Seattle Sounders FC

Team information

Inaugural season: 2009

Home field: Lumen Field Seattle, Washington

Owner: Adrian Hanauer

Team colors: Sounder blue, rave green, and cascade shale

Overview

The Seattle Sounders FC is a professional soccer team that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). Since entering MLS in 2009, the Sounders have built one of the league’s most enthusiastic fan bases, consistently ranking among the top MLS teams in attendance. Seattle had been in line to receive a team when MLS formed in 1996, but lack of a soccer-only stadium in the city hampered those efforts. An ownership group that consisted of a film producer, Hollywood celebrity, and a co-founder of Microsoft was finally able to secure a team for the city in the late 2000s. The Sounders quickly became one of the league’s best teams. As of 2021, Seattle has never had a losing record and has won two MLS championships.

History

Professional soccer in North America first appeared in the late nineteenth century, but attempts to grow the sport into viable pro leagues proved difficult. Prior to the 1990s, the continent’s most successful professional league was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which began operations in 1968. The NASL lasted for sixteen seasons before finally shutting down in 1985.

In the early 1970s, a group of Seattle investors was attempting to secure an NFL expansion franchise for the city, but was unsuccessful. Instead, the members turned their attention to the NASL and were awarded a franchise that began play in 1974. That team was named the Sounders as a reference to Puget Sound, a large marine inlet that flows past Seattle, Tacoma, and other cities in northwestern Washington. The Sounders played in the NASL until 1983 when the team folded.

In the late 1980s, the United States was chosen to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the most prestigious international soccer tournament in the world. Thanks to an unexpectedly good showing by the American squad, the event captured the public’s attention. Looking to take advantage of that success, a new professional soccer league was formed to begin play in 1996. Major League Soccer’s first ten teams were placed in the metropolitan areas of New York; Washington, DC; Dallas, Texas; Kansas City; Tampa Bay, Florida; New England; Denver, Colorado; Columbus, Ohio; and San Jose and Los Angeles, California.

Seattle was considered one of the most likely spots for a MLS team, but the city lacked an adequate soccer-only stadium in which to play. Complicating matters further was the presence of a new soccer team, also named the Seattle Sounders, that began operations in 1994. MLS officials were worried this version of the Sounders would siphon off season tickets from a potential MLS team in the city.

By 2002, these Sounders were owned by Seattle businessman Adrian Hanauer who wanted to find a way to bring an MLS franchise to the city. He secured the rights for the Sounders to play at Seahawks Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Seahawks. In its first game at the stadium, the team drew more than 25,000 fans—far more than the average MLS attendance at the time. When MLS decided to expand in 2004, it once again passed over Seattle. By then, the franchise fee for a new team had gotten more expensive, so Hanauer had to find investment partners to raise the $30 million needed. He teamed up with Hollywood film producer Joe Roth, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and TV comedian Drew Carey to secure the money. In 2007, MLS announced the bid was successful and Seattle would be awarded a team for 2009. Initially, Roth was the team’s majority owner, but he was succeeded by Hanauer in 2015.

Initially, team officials wanted to give the expansion team a new identity and asked fans to choose a name from a list of three: the Alliance, the Republic, or Seattle FC. However, fans were vocal that they liked the name Sounders, so that was later included in the poll. When the votes were counted, Sounders was the overwhelming winner, so the new teams was named the Seattle Sounders FC. FC is shorthand for Football Club, a common naming convention in European soccer. The team logo featured a shield divided into green and blue sections. Seattle’s famous Space Needle is depicted on the green portion of the shield and is overset with a white banner containing the name Seattle Sounders FC.

From the very start, Seattle’s MLS team was a success on and off the field. The Sounders posted 12 wins, 11 ties, and 7 losses in its inaugural season and made the Western Conference semifinals. The team also led MLS in attendance, averaging 30,942 fans a game in 2009. Only two other MLS teams even averaged 20,000 fans a game at that point. By 2012, the Sounders were averaging more than 43,000 per game. Seattle had the advantage of playing in the Seahawks’ home stadium, which was renamed Lumen Field in 2021. Fans did more than attend games, they formed boisterous supporters’ groups and a marching band and unfurled large, elaborate banners throughout the stadium.

In 2014, Seattle won the Supporters’ Shield for posting the league’s best record, 20–4–10. Ironically, 2016 would prove to be the Sounders’ worst regular season, a 14–6–14 record that was the only time in franchise history as of 2020 when it failed to post a winning mark. However, the team flipped a switch during the playoffs and captured its first MLS Cup championship with a win over Toronto FC. The game finished as a 0–0 tie, with the Sounders outlasting Toronto 5–4 on penalty kicks. The following year, Seattle and Toronto again faced off for the MLS Cup, but this time, Toronto emerged victorious.

In the 2018 playoffs, the Sounders faced off with archrival Portland Timbers in one of the greatest games in MSL history. Portland had won the first of a two-game series 2–1, but Seattle captured the second game 3–2. With the teams’ combined goals at 4–4, Portland thought it had won based on a regular-season tiebreaker that gives away-game goals more weight and began celebrating. However, MLS had changed the rule, so the two squads had to take part in a penalty-kick shootout. This consists of each team attempting five penalty kicks, with the team scoring the most the winner. After fighting through two games and an overtime period, Portland eventually won the shootout 4–2 to advance.

In 2019, the Sounders and Toronto met again for a shot at the MLS title, this time at Seattle’s home field. With the crowd roaring in support, Seattle took care of business and won its second title, 3–1. The Sounders also made the 2020 MLS Cup Final, but lost to the Columbus Crew, 3–0.

Notable players

The Sounders’ first major star was Columbian forward Fredy Montero. Montero played for Seattle from 2009 to 2012 and returned to the squad in 2021. As of that year, Montero was the team’s all-time leading scorer with 54 goals. However, Montero’s mark faces stiff competition from Peruvian striker Raúl Ruidíaz, who made his MLS debut with the Sounders in 2018. Since that time, Ruidíaz has been the team’s leading scorer each year and had accumulated 49 goals by 2021. That figure puts him second on the all-time franchise list and well within reach of Montero’s record. Ruidíaz has been especially clutch in the postseason with 9 playoff goals, including one in the 2019 MLS Cup Final.

American forward/midfielder Clint Dempsey played with Seattle from 2013 to 2018 and sits third on the franchise list with 47 goals scored. Dempsey, who played with New England from 2004 to 2006, is also considered one of the best players in MLS history. In 2020, the league named him as one of its all-time twenty-five greatest players to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary. Joining Dempsey on that list is American defender Chad Marshall who played with the Sounders from 2014 to 2019. Marshall won a record three MLS Defender of the Year Awards, including one in 2014 with Seattle. He was also a member of both Sounders’ championship teams.

Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins played with the Sounders from 2013 to 2015, his only three seasons in MLS. Despite such a short stint, he led Seattle in scoring in 2014 and 2015 and was fifth on the franchise scoring list with 40 goals as of 2021. Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro began his MLS career with Seattle in 2016. As of 2021, he held the club record for career assists with 57. He also ranked sixth in goals scored with 32. Another postseason star, Lodeiro has scored 8 playoff goals in his time with the team.

Bibliography

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