D.C. United

D.C. United logo
Full name	D.C. United
Nickname(s)	United, DCU, Black-and-Red
Founded	1994
Stadium	RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. (Capacity: 45,596; 19,467 for MLS matches[1])
Owner	William H.C. Chang
President	Kevin Payne
Head Coach	Ben Olsen
League	Major League Soccer
2011	Eastern Conference: 7th Overall: 13th Playoffs: DNQ
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors Third colors
Current season

D.C. United is an American professional soccer (association football) club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.

Over the club's history, D.C. United has been considered to be the flagship franchise of MLS, having won 12 international and domestic titles. Domestically, United has been one of the most successful MLS clubs. United has won the U.S. Open Cup twice, and holds an MLS record for most MLS Cup and Supporters' Shields apiece, winning each honor four times. United was the also the first club to win both the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters' Shield consecutively.^[2]

On the international stage, D.C. United has competed in both the CONCACAF Champions League and its predecessor, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The club is also the only American soccer club to ever compete in a CONMEBOL (South American) competition, participating in the 2005 and 2007 editions of the Copa Sudamericana. In 1998, the club won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.^[3] Subsequently, United won the now-defunct Copa Interamericana, a competition between the CONCACAF on CONMEBOL champion that year to determine the best soccer club in the Americas. In the 1998, and final edition of the Copa Interamericana, D.C. United defeated Vasco da Gama of Brazil to take the title.^[4]

The team's home field is the 45,596-seat Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, owned by the District of Columbia and located on the Anacostia River. The team has proposed building a new 24,000-seat soccer-specific stadium at multiple possible sites in the Washington metropolitan area.^[5] The team is owned by San Francisco-based William H.C. Chang through the consortium D.C. United Holdings. The team's head coach is former long-time starting midfielder Ben Olsen, who has coached the team since 2010.

Players such as Jaime Moreno, Marco Etcheverry, and Eddie Pope are among the team's most successful stars. D.C. United has a strong fan base, with three supporters' clubs and one of the highest attendance averages in Major League Soccer.^[6] 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 alludes to the "United" appellation commonly found in the names of soccer teams in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.^[7]

History[link]

For the current season see 2012 D.C. United season

Prior to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation fulfilled promises to FIFA by aiding in the foundation of a new professional league. On June 15, 1994, Major League Soccer selected Washington, D.C. out of twenty-two applicants to host one of the first seven teams, with three more added before the league's launch.^[8] Like many team names in MLS, the team's name was chosen as a reflection of the names of European clubs, such as Leeds United.

D.C. United won the 2004 Eastern Conference championship in what has been called one of the best games in MLS history.

On April 6, 1996, D.C. United played in the league's inaugural match against the San Jose Clash in Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California.^[8] In the league's early years, D.C. was the most successful of all the teams. Bruce Arena, the club's first coach, led the team to the first "double" in modern U.S. soccer history in 1996, beating the Los Angeles Galaxy to take the first MLS Cup and the USL First Division club the Rochester Raging Rhinos to win the U.S. Open Cup. D.C. repeated its MLS Cup victory in 1997 against the Colorado Rapids, with the match hosted at RFK Stadium. The team also saw early successes in CONCACAF competitions, winning both the Champions' Cup and the Interamerican Cup in 1998.^[2]

In October 1998, Arena left the team to direct the U.S. men's national team. Arena's departure marked the beginning of a downturn in the team's fortunes.^[9] While the club again won the MLS Cup in 1999 under coach Thomas Rongen, lackluster results in 2000 and 2001 led to Rongen's departure and his replacement by Ray Hudson in 2002. The team did not, however, fare much better under Hudson, and Piotr Nowak replaced him before the start of the 2004 season.^[10] The club's first season under Nowak was marred by injuries in the early going, and some players were known to have complained about Nowak's methods.^[11] 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. There they advanced past the New England Revolution on penalty kicks in what has been called one of the best games in MLS history.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} United then defeated the Kansas City Wizards to take their fourth MLS Cup.^[2]

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.^[17] 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.^[18]

In 2005, the club made MLS history by becoming the first United States-based team to participate in Copa Sudamericana, entering in the Round of sixteen.^[19] Since 2006, United has played well against international competition, beating Scottish champions Celtic F.C. and drawing Real Madrid in Seattle. In addition, the 2006 MLS All-Star Team, which included eight United players and was managed by United's manager Piotr Nowak, defeated English champions Chelsea.^[10] In 2006 and 2007, the United became the first club in league history to win the MLS Supporters' Shield consecutively.

