Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara, sharing common ownership and branding. The club was the eleventh MLS team upon its entry into the league in 2004. Chivas USA was intended to be seen as a "little brother" to its parent club C.D. Guadalajara, one of the most widely supported and successful teams in Mexico. ''Chiva'' is Latin American Spanish for "

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

", seen as a tough and resilient animal in Mexico, and is the nickname of C.D. Guadalajara. Chivas USA played its home games at the StubHub Center in Carson, which it shared with its rival, the LA Galaxy. The club was originally owned by Antonio Cue and Jorge Vergara, who also owned C.D. Guadalajara. In 2014, MLS purchased the club from Vergara with plans to sell to new owners. The club ceased operations after the 2014 regular season, and is currently the most recent major professional North American soccer team to fold.

History

Founding

Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara took ownership of the struggling Chivas de Guadalajara in 2002 and sought to use the rejuvenated club to establish an international brand. In June 2003, the league announced that the

2003 MLS All-Star Game The 2003 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 8th Major League Soccer All-Star Game, played on August 2, 2003 at The Home Depot Center, now known as StubHub Center, in Carson, California. The All-Star Game celebrated both the opening of th ...

would be played against Chivas and that Vergara was interested in purchasing an expansion team. The team, named "Chivas USA", would be affiliated with Chivas and play in either Los Angeles or

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

beginning in the 2005 season. On August 2, 2004, Major League Soccer announced that Chivas USA would share The Home Depot Center in Carson with the Galaxy, and begin play in 2005 as the league's eleventh team.

Early success (2005–2009)

In 2005, Chivas USA kicked off its inaugural season in Major League Soccer at The Home Depot Center with a 2–0 loss to then

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

Champions D.C. United on April 2, 2005, under the guidance of Chivas USA's first head coach Thomas Rongen. After a 1–8–1 start (their sole win coming against fellow expansion club

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

), Thomas Rongen was named Chivas USA's sporting director and assistant coach Javier Ledesma became the club's interim head coach. On June 3, 2005, Hans Westerhof was named Chivas USA's second head coach. After a disappointing season, Westerhof did not return to coach the team in 2006. On November 23, 2005, former MLS Coach of the Year Bob Bradley became Chivas USA's third head coach, replacing Hans Westerhof. Under Bradley, the 2006 season saw a major turnaround for Chivas USA. The team finished the 2006 season with a 10–9–13 record and earned a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Bradley was named MLS Coach of the Year, becoming the first two-time winner of the award and Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein was named 2006 Gatorade Rookie of the Year. After the season ended, Coach Bradley was named interim head coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team and head coach of the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team by the

U.S. Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

, and was replaced by Chivas USA's fourth head coach, Predrag "Preki" Radosavljevic. SKljestan

The team's third season, under Preki, was the most successful. Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan was named MLS's Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2007 season. On November 7, 2007, Preki was named MLS Coach of the Year for 2007 after the first-year manager led the Red-and-White to a 15–7–8 record and first place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference. In January 2008, Preki signed a multi-year contract with Chivas USA securing his position as head coach for the 2008 season. Chivas finished the 2007 MLS season atop of the Western Conference. However, they lost in the Conference Semifinals of the

MLS Cup 2007 MLS Cup 2007 was the 12th edition of the MLS Cup, the post-season championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. It was played on November 18, 2007, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., between the ...

playoffs to the Kansas City Wizards, who were the conference's No. 4 seed under new MLS seeding rules despite being in the Eastern Conference. In 2008 Chivas USA competed in their first official international tournament, playing

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of wh ...

in the 2008 SuperLiga. Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan were named to the

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ...

team. Goalie Brad Guzan became the first Goat to transfer to a European first division club. The Red-and-White clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season, losing to

in the first round. Kljestan scored the U.S. Soccer Goal of the Year while playing in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. He was also named to the MLS Best XI, and was selected as U.S. Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year. Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan competed with the U.S. National Team in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. Chivas USA goalkeeper

Zach Thornton Zach Thornton (born October 10, 1973) is an American former goalkeeper who spent 16 seasons in Major League Soccer with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (1996–97), Chicago Fire (1998–2006), Colorado Rapids (2007), New York Red Bulls (2008) ...

was named to the 2009 MLS All-Star Team. Chivas USA announced the Team Award Winners, naming Thornton the team's Most Valuable Player. Thornton was also named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and MLS Comeback Player of the Year, and he was nominated to the MLS Best 11.

