D.C. United

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D.C. United

Year founded	1995
League	Major League Soccer
Nickname	Black and Red
Stadium	RFK Stadium
Coach	Piotr Nowak, 2004—
Owner	AEG
Home colors 　 Away colors
First Game San Jose Clash 1–0 D.C. United (Spartan Stadium; April 6, 1996)
Largest Win 6–1, once; 5–0, 4 times
Worst Defeat Kansas City Wizards 6–1 D.C. United (Arrowhead Stadium; June 21, 1997)
All-time Top Scorer Jaime Moreno (103)
Supporter Groups La Barra Brava, Screaming Eagles, La Norte, Fan Club United
MLS Cup
1996, 1997, 1999, 2004
US Open Cup
1996
Supporters' Shield
1997, 1999, 2006

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 56,454-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. D.C. United's supporters' clubs include La Barra Brava, the Screaming Eagles and La Norte. "Talon", an eagle, is the team mascot.

[edit] History

Original D.C. United logo 1996

The club was one of the founding ten members of the MLS in 1996 and was initially the most successful. They 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.

From the back of domestic success, the club's first coach, Bruce Arena, went on to direct the national team. Although United would win an MLS Cup in the season after his departure, the loss of Arena would signal a significant downturn in the team's fortunes. While Thomas Rongen's initial year was a success, two lackluster seasons led to his departure and replacement by Ray Hudson in 2002. The team did not fare much better under Hudson, however, and Piotr Nowak replaced him prior to the start of the 2004 season. The season was marred by injuries in the early-going, and some players were known to have complained about Nowak's methods. A strong late finish propelled United into the playoffs with 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." United then defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3–2 to take their fourth MLS Cup.

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. They also have a unique (among MLS teams anyway) rivalry with the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer Leagues, as they compete for the Coffee Pot Cup, a trophy setup by the two sides' supporters, every time they face each other.

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.

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 have 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.

[edit] Honors

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998
  • Third place (2): 1997, 1999
• CONCACAF Giants Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 2001
• InterAmerican Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998
• MLS Cup:
  • Winners (4): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004
  • Runners-up (1): 1998
• MLS Supporters' Shield:
  • Winners (3): 1997, 1999, 2006
  • Runners-up (1): 1998
• US Open Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1996
  • Runners-up (1): 1997

[edit] Current roster

As of November 22, 2006

No. Position Player 1 GK Troy Perkins 2 DF David Stokes 4 DF Brandon Prideaux 5 DF Facundo Erpen 6 MF Domenic Mediate 7 MF Matias Donnet 8 MF Justin Moose 10 MF Christian Gómez 11 FW Alecko Eskandarian 12 DF John Wilson 14 MF Ben Olsen 16 MF Brian Carroll

No. Position Player 17 MF Joshua Gros 18 GK Nick Rimando 19 MF Clyde Simms 21 DF Stephen deRoux 22 MF Devon McTavish 23 FW Jamil Walker 24 MF Jeff Carroll 26 DF Bryan Namoff 30 GK Ryan McIntosh 32 DF Bobby Boswell 99 FW Jaime Moreno - GK Jay Nolly

Source: http://web.mlsnet.com/players/roster.jsp?club=t103

[edit] Notable players

• Freddy Adu (2004–2006)
• Jeff Agoos (1996–2000)
• Bobby Convey (2000–2004)
• Raul Diaz Arce (1996–1997; 2000–2001)
• Marco Etcheverry (1996–2003)
• Christian Gomez (2004—)
• John Harkes (1996–1998)
• Dema Kovalenko (2003–2005)
• Roy Lassiter (1998–1999; 2002)
• Carlos Llamosa (1997–2000)
• Jaime Moreno (1996–2002; 2004—)
• Ryan Nelsen (2001–2005)
• Eddie Pope (1996–2002)
• Tony Sanneh (1996–1998)
• Earnie Stewart (2003–2004)
• Hristo Stoichkov (2003)

[edit] Head coaches

• Bruce Arena (1996–1998)
• Thomas Rongen (1999–2001)
• Ray Hudson (2002–2003)
• Piotr Nowak (2004—)

[edit] Team records

• Games: Jaime Moreno, 238
• Goals: Jaime Moreno, 103
• Assists: Marco Etcheverry, 101
• Shutouts: Nick Rimando, 29

MLS regular season only, through 2006 season

[edit] Home stadium

• RFK Stadium (1996— )

[edit] 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.

[edit] Year-by-year

* Won MLS Supporters' Shield

[edit] International competition

• 1997 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. United Petrotrin -- 1:0
  • Semifinals v. L.A. Galaxy -- 0:1
  • 3rd place v. Chivas de Guadalajara -- 2:2 (shared 3rd place)
• 1998 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. Joe Public F.C. -- 8:0
  • Semifinals v. León -- 2:0
  • Final v. Toluca -- 1:0
• 1998 Interamerican Cup
  • Final v. Vasco da Gama -- 0:1, 2:0 (United wins 2:1 on aggregate)
• 1999 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. C.D. Olimpia -- 1:0
  • Semifinals v. Necaxa -- 1:3
  • 3rd place v. Chicago Fire -- 2:2 (shared 3rd place)
• 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. Alajuelense -- 2:1
  • Semifinals v. Los Angeles Galaxy -- 1:1 (Galaxy advance 4:2 on penalties)
  • 3rd place v. Pachuca -- 1:2
• 2001 CONCACAF Giants Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. Arnett Gardens -- 3:0, 2:1 (United advances 5:1 on aggregate)
  • Semifinals v. Comunicaciones -- 2:1
  • Final v. Club América -- 0:2
• 2002 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Round of 16 v. Comunicaciones -- 0:4, 2:1 (Comunicaciones advances 5:2 on aggregate)
• 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. Harbour View -- 2:1, 2:1 (United advances 4:2 on aggregate)
  • Semifinals v. UNAM Pumas -- 1:1, 0:5 (Pumas advance 6:1 on aggregate)
• 2005 Copa Sudamericana
  • Round of 16 v. Universidad Católica -- 1:1, 2:3 (Católica advances 4:3 on aggregate)
• 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Quarterfinals v. C.D. Olimpia

[edit] 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

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• www.dcunited.com Team's official website
• www.barra-brava.com Barra Brava Supporters' Club
• www.screaming-eagles.com Supporters' Club website
• www.lanorte.com La Norte Supporters' Club
• Official D.C. United board, courtesy of BigSoccer