The Houston Dynamo
is an American professional soccer club based in Houston, Texas that participates in Major League Soccer. The club won back-to-back MLS Cup championships in its first two seasons of existence.
Houston Dynamo's home is the 32,000 capacity Robertson Stadium, located on the University of Houston campus in southeast Houston, where they have played since their creation. A three-year lease was signed to play at the stadium while plans for a soccer-specific stadium are finalized. The team is owned by majority owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in partnership with Brener International Group (headed by Gabriel Brener), and multiple world and Olympic boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO FC TICKETS
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History
The team was created on
December 15,
2005 when the
San Jose Earthquakes players and head coach Dominic Kinnear were relocated, due to AEG being unable to secure a
soccer-specific stadium. Although all of San Jose's players and Kinnear moved to Houston, the team's name, logo, history and statistics were not transferred and remained inactive in San Jose until the Earthquakes were reactivated in 2007. The Dynamo was thus officially a new team, similar to the
Baltimore Ravens in the
National Football League (NFL).
Choosing a name
On
January 25,
2006,
Houston 1836
was first announced as the team name. This followed an online survey for the fans to provide unofficial suggestions for the new team name, with given options of: Apollos, Bulls, Eagles, Gatos, Lonestars, Stallions, Toros, Americans, Buffaloes, Generals, Houston 1836, Mustangs, and Stars. According to MLS & AEG, who chose the name, the 1836 name referred to the year that the city of Houston was founded by brothers
Augustus Chapman Allen and
John Kirby Allen, though it had perceived ambiguity, as it is also the year of
Texan independence from
Mexico. Houston 1836's logo featured a
silhouette of
General Sam Houston, one of Houston's and Texas' most famous historical figures.
Controversy
The choice of Houston 1836, however, soon became a political issue. While their stated intent was to link to the founding year of the city, the team name was changed to Houston Dynamo after the Houston 1836 name raised a furor among some locals of Mexican descent, a major target audience, who related 1836 with the war for Texas independence. Sylvia Garcia,
Harris County's first
Hispanic commissioner in more than a century, rallied for a boycott of the team name.
After the controversy, MLS selected the team name "Dynamo". It refers to Houston's energy-based industrial economy, as well as a previous Houston soccer team,
Houston Dynamos who played in the
Lone Star Soccer Alliance and
United Soccer League. The official reason for the name is that "Dynamo is a word to describe someone who never fatigues, never gives up. The name is symbolic of Houston as an energetic, hard-working, risk-taking kind of town." However, the name Dynamo also has precedence in the soccer world, specifically in Eastern Europe,(most notably,
KS Dinamo Tirana,
FC Dynamo Kyiv,
FC Dynamo Minsk,
Dinamo Bucuresti,
Dynamo Moscow Dinamo Zagreb and
Dynamo Dresden among others) and notoriously, associations with the secret police
[1]. The team colors are orange, white, and "Space City" blue or "Luv Ya Blue" (light blue), meant as a symbol of yet another team in Houston's sports history - the
Houston Oilers of the NFL.
The Inaugural Season (2006)
The Dynamo played their first game on
April 2,
2006. In front of a crowd of 25,462 in
Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo beat the
Colorado Rapids 5–2.
Brian Ching led the charge for the Dynamo with four goals, all of which were set up with assists from teammate
Dwayne De Rosario. Later in the season they went on to beat established MLS clubs such as
D.C. United,
Los Angeles Galaxy,
New England Revolution,
Chicago Fire and eventually their Texan state rivals
FC Dallas.
The Dynamo finished their first season in Houston with an 11-8-13 record, earning them second place in the Western Conference. In the Conference Semi-final playoffs, they beat
Club Deportivo Chivas USA (Chivas USA). On November 5, 2006, they beat Colorado Rapids 3-1 in the Western Conference Final to advance to the MLS Cup.
