History of D.C. United

D.C. United
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This article documents the history of D.C. United, an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. For a general overview of the club, see D.C. United.

The club's roots trace back to FIFA awarding its quadrennial tournament, the FIFA World Cup to the United States in 1989, specifically for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. As part of receiving the hosting rights, the United States Soccer Federation had promised FIFA it would have a fully-professional first division soccer league sanctioned by the end of the century. In December 1993, Major League Soccer was founded with the anticipated goal of beginning play in 1996. In June 1994, Washington, D.C. was selected as one of the eight original cities to host an MLS franchise, and the first franchise to be announced by MLS.[1] The club's name, colors, and logo were announced in New York City in October 1995. It was also announced that United would begin play at RFK Stadium located in the city's seventh ward near the Eastland Gardens neighborhood and D.C. Armory. The stadium would remain the club's home venue until moving to their current home, the soccer-specific, Audi Field in 2018.

The club hired played its first match in April 1996 against the then-called San Jose Clash. They would proceed to win three of the first MLS Cup championships. Additionally, during this period from 1996 until 1999, the club would win the Supporters Shield (league regular season champion) twice, the U.S. Open Cup (domestic knockout cup) once, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup (continental championship) once, and the now-defunct Copa Interamericana (intercontinental championship) once. For this run of success the club was often regarded as the league's "flagship franchise"[1] early on and was seen The late 199 were seen as a dynasty era for United.[2][3]

D.C. United was the first franchise awarded by MLS, and was the dominant team in MLS during the league's first few years of existence. For those reasons, United is often regarded as MLS's "flagship franchise". As of 2013, the club has won four regular season and league championships, more than any other sports franchise in the Washington area. The team has also won three U.S. Open Cup titles and a CONCACAF title.[3]

  1. ^ a b Wahl, Grant (September 20, 1999). "Deriding The Metros". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  2. ^ Dure, Beau (2010). Long-Range Goals: The Success Story of Major League Soccer. McLean, Virginia: Potomac Books. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-1-59797-509-4.
  3. ^ a b "Trophy Case". D.C. United. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2011.