KC’s 20 for 20: As MLS hits milestone, a trip down memory lane

Major League Soccer is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season and the Sporting Kansas City franchise was one of the 10 MLS charter clubs in 1996.

In honor of the Sporting Kansas City franchise’s 20th year in KC — the then-Wiz was one of 10 charter clubs in 1996 — we counted down the top 20 moments in the city’s MLS soccer history.

20. Ochocinco tries soccer

Utilizing social media in March 2011, a Sporting KC staffer fired off a Twitter message to then-Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco: Come train with Sporting Kansas City. With the NFL in a player lockout, Ochocinco joined the soccer club for a six-day trail, and he even appeared in a reserve team game.

He wasn’t half bad, either, but he ultimately decided it was best to stick with football.

19. Kansas City lands its first designated player

When Claudio Lopez signed his contract to join the Kansas City Wizards on March 7, 2008, he was the first designated player in club history, meaning the Argentine forward’s move to the MLS earned him a hefty salary of more than $415,000.

Lopez scored in his MLS debut, his first of 13 goals with the Wizards before departing after two seasons.

18. Soccer in a baseball park?

After separating from the Kansas City Chiefs ownership, the Wizards left Arrowhead Stadium and moved into CommunityAmerica Ballpark in 2008. They shared residency there with the T-Bones, an independent minor-league baseball team.

The move was initially a one-year fix, but after plans for a new soccer-specific stadium fell flat, one year became three.

17. Graham Zusi scores at Sporting Park … while wearing red, white and blue

In October 2013, Sporting Park welcomed the United States men’s national team for a World Cup qualifier against Jamaica. Sporting KC midfielder Graham Zusi scored in the 77th minute, breaking a scoreless tie and sparking a 2-0 victory in front of 18,467 fans.

16. Erik Palmer-Brown debuts at 17

A month after celebrating his 17th birthday, Sporting KC homegrown defender Erik Palmer-Brown made his MLS debut on May 18, 2014, becoming the youngest player in MLS history to start a match at defender.

15. Wizards fire Onalfo, name Vermes interim coach

Three years after the Wizards hired one of their former players, Peter Vermes, as the club’s technical director, they made him a head coach. Vermes was made interim coach on Aug. 4, 2009, a day after the club fired Curt Onalfo from the same position.

Vermes led Sporting to the 2013 MLS Cup championship and the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. He is the only MLS player to win an MLS Cup as a player and a coach with the same franchise. Vermes owns a 76-58-44 career MLS record.

14. That’s 22 for No. 14

Dom Dwyer spent the bulk of the 2013 season on loan with Orlando City, a USL-Pro club that essentially served as the equivalent of Sporting KC’s Class AAA team. A year later, he wrestled the starting striker job away from incumbent Claudio Bieler with eight goals in the first 11 matches. By season’s end, Dwyer tallied 22 goals — a single-season franchise record.

13. Handball United

Ever hear the term Handball United? Well, this is where it comes from.

D.C. United defeated the Wizards 3-2 to win the 2004 MLS Cup, but it came with some controversy. After the Wizards grabbed an early lead, Alecko Eskandarian scored a pair of first-half goals — the second of which appeared to follow his own handball.

12. Beckham comes to Kansas City

After joining Major League Soccer in July 2007, Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham became a major draw for road venues.

Kansas City was no exception. While the Wizards had moved to CommunityAmerica Ballpark, they went back to Arrowhead Stadium to host Beckham and Co. on Sept. 13, 2008. The match drew 26,113 fans.

11. Wizards hire Gansler

In the middle of the 1999 season, the Wizards fired head coach Ron Newman and replaced him with Bob Gansler, who led the United States men’s national team at the 1990 World Cup, the country’s first qualification into the tournament in 40 years.

The 1999 Wizards finished last in the Western Conference, but Gansler made his first full season count. The 2000 Wizards opened the year on a 12-match unbeaten streak, won the Supporters’ Shield and captured the franchise’s first MLS Cup.

Gansler coached the Wizards from 1999-2006, amassing 95 victories during his tenure.

10. Preki wins second MVP … at age 40

Only one player in Major League Soccer’s two-decade history has won the most valuable player award twice.

Preki won the 1997 honor after scoring 12 goals and recording 17 assists. He returned to the Wizards in 2002 and won his second MVP award a year later at age 40.

