Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FCFirst Season
2009President
Jody Allen, Drew CareyHead Coach
Brian SchmetzerOwner
Adrian HanauerStadium
CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WashingtonConference
MLS Western ConferenceSeattle Sounders Football Club began playing in the MLS as an expansion team. The club was founded on November 13, 2007 and began playing in the Western Conference of MLS in 2009.
Playing in CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington, the Sounders have qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs in every one of its 11 seasons so far and have made the final 3 times.
The majority owner of the club is Adrian Hanauer, and its head coach is Brian Schmetzer. The Sounders were the first team in MLS to have a marching band, something which would have helped them along the way to their record breaking 11-straight appearances in MLS playoffs.
The formation of the club was announced on November 13, 2007, and the name ‘Seattle Sounders FC’ was released on April 7, 2008, accompanied by the logo, badge design and colours. The first head coach, Sigi Schmid , was introduced on December 16, 2008.
Although only being founded in 2007, Seattle Sounders FC is a phoenix team (a new entity set up to replace a failed club), and carry the same name as the original club who competed from 1974-1983 in the North American Soccer League.
In 2016, the Sounders won their first MLS Cup, defeating Toronto FC 5-4 in a penalty shootout. They didn’t win another MLS Cup until the 2019 season, in which they finished in second place in the Western conference, taking them to the MLS Cup playoffs for the 11th time. They eventually made it to the finals, and defeated Toronto FC 3-1 in front of a home crowd of a record 69,274 fans.
Season Records
| Year | MLS Regular Season | Ranking | MLS Cup Playoffs | US Open Cup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | PTS | W | GP | GP | GP | GP | Conf | League | |||
| 2019 | 34 | 56 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 52 | 49 | 2nd | 4th | Champions | 4th round |
Honors
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| MLS Cup | 2 | 2016, 2019 |
| Supporters Shield | 1 | 2014 |
| US Open Cup | 4 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 |
Seattle Sounders FC play at CenturyLink Field, located in Seattle, Washington. It was built between 2000-2002.
As well as being home to the Sounders, CenturyLink field is a multi-purpose field, and is also home to the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, as well as the Seattle Dragons of XFL.
The stadium can seat up to 69,000 fans, but the Sounders restrict the seating capacity for MLS matches to provide a ‘more intimate atmosphere’.
The team’s training facilities and offices are based in Tukwila, at Starfire Sports Complex. Although not as big as CenturyLink field, Starfire is sometimes used, as Sounders representatives have stated the more intimate atmosphere is preferred for smaller matches.
Home Kit
The Sounders’ home jersey is mainly green, with a distinct striped pattern across the front panel. Coupled with blue shorts that match the sleeve trimmings, the kit is made by soccer-giant adidas. Entering its second season as the club’s sponsor, Zulily is featured as expected in white. Seattle Sounders FC’s away jersey is a simple black, with horizontal pink stripes lining the side panels, and the adidas three stripes on the shoulders in neon pink. The club’s logo consists of 2 layers in the club colours: blue and green. The logo additionally features the Space Needle, a widely- known Seattle landmark. Despite originally not being an option to feature on the logo, the name ‘Seattle Sounders FC’ appeared to be dominant amongst the fans, and was consequently included in the logo.