Colorado Rapids

Colorado Rapids
Basic data
Surname	Colorado Rapids
Seat	Commerce City , Colorado , USA
founding	1996
Colours	Red White
owner	Stan Kroenke
president	Tim Hinchey
Website	coloradorapids.com
First soccer team
Head coach	Anthony Hudson
Venue	Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Places	19,680
league	Major League Soccer
2019	Western Conference: 9th place Overall table: 16th place
home Away

The Colorado Rapids are a franchise of professional football - League Major League Soccer (MLS) from Commerce City , Colorado , a suburb of Denver . The franchise was founded in 1995 and began operating in the 1996 premiere season . The team colors are burgundy red and sky blue.

The name Rapids refers to the rapids of the Colorado River . The home games have been played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City since the 2007 season. In 2010 the Rapids won the MLS Cup for the first time in their history .

history

The first ten years (1996-2006)

The Colorado Rapids are among the ten founding members of Major League Soccer. The owner was the Anschutz Corporation and later its subsidiary Anschutz Entertainment Group . At the end of the first season , the Rapids finished last in the Western Conference and could only achieve 11 wins in 32 games. The Denver team had a number of experienced players in their squad, such as Marcelo Balboa , Chris Woods and Shaun Bartlett . The first coach of the soccer franchise was the Englishman Bob Houghton , who was sacked at the end of the season. Roy Wegerle briefly took over the position of coach on an interim basis as player-coach.

The following season was far more successful. Under the new coach Glenn Myernick and the new general manager, Dan Counce, a number of new players were signed, such as: B. Marcus Hahnemann , Wolde Harris or Paul Bravo. The first games were not very successful, but at the end of the season the team was able to save itself to the penultimate place in the Western Conference and thus got into the play-offs. After victories against the Kansas City Wizards , which were considered favorites, and Dallas Burn , the team faced DC United in the final of the play-offs, the MLS Cup, on October 26, 1997 . Colorado lost the game 2-1, but was able to qualify for the qualifying round for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1998 , where they were eliminated by Club Leon.

The following years became a rollercoaster ride for the Rapids. In 1999 the Rapids reached the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup . The final was lost 2-0 against the Rochester Raging Rhinos . To date, the Rapids are the only MLS club that has lost the cup final to a lower-class team. In 2001 Tim Hankinson became the Rapids coach. His defensive style of play and questionable player commitments caused controversy among fans more than once. After several years of mediocrity, he was fired after the 2004 season.

In 2005 the Rapids were taken over by Kroenks Sports Enterprises. In addition to a new logo, Fernando Clavijo has been hired as a new coach. The Rapids reached the semifinals after a dramatic win on penalties against FC Dallas . In the 2006 season, the Rapids reached the playoffs on the last day of the regular season and reached the semi-finals again.

On the way to the MLS Cup (2007-2010)

In early 2007 the club announced that it had entered into a cooperation with the English Premier League club Arsenal London , which should bring both sides financial and sporting benefits. In the course of this partnership, the Rapids changed their logo. The club colors are no longer blue and black, but burgundy-red and sky-blue. At the same time, a partnership was entered into with the Mexican club CF Pachuca .

In 2010 the club took part in the MLS Cup for the second time in its history . The game against FC Dallas could be won 2-1 after extra time, whereby the championship could be won for the first time.

Recent events (since 2011)

The team was little changed for the 2011 season. The most famous newcomer was the former Irish international Caleb Folan . With a fifth place in the Western Conference, the team was able to qualify for the play-offs. There they failed but in the quarterfinals (Conference semifinals) at Sporting Kansas City. By winning the MLS Cup 2010, the Rapids played in the CONCACAF Champions League , but were eliminated in the group stage. In November 2011, the contract of coach Gary Smith was not renewed. The new coach was the Colombian Óscar Pareja. He led the team to 5th place in the Western Conference in the 2013 season. In the following play-offs you fail in the first round at the Seattle Sounders.

Former soccer player Pablo Mastroeni has been the team's new coach since January 2014 .