On
November 12, 2006 at
Pizza Hut Park in
Frisco, Texas, Houston beat New England Revolution 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie to win the 2006 MLS Cup. The game was scoreless until the second half of extra time, when New England's
Taylor Twellman scored. Only one minute and six seconds later, Brian Ching headed in the tying goal for Houston, and the championship was, for the first time in MLS history, decided by a
penalty shootout. Substitutes
Kelly Gray and
Stuart Holden scored Houston's first two penalty kicks. Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching scored the last two. Ching's gave Houston a 4-3 lead, and goalkeeper
Pat Onstad saved New England's
Jay Heaps penalty kick to secure the MLS Cup for Houston. By winning the MLS Cup, Houston qualified for the
2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
2007 season: repeat
Houston began the 2007 season early, competing in the
2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. After winning a dramatic quarterfinal, beating
Costa Rican team
Puntarenas F.C., Houston went out of the competition in the semifinals, beating
Mexican team
Pachuca 2-0 in the first leg but losing 5-2 after extra time in the return leg.
Immediately after, Houston began its 2007 MLS league season with consecutive shutouts against
Los Angeles Galaxy and
Chivas USA. Houston then struggled in the regular season, losing against
Red Bull New York, Chicago Fire,
Toronto FC, and
New England Revolution. Due to their success in winning the
MLS Cup in their first season, Houston were invited to spend the day at the
White House on
May 29,
2007 and meet with
President George W. Bush. Only one other team,
D.C. United in
1997, has visited the White House.
Houston also made some significant trades during the 2007 season They traded
Kevin Goldthwaite and a first round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft to
Toronto FC for
Richard Mulrooney. They also traded
Alejandro Moreno to
Columbus Crew in exchange for
Joseph Ngwenya. And they traded
Kelly Gray to
Los Angeles Galaxy for
Nate Jaqua. After regrouping and pulling off a win against
FC Dallas, Houston began an unbeaten streak of eleven games and a shutout streak of 726 minutes,
[2] a new MLS record.
Houston was also invited to compete in the inaugural
North American SuperLiga, where they dominated the group stages before losing in a semifinal shootout against Pachuca.
They finished in second place in the regular season in the Western Conference, advancing to the
2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, where they met state rivals
FC Dallas in the first round. Dallas won the first leg 1-0, but Houston won the second leg at Robertson Stadium, 4-1 in extra time, to win 4-2 on aggregate. Houston faced the
Kansas City Wizards in the Western Conference final, winning 2-0 to advance to the
MLS Cup championship game for the second year in a row. Just like in 2006, they faced the
New England Revolution for the championship, and won it 2-1 on a game-winning goal by
Dwayne De Rosario in the second half, thus winning their second MLS Cup in a row.
Partnership with Golden Boy Promotions
Late in
2007,
Major League Soccer informed Dynamo owners
Anschutz Entertainment Group that they should divest their interest in the Dynamo, as they wanted each ownership group to own only one team. AEG also owns the
Los Angeles Galaxy.
[3] On
November 21,
2007, it was announced that AEG was in negotiations to sell the Dynamo to a partnership of Brener International Group and
Golden Boy Promotions, owned by the famed boxer
Oscar de la Hoya.
[4]
On
February 26,
2008 Houston Dynamo President
Oliver Luck revealed the planned negotiations to the media stating that the Houston Dynamo would be managed in majority by original owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (who will hold 50% of ownership) along with newfound partners Gabriel Brener, head of Brener International Group, and multiple World and Olympic
boxing champion
Oscar De La Hoya (each with 25% ownership).
[5] De La Hoya has been seen wearing Dynamo colors on his boxing uniform with a small Houston Dynamo logo on his right leg in a fight against boxer
Steve Forbes. He has also pledged to help find Dynamo a
soccer-specific stadium, though he has been too busy with training to participate significantly in Dynamo decision-making. He has said he would become more involved once he retires in 2009.
