The Chicago Fire is Chicago, Illinois's Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. The Fire won the MLS Cup in 1998, their first season in the league. They also won the 1998, 2000, and 2003 editions of the US Open Cup. The Fire played at Soldier Field from 1998-2001. They played at North Central College's Cardinal Stadium in the suburb of Naperville in 2002, moving back to the remodeled Soldier Field late in October 2003. There are plans of moving to a soccer-specific stadium to be built in Bridgeview, Illinois in 2006. The club has one of the strongest and most enthusiastic supporters' sections in the league in Section 8 Chicago .

Contents

1 Honors 1.1 Major Titles 1.2 Minor Titles 2 Current roster 3 Notable players 4 Head coaches 5 General managers 6 International competition 7 Average Attendance 8 External links

Honors

Major Titles

• MLS Cup 1 (1998)
• MLS Supporters' Shield 1 (2003)
• US Open Cup 3 (1998, 2000, 2003)

Minor Titles

• Division Champion 3 (1998, 2000, 2003)
• Conference Champions 3 (1998, 2000, 2003)

Current roster

1 David Mahoney 2 C.J. Brown 3 Samuel Caballero 4 Leonard Griffin 5 Jim Curtin 6 Kelly Gray 7 John Thorrington 8 Lubos Reiter 9 Chad Barrett 11 Nate Jaqua 12 Logan Pause 13 Jack Stewart 14 Chris Armas 15 Jesse Marsch

16 Will John 17 Chris Rolfe 18 Matt Pickens 19 Craig Capano 20 Tony Sanneh 21 Justin Mapp 22 Scott Buete 23 Ivan Guerrero 24 Zach Thornton 25 Gonzalo Segares 27 Andy Herron 29 Thiago Gaucho 30 Will Johnson 33 Hollis Donaldson

Notable players

• Chris Armas (1998-)
• DaMarcus Beasley (2000-2004)
• Carlos Bocanegra (2000-2003)
• Roman Kosecki (1999-2000)
• Dema Kovalenko (1999-2002)
• Lubos Kubik (1998-2000)
• Peter Nowak (1998-2002)
• Jerzy Podbrozny (1999-2000)
• Ante Razov (1998-2000, 2001-2004)
• Hristo Stoitchkov (2000-2002)
• Josh Wolff (1998-2002)
• Eric Wynalda (2001)
• Zach Thornton (1998-2003, 2005-)

Head coaches

• Bob Bradley (1998-2002)
• Dave Sarachan (2002-)

General managers

• Peter Wilt (1997-)

International competition

• CONCACAF Champions Cup 1999
  • Quarterfinals v. Joe Public F.C. -- 2:0
  • Semifinals v. Alajuela -- 1:1 (Alajuela advance 5:4 on penalties)
  • Third place game v. DC United -- 2:2
• CONCACAF Champions Cup 2002
  • 1st round v. CSD Municipal -- 2:0, 1:0 (Fire advance 3:0 on aggregate)
  • 2nd round v. CA Monarcas Morelia -- 0:2, 2:1 (Monarcas advance 3:2 on aggregate)
• CONCACAF Champions Cup 2004
  • 1st round v. CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh -- 2:5, 4:0 (Fire advance 6:5 on aggregate)
  • 2nd round v. Deportivo Saprissa -- 0:2, 2:1 (Deportivo advance 3:2 on aggregate)

Average Attendance

• 1998: 17,887
• 1999: 16,016
• 2000: 13,387
• 2001: 16,338
• 2002: 12,992
• 2003: 14,005 (8th)
• 2004: 17,513
• All-Time: 15,448

External links

• www.chicago-fire.com Team's official website
• www.barnburners.com Supporter's Club website
• www.thefirealarm.com News and opinion site about the Fire