Chicago Fire (MLS)
| Chicago Fire | |||
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Chicago Fire Football Club | ||
| Seat | Chicago , Illinois , USA | ||
| founding | 1997 | ||
| Colours | Red White | ||
| owner | Joe Mansueto | ||
| president | Joe Mansueto | ||
| Website | chicago-fire.com | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Head coach | Raphael Wicky | ||
| Venue | Soldier Field | ||
| Places | 61,500 | ||
| league | Major League Soccer | ||
| 2019 | Eastern Conference: 8th place Overall table: 17th place |
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The Chicago Fire Football Club (2019 Chicago Fire Soccer Club ), commonly known as Chicago Fire , is a franchise of professional football - League Major League Soccer (MLS), headquartered in Chicago , Illinois . The franchise was founded on October 8, 1997 and began playing in the 1998 MLS season .
The team's greatest successes to date include winning the MLS Cup in 1998 and the cup successes in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006.
The main shareholder of the franchise has been Joe Mansueto since September 2019 .
history
1997–1998: Founding and double
The Chicago Fire Soccer Club was founded on October 8, 1997, the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire , in a ceremony at Chicago's Navy Pier . The team was created taking into account the ethnic makeup of the Chicago population. In addition to Polish , Czech and Mexican players (the best-known include Piotr Nowak , Luboš Kubík and Jorge Campos ), the young US players in particular developed into top performers.
In the very first season, the team won the double . First the MLS Cup was won by a win against DC United , followed a week later by the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup by a final victory over Columbus Crew .
1999–2006: Cup successes
Two years later the cup was won for the second time. After the 2002 season , successful coach Bob Bradley surprisingly left the team to take over the MetroStars . He was succeeded by Dave Sarachan . He led Fire to the MLS Cup and won the trophy and the MLS Supporters' Shield . In the same season, team captain Piotr Nowak ended his career.
Chicago Fire returned to the newly renovated Soldier Field for the 2004 season after having to move to Cardinal Stadium in Naperville in 2002 and 2003 . In June 2006 the team moved to the newly built Toyota Park . This year Fire won the trophy for the fourth time.
2007–2009: play-off semi-finals
The 2007 MLS season ended Chicago Fire in the regular season with fourth place in the Eastern Conference. In the play-offs, the team was able to reach the semi-finals, but was eliminated there against New England Revolution .
On December 10, 2007, the franchise announced that previous coach Juan Carlos Osorio had resigned for personal reasons. A month later, a new team of coaches was introduced. Former professional soccer player Frank Klopas took over the position of technical director. From then on he took care of personnel planning. The new coach was the previous assistant coach Denis Hamlett . He was joined by the two assistant coaches Mike Jeffries and Chris Armas , who had previously ended his playing career.
In preparation for the 2008 season , the Polish international Tomasz Frankowski and the Paraguayan Líder Mármol were committed. Both left Chicago Fire after a year because they were rarely used. In 2008, the team took second place in the East Conference and only failed in the semi-finals of the play-offs on the later MLS Cup winner Columbus Crew.
After players Mármol and Frankowski left the franchise in 2009 and Diego Gutiérrez announced his resignation, the franchise was able to pay higher salaries to players like Jon Busch and Logan Pause . In 2009 the regular season also ended with second place. In the play-offs, the team failed, just as in 2008, in the semi-finals. In response, Denis Hamlett was fired. Internationally, Chicago Fire made it to the finals in the SuperLiga , but failed there on penalties against the UANL Tigres .
2010–2019: Average Chicago Fire
During the preparation for the MLS season 2010 the Mexican soccer coach Carlos de los Cobos was committed. He previously coached the El Salvador national soccer team for three years . The team had to do without some top players in preparation. So Cuauhtémoc Blanco switched to Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz ; Chris Rolfe and Gonzalo Segares left the team for Europe . Goalkeeper Jon Busch was released. In the summer, Freddie Ljungberg and Nery Castillo, two experienced football players, were signed up. Nevertheless, Chicago did not qualify for the play-offs. In the US Open Cup, the team suffered a defeat in the third round when they lost 1-0 to Charleston Battery . In the SuperLiga they only reached third place in the group. At the end of the season, CJ Brown and Brian McBride announced their retirement as football players.
