COLORADO RAPIDS

The 'Colorado Rapids' are a soccer club based in Commerce City, Colorado that participates in Major League Soccer. The club was founded in 1995. The team colors are burgundy and sky blue with the home jerseys being burgundy. The away jerseys are sky blue with burgundy trim. They played their home matches at Mile High Stadium from 1996–2001 and moved into INVESCO Field at Mile High in 2002. They moved to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City for the 2007 season.
The Rapids have made two finals in their history: the 1997 MLS Cup and the 1999 US Open Cup—losing both times.

Contents

History

Partnerships and Affiliations

Arsenal F.C.

CF Pachuca

Colorado Rapids U-23

The Rocky Mountain Cup

Supporters

Television and radio

Honors

Current roster

Changes for the 2007 MLS Season

Notable players

Head coaches

Gallery of Honor

Team records

Ownership

Home stadiums

Year-by-year

Average attendance

International competition

Facts

Sources

External links

History

The Colorado Rapids were one of the ten founding clubs of Major League Soccer. The inaugural 1996 season was a forgettable one for Colorado. Despite fielding experienced players like Shaun Bartlett, Chris Woods, and Marcelo Balboa, the team finished dead last in the Western Conference with the worst record in the league.
The complexion of the team changed dramatically for the following season with new head coach Glenn Myernick. Myernick brought new faces to the squad including Paul Bravo, Wolde Harris, and Ross Paule. The team struggled early on, but rallied to grab a postseason spot. The Rapids pulled off two major upsets and advanced to the MLS Cup final. Chris Henderson scored a mid-air volley past Dallas keeper Mark Dodd in the 87th minute in the Western Conference final, ensuring Colorado's place in the MLS Cup final. They lost the final to DC United.
Colorado continued on a rollercoaster of success and disappointment: Myernick brought in more new players including Anders Limpar and Marcus Hahnemann and the club made it to the 1999 US Open Cup final, only to be upset 2–0 by the Rochester Raging Rhinos.
The 2000 season boasted two of the more memorable moments in Rapids history. The first was Marcelo Balboa's famous bicycle kick which garnered the Goal of the Year. The second was clenching a playoff spot in the final game of the season against the Los Angeles Galaxy, scoring in the 97th minute.
In 2001 Tim Hankinson took the reins as Colorado's new head coach. Scottish striker John Spencer also joined the club that year. Hankinson proved to be a somewhat controversial coach due to his defensive style of play and questionable player acquisitions. While he did bring effective players like Mark Chung, Chris Henderson, Carlos Valderrama, and Joe Cannon to the squad--and made the playoffs every year--Hankinson also signed a number of expensive and unsuccessful players including ZiZi Roberts and Darryl Powell, and traded away fan favorite Marcelo Balboa, whose career was nearing its end. After several years of mixed results, Tim Hankinson stepped down at the end of the 2004 season.
Kroenke Sports Enterprises had purchased the club the year before and made sweeping changes before the 2005 season. KSE cleaned house in the front office and appointed Fernando Clavijo as the new head coach. Clavijo brought in many new additions to the squad including Jeff Cunningham, Terry Cooke, and David "Dedi" Ben Dayan. The team saw steady improvement over the course of the season. The season's success was highlighted by a dramatic playoff victory over FC Dallas in a penalty shootout.

Colorado's 2006 season seemed to parallel trends from previous years. Clavijo's squad performed inconsistently and only secured a playoff spot at the very last instant. Lightning managed to strike twice as they duplicated their 2005 playoff run by again beating FC Dallas in penalties only to crash out of the Western Conference Final by a two goal deficit. Other highlights from the final black and blue season include securing the Rocky Mountain Cup for the second consecutive year and winning the MLS Reserve Division.
On February 9, 2007, the club officially revealed their new colors and crest. The new home uniform showcases a burgundy jersey, white shorts, and burgundy socks, while the away uniform will be comprised of sky blue jersey, sky blue shorts, and sky blue socks.

Partnerships and Affiliations

Arsenal F.C.

At the same time as the new colors were unveiled, the Rapids and the London club Arsenal announced that the teams had entered into a partnership with the intention of ''"building the Arsenal brand in the US; helping to improve the quality of football at MLS team Colorado Rapids and supporting grassroots football in the US"'', with the Rapids looking to make similar strides in England.[1][2]
The collaboration between the two clubs includes beneficial coaching and player development for Colorado, along with marketing and best business practices discussions, with the possibility of arranging friendlies between the teams. It also gives Arsenal media attention in the US market, which has already proven its brand-identity potential for other European clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid. It was also announced that the deal includes a US soccer tournament to be hosted in Denver, with teams competing for the Arsenal Cup.
The Rapids considered changing their name to 'Arsenal Colorado F.C.' as part of this partnership, going so far as to trademark the name.[3] This was publicly revealed when a proposed crest with that name was leaked to the World Wide Web[4]. The team did elect, however, to retain its traditional name. In fact at the July 8, 2007 Chalk Talk team even Managing Director Jeff Plush stated that the team's name will not be changed.
Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke recently purchased a share of Arsenal, reportedly 9.9% of the club for approximately $128 million. He has since increased his shares in the London club to 12.19%.[5]

