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Colorado Rapids

Year founded	1995
League	Major League Soccer
Nickname	Rapids, 'Pids
Stadium	Dick's Sporting Goods Park Commerce City, CO
Coach	Fernando Clavijo, 2005—
Owner	Stan Kroenke
Home colors 　 Away colors
First Game Kansas City Wiz 3–0 Colorado Rapids (Arrowhead Stadium; April 13, 1996)
Largest Win Colorado Rapids 4–0 Kansas City Wiz (Mile High Stadium; May 5, 1996)
Worst Defeat 1–6, twice; 0–5, four times
All-time Top Scorer Paul Bravo (39)
Supporter Groups Class VI, The Front Range, Centennial Firm
MLS Cup
None
US Open Cup
None
Supporters' Shield
None

The Colorado Rapids is a professional 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 1 History 2 Partnership with Arsenal F.C. 3 The Rocky Mountain Cup 4 Supporters 5 Television and radio 6 Honors 7 Current roster 7.1 Changes for the 2007 MLS Season 8 Notable players 9 Head coaches 10 Team records 11 Ownership 12 Home stadiums 13 Year-by-year 14 Average attendance 15 International competition 16 Facts 17 Sources 18 External links

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, Carlos Valderrama, and Joe Cannon to the squad, Hankinson also signed a number of expensive and unsuccessful players including ZiZi Roberts and Darryl Powell. After several years of mediocrity, Tim Hankinson was relieved of his position 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.

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".[1][2]

The collaboration between the two clubs includes beneficial coaching and player development for Colorado, 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.

Stan Kroenke recently purchased a share of Arsenal, reportedly 9.9% of the club for approximately $128 million.

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.

While the Rapids have always had decent attendance, 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 and the River Ratz. Reasons for the failures of these groups include lack of growth and tensions between the stadium security and the Rapids front office. 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).

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 some pay channels (such as HDNet).

• MLS Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 1997
• US Open Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 1999
• Rocky Mountain Cup:
  • Winners (2): 2005, 2006

As of April 7, 2007

No. Position Player 1 GK Bouna Coundoul 2 DF Jordan Harvey 3 DF Greg Vanney 4 DF Dan Gargan 5 MF Kyle Beckerman 6 DF Brandon Prideaux 7 FW Jovan Kirovski 8 MF Yherland McDonald 10 FW Herculez Gomez 11 MF Terry Cooke 12 DF Mike Petke 13 DF Stephen Keel 14 FW Omar Cummings 15 FW Jacob Peterson 16 DF Chris Wingert

No. Position Player 18 DF Ugo Ihemelu 19 FW Roberto Brown 20 FW Nicolas Hernández 21 MF Nico Colaluca 22 MF Nick La Brocca 23 MF Colin Clark 25 MF Pablo Mastroeni (captain) 27 MF Kosuke Kimura 28 MF John DiRaimondo 30 GK Justin Hughes 31 GK Zach Thornton 33 MF Daniel Wasson — MF José Cancela MF Greg Dalby † FW Riley O'Neill †

Source: http://www.coloradorapids.com/Team/Roster.aspx

† Unsigned player

In

• Roberto Brown Transferred from Tacuarembó FC of the Uruguayan first division
• José Cancela Traded from Toronto FC
• Nico Colaluca Signed as draft pick
• Omar Cummings Signed as draft pick
• John DiRaimondo Signed as draft pick
• Herculez Gomez Traded from Los Angeles
• Justin Hughes Signed as draft pick
• Ugo Ihemelu Traded from Los Angeles
• Kosuke Kimura Signed as draft pick
• Nick LaBrocca Signed as draft pick
• Yherland McDonald Transferred from Fredrikstad F.K. of the Norwegian Tippeligaen
• Brandon Prideaux Traded from D.C.
• Zach Thornton Traded from Chicago
• Greg Vanney Traded from Dallas

Out

• Joe Cannon Traded to Los Angeles
• Matt Crawford Released by team
• Eric Denton Released by team, rights subsequently traded to Red Bull New York
• Hunter Freeman Traded to Red Bull New York
• Luchi Gonzalez Released by team, subsequently signed with Miami FC of the USL-1
• Sasha Gotsmanov Released by team
• Matt Jordan Released by team
• Aitor Karanka Released by team
• Aaron King Released by team
• Thiago Martins Transferred to Bodø/Glimt of the Norwegian Adeccoligaen
• Clint Mathis Traded to Red Bull New York
• Fabrice Noël Released by team
• Alain Nkong Released by team
• Melvin Tarley Released by team

• Marcelo Balboa (1996–2001)
• Shaun Bartlett (1996–1997)
• Paul Bravo (1997–2001)
• 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)

• Bobby Houghton (1996)
• Roy Wegerle (1996, interim)
• Glenn Myernick (1997–2000)
• Tim Hankinson (2001–2004)
• Fernando Clavijo (2005—)

• Games: Chris Henderson, 178
• Goals: Paul Bravo, 39
• Assists: Chris Henderson, 53
• Shutouts: Joe Cannon, 25

MLS regular season only, through 2006

• Anschutz Entertainment Group (1996–2004)
• Kroenke Sports Enterprises (2004—)

• Mile High Stadium (1996–2001)
• INVESCO Field at Mile High (2002–2006)
• Dick's Sporting Goods Park (2007–present)

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

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
• All-Time: 14,662

• 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
  • Qualifying Playoff v. Club León -- 1:0, 2:4 (León advances 4:3 on aggregate)

• 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).

• The Rapids have inducted two players into the club's Hall of Fame: Marcelo Balboa and Paul Bravo.

• Along with an official MLS reserve team, the Colorado Rapids also have an affiliation with the Boulder Rapids Reserve of the Premier Development League and a marketing relationship with Arsenal F.C. of the English Premier League.

• Official Website
• Centennial Firm Supporters Club
• Class VI Seating Club
• Rocky Mountain Cup Website
• Official Rapids board, courtesy of BigSoccer
• Rapidman.com
• Rapidsfan.com (currently not in operation)

Major League Soccer 2007 v • d • e
Eastern Conference Chicago Fire  •  Columbus Crew •  D.C. United Kansas City Wizards  •  New England Revolution Red Bull New York  •  Toronto FC	Western Conference Chivas USA •  Colorado Rapids FC Dallas •  Houston Dynamo Los Angeles Galaxy •  Real Salt Lake
Former teams	On hiatus
Miami Fusion • Tampa Bay Mutiny	San Jose Earthquakes
Miscellaneous
MLS Cup • All-Star Game • SuperLiga • USSF • CSA • Central Division • U.S. Open Cup  Supporters' Shield • MLS two-team Cups • Current Players • Foreign Players • MLS Drafts • MLS Stadiums