Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Pittsburgh Riverhounds | ||||
Basic data | ||||
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Surname | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | |||
Seat | Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , USA | |||
founding | 1999 | |||
owner | Terry "Tuffy" Shallenberger | |||
Website | riverhounds.com | |||
First soccer team | ||||
Head coach | Bob Lilley | |||
Venue | Highmark Stadium | |||
Places | 3,500 | |||
league | USL Championship | |||
2018 | Regular Season: 3rd place, East Play-offs: Conference quarter-finals |
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The Pittsburgh Riverhounds (full name Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC ) are an American football franchise of the USL Championship from Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . The team, founded in 1999, plays in the United Soccer League, the second highest division in the USA. The home games are played at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh.
history
The Riverhounds was founded in 1999 by Paul Heasley and were a member of the USL A-League . The home games were played at this time in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania in the football stadium of Bethel Park High School. In the same year Pittsburgh was named the best USL organization. First coach was John Kowalski, who had previously worked in various positions for the United States Soccer Federation . The first player was Justin Evans. In the very first season, the team made it to the conference semifinals of the A-League. In 2001 the Riverhounds reached the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup after victories over Colorado Rapids and El Paso Patriots . In those years, the Pittsburgh team was not one of the most successful in the league. The reason for this was also the constant change of owners.
For the 2004 season, the team moved to the third-rate USL Second Division or USL Pro Soccer League. The home games were now played in Moon Township at the Moon Area High School there. In December 2004, Heasley sold the Riverhounds to Sports Facility LLC, which also owns the Washington Wild Things baseball team.
2010 was the team's last season in USL-2 and at the same time the most successful. With a 3rd place in the regular season, the Hounds qualified for the play-offs. There the team made it to the semi-finals.
For the 2011 season they switched to the newly founded USL Professional Division.
Stadion
- Bethel Park High School ; Bethel Park, Pennsylvania (1999-2003)
- Moon Area High School ; Moon Township, Pennsylvania (2004)
- CONSOL Energy Park ; Washington, Pennsylvania (2005-2006)
- Chartiers Valley High School ; Bridgeville, Pennsylvania (2008–2012)
- Highmark Stadium ; South Side (2012-present)
successes
- USL Pro Soccer League
- Atlantic Division Winner (1): 2004
statistics
Seasonal balance
year | division | league | Regular season | Playoffs | US Open Cup | Average audience | ||||
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1999 | 2 | USL A-League | 4th, Northeast | Conference semifinals | not qualified | 4,559 | ||||
2000 | 2 | USL A-League | 7th, Atlantic | not qualified | 2nd round | 3.808 | ||||
2001 | 2 | USL A-League | 3rd, Northern | Quarter finals | Quarter finals | 3.226 | ||||
2002 | 2 | USL A-League | 4th, Northeast | not qualified | not qualified | 2.274 | ||||
2003 | 2 | USL A-League | 3rd, Northeast | not qualified | 3rd round | 1,783 | ||||
2004 | 3 | USL Pro Soccer League | 1st, Atlantic | Semifinals | not qualified | 1.475 | ||||
2005 | 3 | USL Second Division | 7th | not qualified | 1 round | 2.236 | ||||
2006 | 3 | USL Second Division | 3. | Semifinals | 1 round | 2.232 | ||||
2007 | exposed | |||||||||
2008 | 3 | USL Second Division | 8th. | not qualified | 2nd round | 1.258 | ||||
2009 | 3 | USL Second Division | 8th. | not qualified | 1 round | 1.178 | ||||
2010 | 3 | USL Second Division | 3. | Semifinals | 2nd round | 941 | ||||
2011 | 3 | USL Pro | 4th, National Division | Quarter finals | 2nd round | 1,127 | ||||
2012 | 3 | USL Pro | 10. | not qualified | 2nd round | 984 | ||||
2013 | 3 | USL Pro | 7th | Quarter finals | 2nd round | 3,504 | ||||
2014 | 3 | USL Pro | 11th place | not qualified | 4th round | 2,686 | ||||
2015 | 3 | USL | 5th place, East | 1 round | 4th round | 2,630 | ||||
2016 | 3 | USL | 13th place, East | not qualified | 2nd round | 2,494 | ||||
2017 | 2 | USL | 13th place, East | not qualified | 2nd round | 2,639 | ||||
2018 | 2 | USL | 3rd place, East | not qualified | 3rd round | 2,401 |