[6]
Crest
The colors of the Dynamo crest are orange, black and white, with Space City blue added as an accent and border color. That color is represented on the uniform with the
Adidas snake. The star on the crest is an
ad hoc adoption, likely a nod to the "Houston 1836" crest concept. It also retains the soccer ball with the star in the middle from the "1836" logo, though the shadow is changed to Space City blue, likely to simplify coloration.
With the 2006 MLS Cup win, a
sanctioned star has been added above the shield in 2008, after wearing the
scudetto
in
2007. Since they won the MLS Cup again in 2007. they will wear the
scudetto
for the second consecutive year in 2008. Consequently, a sanctioned star was added to the logo in 2009 for their win at
MLS Cup 2007.
Mascot
In 2007, Houston started a search for a mascot by asking members of the
Art Institute of Houston to submit drawings, from which several finalists were selected and an official mascot would be decided through an online poll, both for the mascot design and name. The winning design was of an orange haired fox and named,
Dynamo Diesel
. He was unveiled at
Houston Zoo on
3 April 2007.
[7] Dynamo Diesel began working alongside the Houston Dynamo marketing and community outreach programs. He is not only present at games, cheering on the team, but also joins the Houston dancers, the
Dynamo Girls
[8] helping to promote the Dynamo in Houston.
[9]
Notably the Dynamo Girls were featured in an episode of the MTV reality series
Made
.
Stadium
thumb
Houston Dynamo plays its home matches at
Robertson Stadium on the
University of Houston campus. The Dynamo signed a three year lease, through
2008, to play at the stadium temporarily as they make plans to construct a permanent
soccer-specific stadium.
Club owner, AEG, is hoping to finalize an agreement to construct a
20-22,000-seat soccer specific stadium in
Downtown Houston east of
Minute Maid Park, across
Highway 59 which would be the third sporting facility for Downtown Houston.
Sponsorship
The Dynamo reached a four-year sponsorship deal with Houston based retail
electricity provider,
Amigo Energy, worth US$7.5M,
[10] making it the largest sponsor in team history.
[11] Amigo Energy became the official jersey sponsor. Houston were the fifth league team to sign jersey sponsors, after Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA,
Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC
with
Columbus Crew and
Chicago Fire each adding jersey sponsors for the 2008 season
The Amigo Energy logo appears on all team jerseys, along with other on-field gear, and Amigo Energy also became the official home and business retail energy provider of the Dynamo. As part of the deal, Amigo Energy established a focused marketing strategy that uses the Dynamo in co-branded advertising, customer retention, and new customer acquisition programs.
[12]
Supporters
The Dynamo enjoyed good fan support in its first season. Their first ever match attracted 25,462 fans against Colorado Rapids on
April 2, 2006. Attendance gradually declined throughout the remainder of the spring and summer months. During July and August they played five matches at Robertson Stadium, and the average attendance for those matches was 10,348.
The team's attendance figures received a boost on
9 August when they played a game against Los Angeles Galaxy in Houston's
Reliant Stadium as part of a double-header, with the other game being an exhibition match between
FC Barcelona and Mexican side
Club América, which attracted a crowd of 70,550. Home attendance began to rise again as the weather cooled and the playoffs approached.
For the 2006 season they averaged 18,935 over the 16 regular season home games. Attendance remained high during their playoff run, where home attendance was 17,440 and 23,107 in games against Chivas USA and Colorado Rapids. Dynamo fans contributed greatly to the sell-out crowd of 22,427 in the 2006 MLS Cup, which was played about 275 miles (450 km) from Houston, in Frisco, Texas.
There are currently two Supporter groups,
El Batallón
and
Texian Army
.
Average attendance
The Dynamo's first year regular season attendance was excellent, placing third only behind the two Los Angeles teams. Playoff attendance, however, was in-line with regular season attendance, with neither game selling out (just under 31,000 at Robertson Stadium).
Although regular season attendance dipped a little bit in 2007, in spite of the Dynamo's MLS Cup win in their first year, they nearly sold out the second leg of their Western Conference Semifinal match against
FC Dallas, and then they did sell out the Conference Final match against the
Kansas City Wizards.