Coat of arms and colors

Since 1996, the Colorado Rapids coat of arms has been changed twice. The first logo reflected the environment in Colorado. The lettering Colorado Rapids stood on raging rapids and in the background you could see the mountains of the Rocky Mountains. In 2001 the coat of arms changed and merged with the second logo that had existed up until then. It became a round symbol with a soccer ball outlined in green in the middle. A red logo has existed since 2007, which again carries the hint of the Rocky Mountains.

Just like the coat of arms, the team colors have changed over the past few years. Until 2003, the team played in green and white jerseys. These changed their appearance again and again because the team had different outfitters, but the basic color pattern remained the same. For the 2003 season, the Rapids players wore blue and black jerseys, similar to Inter Milan . This resulted from the fact that the Mexican sporting goods manufacturer Atletica had taken over the shirt design. In 2007 the appearance of the Rapids was completely changed again. The jerseys were now burgundy red and white.

• 

  Colorado Rapids Logo (1995 to 2001)

• 

  Colorado Rapids Logo (2001 to 2006)

• 

  Colorado Rapids Logo (since 2007)

Stadion

• Mile High Stadium ; Denver , Colorado (1996-2001)
• Invesco Field at Mile High ; Denver , Colorado (2002-2006)
• North Area Athletic Complex ; Arvada , Colorado (2003) 1st game in the US Open Cup
• Dick's Sporting Goods Park ; Commerce City , Colorado (since 2007)

The Rapids home games are played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The football stadium was opened on April 7, 2007 and has space for 17,424 spectators and can be expanded to 19,680. The park is owned by Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

Until 2007, the Rapids shared Mile High Stadium and Invesco Field at Mile High with the Denver Broncos .

organization

owner

The franchise is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, owned by the US businessman E. Stanley Kroenke . He bought the Rapids in 2004 from the Anschutz Entertainment Group . In addition to Stan Kroenke, the franchise is also owned by Josh Kroenke, Jim Martin and Matt Hutchings. Martin is President and Chief Executive Officer of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Hutchings is the COO.

Sponsors

The Rapids were one of the last teams in the MLS that did not have a shirt sponsor. In May 2014, a shirt sponsorship agreement was signed with the US technology company Ciao Telecom . The supplier is the German sporting goods manufacturer adidas .

media

All Colorado Rapids players are available on Altitude Television. Like the Rapids, Altitude is part of Kroenke Sports Entertainment. The station can be received in the Rocky Mountain region, especially in the Denver metropolitan area . Individual games can be received nationwide via ESPN-2, NBCSN and Unimas. Furthermore there is the possibility to follow the games via stream on the MLS homepage.

Fans and rivals

Fan groups

Even if the Rapids have always had a comparatively high number of viewers in their history, the history of the fan groups has been changeable. A handful of organized fan clubs came and went. In 2005 and 2006 two new fan clubs were founded. While the "Centennial Firm" is trying to build an ultra scene , the "Class VI" group is an organization of season ticket holders.

Before the 2007 season, the Rapids moved to a new stadium. Part of the stadium is intended for the “Centennial Firm” and will be named “The Front Range”. This is also the name of the club's official fan club.

Rivals: Rocky Mountain Cup

The MLS expansion in 2005 made Real Salt Lake the second Rocky Mountain team in the MLS and the Rapids' closest neighbor. The fans of both clubs then created the Rocky Mountain Cup to consolidate the rivalry between the two clubs. The winner of the Rocky Mountain Cup is the team that wins the most points from the direct duels in the regular season.

The Rocky Mountain Cup is comparable to the Atlantic Cup and the Brimstone Cup.

