User:Rylesbourne/sandbox/DC United history

On April 6, 1996, D.C. United played in the league's inaugural match against the San Jose Clash in Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, which they lost 0–1. Under head coach, Bruce Arena, the team would go on to lose their first four matches of their first season, before ultimately having a change of fortune and qualifying for the first ever MLS Cup Playoffs. The season ultimately culminated with United winning both the inaugural MLS Cup title, and winning the 1996 edition of the U.S. Open Cup, defeating the LA Galaxy and the Rochester Raging Rhinos, respectively. It was the first "double" in modern American soccer history. The following season, lead by it by its “magic triangle” of Jaime Moreno, Marco Etcheverry, and Raul Diaz Arce, the club would repeat as MLS Cup champions winning the 1997 MLS Cup Final against the Colorado Rapids in front of a home crowd at RFK Stadium. Closing out the 1990s, the club would achieve international club success winning both the Champions' Cup and the Interamerican Cup in 1998.

In October 1998, Arena left D.C. United to coach the U.S. men's national team. Arena's departure marked the beginning of a downturn in the team's fortunes. While the club again won the MLS Cup in 1999 under coach Thomas Rongen, lackluster results in 2000 and 2001 led to Rongen's departure and his replacement by Ray Hudson in 2002. The team did not, however, fare much better under Hudson, and Piotr Nowak replaced him before the start of the 2004 season. That same season, United made sports history by signing Freddy Adu, a 14-year-old soccer prodigy and on January 16, 2004, he was officially selected by United with the first pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. When Adu entered United's regular-season opener as a second-half substitute on April 3, 2004, he became the youngest player in any professional sport in the United States since 1887. Adu remained the youngest signed MLS player until Axel Kei signed with Real Salt Lake in 2022. After a slow start that was marred by players complaining about Nowak's coaching tactics, the club at a strong finish to the end of the 2004 regular season qualifying for the 2004 MLS Cup Playoffs. Lead by Argentine midfielder Christian Gómez, United advanced past the New England Revolution on penalty kicks in what has been called one of the best games in MLS history. United then defeated the Kansas City Wizards to win their fourth MLS Cup.

On November 18, 2003, MLS made sports history by signing Freddy Adu, a 14-year-old soccer prodigy and on January 16, 2004, he was officially selected by United with the first pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. When Adu entered United's regular-season opener as a second-half substitute on April 3, 2004, he became the youngest player in any professional sport in the United States since 1887. On December 11, 2006, D.C. United traded Adu and goalkeeper Nick Rimando to Real Salt Lake in exchange for a major allocation, goalkeeper Jay Nolly, and future considerations.

Following the 2004 title, United had a bit of a "second golden era", where they would win three more trophies before the end of the decade. In 2005, the club participated in the Copa Sudamericana, entering in the Round of sixteen, becoming the first MLS club, and the first American club to participate in the tournament. The 2006 and 2007 seasons saw United win consecutive Supporters' Shield titles, becoming the first MLS franchise to win back-to-back Shields. In the realm of international exhibitions, United fared well against European opposition, beating Scottish champions Celtic F.C. and drawing Real Madrid in Seattle. In addition, the 2006 MLS All-Star Team, which included eight United players and was managed by United's manager Piotr Nowak, defeated English champions Chelsea. The second golden era ended in 2008, by winning their second U.S. Open Cup title, beating their rivals, Charleston Battery, in the final.

During the late 2000s into the early 2010s, the club the club failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs five years in a row (2008 until 2012), the poor play caused Tom Soehn to resign in 2009, before being replaced by Curt Onalfo in 2010. The 2010 campaign, proved to be a horrendous run for United, where the club began signing player that underperformed and lacked the same echelon of talent as the top MLS clubs at the time. Mid-way through the 2010 season, Onalfo was fired, and assistant coach, and former United player, Ben Olsen took over on interim duties. Despite the poor season, homegrown midfielder, Andy Najar, won the MLS Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the first homegrown player in MLS history to win the award. Ahead of the 2011 season, Olsen became manager on a full-time basis.

Olsen would ultimately become the longest tenured coach in United history, and the third in MLS history, coaching the club for a decade. In his first season in charge, United, lead by U.S. international, Charlie Davies, nearly qualified for the playoffs before being eliminated the second to final week of the season. In 2012, lead by Maicon Santos, Hamdi Salihi, Branko Bošković, and Chris Pontius, United returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years, clinching a berth in the second-to-last week of the season. There, United had their best playoff run since 2005, where they reached the Eastern Conference Final, before losing 2–4 on aggregate to eventual MLS Cup runners-up, Houston Dynamo. The subsequent year, the club hit a nadir, tallying a total of only three wins in the 2013 season, setting a record for fewest wins in league history. Despite the team's poor showing in league play, D.C. United defeated Real Salt Lake in the U.S. Open Cup final. This qualified the team to participate in the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, where they reached the quarterfinals. Despite the setback, the team saw a resurgence in 2014 behind players such as Eddie Johnson, Steve Birnbaum, and Chris Rolfe. There, the club won the Eastern Conference regular season title for the first time since 2007, and finished third in the overall table.

