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*[http://www.elbatallon.com/ El Batallon — Houston Dynamo Supporters]
*[http://www.elbatallon.com/ El Batallon — Houston Dynamo Supporters]
*[http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1063 Official Houston Dynamo board, courtesy of BigSoccer]
*[http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1063 Official Houston Dynamo board, courtesy of BigSoccer]
*[http://tickets.musicoil.com/ResultsVenue.aspx?venid=2646&vname=Robertson+Stadium/ Houston Dynamo Live]


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Revision as of 05:22, 19 July 2008

Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo
Full nameHouston Dynamo
Nickname(s)Dynamo, Orange Crush, La Naranja,The Men in Orange, The Orange
Founded2005
GroundRobertson Stadium
Houston, TX
Capacity32,000
OwnerAnschutz Entertainment Group[1]
CoachScotland Dominic Kinnear
LeagueMajor League Soccer
2007Western Conference: 2nd
Overall: 3rd
Playoffs: MLS Cup Winners
Current season

Houston Dynamo is a North American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Founded in 2005, the team plays in Major League Soccer (MLS) and is the back-to-back MLS Cup champion.

Houston Dynamo's home is the 32,000 capacity Robertson Stadium, located on the University of Houston campus in southeast Houston, where they have played since their creation. A three-year lease was signed to play at the stadium while plans for a soccer-specific stadium are finalized. The team is owned by majority owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in partnership with Brener International Group (headed by Gabriel Brener), and multiple world and Olympic boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya.

History

The team was created on December 15, 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes players and head coach Dominic Kinnear were relocated, due to AEG being unable to secure a soccer-specific stadium. Although all of San Jose's players and Kinnear moved to Houston, the team's name, logo, history and statistics were not transferred and remained inactive in San Jose until the Earthquakes were reactivated in 2007. The Dynamo was thus a new team, similar to the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League (NFL). However, if you were to include the old Earthquakes stats (since it really is the same team just relocated), the Dynamo/Eathquakes have won four of the last seven MLS Championships.

Choosing a Name

On January 25, 2006, Houston 1836 was first announced as the team name. This followed an online survey for the fans to provide unofficial suggestions for the new team name, with given options of: Apollos, Bulls, Eagles, Gatos, Lonestars, Stallions, Toros, Americans, Buffaloes, Generals, Houston 1836, Mustangs, and Stars. According to 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 also the year of Texan independence from Mexico. Houston 1836's logo featured a silhouette of General Sam Houston, one of Houston's and Texas' most famous historical figures.

Controversy

The choice of Houston 1836, however, soon became a political issue. While their stated intent was to 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, a 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. Most of the problem was because most of the people protesting did not understand Mexican and Texas history, and did not realize that Texas was not the only Mexican state to revolt against Antonio López de Santa Anna, and that Hispanics played a major part in Texas gaining independence, just like they did when the Yucatan broke away from Mexico at the same time and for the same reason as Texas. Hispanics revolted against Santa Ana , not just whites. But because of lack of knowledge of history by the masses, the name was changed.[citation needed]

After the controversy, MLS selected the team name "Dynamo". It refers to Houston's energy-based industrial economy, as well as two previous Houston soccer teams, the Houston Dynamos who played in the Lone Star Soccer Alliance from 1987 to 1991, and the Houston Dynamos who played in the United Soccer League (USL) in 1984. The official reason for the name is that "Dynamo is a word to describe someone who never fatigues, never gives up. The name is symbolic of Houston as an energetic, hard-working, risk-taking kind of town." The team colors are orange, white, and "Space City" blue (light blue), meant as a symbol of yet another team in Houston's sports history - the Houston Oilers of the NFL.

The Awesome Inaugural (2006)

The Dynamo played their first game on April 2, 2006. In front of a crowd of 25,462 in Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids 5–2. Brian Ching led the charge for the Dynamo with four goals, all of which were set up with assists from teammate Dwayne De Rosario. Later in the season they went on to beat established MLS clubs such as D.C. United, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution, Chicago Fire and eventually their Texan state rivals FC Dallas.

The Dynamo finished their first season in Houston with an 11-8-13 record, earning them second place in the Western Conference. In the Conference Semi-final playoffs, they beat Club Deportivo Chivas USA (Chivas USA). On November 5, 2006, they beat Colorado Rapids 3-1 in the Western Conference Final to advance to the MLS Cup.