For the 2011 MLS season , Chicago Fire signed former US international Cory Gibbs . Freddie Ljungberg and the Dutchman Collins John moved back to Europe. On May 30, 2011 coach Carlos de los Cobos was sacked after nine games without a win in a row. The previous Technical Director Frank Klopas took over the office as an interim solution. He reached the final of the US Open Cup with the team. However, Chicago missed the MLS play-offs, despite the fact that they were able to collect 24 points in the last twelve games. After the end of the season, Klopas took over as coach. For the 2012 season , the franchise signed the German Arne Friedrich , who, however, announced the end of his career the following year due to persistent back problems. At the end of October 2013, sports director Javier Leon and coach Frank Klopas resigned. The Canadian Frank Yallop took over both offices .
Despite many innovations and changes in the squad, the team was unable to secure a play-off spot in the 2014 season . In the US Open Cup they reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated 6-0 against the Seattle Sounders . At the end of the season, Logan Pause announced his retirement. He played for the Men in Red for 12 years and was at times captain of the team. He switched to franchise administration as Vice President.
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The following seasons, 2015 and 2016 , were similar. The play-offs were not reached. At the end of the 2015 season, Frank Yallop had to leave as a coach. He was replaced a short time later by the Serb Veljko Paunović . The former national player of Serbia and Montenegro reached 20th place in the overall table in his first season.
For the 2017 season , Chicago Fire signed former German international Bastian Schweinsteiger from Manchester United . Other important transfers were the Hungarian international Nemanja Nikolics and Dax McCarty , one of the most experienced players in Major League Soccer. Longtime goalkeeper Sean Johnson left the franchise.
Since 2020: present
After Joe Mansueto became the new owner in September 2019 , the franchise changed the addition Soccer Club to Football Club for the 2020 season , gave itself a new logo and moved from Bridgeview to Chicago . The home games have since been played again at Soldier Field in Chicago, where the franchise had played from 1998 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2005. The new head coach was the Swiss Raphael Wicky ; Bastian Schweinsteiger ended his career before the season.
Colors and coats of arms
The official colors of the team are red and white. Alternatively, light and dark blue and black are also used.
The shape of the team's logo comes from the standard shape of the fire brigade's coat of arms . The former general manager of Chicago Fire, Peter Wilt , wanted to establish a timeless form for the coat of arms. In the middle of the logo was a capital "C", which stands for Chicago. The same can be found with other teams from the city, such as B. the Chicago Bears or the Chicago Cubs . The six small points around the C represent the shape of the stars on the Chicago flag . This should also commemorate the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871. For the 2020 season, the franchise had a new logo.
The sporting goods supplier Nike , the team's first supplier, suggested that the team be named Chicago Rhythm. The colors should be black and green, and the logo would have been dominated by a cobra . The leadership of Chicago Fire rejected this and instead developed a different concept that has a special focus on the tradition of the Chicago fire department. The design of the player jerseys was based on the jackets of the Chicago fire department. The home kits contain a wide horizontal stripe of white. On the front, within the horizontal stripe, the team name Fire can be seen in blue letters.
Stadion
- Soldier field ; Chicago , Illinois (1998–2001, 2003–2005 since 2020)
- Forest View Park ; Arlington Heights , Illinois (2000) 1st game in the US Open Cup
- McCully Field ; Wheaton , Illinois (2001) 1st game in the US Open Cup
- Cardinal Stadium / Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium ; Naperville , Illinois (2002–2003), (2004) 1 game in the US Open Cup
- Shea Stadium ; Peoria , Illinois (2008, 2011) 2 games in the US Open Cup
- SeatGeek Stadium (until 2018 Toyota Park ); Bridgeview , Illinois (2006-2019)
Since the 2020 season, the team's home games have again been played in Soldier Field in Chicago, which has a capacity of 61,500 .
organization
owner
From 1996 to 2007 the franchise belonged to the Anschutz Entertainment Group , which until then had owned several MLS franchises. In 2007 Andrew Hauptman, chairman of the board of directors of investment firm Andell Holdings, took over the rights to the Chicago Fire and SeatGeek Stadium .
