Seattle Sounders (USL)

: "For other teams using this name, see Seattle Sounders (NASL) and Seattle Sounders FC."Football club infobox
clubname = Seattle Sounders


fullname = Seattle Sounders
nickname = Sounders
founded = 1994
ground = Starfire Sports Complex
capacity = 2,000
chairman = flagicon|USA Adrian Hanauer
manager = flagicon|USA Brian Schmetzer
league = USL First Division
season = 2008
position = in progress

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American = true

Seattle Sounders is an American professional soccer team, founded in 1994. The team is a member of the USL First Division, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

They currently play at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, having previously played at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington for many years. The team is currently coached by Brian Schmetzer. The team's colors are blue and white.

The team has a sister organization, the Seattle Sounders Women, who play in the women's USL W-League.

2008 Roster

"as of August 12, 2008"

History

The club was founded in 1994 and named after the original Seattle Sounders soccer team, which played from 1974 to 1983 in the North American Soccer League.

The A-League/USL-1 Sounders have four championships to their credit, winning the league cup in 1995, 1996, 2005 and again in 2007. Seattle finished with the best regular season record in the league in 1994, 2002, and 2007. The Sounders have numerous division titles and advanced to the league finals in both 2004 and 2005. In 2004 the Sounders lost the championship 2-0 at Montreal. In 2005 Seattle drew the Richmond Kickers 1-1 at Qwest Field before claiming the championship 4-3 in penalty kicks. In 2007, the Sounders defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-0 to claim their fourth championship title.

The Sounders formed a partnership with English side Cambridge United in 2006 due to Adrian Hanauer's involvement with both clubs.

MLS Expansion

A Major League Soccer spokesman confirmed that Seattle will host a 2009 Major League Soccer expansion team, which will be partly owned by Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and will play its home games at Qwest Field. The name was released on April 7, 2008 as Seattle Sounders FC, continuing the Sounders name beyond the USL franchise. Hanauer confirmed in a press conference that the USL Sounders' last season in Seattle will be 2008.Fact|date=April 2008

Year-by-year

tadium

The Sounders had played at Qwest Field full-time since 2003. The Sounders played the first-ever sporting event at the stadium on July 28, 2002 before over 25,000 fans. Before this facility was built, the team played at Memorial Stadium. When the current Sounders first formed in 1994 they also played a few home matches at the Tacoma Dome.

After opening the 2008 season May 10 at Qwest Field, the Sounders will play their remaining 14 league home contests at Starfire Sports Complex.

Rival Clubs

The Seattle Sounders have two bitter rivals - the Portland Timbers to the south and the Vancouver Whitecaps to the north. These three teams compete in the yearly Cascadia Cup. The Sounders won the trophy in 2006 and 2007.

upporters

The original Seattle Sounders were supported by the "Seattle Sounders Booster Club" in the 1970's and early 1980's. When the new club was formed in 1994 another supporters group started up. Eventually that group called itself "The Pod" in honor of the club mascot, an Orca whale. In 2005, after the earlier group went moribund, the "Emerald City Supporters" were born. They drafted the motto "No Equal" that same season as the club won the USL-1 title. In 2007, a social group called the Sounders Legion was started.

Coaches

* Alan Hinton 1994-1995
* Neil Megson 1996-2000
* Bernie James 2001
* Brian Schmetzer 2002-

Titles, Trophies & Major Achievements

CONCACAF Champions Cup:* 4th-place (1): 1996

League Championship:* Winner (4): 1995, 1996, 2005, 2007:* Runner Up (1): 2004

Commissioner's Cup (Top of the Regular Season Table):* Winner (3): 1994, 2002, 2007

Pacific Division Champion:* Winner (3): 2000, 2002, 2003:* Runner Up (2): 1997, 1998

Western Conference Champion:* Winner (1): 2004

Cascadia Cup:* Winner (2): 2006, 2007

League Honors

MVP
* 1995 Peter Hattrup
* 1998 Mark Baena
* 2002 Leighton O'Brien
* 2007 Sébastien Le Toux

Leading scorer
* 1995 Peter Hattrup
* 1998 Mark Baena
* 1999 Niall Thompson
* 2006 Cam Weaver
* 2007 Sébastien Le Toux

Goalkeeper of the Year
* 1994 Marcus Hahnemann
* 1995 Marcus Hahnemann
* 1997 Dusty Hudock

Defender of the Year
* 2005 Taylor Graham

Coach of the Year
* 1994 Alan Hinton
* 2000 Neil Megson
* 2002 Brian Schmetzer

Rookie of the Year
* 1994 Jason Dunn
* 2000 Greg Howes
* 2006 Cam Weaver

First team All Star
* 1994 Marcus Hahnemann, Neil Megson, Shawn Medved, Chance Fry
* 1995 Marcus Hahnemann, Peter Hattrup
* 1996 Wade Webber
* 1997 Dusty Hudock, Mark Watson
* 1998 Mark Baena
* 1999 Mark Baena
* 2000 Darren Sawatzky
* 2001 Leighton O'Brien
* 2002 Andrew Gregor, Leighton O'Brien, Brian Ching
* 2003 Danny Jackson, Andrew Gregor
* 2005 Taylor Graham
* 2007 Sébastien Le Toux
* 2008 Taylor Graham

Notable Former Players

* Mark Baena
* Preston Burpo
* Brian Ching
* Jason Farrell
* Chance Fry
* Maykel Galindo
*flagicon|MEX Herculez Gomez
* Marcus Hahnemann
* Peter Hattrup
* Gary Heale
* Dominic Kinnear
* C.J. Klaas
* Ian Russell
* Craig Waibel
* Welton
* Cam Weaver

External links

* [http://www.weareecs.com Emerald City Supporters]
* [http://GOALSeattle.com/trophy_case.htm Seattle Sounders Trophy Case]
* [http://www.seattlesounders.net Official Site]
* [http://www.goalseattle.com GOALSeattle.com]
* [http://seattlepitch.tripod.com/ The Seattle Pitch]
* [http://soundernation.tripod.com Sounder Nation]
* [http://GOALSeattle.com/SoccerMuseum.htm GOALSeattle.com Museum]
* [http://www.seattlesounders.net/team.php?team=0 Current Club Roster]
* [http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2006/22379.html Latest Results]
* [http://www.uslsoccer.com/statistics/index_E.html Current USL-1 Standings]
* [http://www.GOALSeattle.com/photoindex/index.htm GOALSeattle.com Photo Galleries]
* [http://starfiresports.com/main_addedpages/sounderswomen.asp Seattle Crossfire Sounders (W-League Women's Club)]
* [http://www.QwestField.com Qwest Field]
* [http://www.StarfireSports.com Starfire Sports Complex]
* [http://seattlepitch.tripod.com/club/index.html League Honors]

References