Minnesota United FC
The Minnesota United FC is an American football franchise from the Minneapolis- Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The club was founded in January 2010, is a member of the North American Soccer League since 2011. First, however, the franchise has appeared in the short-lived USSF D2 Pro League, a company founded also in 2010 U.S. sub-prime American professional league.
- 5.1 record this season
History
After the traditional football franchise Minnesota Thunder was disbanded after the end of the 2009 season, the decision was the beginning of 2010 a new team from the region around Minneapolis fielding. Early February 2010 was finally adopted with Minnesota Stars FC found a fitting name for the football team. The name Stars goes to the nickname of the U.S. state of Minnesota North Star State or L' Étoile du Nord ( Engl. about The Star of the North) back.
After the club after the announcement of the official team name ten weeks time had to ask a coach, was just a few days ago in the form of long-time professional football players and three times the national player Manny Lagos a head coach for the Stars, who at that as sports director of Minnesota Thunder have the necessary experience brought in football of Minnesota. Before the official start of the season the supporters were able to determine the dress of their team through an Internet Voting and had thereby a choice of five different jerseys. On 12 February 2010 was eventually recorded by the Liberians Johnny Menyongar, the first player in the Minnesota squad that won offensive player at his new club a one year contract and will wear the number 10
Since the franchise after the announcement of coach another eight weeks had set up a team, followed in the coming days and weeks, a number of other players in the extended squad of stars. In early March 2010 followed the long-standing English youth football coach Carl Craig, who works in the United States since 1994, and the defensive player Kevin Friedland, who is engaged as a player-coach at the club, on the Lagos side on the bench of the stars. After the franchise the Traingscamp began with 35 players before the 2010 season, managed only a few players in the final squad of stars.
On April 10, 2010 Stars their first professional league game completed in the newly created temporary USSF Division 2 Professional League, USSF D2 Pro League shortly. The away game against the Vancouver Whitecaps lost site with 0:2. Only about a week after the 2-0 defeat to neighbors from Canada won the Stars on 16 April 2010 their first competitive match. In the 1-0 victory over the Carolina RailHawks FC of the American- Swedish Daniel Wasson scored the first competitive goal in the history of the franchise. In the first season, the team was able to qualify with a 4th place in the regular season for the play- offs. There she was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
For the 2011 season, the franchise moved to the North American Soccer League. With a sixth place in the regular season, the team reached the play-offs. There it managed the Stars to the finals. After a win and a draw against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, the team was chosen from Minnesota for the first NASL winner.
In the 2012 season, the Stars reached the 6th place. In the playoffs, they came to the final, had to be there but the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeated and thus missed the title defense.
On 5 March 2013, the franchise announced that it will be called from the 2013 season Minnesota United FC.
Colours and Coat of Arms
The official colors of the franchises are blue and gold, which ties in with the tradition of Minnesota Thunder.
Stadium
The Minnesota United FC plays its home games at the National Sports Center, whose major stadium has a capacity of 12,000 seats, in Blaine, 18 miles north of Minneapolis, from. In 1990 opened sports center includes the U.S. women 's national soccer team as well as some U.S. youth national teams completed a portion of their home matches. A record crowd there was in 2001, when 15,615 people saw the 1-0 victory of the U.S. women's national teams on the women's national team of Canada. From 1990 to 2003, and from March 2008 until the end of 2009 (up to the resolution of the franchises ) the stadium was home of the USL -1 club Minnesota Thunder.
Furthermore, the largest youth soccer tournament will take place in the annual Schwan's USA CUP Stadium, on the North American continent instead. In this tournament each year occur over 1,000 teams from many different countries. The Sports Center also has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records, as it is with a size of 2.4 square kilometers of the world's largest soccer complex in the world.
Also in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis matches were played in the 2013 season.
Fans and rivals
Fan groups
The rather small fan base consists mainly of subrogated fans of the defunct franchises Minnesota Thunder. The only fan club of United are the dark clouds that come together at home games in the sectors 12 and 13 of the National Sports Center.
Rivalries
The biggest rivalry was founded in 2009 for AC St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Both teams wore in the first season the Railway Cup, a normal league game by both teams take each other out. This encounter is named for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway ( M & StL ), the wrong in the years 1870 to 1960 between St. Louis, MO and Minneapolis, MN.