In 2008, regular season attendance rebounded a bit from the lull in 2007. The attendance for the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal was nearly identical to the previous year, just under a sellout crowd.
regular season/playoffs
- 2006: 18,935/20,274
- 2007: 15,883/30,530
- 2008: 16,939/30,053 [13]
- 2009: 15,938/NA through most recent home game vs. Seattle on 8/23 (191,255 Total)
Rivalries
The team's main geographic rival is
FC Dallas. Each season they compete in the Texas Derby, or El Capitán Clasico, in which the victor wins an 18th century cannon named
El Capitán
. Houston won the 2006 and 2007 series with a win on
August 12 and on
August 19 of their respective campaigns.
| Season
| Played
| Dynamo Win
| Draw
| FCD Win
| Dynamo Goals
| FCD Goals
| +/-
| Texas Derby Winner
|
| 2006
| 4
| 2
| 1
| 1
| 6
| 5
| +1
| Houston Dynamo
|
| 2007
| 4
| 3
| 1
| 0
| 6
| 1
| +5
| Houston Dynamo
|
| 2008
| 3
| 0
| 3
| 0
| 7
| 7
| 0
| FC Dallas (away goals rule, 4-2)
|
| 2009
| 3
| 2
| 0
| 1
| 4
| 2
| Houston Dynamo
|
| Total
| 14
| 7
| 6
| 2
| 23
| 15
| +8
| Houston Dynamo (3), FC Dallas (1)
|
Television and radio
Local English coverage is carried by
KHOU-DT Channel 11.2, when not carried by the national MLS broadcast partners such as
ESPN and the
Fox Soccer Channel (FSC).
[14] Select games will also be simulcast on
Fox Sports Houston.
[15] Charlie Pallilo calls the play-by-play with Glenn Davis usually calling the color commentary. Spanish coverage is on
KHLM-LP "TV Informa", Channel 43, with Ernesto Del Valle calling play-by-play and Gustavo Rangel providing color.
English radio broadcasts are carried by
KBME 790 AM The Sports Animal, with Jonathan Yardley calling play-by-play and James Clarkson doing color on home games. Spanish radio broadcasts are carried by
KEYH-AM 850 AM La Ranchera, with Daniel Mejia calling play-by-play and
Héctor Zelada, a former World Cup winner, providing color for select games.
Dynamo All-Access
is a local Houston radio broadcast on KBME (AM), which is hosted by
Glenn Davis. It regularly features head coach Dominic Kinnear and the team's players.
Honors
Domestic
- MLS Cup
- * Winners (2):
2006, 2007
- MLS Supporter's Shield
- * Runners Up (1):
2008
- North American SuperLiga
- * Runners Up (1):
2008
Minor Trophies
- Carolina Challenge Cup
- * Winners (2):
2006, 2007
- Texas Pro Soccer Festival
- * Winners (1):
2008
- MLS Reserve Division:
- * Winners (1):
2008
Players
Current roster
As of August 20, 2009.
[16]
For recent transfers, see List of
MLS transfers for the 2009 season.
Notable former players
This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.
