Chicago Fire

Entering its third season Major League Soccer added two teams to the league for a total of 12. The young league chose Chicago and Miami as its candidates for the first round of expansion.

It all began with a legend. On the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, October 8, 1997, an announcement was made. The new Major League Soccer team assigned to Chicago would be called the Chicago Fire. Its inaugural season would be in 1998.

The club's logo was designed to imitate the Chicago Fire Department, which is also known as a Florian's cross. The teams home kit colors of red shirts with white trim were also chosen to replicate firemen's jackets and have remained consistent throughout their history. The Fire have had played at three stadiums during their existence, Soldier Field, Cardinal Stadium and their very own stadium Toyota Park.

Chicago won the coveted "double" in US soccer in it's very first year in MLS, wining both the MLS Cup and the US Open Cup in 1998. Since then they have added three more Open Cups (2000, 2003, 2006) and a Supporters' Shield trophy in 2003.

The Fire has a history of signing experienced international players, and catered to its Polish population (2nd largest in the world to Warsaw) by signing many Polish players in it's early years. Poland's national team captain Peter Nowak was signed by MLS and allocated to Chicago on December 16, 1997. Fellow Poles Jerzy Podbrozny and Roman Kosecki were also added to the Fire roster.

Chicago also targeted its Spanish population with the signing of Jorge Campos, Diego Gutierrez and Chris Armas. Campos stayed for one season, but the other two quickly became long-time regulars and fan favorites. In addition to signing high-profile internationals, the Fire gave many future US internationals their start in professional soccer. Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride, DaMarcus Beasley, Colin Rolfe and Josh Wolff went on to carve out terrific careers after being involved in the Fire's initial success.

Notable Players

• Chris Armas
• Brian McBride
• Peter Nowak
• Frank Klopas
• DaMarcus Beasley
• Carlos Bocanegra
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco
• Josh Wolff
• Chris Rolfe
• Hristo Stoichkov
• Zach Thornton
• Dema Kovalenko
• Diego Guiterrez
• Ante Razov
• John Thorrington

Notable Coaches

• Bob Bradley, 1998-2002
• Dave Sarachan, 2003-2007
• Juan Carlos Osorio, 2007
• Denis Hamlett, 2008-2009
• Carlos de los Cobos, 2010-2011
• Frank Klopas, 2011-present

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