Chicago Storm (soccer)

The Chicago Storm was an indoor soccer team in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 2004 to 2008 and the Xtreme Soccer League in 2009. The team folded after playing in a local indoor league, the Ultimate Soccer League.

Chicago Storm
Founded2004
Dissolved2011
GroundUIC Pavilion (2004–2006)
Sears Centre (2007–2011)
LeagueMajor Indoor Soccer League (2004-08)
Xtreme Soccer League (2009)

History

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The Storm played home games during its first two seasons at the UIC Pavilion on the West Side of Chicago. Former Chicago Sting and Chicago Fire soccer great Frank Klopas coached the team during its first two seasons, and Ted Chronopoulos captained the team for their inaugural 2004 season.[1] Chicago Sting leading scorer Karl-Heinz Granitza worked for the club's front office in 2005.[2] In 2005–06, the Storm started the season with a 2–6 record but improved over the second half of the season to make the play-offs.[3]

With attendance an issue, the team moved its home games to the newly built Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, a northwest suburb of Chicago, for the 2006–07 season.[4] Steve Morris, a former Illinois soccer player of the year, replaced Klopas as coach for the 2006–07 season.[5]

The Storm had a developmental team in 2008 called the Tormenta.[6] They made the playoffs that year despite a late season slide, but lost to Monterrey in the quarterfinals after losing on a golden goal.[7][8]

After the MISL folded, the Storm played in the Xtreme Soccer League.[9][10] After the XSL folded with just one year of play, the Storm joined the Ultimate Soccer League.[11]

Year-by-year

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Year League Reg. Season Playoffs Attendance Average
2004–05 MISL II 6th MISL, 18-21 Failed to qualify 3,408
2005–06 MISL II 4th MISL, 13-17 Lost Semifinal 1,530
2006–07 MISL II 2nd MISL, 17-13 Lost Semifinal 2,473
2007–08 MISL II 5th MISL, 15-15 Lost Quarterfinal 3,609
2008–09 XSL 4th XSL, 7-13 No Playoffs 2,611
2009–10 USL 1st USL, 11-1 Unknown Not Recorded

Final squad

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As of April 5, 2009 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   MEX Arturo Alanis
GK   MEX Victor Balderrama
DF   SRB Alex Bogosavljevic
DF   ARG Pablo Castro
DF   MEX Victor Garcia
MF   USA Missoum Harbouche
MF   USA Jonathan Hernandez
DF   MEX Juan Hernandez
MF   MEX Felip Hernandez
GK   SRB Ivan Jevtić
FW   SRB Vladimir Knežević
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   POL Piotr Kolasinski
FW   PLE Awadalla Morad
MF   COL Jorge Prado
DF   SRB Dušan Radovanović
MF   BRA Roberto Linck
MF   ARG Jorge Luis Raffa
DF   SRB Branko Savić
MF   USA Todd Short
FW   USA Geovanni Tello
FW   SRB Zlatko Zebić
DF   BRA Guilherme Veiga

Head coaches

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Retired numbers

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Arenas

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References

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  1. ^ Surico, Dave (October 21, 2004). "Storm Blows into Town". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ^ "Professional team to hold youth clinic".
  3. ^ Arroyave, Luis (April 13, 2006). "Clouds fade for rising Storm". Chicago Tribune.
  4. ^ "4 teams call Sears Centre their home". Chicago Tribune. p. 22.
  5. ^ "'Event stress' takes its toll". Chicago Tribune. August 23, 2006.
  6. ^ Ferrarin, Elena (January 2, 2008). "Indoor soccer games to have international flair". Arlington Daily Herald. p. 3.
  7. ^ "Ignition will face Monterrey in MISL Playoff Semifinals". Detroit Free Press. April 15, 2008. p. 2D.
  8. ^ "Storm looking for playoff berth". Munster Times. March 15, 2008.
  9. ^ Bondy, Stefan (August 30, 2008). "A case of going to Xtremes". The Record.
  10. ^ "TO THE XTREME!" Archived September 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Chavarría, Antonio. "Ultimate Soccer de 'alta calidad'". Los Angeles Times. p. 70.
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