FC Dallas
Charter Club
Joined MLS in 1996
MLS Cup: Runners-up 2010
Supporters’ Shield: Winners 2016, Runners-up 2006, ‘15
U.S. Open Cup: Winners 1997, ’16, Runners-up 2005, ‘07
Western Conference: Winners 2006, ’15, ’16, Runners-up 1996, ’99, ’05
Initially joining the MLS as The Dallas Burn, the club finished the season with a 17-15 record to earn second place in the Western conference behind the LA Galaxy. The ’97 season brought a slightly worse 16-16 record, but saw a successful campaign in the U.S. Open Cup bring home silverware. The 1998-2002 seasons saw the club put forth several average season-performances, barring their 19-13 record during the second-placed 1999 season, finishing either third or fourth. Their performances in the Open Cup were also fairly consistent, making it to at least the quarterfinals every season but the 2001 season where they faltered in the round of 32.
The 2003 season saw the club put up a club-worst record of 6-5-19, netting just 23 points to finish bottom of the league by 16 points. The next season they improved a little to finish with a 10-6-14 record, earning 36 points and finishing second from bottom only three points above Chicago Fire. In the 2005 season, Dallas managed a remarkable 13-9-10 record to more than double their point total from two seasons prior. They also made it to the Open Cup final where they suffered a drab 1-0 loss to LA Galaxy. The 2005 season also saw the club move to it’s new soccer-specific stadium in Frisco (Now known as Toyota Stadium), and rebranded as FC Dallas.
The 2006 season saw the club once again win the Western conference, ending the season with a 16-4-12 record. In 2007 they made it to the Open Cup final once again, only to lose to New England Revolution in a thrilling 2-3 loss. With more lacklustre performances over the next few seasons, it wouldn’t be until the 2010 season that Dallas would get anywhere near anymore silverware as they made it to the MLS Cup final only to lose to Colorado Rapids 1-2 thanks to an own-goal in extra-time.
Their performances from 2011-14 ranged from average to poor as they failed to even qualify for the playoffs in two of those years, but also made it to the semi-finals of the Open Cup the same number of years. The 2015 season saw them really breakout, earning a club-record number of points with 60 points earned from an 18-6-10 record to win the Western Conference. They earned the club’s first double in the following season, matching the club-record point total with an end-of-season record of 17-9-8 to win the Western Conference again, and also won the US Open cup thanks to their outstanding performance in a 4-2 victory over New England Revolution.
This season saw them put forth one of their worst performances in the last decade, finishing the season with an 11-13-10 record. They started the season as a team that had just done the double the previous season would be expected, and performed very well. Mid-way through the season their performances faltered and eventually tanked thanks to a set of injuries to key players and a slew of international call-ups. They nearly were able to make it into the playoffs thanks to a big win in their last game of the season, but results elsewhere would prevent that.