Paul Dalglish holds the trophy after the 2006 MLS Cup victory

On November 12, 2006 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, Houston beat New England Revolution 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie to win the 2006 MLS Cup. The game was scoreless until the second half of extra time, when New England's Taylor Twellman scored. Only one minute and six seconds later, Brian Ching headed in the tying goal for Houston, and the championship was, for the first time in MLS history, decided by a penalty shootout. Substitutes Kelly Gray and Stuart Holden scored Houston's first two penalty kicks. Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching scored the last two. Ching's gave Houston a 4-3 lead, and goalkeeper Pat Onstad saved New England's Jay Heaps penalty kick to secure the MLS Cup for Houston. By winning the MLS Cup, Houston qualified for the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

2007 season: Repeat

Houston began the 2007 season early, competing in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. After winning a dramatic quarterfinal, beating Costa Rican team Puntarenas F.C., Houston went out of the competition in the semifinals, beating Mexican team Pachuca 2-0 in the first leg but losing 5-2 after extra time in the return leg.

Immediately after, Houston began its 2007 MLS league season with consecutive shutouts against Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA. Houston then struggled in the regular season, losing against Red Bull New York, Chicago Fire, Toronto FC, and New England Revolution. Due to their success in winning the MLS Cup in their first season, Houston were invited to spend the day at the White House on May 29, 2007 and meet with President George W. Bush. Only one other team, D.C. United in 1997, has visited the White House.

Houston also made some significant trades during the 2007 season They traded Kevin Goldthwaite and a first round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft to Toronto FC for Richard Mulrooney. They also traded Alejandro Moreno to Columbus Crew in exchange for Joseph Ngwenya. And they traded Kelly Gray to Los Angeles Galaxy for Nate Jaqua. After regrouping and pulling off a win against FC Dallas, Houston began an unbeaten streak of eleven games and a shutout streak of 726 minutes,[2] a new MLS record.

Houston was also invited to compete in the inaugural North American SuperLiga, where they dominated the group stages before losing in a semifinal shootout against Pachuca.

They finished in second place in the regular season in the Western Conference, advancing to the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, where they met state rivals FC Dallas in the first round. Dallas won the first leg 1-0, but Houston won the second leg at Robertson Stadium, 4-1 in extra time, to win 4-2 on aggregate. Houston faced the Kansas City Wizards in the Western Conference final, winning 2-0 to advance to the MLS Cup championship game for the second year in a row. Just like in 2006, they faced the New England Revolution for the championship, and won it 2-1 on a game-winning goal by Dwayne De Rosario in the second half, thus winning their second MLS Cup in a row.

Partnership with Golden Boy Promotions

Late in 2007, Major League Soccer informed Dynamo owners Anschutz Entertainment Group that they should divest their interest in the Dynamo, as they wanted each ownership group to own only one team. AEG also owns the Los Angeles Galaxy.[3] On November 21, 2007, it was announced that AEG was in negotiations to sell the Dynamo to a partnership of Brener International Group and Golden Boy Promotions, owned by the famed boxer Oscar de la Hoya.[4]

On February 26, 2008 Houston Dynamo President Oliver Luck revealed the planned negotiations to the media stating that the Houston Dynamo would be managed in majority by original owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (who will hold 50% of ownership) along with newfound partners Gabriel Brener, head of Brener International Group, and multiple World and Olympic boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya (each with 25% ownership).[5] De La Hoya has been seen wearing Dynamo colors on his boxing uniform with a small Houston Dynamo logo on his right leg in a fight against boxer Steve Forbes. He has also pledged to help find Dynamo a soccer-specific stadium, though he has been too busy with training to participate significantly in Dynamo decision-making. He has said he would become more involved once he retires in 2009.[6]

Crest

The colors of the Dynamo crest are orange, black and white, with Carolina blue added as an accent and border color. That color is represented on the uniform with the adidas snake. The star on the crest is an ad hoc adoption, likely a nod to the "Houston 1836" crest concept. It also retains the soccer ball with the star in the middle from the "1836" logo, though the shadow is changed to Carolina blue, likely to simplify coloration.

