Seattle Sounders (USL)

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Seattle Sounders
Full name Seattle Sounders
Nickname(s) Sounders
Founded 1994
Ground Starfire Sports Complex
(Capacity 2,000)
Chairman Flag of the United States Adrian Hanauer
Manager Flag of the United States Brian Schmetzer
League USL First Division
2008 in progress
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Seattle Sounders is an American professional soccer team, founded in 1994. The team is a member of the USL First Division, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

They currently play at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, having previously played at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington for many years. The team is currently coached by Brian Schmetzer. The team's colors are blue and white.

The team has a sister organization, the Seattle Sounders Women, who play in the women's USL W-League.

Contents

[edit] 2008 Roster

as of May 25, 2008

No. Position Player
1 Flag of the United States GK Ben Dragavon
2 Flag of the United States DF Noah Merl
4 Flag of England DF Danny Jackson
5 Flag of the United States FW Andre Schmid
7 Flag of the United States MF Leighton O'Brien
8 Flag of France MF Sébastien Le Toux
9 Flag of Jamaica FW Craig Tomlinson
13 Flag of the United States DF John Fishbaugher
14 Flag of the United States MF Jason Cascio
15 Flag of the United States MF Kevin Sakuda
No. Position Player
16 Flag of the United States MF Kenji Treschuk
17 Flag of the United States DF Zach Scott
18 Flag of the United States FW Roger Levesque
20 Flag of France MF Youssuf Kante
21 Flag of the United States DF Adam West
22 Flag of the United States GK Chris Eylander
26 Flag of Puerto Rico DF Taylor Graham
31 Flag of the United States FW Josh Gardner
77 Flag of Mexico MF Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar
95 Flag of Mexico GK Alberto Salinas

[edit] History

The club was founded in 1994 and named after the original original Seattle Sounders soccer team, which played from 1974 to 1983 in the North American Soccer League.

The A-League/USL-1 Sounders have four championships to their credit, winning the league cup in 1995, 1996, 2005 and again in 2007. Seattle finished with the best regular season record in the league in 1994, 2002, and 2007. The Sounders have numerous division titles and advanced to the league finals in both 2004 and 2005. In 2004 the Sounders lost the championship 2-0 at Montreal. In 2005 Seattle drew the Richmond Kickers 1-1 at Qwest Field before claiming the championship 4-3 in penalty kicks. In 2007, the Sounders defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-0 to claim their fourth championship title.

The Sounders formed a partnership with English side Cambridge United in 2006 due to Adrian Hanauer's involvement with both clubs.

[edit] MLS Expansion

Main article: Seattle Sounders FC

A Major League Soccer spokesman confirmed that Seattle will host the a 2009 Major League Soccer expansion team, which will be partly owned by Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and will play its home games at Qwest Field. The name was released on April 7, 2008 as Seattle Sounders FC, continuing the Sounders name beyond the USL franchise. Hanauer confirmed in a press conference that the USL Sounders' last season in Seattle will be 2008.[citation needed]

[edit] Year-by-year

Year League Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup
1994 APSL 1st Semifinals Did not enter
1995 A-League 2nd Champion Semifinals
1996 A-League 3rd Champion Quarterfinals
1997 USISL A-League 2nd, Pacific Division Finals Did not qualify
1998 USISL A-League 2nd, Pacific Conference Semifinals Did not qualify
1999 USL A-League 3rd, Pacific Conference Semifinals 3rd Round
2000 USL A-League 1st, Pacific Conference Semifinals 2nd Round
2001 USL A-League 5th, Western Did not qualify 2nd Round
2002 USL A-League 1st, Pacific Conference Semifinals 3rd Round
2003 USL A-League 1st, Pacific Conference Finals Quarterfinals
2004 USL A-League 4th, Western Final Did not qualify
2005 USL First Division 4th Champion 3rd Round
2006 USL First Division 7th Did not qualify 3rd Round
2007 USL First Division 1st Champion Semifinals

[edit] Stadium

The Sounders had played at Qwest Field full-time since 2003. The Sounders played the first-ever sporting event at the stadium on July 28, 2002 before over 25,000 fans. Before this facility was built, the team played at Memorial Stadium. When the current Sounders first formed in 1994 they also played a few home matches at the Tacoma Dome.

After opening the 2008 season May 10 at Qwest Field, the Sounders will play their remaining 14 league home contests at Starfire Sports Complex.

[edit] Rival Clubs

The Seattle Sounders have two bitter rivals - the southern club Portland Timbers and the northern club Vancouver Whitecaps. These three teams compete in the yearly Cascadia Cup. The Sounders won the trophy in 2006 and 2007.

[edit] Supporters

The original Seattle Sounders were supported by the "Seattle Sounders Booster Club" in the 1970's and early 1980's. When the new club was formed in 1994 another supporters group started up. Eventually that group called itself "The Pod" in honor of the club mascot, an Orca whale. In 2005, after the earlier group went moribund, the "Emerald City Supporters" were born. They drafted the motto "No Equal" that same season as the club won the USL-1 title. In 2007, a social group called the Sounders Legion was started.

[edit] Coaches

[edit] Titles, Trophies & Major Achievements

CONCACAF Champions Cup

  • 4th-place (1): 1996

League Championship

  • Winner (4): 1995, 1996, 2005, 2007
  • Runner Up (1): 2004

Commissioner's Cup (Top of the Regular Season Table)

  • Winner (3): 1994, 2002, 2007

Pacific Division Champion

  • Winner (3): 2000, 2002, 2003
  • Runner Up (2): 1997, 1998

Western Conference Champion

  • Winner (1): 2004

Cascadia Cup

  • Winner (2): 2006, 2007

[edit] League Honors

MVP

Leading scorer

Goalkeeper of the Year

Defender of the Year

Coach of the Year

Rookie of the Year

First team All Star

[edit] Notable Former Players

[edit] External links


[edit] References