CD Chivas USA

HISTORY OF CLUB DEPORTIVO CHIVAS USABefore the MLS expansion of 2005, the founding club, known as the most popular team in Mexico, Club Deportivo Guadalajara, or “Chivas”, was founded by Frenchmen, Belgians, and Mexicans as the recreational club of a local store in Guadalajara, the team endured nearly 50 years of disappointment before initiating el Campeonisimo, a glorious era that saw the club claim eight league titles in a 14-year span from 1957-1970.Created as “Union Football Club” in 1906, to symbolize the unity of its Mexican and European founders, after two years the team adopted the name Club Deportivo Guadalajara, after Mexico’s second city and capital of Jalisco state. The team’s colors – a red-and-white-striped shirt with navy blue shorts and socks – were chosen by Edgar Everaert after Club Brugge, the team of his heart in native Belgium.Club lore holds that the name Chivas, or “Goats”, began as an insult, written by local journalist who compared the team’s players to a flock of wayward animals during the Guadalajara’s “Ya merito” (or loosely, “always a bridesmaid”) period of the 1940’s and 50’s in which the team routinely came within one game of winning championship.But like the American patriotic song “Yankee Doodle”, what began as an insult soon became a symbol of pride, and the team has proudly called itself Chivas ever since. The “Chivas Rayadas” (“Striped Goats”) would go on to win eight titles starting in the late 1950’s, including their first championship under a foreign coach, Hungarian Arpad Fekete. Chivas has had several foreign coaches, from both Europe and South America. The tradition of foreign coaches continues to this day even with Chivas USA, formally lead by head coach Hans Westerhof of Holland, who previously had been head coach of Chivas Guadalajara and Dutch club AJAX Amsterdam, one of the world’s best clubs at developing young soccer talent. Chivas USA was led to our first ever Playoff Match Series in 2006 under the leadership of Head Coach Bob Bradley, the winningest coach in MLS history and now the current head coach of the United States National Team.Following the glory of the Campeonisimo, Chivas would wait 17 years before adding its ninth title in 1987, and in 1997 it reached a record tenth. Later in 2005, Major League Soccer’s 10th year, CD Chivas USA was formed as an expansion team, at the time growing the number of teams in the league to twelve (now 15 in 2009). The Chivas 103 year history now lives on in America. Chivas USA will continue to carry these prideful traditions of its history, but marry them with the new traditions and cultures of their new home. Chivas USA marks the beginning of a new era of Football in the United States. And with your dedication and support, CD Chivas USA can and will become the premier MLS team in the United States. We look forward to seeing you at the games... especially when we beat Beckham....(oh yeah, and that pesky D.C. United!)