Club struggles (2010–2013)

Martín Vásquez was named the team's head coach after serving as an assistant coach from 2005 to 2007. Kljestan and Bornstein were named co-captains for the 2010 season. During the World Cup break Kljestan signed a deal with Belgian club

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, leaving Chivas USA after parts of five seasons. Bornstein played in the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, starting in two matches for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

as they made it to the Round of 16. On October 27, the team released head coach Martín Vásquez from his contract. On November 2, president and CEO Shawn Hunter announced he was stepping down. On December 14 the club's vice president of soccer operations, Stephen Hamilton revealed he too, was leaving his post. After Hamilton stepped down, Jose L Domene was named Interim General Manager. On January 4, 2011, Robin Fraser became head coach of Chivas USA. On August 29, 2012, Vergara and his wife,

Angélica Fuentes Angélica Fuentes Téllez is a Mexican business executive and was the majority shareholder of Grupo Omnilife-Angelissima-Chivas, a multinational corporation based in Mexico composed of nutrition supplements company Omnilife, beauty and cosmetics ...

, became sole owners of the club, buying out former partners Antonio and Lorenzo Cué. On May 29, 2013, two Chivas USA youth coaches,

Dan Calichman Daniel Jacob Calichman (born February 21, 1968) is an American soccer coach and retired player. He played as a defender and is an assistant coach for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Playing career College Calichman played college soccer at W ...

and

Ted Chronopoulos Ted Chronopoulos (born September 16, 1972) is an American former soccer player. He spent three seasons in the Greek First Division, seven seasons in Major League Soccer, three in the USL First Division and one in Major Indoor Soccer League. He ...

, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the club, on the grounds they had been dismissed because they were not Latino. Shortly after the acquisition of the club, Vergara is alleged to have told his staff that those who did not speak Spanish would be fired. Chronopoulos claimed that Jose David, the team's new president and chief business officer, asked Chronopoulos for a list of youth players and coaches who were Mexican or Mexican American and of those that weren't. Following the release of Preki, Chivas USA failed to stay consistent on and off the field, just like its parent club, CD Guadalajara, Chivas USA had four coaches after the start of the 2010 season; all four coaches failed to impress Jorge Vergara, and were let go. Their last coach was Colombian-born Wilmer Cabrera.

Final season (2014)

On February 20, 2014, Major League Soccer purchased Chivas USA from Vergara. They announced plans to sell to a buyer dedicated to keeping the club in Los Angeles, as well as a plan to rebrand the club in time for the 2015 MLS season.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

reported on September 29, 2014, that the club would suspend operations at the end of the MLS regular season, according to multiple sources. On September 30, 2014, Grant Wahl of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' reported that a group of investors headed by Henry Nguyen,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

investor Peter Guber and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

owner

Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (; born 1952) is a Malaysian Chinese businessman and investor. He is the founder of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, a diversified conglomerate listed on the Malaysian stock exchange. Besides holding stakes through the Berja ...

agreed to purchase the club for a fee over $100 million. The sale would mean that Chivas USA would fold, with the second Los Angeles team to take the field as an expansion team with a new stadium in Downtown Los Angeles. Chivas USA ceased operations on October 27, 2014, with its player development academy continuing to be operated by MLS until June 2015. A dispersal draft took place after the 2014 season, having the remaining players from the club dispersed to other teams in the league. The league added two teams ( New York City FC and Orlando City SC) to increase the total number from 19 to 20, with Kansas City and Houston shifting to the Western Conference to keep the conferences balanced. Los Angeles FC began play in 2018. They are not considered by the league to be a continuation of Chivas USA.

Colors and badge

Chivas USA's home uniform mirrored that of their parent club, Guadalajara, with a red-and-white striped shirt, blue shorts and blue socks. Chivas USA wore variations throughout its existence (with slight variations in trim, stripe width, number of stripes, and other minor details), and usually complemented this with a dark blue away uniform. The club badge was also virtually identical to that of Guadalajara, featuring the coat of arms of the city, but omitting the stars around the outside of the logo that represent each league title won by Guadalajara.