- Ade Akinbiyi (2009)
- Ronald Cerritos (2006)
- Paul Dalglish (2006–2008)
- Dwayne de Rosario (2006–2008)
- Nate Jaqua (2007–2008)
- Joseph Ngwenya (2007)
- See also All-time Houston Dynamo roster
Team records
- Games: Pat Onstad, 96
- Goals: Brian Ching, 36
- Assists: Brad Davis, 29
- Points: Brian Ching, 45
- Shots: Dwayne De Rosario, 195
- Shots-on-Goal: Brian Ching, 86
- Game-Winning Goals: Brian Ching , 9
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- Shutouts: Pat Onstad, 30
- Saves: Pat Onstad, 282
- Wins: Pat Onstad, 42
|
MLS regular season only, through June 13 2009
Team Officials
- Owner: Anschutz Entertainment Group
- Equity Partners: Oscar De La Hoya
, Brener International Group
[17]
Senior Club Staff
- President and General Manager: Oliver Luck
- Chief Operating Officer: Chris Canetti
- Vice President: Rocky Harris
- Vice President for Business Development: Steve Powell
Coaching Staff
- Head coach: Dominic Kinnear
- Assistant coach: John Spencer
- Goalkeeper coach: Tim Hanley
- Head athletic trainer: Theron Enns
- Team administrator: Nick Kowba
- Equipment manager: Mike Porter
Year-by-year
| Season
| League Record
| Top Scorer
| Top Goalkeeper
| Notes
|
| P
| W
| L
| T
| F
| A
| +/-
| Pts
| PPG
| Player
| GP
| G
| Player
| GP
| GA
| GAA
| SHO
|
|
| 2006
| 32
| 11
| 8
| 13
| 44
| 40
| + 4
| 46
| 1.438
| Brian Ching
| 21
| 11
| Pat Onstad
| 32
| 40
| 1.25
| 5
| MLS Cup Champion
|
| 2007
| 30
| 15
| 8
| 7
| 43
| 23
| +20
| 52
| 1.733
| Brian Ching
| 20
| 7
| Pat Onstad
| 27
| 22
| 0.815
| 11
| MLS Cup Champion
|
| 2008
| 30
| 13
| 5
| 12
| 45
| 32
| +13
| 51
| 1.5
| Brian Ching
| 25
| 13
| Pat Onstad
| 24
| 24
| 1.03
| 7
|
|
| Totals
| 92
| 39
| 21
| 32
| 132
| 95
| 149
| 1.557
| Brian Ching
| 66
| 31
| Pat Onstad
| 83
| 86
| 1.031
| 23
| 2 MLS Cups
|
Statistics current as of October 27, 2008
| Year
| Reg. Season
| MLS Playoffs
| U.S. Open Cup
| CONCACAF
Champions' Cup
| SuperLiga
|
| 2006
| 2nd, West
| Champions
| Semifinals
| Could not qualify
| Started in 2007
|
| 2007
| 2nd, West
| Champions
| Round of 16
| Semifinals
| Semifinals
|
| 2008
| 1st, West
| Quarterfinals
| Round of 16
| Semifinals
| Final
|
| 2009
| TBD
| TBD
| Semifinals
| TBD
| Didn't participate.
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International competition
The Dynamo have had a recent run of competition against international clubs for the two years following their inaugural season. By virtue of their MLS Cup victories, the Dynamo have entered prestigious competitions like the
CONCACAF Champions Cup and the
North American SuperLiga. During the 2008 season, the Dynamo participated in the inaugural
Pan-Pacific Championship as well as the inaugural
CONCACAF Champions League.
See also
References
- Eighty-Sixing 1836: Why isn't "Houston" offensive too? Editorial, Enter Stage Right, March 20, 2006
- Dynamo allow goal, but stay hot, houstondynamo.com, July 22, 2007
- MLS wants owners to sell Dynamo, Houston Chronicle, November 21, 2007
- Dynamo For Sale; De La Hoya Group Interested, MyFoxHouston.com, November 21, 2007
- De La Hoya on the way to Dynamo, HoustonDynamo.com, February 26, 2008
- De La Hoya plans for his MLS future
- Houston Dynamo introduces 'Dynamo Diesel' as its new mascot
- Dynamo Girls
- Dynamo Diesel: About Diesel
- Dynamo sports soccer sombrero as Amigo Energy sponsors team
- Dynamo, Amigo Energy announce historic business partnership
- The Houston Dynamo Has a New Friend
- http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/index.jsp?club=mls&year=2008
- Dynamo announce TV partnership with KHOU
- Dynamo score on digital TV
- http://web.mlsnet.com/players/index.jsp?club=t200
- De La Hoya new Dynamo equity partner