DC United
DC UnitedFirst Season
1996President
Kevin PayneHead Coach
Ben OlsenOwner
D.C United HoldingsStadium
Audi Field, Washington, DCConference
MLS Eastern ConferenceD.C United is an MLS team that is based in the nation’s capital, and compete in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. The club entered the MLS as one of the first 10 clubs to begin play in Major League Soccer.
One of D.C. United’s rivalries lie with the New York Red Bulls, whom they compete with for the Atlantic Cup each year. The Atlantic Cup is won by the club who gather the most amount of points throughout the meetings of the two teams each season. D.C United also have a prominent rivalry with Philadelphia Union, as only 120 miles separate between the two cities.
D.C United has three main supporter groups: the Screaming Eagles, the District Ultras and La Barra Brava, all of whom sit as one group at home matches at the north end of the team’s stadium (Audi Field). The club’s mascot is a bald eagle called Talon, who entertains the stadium’s 20,000 capacity.
Despite common misconception, the team’s main colors are actually black and white, not black and red as many assume, although D.C United’s nickname is the “Black and Reds.” Red is used for detailing on the kits and logo, and up until 2015, was the most predominant colour on the club’s shield.
On June 15th, 1994 it was announced that Washington D.C would be one out of 10 cities to host an MLS team upon the league’s launch. The team name was decided based on several well-known European clubs (Premier League club Manchester United, English club Leeds United e.t.c) in the hope that it would attract any new supporters to D.C United. D.C United’s first MLS game was played in April 1996 against San Jose Clash.
In the early years of Major League Soccer, the team was considered to be one of the most successful teams in the league. In their first season in 1996, the team won the MLS Cup title under coach Bruce Arena, beating the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Cup final. The team then replicated this in the US Open Cup, winning ‘the double’ in their 1996 season.
D.C United also won MLS Cup titles in 1997, and in October 1999. However, with the departure of coach Bruce Arena to coach the USMNT, came a drop in the team’s form, and they didn’t win another MLS Cup title until the 2001 season.
Since 2001, the team has consistently failed to impress, making the MLS Cup playoffs only a handful of times in the last 20 years.
Season Records
| Year | MLS Regular Season | Ranking | MLS Cup Playoffs | US Open Cup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | PTS | W | GP | GP | GP | GP | Conf | League | |||
| 2019 | 34 | 50 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 42 | 38 | 5th | 10th | 1st round | 5th round |
Honors
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| MLS Cup | 4 | 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 |
| Supporters Shield | 4 | 1997, 1999, 2006, 2007 |
| US Open Cup | 3 | 1996, 2008, 2013 |
The team’s current stadium is soccer-specific stadium Audi Field. Located in Southwest, Washington D.C, the stadium has a capacity of 20,000 and has been the club’s home stadium since 2018.Prior to Audi field, D.C United’s home games took place at RFK Stadium, a dual-use stadium for American football and baseball games.
As well as being the home stadium for D.C United, the Audi field has also hosted some other soccer games, including a USMNT game and some collegiate soccer games. However, the most notable may be neighbouring women’s team Washington Spirit’s home games.
The Washington Spirit (who possess several USWNT players such as Rose Lavelle and Andi Sullivan) compete in the NWSL and played 3 of their 2019 home games at Audi Field. The Spirit are hoping to transition into using the Audi Field as their permanent home venue, with 4 of their 2020 home games set to be played at the stadium.
Home Kit
D.C United have had 3 logos, all featuring the club’s eagle; one from 1995-1997, one from 1998-2015 and one from 2016-present. The team’s current logo features their main colours, black and white, as well as their secondary colour red. The logo shows an eagle with a D.C flag inspired design, as well as the team name in white text. The team’s home kit is an all-black strip, with red used for detailing. The away kit features a red and white fading pattern, with all kits produced by soccer-giant brand Adidas. On February 24th ,2018, Leidos was established as the team’s jersey sponsor, replacing previous sponsor Volkswagen.