Players and staff

Current professional squad

As of July 15, 2020

No.	Nat.	Surname	birthday	in the team since	MLS player status
goal
01		Clint Irwin	0Apr 1, 1989	2019
15th		Andre Rawls	Dec 20, 1991	2019
30th		Abraham Rodriguez	July 19, 2002	2020	HGP
50		William Yarbrough	20 Mar 1989	2020
Defense
02		Keegan Rosenberry	Dec 11, 1993	2019
03		Drew Moor	Jan 15, 1993	2019
04th		Danny Wilson	Dec 27, 1991	2018
05		Auston Trusty	Aug 12, 1998	2019
06th		Lalas Abubakar	Dec 25, 1994	2019
13		Sam Vines	May 31, 1999	2018	HGP
14th		Abdul Rwatubyaye	Oct 23, 1996	2019
18th		Jeremy Kelly	Oct 21, 1997	2020
22nd		Sebastian Anderson	0Aug 8, 2002	2019	HGP
24		Kortne Ford	Jan. 26, 1996	2017	HGP
27		Deklan Wynne	20 Mar 1995	2018
midfield
10		Kellyn Acosta	July 24, 1995	2018
15th		Sam Hamilton	July 27, 1995	2017
16		Will Vint	Oct 12, 2001	2020	HGP
19th		Jack Price	Dec 19, 1992	2018
20th		Nicolás Mezquida	Jan. 21, 1992	2018
21st		Younes Namli	June 20, 1994	2020	DP
26th		Cole Bassett	July 28, 2001	2018	HGP
32		Collen Warner	June 24, 1988	2014
52		Braian Galvan	0Oct 6, 2000	2020
Storm
07th		Jonathan Lewis	0June 4th 1997	2019
09		Nicolas Benezet	Feb. 24, 1991	2020
11		Diego Rubio	May 15, 1993	2018
23		Kei Kamara	0Sep 1 1984	2018
99		Andre Shinyashiki	June 11, 1997	2019

Previous players

• see main article: List of Colorado Rapids Players

Coaching staff

As of July 15, 2020

• Robin Fraser - Trainer
• Darren Bazeley - assistant coach
• Neil Emblen - Assistant Coach
• Chris Sharpe - Assistant / Goalkeeping Coach

Trainer

• Bob Houghton (1996)
• Roy Wegerle (1996) Interim.
• Glenn Myernick (1997-2000)
• Tim Hankinson (2001-2004)
• Fernando Clavijo (2005-2008)
• Gary Smith (2008-2011)
• Óscar Pareja (2012-2014)
• Pablo Mastroeni (2014-2017)
• Steve Cooke (2017) Interim.
• Anthony Hudson (2017-2019)
• Conor Casey (2019) Interim.
• Robin Fraser (since 2019)

Youth and development

Colorado Rapids Soccer Academy

The youth education structure at the Rapids is the Colorado Rapids Soccer Academy. The U-18 and U-16 teams are represented in the leagues of the US Soccer Development Academy. The other age groups compete in regional leagues. There has been a cooperation since 2012 with the Colorado Fusion Soccer Club.

USL partnership

Since the MLS Reserve Division was dissolved, there has been a partnership between the MLS and the United Soccer League , the second division in the USA. The Rapids are partners of Charlotte Independence , who have played in the league since the 2015 season. This partnership includes loan transfers from players, but also friendly matches or joint activities.

successes

• MLS Cup
  • Winner (1): 2010
  • Finale (1): 1997

• MLS Eastern Conference
  • Winner (Play-off) (1): 2010

• MLS Western Conference
  • Winner (play-off) (1): 1997

• Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
  • Finale (1): 1999

• More Achievements
  • MLS Reserve Division (2) 2006, 2007
  • Rocky Mountain Cup (2) 2005, 2006

statistics

Seasonal balance

season	Regular season	Play-offs	Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup	CONCACAF Champions League
1996	5th place (west)	not qualified	Semifinals	not qualified
1997	4th place (west)	final	Round of 16	not qualified
1998	3rd place (west)	Quarter finals	not qualified	Qualifying round
1999	4th place (west)	Quarter finals	final	not qualified
2000	3rd place (west)	Quarter finals	Round of the last 32	not qualified
2001	4th place (west)	not qualified	Round of the last 32	not carried out
2002	4th place (west)	Semifinals	Quarter finals	not qualified
2003	3rd place (west)	Quarter finals	Quarter finals	not qualified
2004	3rd place (west)	Quarter finals	Round of 16	not qualified
2005	3rd place (west)	Semifinals	Round of 16	not qualified
2006	4th place (west)	Semifinals	Quarter finals	not qualified
2007	4th place (west)	not qualified	Quarter finals	not qualified
2008	4th place (west)	not qualified	3rd qualifying round	not qualified
2009	6th place (west)	not qualified	2nd qualifying round	not qualified
2010	5th place (west)	master	3rd qualifying round	not qualified
2011	5th place (west)	Quarter finals	2nd qualifying round	Group stage
2012	7th place (west)	not qualified	4th round	not qualified
2013	5th place (west)	Knockout Round	3rd round	not qualified
2014	8th place (west)	not qualified	5th round	not qualified
2015	10th place (west)	not qualified	5th round	not qualified
2016	2nd place (west)	Semifinals	5th round	not qualified
2017	11th place (west)	not qualified	5th round	Group stage