Ownership

* Jorge Vergara & Antonio Cué Sánchez-Navarro (August 2, 2004 – August 28, 2012) * Jorge Vergara (August 29, 2012 – February 19, 2014) * Major League Soccer (February 20, 2014 – October 27, 2014)

Stadium

* StubHub Center; Carson, California (2005–2014) * Harder Stadium;

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

(2006) 1 game in U.S. Open Cup * Titan Stadium; Fullerton, California (2008, 2010) 2 games in U.S. Open Cup and North American SuperLiga Chivas USA played its home games at StubHub Center, on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California, approximately 10 miles south of downtown

. Built in 2003 as the home stadium for LA Galaxy, the "SHC" is a 27,000-seat

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

, the second of its kind in MLS, but has hosted other sports such as rugby and football. For its entire existence, ''Los Rojiblancos'' shared the stadium with the Galaxy, with whom they competed for the

Honda SuperClasico The SuperClasico, formerly known as the Honda SuperClasico for sponsorship reasons, and also known as the L.A. Derby or ''El Clásico Angelino'', was a sports rivalry between LA Galaxy and Chivas USA. The rivalry ended in 2014 when Chivas ceased ...

. During their tenure, this arrangement and those of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets in MetLife Stadium and NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers in the Staples Center were the only cases in the

major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Base ...

of two teams of the same league sharing a venue. Chivas USA occasionally held home games at Titan Stadium on the campus of

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU ...

, and at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara, such as in the US Open Cup when both they and the Galaxy had been drawn to play at home on the same day, but this was generally a rare occurrence.

Sponsorship

On May 16, 2007, Comex, Mexico's leading paint company, became Chivas USA's first presenting sponsor, with their name on the front of the jerseys. At the opening of the 2010 season, the team's jerseys were blank. On April 1, 2010, the new presenting sponsor, Extra, was finally unveiled prior to the match against rivals LA Galaxy; Extra is a Mexican convenience store chain owned by

Grupo Modelo Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include ''Corona'', ''Modelo'', and '' Pacífico''. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely for the domestic Mexican ...

, the makers of Corona beer. The chain's logo appeared on the front of Chivas USA jerseys and training jerseys for the rest of that year. On February 16, 2011 Corona became the presenting sponsor for Chivas USA.

Broadcasting

For the 2014 season, Chivas USA non nationally televised matches were televised by KDOC in English and Time Warner Cable Deportes in Spanish. KDOC agreed to televise 10 matches while Time Warner Cable Deportes agreed to televise 16 matches. Matches not televised in Spanish on Time Warner Cable Deportes aired on the Univision family of networks ( UniMas, Galavision, Univision Deportes Network). Until 2012, FS West/Prime Ticket and KDOC televised all Chivas USA matches that were not nationally televised. In 2013, Chivas began the year with no local television partner; however, in August a deal was reached with KDOC (English) and MundoFOX22 KWHY-TV (Spanish) for the remainder of the 2013 season. KWKW-AM (

ESPN Deportes Radio ESPN Deportes Radio was an American Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming included call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, Ameri ...

) provided Spanish-language radio broadcasts.

Players and staff

Notable former players

''Footballers who received international caps while playing for Chivas.'' * Ante Jazić (2009–12) * Chris Pozniak (2008) * Darío Delgado (2010) * Douglas Sequeira (2005) *

Michael Umaña Míchael Umaña Corrales (born 16 July 1982) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who last played as a defender for Comunicaciones in the Liga Nacional. He represented the Costa Rica national team. Club career Early career Born in Sant ...

(2010–11) * Oswaldo Minda (2012–14) *

Steve Purdy Steven Francis Purdy Ramos (born February 5, 1985) is a former professional soccer player. Born in the United States, he represented El Salvador national team at international level, appearing for them at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011 and 2013 ...

(2013) *

Osael Romero William Osael Romero Castillo (born 18 April 1986) is a Salvadoran former footballer. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Career Club Romero started his career at Atlét ...

(2010) *

Marvin Chávez Marvin Antonio Chávez (born November 3, 1983 in La Ceiba) is a Honduran footballer who played as a midfielder, most recently for C.D. Marathón in the Liga Nacional. Career Club Chávez – who is nicknamed "el hijo del viento" (''the son of ...

(2014) * Amado Guevara (2007–08) * Ramón Núñez (2007) *

Shavar Thomas Shavar Thomas (born 29 January 1981 in Hannah Town) is a retired Jamaican footballer and current assistant coach of FC Cincinnati 2 of MLS Next Pro. Career Amateur and college Thomas played as a youth for Hazard United in Jamaica and at Th ...

(2007–09) *

Juan Pablo García Juan Pablo García Contreras (born 24 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. After his retirement, he became depressed and alcoholic but has since recovered. Club career Garcia was tra ...