With the 2006 MLS Cup win, a sanctioned star has been added above the shield in 2008, after wearing the scudetto in 2007. Since they won the MLS Cup again in 2007. they will wear the scudetto for the second consecutive year in 2008. Consequently, a sanctioned star will be added to the logo in 2009 for their win at MLS Cup 2007.

Mascot

In 2007, Houston started a search for a mascot by asking members of the Art Institute of Houston to submit drawings, from which several finalists were selected and an official mascot would be decided through an online poll, both for the mascot design and name. The winning design was of an orange haired fox and named, Dynamo Diesel. He was unveiled at Houston Zoo on 3 April 2007.[7] Dynamo Diesel began working alongside the Houston Dynamo marketing and community outreach programs. He is not only present at games, cheering on the team, but also joins the Houston dancers, the Dynamo Girls[8] helping to promote the Dynamo in Houston.[9] Notably the Dynamo Girls were featured in an episode of the MTV reality series Made.

Stadium

Robertson Stadium

Houston Dynamo plays its home matches at Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus. The Dynamo signed a three year lease, through 2008, to play at the stadium temporarily as they make plans to construct a permanent soccer-specific stadium.

Club owner, AEG, is hoping to finalize an agreement to construct a 20-22,000-seat soccer specific stadium in Downtown Houston east of Minute Maid Park, across Highway 59 which would be the third sporting facility for Downtown Houston. The new stadium is projected to open in time for the 2010 season.[10]

Sponsorship

The Dynamo reached a four-year sponsorship deal with Houston based retail electricity provider, Amigo Energy, worth US$7.5M,[11] making it the largest sponsor in team history.[12] Amigo Energy became the official jersey sponsor. Houston were the fifth league team to sign jersey sponsors, after Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC[11] with Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire each adding jersey sponsors for the 2008 season

The Amigo Energy logo appears on all team jerseys, along with other on-field gear, and Amigo Energy also became the official home and business retail energy provider of the Dynamo. As part of the deal, Amigo Energy established a focused marketing strategy that uses the Dynamo in co-branded advertising, customer retention, and new customer acquisition programs.[13] The replica Dynamo jersey with the Amigo Energy logo is being produced by Adidas, with replica jerseys expected to be available at retail establishments in January 2008.[13]

Supporters

The Dynamo enjoyed good fan support in its first season. Their first ever match attracted 25,462 fans against Colorado Rapids on April 2, 2006. Attendance gradually declined throughout the remainder of the spring and summer months. During July and August they played five matches at Robertson Stadium, and the average attendance for those matches was 10,348.

The team's attendance figures received a boost on 9 August when they played a game against Los Angeles Galaxy in Houston's Reliant Stadium as part of a double-header, with the other game being an exhibition match between FC Barcelona and Mexican side Club América), which attracted a crowd of 70,550. Home attendance began to rise again as the weather cooled and the playoffs approached.

File:Texarmy.gif
Texian Army is one of the Supporter Clubs of the Dynamo

For the 2006 season they averaged 18,935 over the 16 regular season home games. Attendance remained high during their playoff run, where home attendance was 17,440 and 23,107 in games against Chivas USA and Colorado Rapids. Dynamo fans contributed greatly to the sell-out crowd of 22,427 in the 2006 MLS Cup, which was played about 275 miles (450 km) from Houston, in Frisco, Texas.

There are currently two Supporter groups, the Texian Army and El Batallón. Both groups work together when supporting the team, as well as when going to support the team at away games.

Average attendance

Although regular season attendance dipped a little bit in 2007, in spite of the Dynamo's MLS Cup win in their first year, they nearly sold out the second leg of their Western Conference Semifinal match against FC Dallas, and then they did sell out the Conference Final match against the Kansas City Wizards.

regular season/playoffs

  • 2006: 18,935/20,274
  • 2007: 15,883/30,530
  • 2008: 16,736/TBD (As of June 26th, 2008)

Rivalries

The team's main geographic rival is FC Dallas. Each season they compete in the Texas Derby, or El Capitán Clasico, in which the victor wins an 18th century cannon named El Capitán.

Brian Ching dribbles through two FC Dallas players.

Houston won the 2006 and 2007 series with a win on August 12 and on August 19 of their respective campaigns.

