The Chicago Sockers were an American soccer 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 United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

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 developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

(PDL), the fourth tier of the

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of pro ...

, 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 of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

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 mostly in Cook County and partly in DuPage County in northeastern Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 78,723. Schaumburg is around northwest of the Chicago Loop and northwest of O'Hare ...

, a suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. 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,

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 men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

(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 1–0 in the Championship final.

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 The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

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 Jonathan Michael Paul Spector (born March 1, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. In his 16-year career playing first-team soccer he played over 400 games for club and country, and helped the United States win th ...

, Michael Bradley,

Jay DeMerit Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979) is an American retired 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 ...

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

Year-by-year

Coaches

Bret Hall Bret Hall is an American soccer coach and former professional player who played in the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He has coached at the collegiate, professional and national team levels. Player H ...

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 Leo Kulinczenko is an American/Ukrainian association football player who played professionally in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the US Open Cup. He played in the American Soccer League, North American Soccer League , National Soccer League (Chica ...

2000–2006 / 2009–2016 *

Arthur Wyrot Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

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