In September 2019, Hauptman sold the franchise to Joe Mansueto ( Morningstar ).
Sponsors
The team's first shirt sponsor was Best Buy , a US consumer electronics retail company , in 2008 . As of the 2012 season, the food company Quaker Oats , a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 2001, has been the club's shirt sponsor. This was replaced in the 2016 season by Valspar, a manufacturer of paint.
Adidas has been the club's supplier since 2010.
Fans and rivals
Fan groups
Chicago Fire has a huge fan and ultra movement by American standards . Chicago Fire fans are known for their vocal support of the team as well as their fan choreography. The ultras and fan club members gather behind the north gate in blocks 117 and 118 of SeatGeek Stadium . This north curve is called "Harlem End" because Harlem Avenue runs at this end of the stadium. This area is also often referred to as "Section 8". This expression has two sources: On the one hand, the fans met in "Section 8" in Soldier Field; on the other hand, the term refers to the American military designation for soldiers who are discharged from the army as mentally unsuitable.
With "Section 8 Chicago" there is an umbrella organization that monitors the activities of the fan clubs. The biggest fan clubs include the “Barn Burners 1871”, “Fire Ultras 98” (a Polish ultra group) and “Ultra Red-Side”. There are also other smaller groups.
Rivalries
Chicago Fire's arch rival is FC Dallas . The clubs have been playing for the Brimstone Cup since 2001. This competition was launched by fans of both clubs. The winner is the team that scores the most points in the regular season comparisons .
In recent years, a rivalry has also developed with the New England Revolution from near Boston . Since 2001, both teams have met on the last day of the regular season.
media
The Fire's games are broadcast on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WPWR-TV local television networks. Selected games are broadcast nationally on ESPN , Fox Sports or Telefutura.
Players and staff
Current professional squad
As of May 14, 2019
| No. | Nat. | Surname | Date of birth | In the franchise since | MLS player status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| goal | |||||
| 1 |
|
David Ousted | Feb. 1, 1985 | 2019 | |
| 30th |
|
Stefan Cleveland | May 25, 1994 | 2017 | |
| 32 |
|
Gabriel Slonina | May 15, 2004 | 2019 | HGP * |
| 45 |
|
Richard Sánchez | Apr 5, 1994 | 2017 | HGP |
|
Kenneth Kronholm | Oct 14, 1985 | 2019 | ||
| Defense | |||||
| 2 |
|
Marcelo | July 27, 1989 | 2019 | |
| 4th |
|
Johan Kappelhof | Aug 5, 1990 | 2016 | |
| 5 |
|
Francisco Calvo | July 8, 1992 | 2019 | |
| 7th |
|
Raheem Edwards | July 15, 1995 | 2018 | |
| 15th |
|
Grant Lillard | Dec 5, 1995 | 2018 | HGP |
| 25th |
|
Jorge Corrales | May 20, 1991 | 2017 | |
| 36 |
|
Andre Reynolds II | May 2, 2001 | 2019 | HGP |
| midfield | |||||
| 6th |
|
Dax McCarty | Apr 30, 1987 | 2017 | |
| 10 |
|
Aleksandar Katai | Feb 6, 1991 | 2018 | DP |
| 11 |
|
Przemysław Frankowski | Apr 12, 1995 | 2019 | |
| 12 |
|
Amando Moreno | Sep 10 1995 | 2019 | |
| 13 |
|
Brandt Bronico | June 20, 1995 | 2017 | |
| 14th |
|
Djordje Mihailović | Nov 10, 1998 | 2017 | HGP |
| 18th |
|
Christian Martínez | Feb 6, 1997 | 2019 | |
| 19th |
|
Mo Adams | 23 Sep 1996 | 2018 | GA |
| 20th |
|
Nicolás Gaitán | Feb. 23, 1988 | 2019 | |
| 31 |
|
Bastian Schweinsteiger | Aug 1, 1984 | 2017 | DP |
| 33 |
|
Jeremiah Gutjahr | Aug 10, 1997 | 2019 | HGP |
| Storm | |||||
| 9 |
|
CJ Sapong | Dec. 27, 1988 | 2019 | |
| 17th |
|
Diego Campos | Oct. 1, 1995 | 2018 | |
| 21st |
|
Fabian Herbers | Aug 17, 1993 | 2019 | |
| 23 |
|
Nemanja Nikolics | Dec. 31, 1987 | 2016 | DP |
| 28 |
|
Elliot Collier | Feb 22, 1995 | 2018 | |
|
Robert Beric | June 17, 1991 | 2020 | ||
HGP: Homegrown Player; DP: Designated Player; * Most recent HGP in MLS history
Previous players
→ See main article list of Chicago Fire players
Coaching staff
-
Veljko Paunović (coach)
-
Marko Mitrović (assistant coach)
-
Eric Gehrig (assistant coach)
