Atlanta United FC

Team information

Inaugural season: 2017

Home field: Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia

Owner: Arthur Blank

Team colors: Dark red, black, metallic gold, and dark gold

Overview

Atlanta United FC is a professional soccer team that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). Atlanta United entered the league in 2017 and immediately made an impact, becoming one of only a few MLS teams to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. The team did even better in 2018, winning the MLS championship in just its second year of existence. Much of the credit for Atlanta United’s success falls on the shoulders of Josef Martínez, who quickly became one of the best players in MLS history since coming to the league in 2017. Martínez led the team in scoring and into the playoffs from 2017 to 2022, apart from an injury-plagued 2020 season. Atlanta’s success also extends into the stands, where the team leads the MLS in attendance by a wide margin.

History

For much of the twentieth century, professional soccer was an afterthought on the North American sports landscape. Several attempts were made to form competitive leagues, but few of these attempts met with any success. In 1968, the largest North American professional soccer league to date was formed from a merger between two other leagues. The North American Soccer League (NASL) reached its peak in the late 1970s with twenty-four franchises spread across the United States and Canada. However, by the end of the 1984 season, the league’s declining attendance and financial problems caused it to fold. Atlanta was home to two NASL teams, the Chiefs (which played from 1968 to 1972 and again from 1978 to 1981) and the Apollos (which played only the 1973 season).

Buoyed by the success of the United States hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup—the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world—a group of business and sports executives decided to form a new soccer league to capitalize on the game’s increased profile. Major League Soccer began play in 1996 with teams in ten US cities. By the late 2000s, MLS survived some rough financial waters and began to thrive. The league moved into new markets with expansion teams in Canada, Houston, and Salt Lake City.

In 2008, Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and the owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, tried to get an MLS franchise in Atlanta. However, the city’s lack of a soccer-appropriate playing field and funding concerns ultimately capsized the attempt. By 2013, Blank had received the funding go-ahead to begin construction of a new stadium for the Falcons. One of the selling points for the stadium was that it could also be used as a home for a potential MLS franchise. A year later, MLS granted Blank a franchise that was to begin play in 2017 when Mercedes-Benz Stadium was completed.

Blank borrowed the official colors of the Falcons for the new MLS team. Black was meant to represent strength, red stood for pride, and gold for excellence. The team also polled future season-ticket holders and asked them to respond to a list of words to be associated with the new franchise. From this poll, Blank chose the name Atlanta United FC. In European naming fashion, United is usually attached to a team that “unites” more than one geographic region, although that was not the case with Atlanta. FC is shorthand for “football club.” The logo is circular in design, with a gold-trimmed black border in which are set the words Atlanta United FC. In the center circle of the logo is a large gold A set on a field of red and black stripes. The stripes are meant to signify Atlanta’s origins as a railway hub, while the overall design is meant to resemble the city’s official seal.

When the team began play in 2017, Mercedes-Benz Stadium was not yet finished, so Atlanta played its first nine home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium on the campus of Georgia Tech University. When the team eventually moved into Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta’s attendance soared to become the highest in the league. The team’s average 2017 attendance was 48,200, breaking the previous MLS record of 44,248 by the Seattle Sounders in 2015. Atlanta topped that mark in 2018 with an average attendance of 53,002. In 2019, the club averaged 52,510. Even after the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted attendance league-wide, Atlanta still led MLS in attendance in 2021 with 43,964 per game. As of early 2024, Atlanta held eight of the top ten single-game attendance records in league history.

Atlanta United finished its inaugural season with 15 wins, 10 ties, and 9 losses—the fourth-best record in MLS. In the playoffs, Atlanta battled the Columbus Crew to a 0–0 regulation draw, but lost on penalty kicks 3–1. In 2018, Atlanta finished with the league’s second-best record at 21–6–8. They defeated the New York City Football Club 4–1 in the conference semifinals and beat the New York Red Bulls in the conference finals, 3–1. In the 2018 MLS Cup Final, Atlanta defeated the Portland Timbers, 2–0, to win the championship. The game, which was played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, set an MLS postseason attendance record with 73,019 fans.

Atlanta finished the 2019 regular season as the third seed and defeated New England and Philadelphia to advance to the conference final. However, they missed out on a return to the MLS Cup Final, losing to Toronto FC, 2–1. The 2020 season was marred by a knee injury to star player Josef Martínez, who missed all but one game that season. Atlanta struggled to a 6–4–13 record and missed out on the playoffs. Martínez returned in 2021, and with him, Atlanta finished 13–12–9 and once again earned a postseason berth. However, the team dropped its opening round game to the New York City Football Club, 2–0. The club missed the playoffs in 2022. In 2023, it lost the first round against the Columbus Crew.

Notable players

In just five seasons with Atlanta, Venezuelan striker Josef Martínez has not only proven himself to be the team’s all-time greatest player, he has also become one of the top players in MLS history. Atlanta acquired Martínez on loan from an Italian soccer club in Torino, and after just a few games, team management paid a buyout fee to purchase his contract outright. Martínez led Atlanta with 19 regular-season goals in 2017, but it was his 2018 performance that put him in the record books. Martínez set what was then an MLS record with 31 regular-season goals and earned MLS Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors. He also won the Golden Boot Award for finishing as the league’s leading scorer. Martínez went on to score four more goals doing the playoffs, including one in the team’s MLS Cup Finals victory. He was also named the MVP of that game, making him the only player in MLS history to win a league MVP, Golden Boot, and Cup Final MVP in the same season.

Martínez scored another 27 regular-season goals in 2019 and was named a finalist for the MVP award. His 2020 season ended in the first game when he severely injured his knee. Martínez’s loss was clearly felt by Atlanta, which struggled mightily to score. Upon his return in 2021, Martínez became one of only sixteen MLS players to score more than 100 career goals. He was also the fastest player to reach that milestone, accomplishing it in just 125 career games, twenty-one games quicker than the next faster player. As of the end of the 2022 season, Martínez had 116 goals with Atlanta, seventy-eight more than the next closest player. His 14 assists were also good enough for sixth in team history. Atlanta released him prior to the 2023 season.

Martínez holds the top scoring spot with 111 goals. Giorgos Giakoumakis is in second with 23. Two former players from Paraguay, midfielder Miguel Almirón and forward Héctor Villalba, are tied for third on Atlanta’s scoring list with 22 goals apiece. Almirón left the team after the 2018 season, while Villalba left after 2019. German midfielder Julian Gressel, who played with Atlanta from 2017 to 2019, is the club’s all-time leader in assists with 39. Almirón is second with 30. American goalkeeper Brad Guzan has been with Atlanta since the franchise was founded, and has been the team’s main goalkeeper since 2018. As of early 2024, Guzan has posted 78 shutouts, far and away a team record. One of those shutouts was in Atlanta’s 2018 MLS Cup Finals victory.

Bibliography

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Butler, Dylan. “Atlanta United Have 9th Highest Average Attendance in the World This Season.” MLS.com, 3 Nov. 2021, www.mlssoccer.com/news/atlanta-united-have-9th-highest-average-attendance-in-the-world-this-season. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.

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McAfee, Sandy. “Josef Martínez Becomes Fastest Player In MLS History To Score 100 Goals.” Atlanta United FC, 29 Sept. 2021, www.atlutd.com/news/josef-martinez-becomes-fastest-player-in-mls-history-to-score-100-goals. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.

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