The Chicago Sockers were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team that were founded in 1995 as the Chicago Stingers. The team was a member of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(USL) and played at the professional level in the USISL Pro League, USISL Select League and USISL D-3 Pro League until 1999. The club was renamed Sockers and choose to be relegated to the amateur

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

(PDL), the fourth tier of the

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...

, for the 1999 season. The Sockers were one of the most successful amateur teams in the late 1990s, winning three national titles including back-to-back PDL Championships in 1999 and 2000, reaching two divisional playoffs, and getting to both the quarterfinal and semifinal of the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

prior to 2000. Following the 2000 season, despite being reigning PDL Champions, the Sockers folded. However, the club survives as a youth soccer organization under the same name. The Sockers played their home games at Olympic Park in the village of

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...

, a suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The team's colors were blue and white.

History

The Chicago Stingers were founded in 1995 as a professional club to play in the USL. The club played in various transitional professional leagues in the USL, including the USISL Pro League, USISL Select League and USISL D-3 Pro League, which at the time represented the second or third tier of professional soccer in the

under

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS). For the 1999 season, the club was renamed Chicago FC Sockers (or Chicago Sockers) and relegated itself to the amateur

(PDL), considered the top national amateur league and the fourth tier in the pyramid. The Sockers had a very successful first season in the PDL, finishing second in the Great Lakes Division and defeating the Spokane Shadow 3–1 in the PDL Championship. The Sockers were Champions again in 2000 after a move to the Heartland Division, finishing first in the regular season and defeating the

Mid-Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...

1–0 in the Championship final. In 2000, the Sockers, also made an impressive run in the 2000 U.S. Open Cup. The PDL amateur club defeated an MLS side, Kansas City Wizards, in a hard-fought penalty shootout after a 0 - 0 overtime score. The Sockers came close to a similar upset of an MLS team in the third round but fell short, 1 - 0 to the eventual U.S. Open Cup champion, Chicago Fire.

Youth programs

The Chicago Sockers is now a prominent youth soccer program, stationed in Palatine, Illinois. The program is ranked as the fifth best boys youth soccer program by both nationalsoccerranking.com and Soccer America. The Sockers play in the Northern Illinois Soccer League (NISL), U.S. Soccer Development Academy and the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). The program has won several national championships and has sent several players to the US Men's National Team and top professional clubs in

and abroad. These players include Jonathan Spector, Michael Bradley,

Jay DeMerit Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979) is an American former soccer player who played as a center back. He played college soccer for the UIC Flames and was in the Chicago Fire Premier development squad, but after not being drafted for M ...

, Mike Magee, Will Johnson, Michael Stephens and Bryan Namoff.

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Bret Hall 1998–2000 * David Richardson1986– present * Oleg Vatchev 2002–present * Ahmed R Gad 2001–present * Michael Richardson 1986–present * Nilton (Batata) DaSilva 1986–present * Leo Kulinczenko 2000–2006 / 2009–2016 * Arthur Wyrot 1997–present

References

{{reflist Soccer clubs in Chicago Defunct Premier Development League teams USISL teams Soccer clubs in Illinois 1995 establishments in Illinois 2000 disestablishments in Illinois Association football clubs established in 1995 Association football clubs disestablished in 2000 Schaumburg, Illinois