-
Aleksandar Sarić (goalkeeping coach)
-
Adrian Lamb (fitness trainer)
-
Brian Bliss (Technical Director)
Previous trainers
-
Bob Bradley (1998-2002)
-
Dave Sarachan (2003-2007)
-
Denis Hamlett (interim) (2007)
-
Juan Carlos Osorio (2007-2008) -
Denis Hamlett (2008-2009)
-
Carlos de los Cobos (2010-2011)
-
Frank Klopas (2011-2013)
-
Frank Yallop (2013-2015)
Ring of Fire
The "Ring Of Fire" was founded in 2003 by Chicago Fire and the Chicago Alumni Association. The aim of this institution is to honor players, coaches and officials who have significantly shaped the development of the team. Every year a new member is accepted into the circle. Only previous members can select a new member. The names of the Ring Of Fire members will be displayed at SeatGeek Stadium.
The members are:
-
Ante Razov , since 2015
-
CJ Brown , since 2012
-
Chris Armas , since 2009
-
Bob Bradley (former coach), since 2007
-
Peter Wilt (former manager), since 2006
-
Luboš Kubík , since 2005 -
Frank Klopas , since 2004
-
Piotr Nowak , since 2003
Youth and development
Chicago Fire Academy
Chicago Fire has a professionally designed youth and player development structure. You are represented by a team in the amateur leagues of the US football system. There are also two organizations that play in the major national youth leagues.
- Chicago Fire U-23 - USL League Two
- Chicago Fire Academy - (U14 to U18 youth teams that are active in the US Soccer Development Academy leagues)
- Chicago Fire Juniors - (U8 to U23 youth teams) locally in Chicago with collaborations in Milwaukee , Western Michigan , Louisiana and Mississippi .
USL partnership
Following the dissolution of the MLS Reserve Division, Chicago Fire has a partnership with the United Soccer League franchise Saint Louis FC .
successes
-
MLS Supporters' Shield
- Winner (1): 2003
-
MLS Eastern Conference
- Winner (Regular Season) (1): 2003
- Winner (Playoff) (1): 2003
-
MLS Western Conference
- Winner (Playoff) (1): 1998
-
MLS Central Conference
- Winner (2): 2000, 2001
-
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
- Winner (4): 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006
- Final (2): 2004, 2011
-
North American Super League
- Final (1): 2009
statistics
Seasonal balance
| season | Regular season | Play-offs |
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup |
CONCACAF Champions League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 2nd place (west) | master | winner | not qualified |
| 1999 | 3rd place (west) | Quarter finals | Round of 16 | Semifinals |
| 2000 | 1st place (Central) | final | winner | not qualified |
| 2001 | 1st place (Central) | Semifinals | Semifinals | not carried out |
| 2002 | 3rd place (east) | Quarter finals | Round of 16 | Quarter finals |
| 2003 | 1st place (east) | final | winner | not qualified |
| 2004 | 5th place (east) | not qualified | final | Semifinals |
| 2005 | 3rd place (east) | Semifinals | Semifinals | not qualified |
| 2006 | 3rd place (east) | Quarter finals | winner | not qualified |
| 2007 | 4th place (east) | Semifinals | Round of 16 | not qualified |
| 2008 | 2nd place (east) | Semifinals | Quarter finals | not qualified |
| 2009 | 2nd place (east) | Semifinals | Round of 16 | not qualified |
| 2010 | 4th place (east) | not qualified | Round of 16 | not qualified |
| 2011 | 6th place (east) | not qualified | final | not qualified |
| 2012 | 4th place (east) | Knockout Round | 3rd round | not qualified |
| 2013 | 6th place (east) | not qualified | Semifinals | not qualified |
| 2014 | 9th place (east) | not qualified | Semifinals | not qualified |
| 2015 | 10th place (east) | not qualified | Semifinals | not qualified |
| 2016 | 10th place (east) | not qualified | Semifinals | not qualified |
| 2017 | 3rd place (east) | Knockout Round | Round of 16 | not qualified |
| 2018 | 10th place (east) | not qualified | Semifinals | not qualified |
- ↑ Since 2002 the competition has started in the autumn of the previous year. Until 2008 under the name CONCACAF Champions' Cup .