Season Played Dynamo Win Draw FCD Win Dynamo Goals FCD Goals +/- Texas Derby Winner
2006 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 Houston Dynamo
2007 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 Houston Dynamo
2008 3 0 3 0 7 7 0 FC Dallas (away goals rule, 4-2)
Total 12 5 6 1 19 13 +6 Houston Dynamo (2), FC Dallas (1)

Television and radio

Local English coverage is carried by KTBU channel 55, when not carried by the national MLS broadcast partners such as ESPN and the Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). Charlie Palillo calls the play-by-play with Glenn Davis usually calling the color-commentary. Spanish coverages is on KHLM-LP "TV Informa", channel 43.

English radio broadcasts (18 matches only) are carried by KBME (AM) 790 AM. Spanish radio broadcasts are carried by KEYH-AM and KXGJ-FM "Concierto".

The Soccer Hour or Houston Dynamo Power Hour, which it is called during the season, is a local Houston radio broadcast on KBME (AM), which is hosted by Glenn Davis. It regularly features Head coach Dominic Kinnear and the team's players.

Honors

Domestic

International

Invitational

Players

First-team squad

As of May 7, 2008. [14] The players in bold have senior international caps

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 England ENG Tony Caig
2 DF United States USA Eddie Robinson
3 MF United States USA Johnny Alcaraz
4 DF United States USA Patrick Ianni
5 FW United States USA Kyle Brown
6 MF United States USA Erik Ustruck
7 FW United States USA Chris Wondolowski
8 MF United States USA Richard Mulrooney
9 MF United States USA Brian Mullan
11 MF United States USA Brad Davis
12 FW Australia AUS James Georgeff
13 MF United States USA Ricardo Clark
14 MF Canada CAN Dwayne De Rosario
16 DF United States USA Craig Waibel
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF United States USA Mike Chabala
18 GK Canada CAN Pat Onstad
19 MF United States USA John Michael Hayden
20 MF United States USA Geoff Cameron
21 MF United States USA Nick Hatzke
22 MF United States USA Stuart Holden
23 DF United States USA Stephen Wondolowski
24 DF United States USA Wade Barrett Captain (football)
25 FW United States USA Brian Ching
26 MF United States USA Corey Ashe
30 GK United States USA Corbin Waller
32 DF United States USA Bobby Boswell
99 FW Ivory Coast CIV Guy-Roland Kpene
- FW United States USA Nate Jaqua

Notable players

Team records

MLS regular season only, through June 8 2008

  • All-Time regular season record: 29-19-25 (through June 8 2008)

Team Officials

Senior Club Staff

  • President and General Manager: Oliver Luck
  • Chief Operating Officer: Chris Canetti
  • Vice President: Rocky Harris

Coaching Staff

  • Head coach: Dominic Kinnear
  • Assistant coach: John Spencer
  • Goalkeeper coach: Mike Toshack
  • Head athletic trainer: Theron Enns
  • Team administrator: Nick Kowba
  • Equipment manager: Beau Abdulla


Year-By-Year

Season League Record Top Scorer Top Goalkeeper Notes
P W L T F A +/- Pts PPG Player GP G Player GP GA GAA SHO
2006 32 11 8 13 44 40 + 4 46 1.438 Brian Ching 21 11 Pat Onstad 32 40 1.25 5 MLS Cup Champion
2007 30 15 8 7 43 23 +20 52 1.733 Brian Ching 20 7 Pat Onstad 27 22 0.815 11 MLS Cup Champion
Totals 62 26 16 20 87 63 +24 98 1.581 Brian Ching 41 18 Pat Onstad 59 62 1.069 16 2 MLS Cups

Statistics current as of November 18, 2007

International Competition

The Dynamo have had a recent run of competition against international clubs for the two years following their inaugural season. By virtue of their MLS Cup victories, the Dynamo have entered prestigious competitions like the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the North American SuperLiga. For the 2008 season, the Dynamo will enter these same tournaments in addition to participating in the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship, held in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Dynamo will also participate in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League season.