CF Pachuca

The Colorado Rapids and Kroenke Sports Enterprises announced on August 7, 2007 that the Colorado-based Major League Soccer club forged a club-to-club partnership with Club de Futbol Pachuca, champions of the Primera Division de Mexico, Copa Sudamericana, Concacaf, and Superliga.^[1]
The establishment of the Pachuca Academy at Dick's Sporting Goods Park highlights the alliance, which also includes a home-and-home annual series between the clubs and an exchange of best practices. The Pachuca Academy will be the only one of its kind in the United States and will be administered in partnership with ProSport, a sports consultancy headquartered in Mexico City and led in part by former Mexican national team legend Enrique Borja.
The Rapids and CF Pachuca also will conduct their respective preseason trainings at each other's home ground.

Colorado Rapids U-23

The Colorado Rapids U-23 were originally founded in 2000 in order to create a developmental system for their Major League Soccer counterparts. The U-23s' compete in the Premier Development League (PDL), which grants college players an opportunity to compete without waiving their NCAA eligibility or their and amateur status. While the U-23's carry the same name and colors, they are not a branch of the MLS organization. They are instead an independent affiliate.

The Rocky Mountain Cup

With Major League Soccer's expansion in 2005, Real Salt Lake became the second team in the Rocky Mountain region and the Rapids' closest neighbor. The supporters of the two clubs created a regular-season competition between the two sides to foster and memorialize this budding rivalry. Colorado won the Rocky Mountain Cup in the first two years, 9 points to 3 and 7 points to 4. The winning team's fans maintain control of the actual Cup trophy for the next year, until the next year's winner is determined.

Supporters

While the Rapids have always have been among the top teams in the league in average fan attendance, including leading the league in average fans per game in 2002, the club has had a fairly rocky history when it comes to ultras. A handful of formally organized groups have come and gone. While there have been several groups both large and small, the most notable of these were the Jolly Green Men, the River Ratz, and Ultra Azul. Reasons for the failures of these groups include lack of growth, leadership from within the supporters clubs, and tensions between them and Invesco Field stadium security. After the River Ratz become defunct, there was a period of several years where there was no real supporters group.
In 2005 and 2006, two organized groups emerged and are beginning to build from scratch. The Centennial Firm is the latest group trying to establish an ultras scene with flags, banners, and drums. Class VI was established in late 2005 to provide an alternative to the traditional standing environment. They are an organized body known as a seating club, focused on passion for the game, premium viewing location, and a focus on gameplay and is open to any fan (including both season ticket holders and single-game fans). After the close of the 2006 MLS season, the Rapids announced a new area (and official supporters' club) in Dick's Sporting Goods Park that would specifically house fans interested in an ultras experience. This section will be called The Front Range (and will be the home of the Centennial Firm).

Television and radio

Rapids matches appear on several channels including Altitude Television, which is owned by Kroenke Sports Entertainment as are the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. New for the 2007 season, Major League Soccer has determined that every team must broadcast every game (home and away) on television, at least regionally. 17 of the 30 Rapids games for 2007 are slated for nationally-available channels in 2007, including ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel, Telefutura, HDNet.
While there is no English language radio outlet, all the Rapids' matches will be broadcast in Spanish on KNRV "La Buena Onda" 1150 KHz AM.

Honors

★ 'MLS Cup:'

★
★ 'Runners-up (1):' 1997

★ 'US Open Cup:'

★
★ 'Runners-up (1):' 1999

★ 'Rocky Mountain Cup:'

★
★ 'Winners (2):' 2005, 2006

★ 'MLS Reserve Division:'

★
★ 'Winners (1):' 2006

Current roster

''As of August 4, 2007'' The players in bold have senior international caps
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'(captain)
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:''Source: http://www.coloradorapids.com/Team/Roster.aspx''
† Unsigned player

Changes for the 2007 MLS Season

'In'

★ Ugo Ihemelu ''Traded from Los Angeles''

★ Herculez Gomez ''Traded from Los Angeles''

★ Nico Colaluca ''Signed as draft pick''

★ Omar Cummings ''Signed as draft pick''

★ John DiRaimondo ''Signed as draft pick''

★ Justin Hughes ''Signed as draft pick''

★ Kosuke Kimura ''Signed as draft pick''

★ Nick LaBrocca ''Signed as draft pick''

★ José Cancela ''Traded from Toronto FC''

★ Conor Casey ''Traded from Toronto FC''

★ Brandon Prideaux ''Traded from D.C.''

★ Zach Thornton ''Traded from Chicago''

★ Facundo Erpen ''Traded from D.C.''