1. ↑ Since 2002 the competition has started in the autumn of the previous year. Until 2008 under the name CONCACAF Champions' Cup .

Club records

These records relate to the regular season up to and including the 2014 season:

• Most games: Pablo Mastroeni , 225
• Most goals: Conor Casey , 50
• Most assists: Chris Henderson , 53

Visitor average

Regular season / play-offs

• 1996: 10,213 / not qualified
• 1997: 11.835 / 15.785
• 1998: 14.812 / 6.582
• 1999: 14,029 / 6,542
• 2000: 12,580 / 8,789
• 2001: 16,481 / not qualified
• 2002: 20.690 / 11.002
• 2003: 16.772 / 15.202
• 2004 14,195 / 8,028
• 2005: 13,638 / 11,207
• 2006: 12.056 / 4.176
• 2007: 14,749 / not qualified
• 2008: 13,658 / not qualified
• 2009: 12,330 / not qualified
• 2010: 13,328 / 11,872
• 2011: 14,838 / 8,601
• 2012: 15,175 / not qualified
• 2013: 15,440 / N / A
• 2014: 15,082 / not qualified

Women's soccer

From 2003 to 2013, the women's soccer team Colorado Rapids Women played in the USL W-League . Until 2012 the team was called Colorado Force FC. This franchise joined the Colorado Rapids organization in 2011.

The squad of the 2013 season, and thus the last line-up of the Rapids, included the Australian selection player Brooke Spence and the German U-20 national player Sophie Howard . For the 2014 W-League season, the Colorado Storm franchise took over the Rapids' license.

Web links

Commons : Colorado Rapids  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Official website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rapids, Smith part ways after rocky 2011 campaign . MLS. November 7, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
2. ^ Front Office Staff . Colorado Rapids. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
3. ^ Colorado Rapids announce 5-year deal with Ciao Telecom as club's first-ever jersey sponsor . MLSsoccer.com. May 1, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
4. ^ Colorado Rapids - Players. Retrieved July 19, 2020 . 
5. ^ Colorado Rapids - Technical Staff. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
6. ^ Colorado Rapids Soccer Academy . Colorado Rapids. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
7. ^ Colorado Rapids' Pablo Mastroeni ecstatic about USL PRO partnership with Charlotte Independence . September 18, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} MLS Factbook 2012. (PDF; 1.2 MB) MLSsoccer.com, archived from the original on December 24, 2012 ; accessed on July 28, 2012 (English). 
9. ↑ TheCup.us - game details for the competitions. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
10. ↑ Game details for the competitions. rsssf.com, accessed July 28, 2012 . 
11. ↑ MLS - 1996 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
12. ↑ MLS - 1997 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
13. ↑ MLS - 1998 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
14. ↑ MLS - 1999 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
15. ↑ MLS - 2000 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
16. ↑ MLS - 2001 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
17. ↑ MLS - 2002 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
18. ↑ MLS - 2003 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
19. ↑ MLS - 2004 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
20. ↑ MLS - 2005 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
21. ↑ MLS - 2006 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
22. ↑ MLS - 2007 Full Season Stats. Retrieved July 28, 2012 (English). 
23. ↑ Force Partner With Colorado Rapids  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , United Soccer Leagues (USL)  
24. ↑ Women Recap: Rapids defeat Colorado Rush 3-2 in 2013 Season Opener  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
25. ↑ Women's Soccer News: W-League Continues Expansion with Colorado Storm ( Memento April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), soccernation.com (English). Retrieved March 3, 2015.