Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington. The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began play in 2009 as an MLS expansion team. The majority owner is Adrian Hanauer, and its minority owners are the estate of Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and 14 families from the Seattle area. Seattle has been among the league’s most successful teams, winning the U.S. Open Cup four times, the Supporters’ Shield in 2014, and the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019.
About Seattle Sounders FC in brief
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington. The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began play in 2009 as an MLS expansion team. The Sounders play their home league matches at Lumen Field, with a reduced capacity of 37,722 seats for most matches. Seattle has been among the league’s most successful teams, winning the U.S. Open Cup four times, the Supporters’ Shield in 2014, and the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019. The team set a new MLS record for average attendance in each of its first five seasons. The majority owner is Adrian Hanauer, and its minority owners are the estate of Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and 14 families from the Seattle area. Former USL Sounders coach and assistant coach Brian Schmetzer took over as head coach in July 2016 after the departure of Sigi Schmid. The Seattle Sounders are ranked as one of the most valuable franchises in North America. The franchise’s players have included joint top goalscorers Clint Dempsey and Fredy Montero, as well as long-time captain Osvaldo Alonso, and current captain Nicolás Lodeiro. In November 1994, the start of the first MLS season was postponed until 1996, and it was noted that the absence of anadequate grass-field facility in the area and the presence of the new APSL Seattle Sounders team had thwarted Seattle’s MLS bid. In 1996, as Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen worked with the city to build a new football stadium for his team, the potential of an MLS team that could be a co-tenant helped drive public support for the effort.
In 2004, MLS commissioner Don Garber indicated that Seattle had been close to receiving a franchise. In 2006, when Seattle was again listed as a possibility for an expansion team, Hanauer announced that he would not secure the rights to secure a franchise for Seattle again in 2006. In 2009, the Sounders were awarded the MLS expansion rights to Salt Lake City for the 2010 season. In 2010, the team won the MLS Supporters’ Shield and the CONCACAF Champions League for the fifth time in its history. In 2012, the club was awarded the Champions League rights to play in the 2014 edition of the competition. In 2013, the MLS awarded the franchise to Real Salt Lake for the 2014 season, and in 2014 the franchise was awarded a $1.5 million prize for winning the MLS MVP award. In 2014, the franchise won the CONCacaf Champions League title for the first time in the club’s history. It has also competed in the UEFA Champions League five times, advancing to the semifinal round once, and winning the final four times. It is the only MLS team to have won the Cascadia Cup, a cup competition with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Portland Timbers, and Toronto FC. It also won the US Open Cup in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. In 2011, it won the Canadian Premier League title with a 3-0 victory over FC Edmonton.
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This page is based on the article Seattle Sounders FC published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 10, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
