Kansas City Wizards 2005

The Kansas City Wizards and Major League Soccer each embarked on their milestone 10th season in 2005. With the end of a decade also came change, as the team moved to the Eastern Conference due to MLS expansion. Also, following the 2004 season, Lamar Hunt announced that he was putting the Wizards up for sale and was hoping to find new local ownership. Wizards fans, community leaders and corporate interests all mobilized to help keep the team in town, though it would be a long time before their efforts bore fruit.

The team was a well-rounded group of players, including forward Josh Wolff (ten goals, ten assists) rookie forward Scott Sealy (nine goals, two assists) and midfielder Chris Klein (seven goals, nine assists) who came back from an ACL tear to earn his second MLS Comeback Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, the team missed the playoffs, earning only two draws over the last four games of the season when one win would have earned them a spot.

Goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi started all 32 games in his first year as a full-time MLS starter. The Wizards also played in the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but lost in the quarterfinals of both tournaments. However, defender Jimmy Conrad won the MLS Defender of the Year award for his efforts. The local media disagreed: they selected Nick Garcia as Wizards Defender of the Year.

REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 11-9-12

PLAYOFF FINISH: Did not qualify

TEAM AWARDS

MVP: Josh Wolff. Golden Boot: Josh Wolff. Defender of the Year: Nick Garcia. Humanitarian of the Year: Jimmy Conrad

LEAGUE AWARDS

MLS Best XI: Jimmy Conrad. Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Klein. Defender of the Year: Jimmy Conrad

MLS All-Stars: Jimmy Conrad, Chris Klein