Since their back-to-back Shields, the club has not qualified for the playoffs, marking a downturn in the club's form. United won their last major title in 2008, winning the U.S. Open Cup. In 2008 and 2009, United had dry spells at the tail end of the season, ultimately causing them to miss out on the playoffs. 2010, was otherwise an absymal campaign, winning six matches, drawing four and losing 20, marking their worst record in history. In 2011, United for a record-breaking fourth year, failed to qualify for the playoffs in the second to last week of the campaign.

Colors and badge[link]

The team's colors and original logo were announced on October 17, 1995 along with those of the other ten original teams during a presentation in New York City.^[8] Black and white are D.C. United's primary colors, though the team's nickname is the "Black-and-Red." Red is used to accent the home jersey while white is the main color of the team's away kit. The three stripes along the shoulder – in white at home and black on the road – do not represent the three jurisdictions of the Washington Metropolitan Area (Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia); rather, they represent the fact that the team's kits are made by Adidas. The team's shirt sponsor is German motor company Volkswagen^[10] In 2011, the team introduced a predominantly red third kit with black accents to be worn four or more times in the season.^[20] The team has also previously used white away uniforms with red stripes. White and red are the colors of the flag of Washington, D.C., and the stripes are also reminiscent of those used on the flag. Goalkeepers usually distinguish themselves with a red or green colored shirt.

The team's original shield was implemented in 1996 consisting of the team's name, D.C. United, above a black Bald Eagle facing right on a red field, clawing three soccer balls overlaid on three white stars. The three stars and balls were intended to represent the region's three jurisdictions. The bird, associated with the federal government based in Washington, D.C., symbolizes many of the attributes of the team, including speed and power. The logo was redesigned before the 1998 season. The current design reoriented the eagle facing left, and removed the three stars below it, whose metaphor was retained by three raised wing feathers. At the center of the eagle is a single gold colored star and soccer ball, which represents the team's victory in Major League Soccer's inaugural cup in 1996.^[21] The logo can also be adorned with four silver stars above it, representing the MLS Cups the team has won.

Kit evolution[link]

• Home

1996–2001

2002–2003

2004–2005

2006–2007

2008–2009

2010–2011

2012

• Away

1996–1997

1998–1999

2000–2002

2003–2004

2005

2006–2007

2008–2009

2010–2011

2012

• Third/Special

1997–1998

1999–2001

2003

2007

2011–2012

Sponsorship[link]

Stadium[link]

RFK Stadium has been home to D.C. United for the team's entire existence.

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (RFK) has been home to D.C. United since the club's founding in 1996. RFK was built in 1961 as a dual use baseball and American football stadium. Prior to 1996, it periodically hosted soccer matches, including the 1980 Soccer Bowl, the 1993 Supercoppa Italiana, and five matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. When the Washington Nationals baseball team shared the field from 2005 to 2007, there were criticisms regarding problems with the playing surface and even the dimensions of the field.^[23] The D.C. United Training Complex is located north of the stadium, and is where the Reserve Division team plays.^[24]

Several regional university stadiums have been used by the team for Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches, including Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1996,^[25] and George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia in 2010.^[26] Similarly, the team has also used the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Maryland for multiple early-round games in U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions' Cup since it opened in 2001.^[27][28][29] Exhibition games have also been played in nearby FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.^[30]

In July 2006, D.C. United proposed building a new stadium along the Anacostia River as part of a redevelopment plan for Anacostia Park. However disputes with the city government about the proposal forced the team to consider other sites.^[5][31] In February 2009, the team announced plans for a new stadium in nearby Prince George's County, Maryland close to FedEx Field. Dubbed the Prince George's County Soccer Stadium, this proposal ran into similar trouble when the County Council voted to send a letter to the Maryland General Assembly opposing the stadium plan.^[32] Fear that the lack of a new stadium might cause the team to leave the Washington, D.C. area caused protests on May 9, 2009.^[33]

In October 2009, the Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to explore the possibility of building a 17,000- to 20,000-seat soccer stadium that could serve as D.C. United's permanent home, as well as host concerts, lacrosse games and other events, to woo D.C. United to Baltimore. The proposed stadium complex, according to Dixon's letter, would be part of a "green mixed-use project" with access to light rail, Interstates 95 and 295. A potential location mentioned for the stadium is in the 42-acre (170,000 m²) Westport Waterfront project.^[34] A feasibility study has been commissioned by the Maryland Stadium Authority was expected to be released in December 2010.^[35] Since then two sites in Washington, D.C. have also been proposed, one near Buzzard Point, and one as part of a redevelopment of Capital City Market.^[36]

Club culture[link]

Supporters and rivalries[link]

Supporters display a tifo supporting head coach Ben Olsen during a regular season match against the FC Dallas