Chicago Fire FC

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Template:MLS team The Chicago Fire is a Chicago area professional soccer club with offices in Bridgeview, Illinois, USA. It participates in Major League Soccer. The club was founded October 8th, 1997 on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In 1998, their first season in the league, the Fire won the MLS Cup as well as the US Open Cup (the "double"). They have also won the 2000, 2003, and 2006 US Open Cup. The team colors are red and white. While the Fire originally played at Soldier Field, the club now have their own stadium, Toyota Park at 71st and Harlem Avenue. Toyota Park is owned by the Village of Bridgeview and operated by AEG, the owners of the Fire.

The Chicago Fire has had a cooperative agreement with Monarcas Morelia, a Mexican First Division football club, since 2001. The partnership incorporates playing, coaching, and executive personnel, as well as sharing of business and development practices.

The club also has through its reserves program, the Chicago Fire Premier collegiate amateur team playing in the Premier Development League, and the Chicago Fire Juniors youth clubs, a substantial youth development system by American standards. It also has a charitable community entity, the FireWorks for Kids Foundation. The Fire also keeps a close connection with its predecessor club the Chicago Sting by holding frequent commemmorative events, reunions, and wearing Sting-inspired shirts.

History

File:Cf97openingdaylineup.jpg
Chicago Fire's starting eleven line up at the club's 2006 home opener.

Founded October 8th, 1997 in a ceremony on Navy Pier, the Chicago Fire Soccer Club immediately tapped into the ethnic makeup of its city, bringing in Polish players like Peter Nowak, Jerzy Podbrozny, and Roman Kosecki, Mexican Jorge Campos, and Czech Lubos Kubik. While all showed their talent while playing for Chicago (especially Nowak, the club captain for 5 years) it was the young American players that overall proved most successful and integral to success continuing to this day. They won the "double" in 1998, beating DC United to take the MLS Cup, and a week later the Columbus Crew to win the U.S. Open Cup. They are the most successful club in the modern U.S. Open Cup, winning championships in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006.

The club's first coach, Bob Bradley, suddenly and unexpectedly left after the 2002 season to lead the Metrostars, the club from his home state. After an extensive search the club selected Dave Sarachan, the top assistant on the US national team, to lead the team. Chicago qualified for the 2003 league final, after a season that saw them resettle at Soldier Field after being forced to play in west suburban Naperville, Illinois while the stadium underwent massive renovations. Despite this, they amassed the best record in the league and captured the 2003 MLS Supporters' Shield, awarded for the regular season's best record. 2003 also saw club captain Peter Nowak retire and take a position in the front office, only to depart a year later to become coach at DC United. In 2006, the club moved into a brand new purpose-built 20,000 capacity stadium at the corner of 71st Street and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, on the southwest side of Chicago.

Despite success consistently throughout its history, especially in the U.S. Open Cup, the team is anxious to win another MLS title. Coach Sarachan, entering his fifth season in charge, has been under pressure from fans and the club to produce a league championship sooner rather than later.

Chicago's chief rival is FC Dallas. Since 2001, the two clubs compete annually for the Brimstone Cup (established by the fans of both teams), which goes to the club that wins the season series between them. While FC Dallas remains the most historically heated rival, recent years have fostered venom between the Fire and the New England Revolution with the clubs ending each other's season every year since 2001.

A number of famous players have worn the Fire shirt, including the US internationals Chris Armas, Frank Klopas, Eric Wynalda, DaMarcus Beasley, Josh Wolff, Tony Sanneh, Carlos Bocanegra, and Justin Mapp; and other Americans like Jesse Marsch, C.J. Brown, Ante Razov, Zach Thornton, and Chris Rolfe. Chicago has also brought in established international talent such as Peter Nowak, Lubos Kubik, Hristo Stoichkov, and younger players like Damani Ralph, and Ivan Guerrero.

Club logo and colors

File:Cf97tunnelsign.jpg
Traditional club sign mounted in the player tunnel of Toyota Park featuring the club logo, Chicago municipal flag, and club motto; "Tradition, Honor, Passion". Hooray for the Fire!!! Woohoo!!

The Chicago Fire logo is derived from the standard style of a Fire Department's crest (also shown by the Chicago Fire Department). The shape is also known as a Florian's cross, often confused with the Maltese cross, and was picked in part due to the wishes of original GM Peter Wilt to create an image that was both as timeless as those of the NHL Original Six and evocative of European soccer. There is a stylized 'C' in the center representing Chicago, similar to the logos of the Bears and Cubs. The six star points around the center reference the four six-pointed stars in the municipal flag of the City of Chicago. The four stars in the city's flag represent the four monumental events in the history of the city, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the 1893 World's Fair, the 1933 World's Fair, and the Fort Dearborn Massacre.

The original Fire shirts in 1998 were chosen because of their resemblance to a Chicago fireman's coat, featuring broad horizontal stripes across the torso and sleeves. The home jerseys were rendered in red and white with "FIRE" in silver on the front; the away shirts were white and black in this same style. Over the years the look has become more stylized but the core idea of the home shirts being all-red with a white horizontal chest stripe has remained constant, even though the uniform manufacturer has changed from Nike in 1998, to Puma in 2003, and then adidas in 2006. Away/secondary shirts have changed over the years from the aforementioned white/black in 1998, to white/navy, and the white/red style currently used. In 2005 a popular light blue-colored third shirt based on the Municipal Flag of Chicago was worn but discontinued during the change in manufacturer to adidas.