(2005–06) * Erick Torres (2013–14) *

Francisco Palencia Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández (born 28 April 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager. Club career Cruz Azul Palencia trained with the Cruz Azul youth system at age 13 and made his debut in the Primera División (Firs ...

(2005–06) * Ramón Ramírez (2005–07) *

Claudio Suárez Claudio Suárez Sánchez (; born 17 December 1968) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Nicknamed ''El Emperador'' (The Emperor). Club career Born in Texcoco, State of Mexico and nicknamed ''El Emperador'' ...

(2006–09) * Andrew Boyens (2011) * Simon Elliott (2011) * Tony Lochhead (2014) *

Atiba Harris Atiba Erasto Harris (born 9 January 1985) is a Kittitian football administrator and former professional footballer. He captained the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team. As of August 2021, he serves as President of the St. Kitts and Nevis F ...

(2008–09) * Ezra Hendrickson (2005) * Raphaël Wicky (2008) *

Juan Agudelo Juan Sebastián Agudelo (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for USL Championship club Birmingham Legion. After moving from Colombia to New Jersey at an early age Agudelo began his care ...

(2012–13) * Jonathan Bornstein (2006–10) * Brad Guzan (2005–08) * Sacha Kljestan (2006–10) * Jesse Marsch (2006–09) * John O'Brien (2006) * Heath Pearce (2011–12) * Ante Razov (2006–09) *

Giancarlo Maldonado Giancarlo Gregorio Maldonado Marrero (, born 29 June 1982) is a Venezuelan footballer who plays as a striker. Club career River Plate Maldonado began his footballing career in Uruguay, where he started out in the youth teams of Montevideo cl ...

(2010) * Alejandro Moreno (2011–12) * ''See also All-time Chivas USA roster''

Head coaches

Honors

MLS Western Conference (Regular Season) * Winners (1): 2007

Record

Year-by-year

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Chivas. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Chivas USA seasons. 1. Avg. Attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top Goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League,

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qual ...

, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

International tournaments

* 2008 North American SuperLiga :: Group Stage v.

– 1:2 :: Group Stage v. Santos Laguna – 1:0 :: Group Stage v. New England Revolution – 1:1 * 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League :: Preliminary Round v. Tauro – 1:3 aggregate over 2 legs *

2009 North American SuperLiga The 2009 SuperLiga was the third edition of the SuperLiga. The top four overall Major League Soccer teams from the 2008 season not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League earned qualification, as well as four clubs from the Mexican Pr ...

:: Group Stage v. UANL – 1:2 :: Group Stage v. Chicago Fire – 0:1 :: Group Stage v. San Luis – 1:1 * 2010 North American SuperLiga :: Group Stage v. Puebla – 1:2 :: Group Stage v. Houston Dynamo – 1:1 :: Group Stage v.

– 1:0

Team records

* Goals: Ante Razov (30) * Most Goals in a season: Erick Torres (15) * Most consecutive league matches scored in: Erick Torres six matches (six goals) * Assists: Sacha Kljestan (33) * Most Assists in a season: Sacha Kljestan (13) * Games Played: Dan Kennedy (144) * Minutes Played: Dan Kennedy (12764) * Shots: Ante Razov (234) * Shots on Goal: Ante Razov (100) * Game-Winning Goals: Ante Razov (10) * Penalty Kick Goals: Erick Torres (6) * Multi-Goal Games: Ante Razov (5) * Saves: Dan Kennedy (451) * Shutouts: Dan Kennedy (28) ''MLS regular season only, through 2014 season'' * All-Time regular season record: 92–149–79 (''Through October 27, 2014'')

Average attendance

''regular season / playoffs'' * 2005: 17,080 / missed playoffs * 2006: 19,840 / 15,110 * 2007: 14,305 / 19,711 * 2008: 15,114 / 19,265 * 2009: 16,107 / 25,218 * 2010: 14,575 / missed playoffs * 2011: 14,830 / missed playoffs * 2012: 13,056 / missed playoffs * 2013: 8,366 / missed playoffs * 2014: 7,063 / missed playoffs

References

* * *
Chivas USA: News: Article

Citations

{{USSoccer Association football clubs established in 2004 Association football clubs disestablished in 2014 2004 establishments in California 2014 disestablishments in California Defunct Major League Soccer teams Defunct soccer clubs in California Diaspora soccer clubs in the United States