Throughout the remainder of the 2010s, the club regularly finished in mid-table positions qualifying more times than not to the playoffs, but never advancing past the first round. During this time, the club played their final match at RFK Stadium, on October 22, 2017. There, they played their long-time Atlantic Cup rivals, New York Red Bulls in front of a crowd of 41,418. There, they lost 1–2. In 2018, the club moved out of RFK Stadium and into the soccer-specific, Audi Field. This same season, the club signed English international, Wayne Rooney from Everton, becoming one of the most high-profile signings in club and league history. Rooney's on-field chemistry with midfielder, Luciano Acosta, earned the pairing the nickname "Lucharoo", and helped the team become one of the most attractive teams to watch in the league. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons with this pairing, the club finished upper mid-table, but never managed to advance into the playoffs, or jockey for the U.S. Open Cup or Supporters' Shield.

Both Acosta and Rooney departed United following the 2019 season, and the club's fortunes declined. Ahead of the 2020 season, the club brought in Liga MX and Peruvian international, Edison Flores and former MLS All-Star and Norwegian international, Ola Kamara. Despite these arrivals, United missed the playoffs finishing towards the bottom of the table during the truncated 2020 season (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), including a last-place group finish during the MLS is Back Tournament. At the end of the 2020 season, Olsen was relived of his duties, following 10 years at the helm of the club. Olsen was replaced by Argentine manager, Hernán Losada, the club's first Latin American coach. Losada had previously coached Belgian outfit, Beerschot. During his first season with United, the club had switched their style of play to a more pressing-oriented style. Some pundits felt the physically demanding, "high-octane" style of play contributed to a slew of injuries on the squad, which caused them to barely miss the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

During the 2022 campaign, United got off to a good start, winning their first two matches in club history before going on a four-game losing streak. Following the poor run of form, and disagreements between Losada and general manager, Dave Kasper, Losada was relieved of his managerial duties. Chad Ashton, a long-time United assistant, was named interim manager for the remainder of the 2022 season.

hmm  D.C. United  is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top level of professional American soccer. The franchise began to play in 1996 as one of the ten charter clubs of the league. The club was one of the most successful clubs in the early years of MLS, winning eight of its thirteen titles between 1996 and 1998 under then-head coach Bruce Arena. United holds the joint MLS record for most Supporters' Shield s, has four MLS Cup s, and been crowned U.S. Open Cup champions three times. It is also the first club to win both the MLS Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup consecutively. On the international stage, D.C. United has competed in both the CONCACAF Champions League and its predecessor, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The club won the 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, making them one of only two MLS teams to ever win a CONCACAF tournament. Subsequently, United won the now-defunct Copa Interamericana in 1998 against Vasco da Gama of Brazil. This is the only intercontinental title won by an MLS club. The team's home field from 1996 to 2017 was the 45,596-seat Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, owned by the District of Columbia. The team moved into the new Audi Field, a soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of 20,000 at Buzzard Point just a few blocks from Nationals Park in July 2018. The team is owned by the consortium D.C. United Holdings. The team's head coach is Hernán Losada. Nick Rimando, Jaime Moreno , Marco Etcheverry , Alecko Eskandarian , Raul Diaz Arce and Eddie Pope are among the team's most successful stars. D.C. United's fan base includes four supporters' clubs. The club's official nickname is the "Black-and-Red" and home uniforms are black and white with accents of red. The team's name alludes to the "United" appellation commonly found in the names of soccer teams in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. ↵

Colors and badge
The team's colors and original logo were announced on October 17, 1995, along with those of the other ten original teams during a presentation in New York City. Black and white are D.C. United's primary colors, though the team's nickname is the "Black-and-Red." Red is used to accent the home jersey, while white is the main color of the team's road uniform. The three stripes along the shoulder – in white at home and black on the road – do not represent the three jurisdictions of the Washington Metropolitan Area (Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia); rather, they represent the fact that the team's uniforms are made by Adidas. United's shirt sponsor is Reston, Virginia defense company Leidos. In 2011, the team introduced a predominantly red third uniform with black accents to be worn four or more times in the season. The team has also previously used white road uniforms with red stripes; white and red are the colors of the flag of Washington, D.C., and the stripes are also reminiscent of those used on the flag.

The team's original shield was implemented in 1996, consisting of the team's name, D.C. United, above a black bald eagle facing right on a red field, clawing three soccer balls overlaid on three white stars. The three stars and balls were intended to represent the region's three jurisdictions. The bird, associated with the federal government based in Washington, D.C., symbolizes many of the attributes of the team, including speed and power. The logo was redesigned before the 1998 season. This second logo design reoriented the eagle facing left and removed the three stars below it, whose metaphor was retained by three raised wing feathers. At the center of the eagle is a single gold-colored star and a soccer ball, which represents the team's victory in Major League Soccer's inaugural cup in 1996. The logo can also be adorned with four silver stars above it, representing the MLS Cups the team has won.