Pc Logo Free Fire Name
Sofie Kovalcheck
Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference, having moved to the conference in 2002.
The franchise, named in memory of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, was founded as the Chicago Fire Soccer Club on October 8, 1997, the Great Fire's 126th anniversary. The team began play in 1998 as one of the league's first expansion teams. The Fire won the MLS Cup as well as the U.S. Open Cup (the "double") in their first season in 1998. They also won U.S. Open Cups in 2000, 2003, and 2006, in addition to the 2003 MLS Supporters' Shield. Although finishing near the bottom of the league consistently, Chicago Fire is valued at over $500 million.[1]
The Fire maintains an extensive development system, consisting of the Chicago Fire Development Academy and the Chicago Fire Juniors youth organization. They also operate the Chicago Fire Foundation, the team's community-based charitable division. The Fire's home stadium is Soldier Field which it shares with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.
Chicago Fire FC was founded as Chicago Fire Soccer Club on October 8, 1997.[2] The club is named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; the official founding date of the team was the 126th anniversary of that event.[3] The owner and chairman of the Fire is Joe Mansueto, who purchased the club in 2019. The club president is Ishwara Glassman-Chrein; Georg Heitz was appointed sporting director in December 2019; The Fire were originally based at Soldier Field from 1997 to 2006. From 2006 to 2019, the club played at SeatGeek Stadium, a stadium originally built for the club, at 71st and Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview. In 2019, with the change of ownership to Joe Mansueto, the Fire returned to Soldier Field for the 2020 MLS season. The Fire are currently one of the most successful clubs in the U.S. Open Cup, winning championships in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006.
Many notable players have worn the Fire shirt, including U.S. internationals Chris Armas, Carlos Bocanegra, Frank Klopas, DaMarcus Beasley, Brian McBride, Tony Sanneh, Cory Gibbs, Ante Razov, Josh Wolff, Eric Wynalda and Jon Busch. Some of the club's other notable American professional players include C.J. Brown, Jesse Marsch, Chris Rolfe, and Zach Thornton. The Fire also have a reputation for importing international talent, from established veterans like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Pvel Pardo, Piotr Nowak, Cuauhtmoc Blanco, Tomasz Frankowski, Luboš Kubk, Hristo Stoichkov and Jorge Campos; in addition to younger players such as Patrick Nyarko, Marco Pappa, Damani Ralph, Bakary Soumar and Nery Castillo.
Chicago was once the home of the Chicago Sting who competed in the top-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They spread their home games at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, and Comiskey Park. The Sting won the Soccer Bowl twice: 1981 and 1984. They were the only club other than the New York Cosmos to win multiple titles in the NASL.[4] One of the club's notable players was German forward Arno Steffenhagen.
The team's momentum continued, reaching the 2000 MLS Cup final (losing to Kansas City) and winning the 2000 U.S. Open Cup. Internationally experienced players such as Hristo Stoitchkov joined the Fire, while young American talents such as DaMarcus Beasley developed. The Fire quickly became cemented as one of the league's preeminent teams.
With Soldier Field undergoing massive renovations, the Fire moved to the western Chicago suburb of Naperville in 2002. That same year, Bob Bradley abruptly departed the team to lead the MetroStars, from his home state of New Jersey. The Fire then selected the U.S. men's national team's top assistant, Dave Sarachan, to assume the vacant post.
Chicago qualified for the league final while also capturing the Supporters' Shield and 2003 U.S. Open Cup along the way. The team returned to Chicago and the renovated Soldier Field midway through the 2003 season.
After that season, longtime captain Piotr Nowak retired to take a position in the front office. He departed a year later to become manager of D.C. United. In this period new talent emerged, including Jamaican striker Damani Ralph. Still, stagnating performances and the building strength of the Eastern Conference made Chicago's league position ever more tenuous. In 2004, the team missed the league playoffs for the first time in their history.
The 2005 season began with the unexpected dismissal of popular club president Peter Wilt by then-owners AEG, a move decried by fans, many players, and club staff.[5] This came as a shock, given his brokering of a $100m deal to build the Fire a stadium in the collar suburb of Bridgeview. He was immediately replaced by MetroStars executive John Guppy.
2006 arrived, and the Fire moved from Soldier Field into its new stadium in Bridgeview, a southwest suburb of Chicago: Toyota Park, located at the corner of 71st Street and Harlem Avenue. In its first season, it played host to an unspectacular league campaign; but victory in the 2006 U.S. Open Cup marked a continuation of the club's successes and promise for the future.