Aside from the badge, jersey style, and colors. the club and their fans frequently use the rich civic symbolism of Chicago in materials they produce. The six-pointed Chicago stars are prominent but the light blue color, municipal device (Y-circle), and skyline appear on the club website, scarves, and banners in the stadium. The Municipal Flag is also favored for display by fans of the club; somewhat akin to the use of the flag of Catalonia for FC Barcelona fans - but without the associated nationalism.

Fans

Fire supporters in the "Harlem End" of Toyota Park

There is a considerable ultras culture for the club, a phenomenon fairly unique in the United States. Ultras groups and fan clubs occupy an area behind the north goal in the Harlem End of Toyota Park (Sections 118 and 117) loosely referred to as Section 8. This term stems from both the numbering of the original sector of Soldier Field they occupied, as well as the American military designation of discharged soldiers declared mentally unfit for service. Section 8 Chicago, the Independent Supporters' Association for the club, oversees the activities of the various groups; the largest include Barn Burners 1871 (the oldest group, established before the club was founded), Fire Ultras '98 (a Polish ultras group), and Ultras Red-Side (a multiethnic ultras group). Other smaller groups are Sector Latino (a Latin "barra"-style group), Mike Ditka Street Crew, Whiskey Brothers Aught Five, Ladder 97, Blitzer Mob and Arsonists. Though emulating varied support styles from Chicago and throughout the world, groups as part of Section 8 are allied and generally fall under the ultras designation. Section 8 Chicago ISA is a non-profit organisation recognised by the state.

Other than the supporters' groups, the club is recognised for its stadiumwide vocal and visual support, especially for important matches. Call-and-response cheering amongst the crowd is commonplace. It is one of the few American sports clubs to engage in the acts of tifo, or visual displays put on by fans before the match to show their pride and inspire the players on the field.

Players

Current roster

As of March 12, 2007 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 United States USA David Mahoney
2 DF United States USA C.J. Brown
3 FW United States USA Calen Carr
5 DF United States USA Jim Curtin
8 MF United States USA Diego Gutierrez
9 FW United States USA Chad Barrett
10 MF Brazil BRA Thiago
12 DF United States USA Logan Pause
13 MF France FRA Pascal Bedrossian
14 MF United States USA Chris Armas (captain)
16 MF United States USA Brian Plotkin
17 FW United States USA Chris Rolfe
18 GK United States USA Matt Pickens
19 DF United States USA Jeff Curtin
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF United States USA Justin Mapp
23 DF Honduras HON Iván Guerrero
25 DF Costa Rica CRC Gonzalo Segares
27 DF United States USA Jordan Russolillo
31 MF United States USA Floyd Franks
32 DF United States USA Dasan Robinson
— MF United States USA Mike Banner
— FW United States USA Jerson Monteiro
— GK United States USA Nick Noble
— MF United States USA Nate Norman
— DF United States USA Bakary Soumare
— DF Trinidad and Tobago TRI Osei Telesford
— DF United States USA Daniel Woolard
— DF United States USA Erik Hort
Source: http://web.mlsnet.com/players/roster.jsp?club=t100

Changes for the 2007 MLS Season

In

Out

Notable players

Head coaches

Club presidents

General managers

Ring of Fire

The "Ring of Fire" was established in 2003 by the Chicago Fire and the Chicago Fire Alumni Association as permanent tribute to honor those who have made the Chicago Fire a proud and successful club over the course of its history. Aside from the initial member, only "Ring of Fire" members can select new inductees, and no more than one can be selected any year. The names of the "Ring of Fire" are prominently displayed in Chicago's home stadium. On July 22, 2006, the first former front office member, ex-General Manager Peter Wilt, was selected for induction into the "Ring of Fire."

Honors

  • MLS Cup:
    • Winner (1): 1998
    • Runner-up (2): 2000, 2003
  • US Open Cup:
    • Winner (4): 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006
    • Runner-up (1): 2004

International competition

Club records

MLS regular season only, through 2006

Home stadiums

Average attendance

regular season/playoffs

  • 1998: 17,887/22,677
  • 1999: 16,016/8,197
  • 2000: 13,387/8,431
  • 2001: 16,388/11,239
  • 2002: 12,922/9,434
  • 2003: 14,005/14,961
  • 2004: 17,153/missed playoffs
  • 2005: 17,238/11,493
  • 2006: 14,088/10,217
  • All-Time: 15,419

Famous supporters

Club system

Television and radio

Fire matches are televised by Comcast Sports Network of Chicago. In years past, matches have also appeared on WCIU-TV. Kenn Tomasch, Kenny Stern and Chris Doran are the announcers.

On radio, the Fire have all matches broadcast in Spanish by "La Tremenda" WRTO-AM; Oscar Guzman, Adrian Camacho and Enrique Fernandez handle the announcers duties. Matches are also broadcast in Polish by WNVR with Jacek Zielinski doing the announcing.

Year-by-year

Year Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup
1998 2nd, West Champions Champions
1999 3rd, West Quarterfinals Round of 16
2000 1st, Central Final Champions
2001 1st, Central Semifinals Semifinals
2002 3rd, East Quarterfinals Round of 16
2003 1st, East* Final Champions
2004 5th, East Did not qualify Final
2005 3rd, East Semifinals Semifinals
2006 3rd, East Quarterfinals Champions

* Won MLS Supporters Shield

External links

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