All-time record vs. opponents

Opponent First Meeting Last Meeting GP W L T PPG F A +/-
Atlante FC 2008 Superliga, July 2008 1 1 0 0 3.000 4 0 + 4
CA Morelia 2007 Superliga, July 2007 1 0 0 1 1.000 1 1 0
Cal Berkeley 2008 Exhibition, February 2008 1 1 0 0 3.000 2 0 + 2
Carolina Dynamo 2006 U.S. Open Cup, August 2006 1 1 0 0 3.000 4 2 + 2
Charleston Battery 2006 U.S. Open Cup, July 2008 4 1 1 2 1.250 3 3 0
Chicago Fire 2006 MLS, May 2008 5 2 2 1 1.400 8 5 + 3
Chivas USA 2006 MLS, May 2008 11 5 2 4 1.727 15 7 + 8
CF America 2007 Superliga, July 2007 1 1 0 0 3.000 1 0 + 1
Club Deportivo Guadalajara 2008 Superliga, July 2008 1 0 1 0 0.000 0 1 - 1
Colorado Rapids 2006 MLS, June 2008 10 6 2 2 2.000 19 11 + 8
Columbus Crew 2006 MLS, April 2008 5 1 1 3 1.200 5 5 0
CSD Municipal 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup, March 2008 2 1 0 1 2.000 3 1 + 2
D.C. United 2006 Texas Pro Soccer Festival, March 2008 7 3 2 2 1.571 6 6 0
Deportivo Saprissa 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup, April 2008 2 0 1 1 0.500 0 3 - 3
FC Dallas 2006 MLS, June 2008 14 7 2 5 1.857 25 14 + 11
Gamba Osaka 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship, February 2008 1 0 1 0 0.000 1 6 - 5
Kansas City Wizards 2006 MLS, April 2008 6 3 1 2 1.833 8 5 + 3
Los Angeles Galaxy 2006 MLS, April 2008 9 3 3 3 1.333 11 11 0
New England Revolution 2006 MLS, March 2008 8 1 3 4 0.875 8 13 - 5
Pachuca CF 2007 Superliga, August 2007 3 1 1 1 1.333 6 7 - 1
Puntarenas FC SAD 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup, March 2007 2 1 1 0 1.500 2 1 + 1
Real Salt Lake 2006 MLS, July 2008 8 4 2 2 1.750 11 10 + 1
Red Bull New York 2006 MLS, May 2008 7 4 1 2 2.000 12 4 + 8
San Jose Earthquakes 2008 MLS, May 2008 3 1 1 1 1.333 2 2 0
Sydney FC 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship, February 2008 1 1 0 0 3.000 3 0 + 3
Toronto FC 2007 MLS, June 2008 5 3 1 1 2.000 9 5 + 4
119 52 29 38 1.630 169 123 +46

Includes all in-season MLS and Playoffs, Domestic and International Club Competitions, plus pre-season and exhibition matches as of July 15th, 2008. Games decided by penalty shootout are counted as ties.

See also

References

  1. ^ "De La Hoya new Dynamo equity partner". mls.net. 2008-02-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Dynamo allow goal, but stay hot, houstondynamo.com, July 22, 2007
  3. ^ MLS wants owners to sell Dynamo, Houston Chronicle, November 21, 2007
  4. ^ Dynamo For Sale; De La Hoya Group Interested, MyFoxHouston.com, November 21, 2007
  5. ^ De La Hoya on the way to Dynamo, HoustonDynamo.com, February 26, 2008
  6. ^ Canales, Andrea (May 6, 2008). "De La Hoya plans for his MLS future". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  7. ^ "Houston Dynamo introduces 'Dynamo Diesel' as its new mascot" (Press release). Major League Soccer. 2007-04-03. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Dynamo Girls". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 2007-10-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ "Dynamo Diesel: About Diesel". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 2007-10-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ "Dynamo stadium could open in 2010". Houston Chronicle. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-10-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b Barr, Greg (2007-08-24). "Dynamo sports soccer sombrero as Amigo Energy sponsors team". Houston Business Journal. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ "Dynamo, Amigo Energy announce historic business partnership" (Press release). Major League Soccer. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-10-21. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b "The Houston Dynamo Has a New Friend". 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-10-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Source: http://web.mlsnet.com/players/roster.jsp?club=t200
  15. ^ "De La Hoya new Dynamo equity partner". mls.net. 2008-02-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


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