Records
These records relate to the regular season up to and including the 2011 season:
- Most games: CJ Brown , 296
- Most goals: Ante Razov, 76
- Most assists: Piotr Nowak , 48
- Most clean sheets: Zach Thornton, 57
Visitor average
Regular season / play-offs
- 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 / not qualified
- 2005: 17,238 / 11,493
- 2006: 14,088 / 10,217
- 2007: 16,490 / 17,834
- 2008: 17,034 / 17,312
- 2009: 14,689 / 21,626
- 2010: 15,814 / not qualified
- 2011: 14,553 / not qualified
- 2012: 16.407 / 10.923
- 2013: 15,228 / not qualified
- 2014: 16,076 / not qualified
- 2015: 16,003 / not qualified
- 2016: 15,602 / not qualified
- 2017: 17,383 / 11,647
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Monday kickaround . In: washingtonpost.com . Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ Fire, CLDC Part Ways . Retrieved May 12, 2012.
- ^ Fire Names Frank Klopas Head Coach . Retrieved May 12, 2012.
- ↑ Klopas, Leon step down . Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ^ Chicago Fire Names Frank Yallop as New Head Coach and Director of Soccer . Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ↑ The Legend Continues: Logan Pause named Vice President of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club . chicago-fire.com. November 3, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ↑ Football instead of soccer: Chicago Fire is renamed and has a new logo , kicker.de, November 21, 2019, accessed on November 22, 2019.
- ↑ We're Back: Soldier Field 2020 , chicagofirefc.com, October 8, 2019, accessed November 22, 2019.
- ↑ Chicago Fire Soccer Club Announces Ownership Change and Relocation , chicago-fire.com, September 13, 2019, accessed September 13, 2019.
- ^ Chicago Fire Players. Accessed May 14, 2019 .
- ^ Chicago Fire - Technical Staff. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 1, 2012 ; accessed on March 21, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m MLS Factbook 2012. (PDF; 1.1 MB) MLSsoccer.com, archived from the original on December 24, 2012 ; accessed on July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ TheCup.us - game details for the competitions. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ rsssf.com - game details for the competitions. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 1998 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 1999 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2000 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2001 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2002 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2003 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2004 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2005 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2006 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
- ↑ MLS - 2007 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English).
Eastern Conference: Atlanta United | Chicago Fire | FC Cincinnati | Columbus Crew | DC United | Inter Miami | Montreal Impact | New England Revolution | New York City FC | New York Red Bulls | Orlando City | Philadelphia Union | Toronto FC
Western Conference: Colorado Rapids | FC Dallas | Houston Dynamo | LA Galaxy | Los Angeles FC | Minnesota United | Nashville SC | Portland Timbers | Real Salt Lake | San Jose Earthquakes | Seattle Sounders | Sporting Kansas City | Vancouver Whitecaps
Future Franchises: Austin FC (2021) | Charlotte (2022) | Sacramento Republic (2023) | St. Louis City (2023)
Former franchises: CD Chivas USA (2005–2014) | Miami Fusion (1998-2001) | Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-2001)