★ Mehdi Ballouchy ''Traded from Real Salt Lake''

★ Daniel Osorno ''Free Transfer''

★ Tony Sanneh ''Traded from Chicago''
'Out'

★ Kyle Beckerman ''Traded to Real Salt Lake for Mehdi Ballouchy''

★ Greg Vanney ''Traded to D.C. for Facundo Erpen''

★ Joe Cannon ''Traded to Los Angeles''

★ Matt Crawford ''Released by team''

★ Eric Denton ''Released by team, rights subsequently traded to New York Red Bulls''

★ Hunter Freeman ''Traded to New York Red Bulls''

★ Luchi Gonzalez ''Released by team, subsequently signed with Miami FC of the USL-1''

★ Sasha Gotsmanov ''Released by team, subsequently signed with Minnesota Thunder of the USL-1''

★ Matt Jordan ''Released by team''

★ Aitor Karanka ''Released by team''

★ Aaron King ''Released by team. Joined Charleston Battery of USL-1''

★ Thiago Martins ''Transferred to Bodø/Glimt of the Norwegian Adeccoligaen''

★ Clint Mathis ''Traded to New York Red Bulls''

★ Fabrice Noël ''Released by team''

★ Alain Nkong ''Released by team''

★ Riley O'Neill ''Traded to Toronto FC''

★ Melvin Tarley ''Released by team, subsequently signed with Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL-1''

★ Roberto Brown ''Released by team''

Notable players

★ Marcelo Balboa (1996–2001)

★ Shaun Bartlett (1996–1997)

★ Paul Bravo (1997–2001)

★ Kyle Beckerman (2002–2007)

★ Joe Cannon (2003–2006)

★ Mark Chung (2002–2005)

★ Robin Fraser (2001–2003)

★ Marcus Hahnemann (1997–1999)

★ Chris Henderson (1996–1998; 2002–2005)

★ Aitor Karanka (2006)

★ Anders Limpar (1999–2000)

★ Pablo Mastroeni (2002—)

★ Clint Mathis (2005–2007)

★ Adrian Paz (1997–1998)

★ John Spencer (2001–2004)

★ Steve Trittschuh (1996–1999)

★ Carlos Valderrama (2001–2002)

★ Jorge Dely Valdes (1999–2000)

★ Chris Woods (1996)

Head coaches

★ Bobby Houghton (1996)

★ Roy Wegerle (1996, interim)

★ Glenn Myernick (1997–2000)

★ Tim Hankinson (2001–2004)

★ Fernando Clavijo (2005—)

Gallery of Honor

The Gallery of Honor was established in 2004 to honor former Rapids that had a significant impact on both the team and with the community. The Gallery is commemorated by large banners visible at the north end of Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

★ #17 Marcelo Balboa (inducted 2004)

★ #9 Paul Bravo (inducted 2004)

★ #19 Chris Henderson (inducted 2007)

Team records

★ Games: Chris Henderson, 178

★ Goals: Paul Bravo, 39

★ Assists: Chris Henderson, 53

★ Shutouts: Joe Cannon, 25
''MLS regular season only, through 2006''

Ownership

★ Anschutz Entertainment Group (1996–2004)

★ Kroenke Sports Enterprises (2004—)

Home stadiums

★ Mile High Stadium (1996–2001)

★ INVESCO Field at Mile High (2002–2006)

★ Dick's Sporting Goods Park (2007–present)

Year-by-year

Year	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1996	5th, West	''Did not qualify''	Semifinals
1997	4th, West	Final	Round of 16
1998	3rd, West	Quarterfinals	''Did not enter''
1999	4th, West	Quarterfinals	Final
2000	3rd, West	Quarterfinals	Round of 32
2001	4th, West	''Did not qualify''	Round of 32
2002	4th, West	Semifinals	Quarterfinals
2003	3rd, West	Quarterfinals	Quarterfinals
2004	3rd, West	Quarterfinals	Round of 16
2005	3rd, West	Semifinals	Round of 16
2006	4th, West	Semifinals	Quarterfinals

Average attendance

''regular season/playoffs''

★ 1996: 10,213/missed playoffs

★ 1997: 11,835/15,785

★ 1998: 14,812/6,582

★ 1999: 14,029/6,542

★ 2000: 12,580/8,789

★ 2001: 16,481/missed playoffs

★ 2002: 20,687/11,002

★ 2003: 16,772/6,434

★ 2004: 14,195/8,028

★ 2005: 13,638/11,207

★ 2006: 12,056/4,176

★ 2007: 14,821 (11)

★ All-Time: 14,662

International competition

★ '1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup'

★
★ Qualifying Playoff v. Club León -- 1:0, 2:4 (León advances 4:3 on aggregate)

Facts

★ The Colorado Rapids underwent an image change before the 2003 season, switching their kit colors from the old green to the black and blue that was used through the 2006 season. The new uniforms, which closely resembled those of the Italian Serie A club Inter Milan, were received with mixed reactions. There was speculation that the club might switch back to green kits for the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods Park in 2007, but the team revealed a wholly new kit using burgundy and sky blue during an event for season ticket holders, and officially unveiled the new color scheme on February 9, 2007 (PMS 202 & 278).

Sources

1.

External links

★ Official Website

★ Centennial Firm Supporters Club

★ Class VI Seating Club

★ Rocky Mountain Cup Website

★ Official Rapids board, courtesy of BigSoccer

★ Rapidman.com

★ Blog by Colorado Rapid Stephen Keel