Soccer League originated from the idea that there would be teams participating from Europe. The Houston Hotshots came back into this league (WISL) for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. The team went on hiatus for the 2001 season and the WISL then merged with teams from the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) to form a new league which took the name "Major Indoor Soccer League". International and other Soccer
Throughout the years, Houston has played host to many high profile international soccer games. The United States played regional rivals Mexico to a 0-0 tie in front of more than 70,000 fans at Reliant Stadium in May of 2003. Since then, the Houston area has hosted InterLiga games in 2004 and 2005 (also a host for the 2006 tournament), the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Mexican National Team games and other top clubs from England, Mexico and the United States.
HOUSTON TEAMS IN NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE (NASL)
1967-1968: HOUSTON STARS 1967 (***United Soccer Association) Neri Adalmir, Paulo Borges, Carlos Cabralzinho, Ary Clemente, Roberto Devito, Jose Fidelis, Jaime Freitas, Aladim Luciano, Ubirajara Motta, Carlos Peixnho, Fernando Puglia, Norberto Safioti, Jair Santon Silva, Mario Tito
1968 Jim Benedek, Kresten Bjerre, Andras Deak, Cariton Dill, Pavle Garov, Nicola Gravina, Ferenc Jani, Luis Juracy, Branko Kraljevic, Josip Ladovic, Tibor Magyar, Bozidar Maric, Jaicinto Merayo, Stanko Mrduljas, Jerry Mueller, Leif Nielsen, Vladimir Pavkovic, Ante Pletikosic, Vasillis Psifidis, Tibor Szalay, Ilija Tojacic, Mile Tomijenovic, Tibor Vigh
1978-1980: HOUSTON HURRICANE 1978 Ian Anderson, Howie Charbonneau, John Dowic, Paul Hammond, Stewart Jump, Fritz Kunzli, Bobby Lennox, Mark Lindsay, Barry Lloyd, Eduardo Marasco, Nick Megaloudis, Gerry Morielli, Art Napolitano, Colin Newstead, Yilmaz Orhan, Matt O'Sullivan, Dale Russell, Dano Ruzik, Roland Sikinger, Dean Smith, Mark Stahl, Radomir Stefanovic, John Stremlau, Keith van Fron, Peter Welsh
1979 Ian Anderson, Horst Bertl, Howie Charbonneau, Kai Haaskivi, Paul Hammond, Stewart Jump, Armin Kiara, Hermes Kouropoulos, Mark Lindsay, Manuel Manzo, Eduardo Marasco, Nick Megaloudis, Juan Carlos Michia, Ruben Morales, Gerry Morielli, Matt O'Sullivan, Oscar Paez, Kyle Rote, Jr., Dale Russell, Walter Schubertli, Roland Sikinger, Mark Stahl, John Stremlau, Ninoslav Zec
1980 Carlo Alberti, Ian Anderson, Ron Atanasio, Mike Bakic, Horst Bertl, Brian Budd, Howie Charbonneau, Santiago Formoso, Dan Geerling, Kai Haaskivi, Tedd Hamilton, Paul Hammond, Stewart Jump, Charlie Kadupski, Eduardo Marasco, Nick Megaloudis, Juan Carlos Michia, Werner Moors, Ruben Morales, Gerry Morielli, Matt O'Sullivan, Eloir Peruci, Dale Russell, Ryse, Walter Schubertli, Roland Sikinger, Mark Stahl, John Stremlau, Ninoslav Zec, Gerd Zimmermann
Honors
No major honors
Current roster
As of August 23, 2006 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
Wade Barrett (2006—)
Ronald Cerritos (2006)- Brian Ching (2006—)
Dwayne De Rosario (2006—)- Pat Onstad (2006—)
- Eddie Robinson (2006—)
- Craig Waibel (2006—)
Head coaches
- Dominic Kinnear (2006—)
Team records
- This information has yet to be released, and will be updated as details become available.
Home stadiums
- Robertson Stadium (2006—)
Houston Dynamo will play its home matches in Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. A massive renovation of Robertson Stadium took place in 2004, thanks to a $6 million gift from the John and Julie O'Quinn Foundation to the University of Houston. In addition to the 20 luxury suites added in the summer of 1998, "Phase I" entailed replacement of the track with a ring of tiered seating, bringing the stadium's capacity to 32,000. To accommodate this tiered seating, the entire playing field was lowered nine feet.
In recognition of John and Julie O'Quinn's generosity and loyal support, the field at Robertson Stadium was named "John O'Quinn Field." The University of Houston's football team christened their new field with a 28-3 whipping of city rival Rice, in what was the renewal of the storied Bayou Bucket battle.
Wilhelmina Robertson, the wife of Ed Smith, who participated in the MLS discussions, was president of the Cullen Foundation for 50 years. Wilhelmina also personally contributed a half million dollars to update the stadium. The stadium was named after her former husband. Ed Smith also personally chipped in a substantial amount to insure that the University of Houston's previous Athletic Director, Chet Gladchuk, made Robertson Stadium viable for soccer. Robertson Stadium, as it is known today, was originally constructed in 1941 as a joint project of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
In 1940, HISD purchased the land now bound by Holman, Cullen, Scott and Wheeler streets and passed a resolution in March 1941 to provide $650,000 to build the stadium.
The new stadium was named Houston Public School Stadium and served as the site for all home football games for area high schools. The first game was held September 18, 1942, when Lamar High School defeated Adamson High School of Dallas 26-7 before a crowd of 14,500.
Source: http://houston.mlsnet.com/MLS/hou/stadium/
General managers
- Oliver Luck (2006—)
Year-by-year
Average attendance
regular season/playoffs
- This information has yet to be released, and will be updated as details become available.
External links
- Houston Dynamo Official Website
- Houston Matchnight News Site
- Texian Army — Houston Dynamo Supporters
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