Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC – The Facts Behind The Crowd Drawing Seattle Sounders FC
In the history of Major League Soccer (MLS) expansions, the Seattle Sounders FC is among the
teams who are continuously drawing great crowds within their games. Whether they are within
their turfs at the CenturyLink Field or in the home fields of others states, they are still followed
by their loyal supporters. This could be a reflection of how Seattle gives their love to Sounders
teams. The same way as they have supported the first two teams who have used the Sounders
name. Their history and records are what people are proud of, and it shows in their attendance.
The Early Struggles of the Seattle Sounders FC
The early accounts of the establishment of the professional soccer club to join the MLS go
back to 1994. It would have been one of the early starters to compete for the first MLS Cup.
However, the team struggled between securing tickets as required because of the ticket
campaign also done by the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) Sounders expansion
team. Another problem is that the city doesn’t have a stadium that is only provided strictly for
soccer games. Although the start had been problematic for the team, the founders were still
determined to get the group to the Cup.
Through the years, these major problems were slowly resolved. In 1996, Paul Allen proposed
to have a co-tenant agreement with the Seattle Sounders FC to build a stadium. This will be
used together with the Seattle Seahawks, a team that Paul Allen owns. This stadium was then
called the Qwest Field, but was later switched to CenturyLink Field. The stadium is continuously
enjoying full ticket sales in all the matches played by the team to date.
The other problem with the ticket campaign was then nearly answered in 2000. However,
the MLS requirements were then accepting investor-operated teams. Thus, in 2006, Adrian
Hanauer of United Soccer League (USL) Sounders promised to invest one million dollars to
franchise and asked others to invest, since the franchise fees raised to $10 million.
The year 2007 ended the struggle when Joe Roth, a Hollywood producer, invested to own the
team. The owners also added their fourth partner, Drew Carey, the TV personality. November
13, 2007 was the date when they were announced to be the 15th expansion team to join the
MLS.
Sounders FC and their Performances
The first match of the team in MLS happened on March 19, 2009 against New York Red Bulls
in their own city. They won the game with 3-0 and followed two more wins on its following
games. For their first season, they also made history by qualifying to the MLS Cup playoffs.
Theirs was the second expansion team to enter the playoffs in its inaugural season following
the record of Chicago. Their records for the first season covered 12 wins, 7 losses, and 11
draws. Their first season games in MLS though, ended in their conference semifinals with the
Houston Dynamo with a 1-0 score.
That same year, they also played in the U.S. Open Cup and won the season finals with a 2-1 win
against D.C. United at the RFK Stadium. Even though it was their first year to play, they sure
proved they are worth the city’s battle and even banked a qualified spot for the CONCACAF
Champions League for 2010-11 seasons.
The second season they have for MLS, in 2010, again started with the first match of the season
within their turf. Filling up CenturyLink Field again, they were able to beat Philadelphia Union
with 2-0, which was also their first team game in MLS. Although there are some losses recorded
within the second season, they were still qualified for the playoffs, getting 14 wins, 10 losses,
and 6 ties. They made it through the games until they lost from Los Angeles Galaxy with 3-1
aggregate score in the conference semifinals.
Year 2010 also held great winnings for the team banking the Heritage Cup against San Jose
Earthquakes. They again won the U.S. Open Cup finals at CenturyLink Field against Columbus
Crew on October 5, 2010 with 2-1 aggregate score. They also started playing in the CONCACAF
Champions League getting far up to the group stage, where they were eliminated. However,
winning the U.S. Open Cup provided them a chance again to enter the Champions League for
the next season.
The game against Los Angeles Galaxy was the game to open the MLS season in 2011. Even
if they lost the opening match with 2-1 score, they were still able to catch up and qualify for
the playoffs having 18 wins, 9 draws, and 7 losses. They ended their games though with a loss
against Real Salt Lake during the Western conferences semifinals with 3-2 score.
They were more fortunate though, with the U.S. Open Cup, bagging the third consecutive win
they have facing Chicago fire in the finals. Their second year in the CONCACAF Champions
League also improved stopping at the knockout round, a better record from last year’s group
round elimination.
The Goal Scorers of the Team
Fredy Montero from Colombia is one of the most popular goal scorers of the team. The forward
player has already received the MLS Player of the Month, the same with Freddie Ljungberg, a
midfielder, in a different month.
For all the professional matches in their three years of playing, Fredy Montero keeps the
highest score on goals. Following him in the Seattle Sounders FC scoreboard are forward Nate
Jaqua, and midfielders Steve Zakuani, Alvaro Fernandez, Brad Evans, and Osvaldo Alonso.
Tags: american professional soccer league, centurylink field, champions league
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