9. Wizards beat Manchester United

The largest soccer crowd in Kansas City history — 52,424 fans — watched English powerhouse Manchester United lose 2-1 in an exhibition game against the Kansas City Wizards on July 25, 2010, at Arrowhead.

The crowd response led the club’s new ownership group to believe soccer had a bright future in Kansas City.

8. Wizards shut out Chicago to win Open Cup

The 2004 Wizards weren’t exactly known for their offensive prowess, but they possessed the best defense in the league, a unit led by Jimmy Conrad, and used it to win their first Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup — a trophy named in their owner’s honor.

Igor Simutenkov provided the lone goal in a 1-0 victory against Chicago, which he scored on a free kick five minutes into overtime. Luckily for the Wizards, the tournament still implemented a golden-goal, sudden-death OT format.

7. Sporting KC wins another Open Cup

Sporting Kansas City lifted its first major trophy since re-branding the franchise when it ended Seattle’s three-year reign as the U.S. Open Cup champions.

The victory came in dramatic fashion on a stormy night on Aug. 8, 2012. In the first Open Cup final to reach penalty kicks in 15 years, Sporting KC prevailed 3-2 in the shootout after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through extra time.

6. OnGoal purchases the franchise

A project to “Save the Wizards” started in 2004, not long after owner Lamar Hunt announced his intentions to sell the team. The group’s mission was to keep the franchise in Kansas City, though one of its primary members, David Ficklin, called it a “long-shot” proposition.

OnGoal turned that long shot into reality in Aug. 2006, when it announced the purchase of the franchise — along with plans to keep it in Kansas City. The group consisted of Cerner co-founders Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, along with Greg Maday, Pat Curran and Robb Heineman, who met regularly with the Save the Wizards campaign group.

5. The berth of the Wiz

Major League Soccer began its inaugural season in 1996 with 10 franchises. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt ensured one of the original members would call Kansas City home.

The Kansas City Wiz began play on April 13, 1996, with a 3-0 victory against Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium. The Wiz name lasted only one season. It was extended to Wizards in 1997.

4. The summer of Matt and Graham

The franchise’s 2009 MLS SuperDraft class will go down as one of the best in club history. The then-Wizards drafted Matt Besler eighth overall and nabbed Graham Zusi with the 23rd pick.

Five years later, Zusi and Besler are fixtures of the United States men’s national team. A month after the 2014 World Cup, Sporting KC locked up its two stars with identical designated-player contracts that will keep them in Kansas City through the 2018 season.

3. Sporting KC wins MLS Cup

On Dec. 7, 2013, a bitterly cold afternoon, Sporting KC outlasted Real Salt Lake in a league-record 10 rounds of penalty kicks to win the 2013 MLS Cup.

Aurelien Collin not only scored the club’s lone goal in regulation, which ended with the score knotted at one, he also converted the game-winning penalty kick after Real Salt Lake defender Lovel Palmer’s shot clanked off the crossbar.

2. Wizards end city’s championship drought

Goalkeeper Tony Meola made 10 saves to lift the Kansas City Wizards to a 1-0 victory over Chicago in the 2000 MLS Cup Final. Meola was named the MVP of the match.

That not only marked the Wizards’ first championship in franchise history, it served as the first major-league title for Kansas City since the Royals’ World Series win in 1985.

1. The Kansas City Wizards become Sporting Kansas City

With fledgling attendance numbers and a shared home with the Kansas City T-Bones, the franchise unveiled a fresh start prior to the 2011 season.

The Kansas City Wizards were no more. In their place, the team re-branded to Sporting Kansas City. More important than the new name, the re-brand included arguably the most significant development in franchise history — a soccer-specific stadium.

Sporting KC moved into Sporting Park in the 2011 season, immediately becoming one of the most raucous home environments in the league. The team finished atop the Eastern Conference standings in its first season inside the new home.

Sporting Park was named the venue of the year in 2012 by TheStadiumBusiness Awards. It has played home to 53 consecutive MLS sellouts. It served as the site for the 2013 MLS All-Star Game. And it continues to draw the praise of its visitors.

This story was originally published March 8, 2015 at 12:03 AM with the headline "KC’s 20 for 20: As MLS hits milestone, a trip down memory lane."