DFW Tornados (also known as Dallas–Fort Worth Tornados) was 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 based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, United States. Founded in 1986, the team played in the

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 ...

, in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference. The franchise folded at the end of the 2010 season and left the league thereafter. The team played its home games at

Pizza Hut Park Toyota Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the southern United States, located in Frisco, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. Built and owned by the city of Frisco, the 20,500-seat stadium opened in 2005. Its primary tenants are Major League ...

(the home of

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 ...

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

) in nearby

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

. The team's colors were black, blue and white.

History

In 1986, the club, known as Garland Genesis, based in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...

, became a founding member of the

Southwest Indoor Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

. The team topped the standings during the 1986–1987 season before defeating the

Lubbock Lazers The Lubbock Lazers were a soccer club based in Lubbock, Texas that competed in the SISL and USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to ...

in the championship game. The team moved to

Addison, Texas Addison is an incorporated town in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The 2020 census population was 16,661. Addison is immediately north of Dallas. Addison and Flower Mound were the only two Texas municipalities labeled "towns" with a popul ...

in 1987 and changed their name to the Addison Arrows. They remained in Addison for two years. In 1989, the league added a summer outdoor season and Addison promptly went to the championship game, this time losing to the

Colorado Comets The Colorado Comets were an American soccer club based in Denver, Colorado, founded in 1985 which later competed in the SISL and USISL. History Founded by Ed Eid in 1985, the team began as an amateur club coached by Kelvin Norman. That year, t ...

. In 1989, owner Ken Mulhall sold the team. At the time, he also coached the Arrows. The new owner fired Mulhall as coach and named Billy Pettigrew as head coach. The team continued its excellent play during the 1989–1990 indoor season, defeating the

Phoenix Hearts Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), an immortal bird in ancient Greek mythology * Phoenix, Arizona, the capital of the U.S. state of Arizona and the most populous state capital in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: ...

to take their second indoor championship. Following the completion of the indoor season, the team moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth are and was renamed North Texas United. In November 1990, they merged with the

Waco Kickers The Waco Kickers were an American soccer club owned by Dr. Albert F. Mikulencak based in Waco, Texas that competed in the SISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that p ...

and became the Fort Worth Kickers.''Sockadillos have new look as indoor season kicks off'' Austin American-Statesman – Saturday, November 10, 1990 After team owner Pat Parker was unable to gain financial backing for the team, it moved to Dallas and became the Dallas Kickers for the 1991/92 indoor season. The team was renamed the Dallas Americans before the 1992 outdoor season. They were renamed the Dallas/Fort Worth Toros in 1993, and remained as such until 1996, when they were renamed the Dallas Toros for the 1997 outdoor season. They became the Texas Toros in 1998, and the Texas Rattlers for the 2000 season. Upon their move to the

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 ...

for 2001 they changed their name, and were bought by the Texas Spurs, which they maintained until 2003, when the Spurs club sold the team to the owner of Arena Athletics in

Euless, Texas Euless ( ) is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Fort Worth. Euless is part of the Mid-Cities region between Dallas and Fort Worth. In 2020 Census, the population of Euless was 61,032. The population of the city in ...

. They finally took their current name, the DFW Tornados, beginning in 2004.

Players

Final roster

This list is a historical record of the final group of players on the last Tornados roster for their final game in August 2010. ''Source:'

Notable former players

''This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.'' *

Kyle Altman Kyle Marten Altman (born January 31, 1986) is an American former soccer player, who last played for Minnesota United FC in the North American Soccer League. He was the 2003 New Mexico High School Coaches Association's Class 4A boys' soccer player ...

* Kyle Brown *

Jeff Agoos Jeffrey Alan Agoos (born May 2, 1968) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. He is one of the all-time appearance leaders for the United States national team. Agoos won a record five MLS championships: three ...

John Hedlund John Hedlund is an American soccer coach who oversees the North Texas Mean Green women's soccer program. He is a retired defender who played in the Major Indoor Soccer League, USISL, and Continental Indoor Soccer League. In 1995, Hedlund conclud ...

Caesar Cervin Caesar Cervin is a retired American soccer midfielder. He played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, United Soccer League and Southwest Indoor Soccer League (SISL). He later coached teams in the SISL where he was the 1991 Coach of ...

* Andres Cuero * Chad Deering * Aaron DeLoach *

Hunter Freeman Hunter Freeman (born January 8, 1985, in Tyler, Texas) is a retired American soccer player who currently is the director of domestic scouting for FC Cincinnati Career College and amateur As a teenager, Freeman trained in residency at the Uni ...

Bruno Guarda Bruno Ernesto Guarda (born February 6, 1986), also known as Peter Jackson and DJ - BG is a Brazilian footballer who last played for the Dallas Sidekicks in the Major Arena Soccer League. Career College Guarda moved to the United States in high ...

* Stephen McCarthy * Ryan Mirsky *

Jordan Murch Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Jay Needham Jay Charles Needham (born September 30, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a central defender or defensive midfielder for teams in Norway, Puerto Rico and the United States. College and amateur career Needham was ...

Gifton Noel-Williams Gifton Ruben Elisha Noel-Williams (born 21 January 1980) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a striker for Watford, Stoke City and Burnley among other clubs. After a serious knee injury in 1999, he was affected by rh ...

* Dane Saintus *

Shea Salinas Robert O'Shea "Shea" Salinas (born June 24, 1986) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Career Youth and college After attending Grapevine High School in Grapevine, Tex ...

Chad Smith Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith has played with the Chili Peppers since 1988, appearing on ten of the band's studio albums and becoming the band's lo ...

* T. J. Tomasso * Jamie Watson * Daniel Woolard

Year-by-year

New indoor team (2004–2012)

DFW Tornados played in the

Premier Arena Soccer League The Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) was a professional men's and women's indoor soccer league; along with a number of amateur teams across North America. The PASL was previously known as the Federation of Sports Arenas (FSA). The PASL logo form ...

in the South Central Division. The team played its home games at Arena Athletics in Euless, TX.

Honors

* USL PDL Mid South Division **Champions: 2001 * USL D-3 Pro League Southern Division **Champions: 2000 * USISL Pro League Central Division ** Champions: 1996

Head coaches

* Ken Muhall (1986–1989) * Ken Billy Pettigrew (1989–1990) *

(1991) * Ed Puskarich (1998, 2001–2003) * Bernard Brodigan (2004) * Paul Robinson (2005–2010)

Stadia

Pennington Field Pennington Field is a multi-purpose stadium located in Bedford, Texas. The 12,500-capacity facility is primarily used for local high school football and soccer teams of Trinity High School and L.D. Bell High School. It is owned and operated by ...

;

Bedford, Texas Bedford is a city located in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 49,928 at the 2020 United State ...

(2004–2010) *

;

(2010)

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive a

* 2005: 207 * 2006: 349 * 2007: 389 * 2008: 320 * 2009: 188 * 2010: 179

References

External links

Official Site
{{Authority control DFW Tornados, USL League Two teams Sports in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Soccer clubs in Dallas Indoor soccer clubs in the United States Association football clubs established in 1986 Association football clubs disestablished in 2010 1986 establishments in Texas 2010 disestablishments in Texas Defunct soccer clubs in Texas