The anxiety to win another league title continued to grow, however. Sarachan entered 2007 (his fifth season in charge) under intense pressure from fans and the administration to produce a league championship. Tension mounted further on April 3, 2007, when the Fire signed Mexico and Amrica star Cuauhtmoc Blanco to a Designated Player contract. After a perfect three matches to open the year, they won only one of their next eight, and Sarachan was dismissed. Following a brief search, Millonarios manager Juan Carlos Osorio was named the club's third head coach.
More change came soon afterward. On September 6, 2007, Andell Holdings, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm controlled by chairman Andrew Hauptman, acquired AEG's interest in the Chicago Fire Soccer Club. Reports estimated the purchase price to be upwards of $35 million.[6] The team has not won a major trophy since Hauptman bought the team.
On the field, behind Blanco and Wilman Conde, Osorio's central defender at Millionarios, the Fire went on an extended unbeaten run to close the season, easily qualifying for the playoffs but were defeated at New England in the Eastern Conference Final. On December 10, 2007, the Fire announced Osorio's resignation. He was named manager of the New York Red Bulls eight days later. Hauptman filed tampering charges with the league in protest, and the Fire were compensated by the Red Bulls with cash and draft picks.[7]
Leading up to 2010, Chicago hired Carlos de los Cobos as head coach, previously manager of El Salvador.[9] Cuauhtmoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe and Gonzalo Segares all departed. More changes came in the summer transfer window with the trade of Justin Mapp to Philadelphia, the acquisition of Mexican international striker Nery Castillo, and the trade for former Swedish international midfielder Freddie Ljungberg. Defender Gonzalo Segares returned to the Fire, leaving Apollon Limassol after only six months away. Despite these reinforcements, the Fire failed to qualify for the playoffs for only the second time in club history. Former U.S. international Brian McBride and club original C.J. Brown retired at season's end, followed closely by the departures of Wilman Conde, Ljungberg, and Castillo.
2011 began much in the way of 2010, with foundering performances both home and away. After nine winless matches, Carlos de los Cobos was let go on May 30, 2011.[10] Technical Director Frank Klopas was named interim head coach. Behind summer reinforcements Pvel Pardo and Sebastin Grazzini, as well as forward Dominic Oduro's 12 goals after being acquired in a trade from Houston and Dan Gargan's defensive addition, the Fire qualified for the U.S. Open Cup Final (lost at Seattle) and narrowly missed making the playoffs after gaining 24 points in their last 12 league matches. After the season's conclusion, Klopas was given the permanent manager job on November 3, 2011.[11]
On November 18, 2015, Rodriguez made his first moves as GM, firing most of Yallop's remaining technical staff, including goalkeeping coach Aron Hyde, fitness coach Adrian Lamb and Director of Scouting Trevor James.[39] Rodriguez also parted ways with the club's long-time Director of First Team Operations Ron Stern, Equipment Manager Charles Raycroft and Assistant Equipment Manager Allan Araujo. On November 24, 2015, the club announced that Veljko Paunovic, former coach of the Serbian U-20 side that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, had been named the new head coach of the Chicago Fire.[40] On January 5, 2016, technical director Brian Bliss also departed the Fire to join Sporting Kansas City as Director of Player Personnel, completing the total overhaul of the technical staff.[41]
On March 21, 2017 Manchester United allowed Bastian Schweinsteiger to join Chicago Fire, subject to a medical and a visa being secured.[42][43][44][45][46] The move from Manchester United was completed on March 29, 2017.[47]
On July 11, 2018, the club announced that Hauptman had sold a 49 percent stake of his ownership to Joe Mansueto, the founder of Morningstar, Inc.[48] On September 13, 2019, Hauptman sold his majority share to Mansueto, who became the sole owner.[49]
As the 2019 MLS campaign concluded, the Chicago Fire organization began the ambitious process of reinventing the franchise during the course of a three-month offseason. The changes included securing a downtown Chicago venue, adding new front office positions, shifting organizational roles, making major roster changes, and rolling out a new brand identity.[50]
Two days after the end of the season, October 8, the Fire officially announced they would return to Soldier Field to play the 2020 MLS season,[51] that same day Bastian Schweinsteiger announced his retirement.[52] Two days later, the Fire announced the signing of midfielder lvaro Medrn,[53] eight days later Designated Player and former Golden Boot winner Nemanja Nikolic announced he would be leaving the team.[54]
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