Colorado Rapids

The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The franchise began play in 1996 as one of the charter clubs in MLS.

Colorado Rapids
FoundedJune 6, 1995 (1995-06-06)
Stadium
Capacity18,061, expandable to 19,680[1]
OwnerKroenke Sports & Entertainment
Head coachRobin Fraser
LeagueMajor League Soccer
2020Western Conference: 5th
Overall: 10th
Playoffs: First round
WebsiteClub website

Colorado won the MLS Cup in 2010, their second MLS Cup appearance. The first appearance was in 1997, losing to D.C. United. They were also runners up of the U.S. Open Cup in the 1999 tournament, where they lost to the Rochester Raging Rhinos, the last time a non-MLS team has won the Cup. The Rapids play their home games at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, moving to the stadium after it opened during the 2007 season.

History

Early years

The Colorado Rapids were one of the ten founding clubs of Major League Soccer, owned and operated by the Anschutz Corporation. The inaugural 1996 season was a forgettable one for Colorado. Despite fielding experienced players like Shaun Bartlett, Chris Henderson, Chris Woods, Roy Wegerle and Marcelo Balboa, and head coach Bob Houghton, the team finished last in the Western Conference with the worst record in the league. Balboa became the first player ever to score for the club and also the first to record a goal at Mile High Stadium (in 1996).

For the following season, there was a new head coach (Glenn Myernick) and a new general manager, Dan Counce. Myernick and Counce brought new faces to the squad including Paul Bravo, Wolde Harris, Ross Paule, and keeper Marcus Hahnemann. The team struggled early on, but rallied to grab a post-season spot. The Rapids pulled off two upsets and advanced to the 1997 MLS Cup final. Chris Henderson scored a mid-air volley past Dallas keeper Mark Dodd in the 87th minute in the Western Conference final, ensuring Colorado's place in the MLS Cup final. They scored in the Cup thanks to a goal by Adrián Paz but lost the final 2–1 to D.C. United.

Colorado continued on a roller coaster of success alternating with major disappointment: Myernick brought in more new players including Anders Limpar and Marcus Hahnemann and the club made it to the 1999 U.S. Open Cup final, only to be upset 2–0 by the Rochester Raging Rhinos.

The 2000 season boasted two of the more memorable moments in Rapids history. The first was Marcelo Balboa's famous bicycle kick which garnered the Goal of the Year. The second was clinching a playoff spot in the final game of the season against the Los Angeles Galaxy, with Paul Bravo scoring in the 97th minute.

Chris Henderson playing for the Rapids in 2004

In 2001 Tim Hankinson took the reins as Colorado's new head coach. Scottish striker John Spencer also joined the club that year. While Hankinson did bring effective players like Mark Chung, Chris Henderson, Carlos Valderrama, and Joe Cannon to the squad—and made the playoffs every year—Hankinson also signed a number of expensive and unsuccessful players including Zizi Roberts and Darryl Powell. During his coaching stint, the club also traded away club legend Marcelo Balboa, whose career was nearing its end....he played 1 game with New York before retiring.

2002 was a banner year for the Rapids, and they started off their new year at their new home of Invesco Field at Mile High by acquiring two powerhouses and future stars for the team, Pablo Mastroeni and Kyle Beckerman from the defunct Miami Fusion F.C. Chris Henderson went down in history as the first player ever to score a goal in the brand-new stadium. Mark Chung posted record numbers on the season, and Mastroeni shone for the U.S. Men's National Team in that year's World Cup. The club advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs Semifinals, and although they did not advance to the MLS Cup, the Rapids did clean up at the MLS postseason awards ceremonies. General Manager Dan Counce was named MLS Executive of the Year and 4 other Rapids front office staff were named as the best at their positions in MLS that year. Mark Chung was named to the League Best XI squad and also took home the MLS Fair Play Award. Finally, the Rapids ticket sales staff was named best in the league after the Rapids finished first in MLS average home attendance for the first time ever with an average home crowd of over 20,000 fans per home game.

2003 saw the club change their identity, with a rebranding that brought in the new team identity and color scheme of black and blue. Mark Chung and forward John Spencer had banner years. Spencer, the Rapids' team captain, set a new team record by scoring in six consecutive games and tied his own team record with 14 goals on the season. He finished the season third in MLS with 33 points, was a finalist for Honda MVP and was named to the MLS Pepsi Best XI. Joining him on the Best XI was Chung, who tied his career high of a year prior with 11 goals and was second on the team with 28 points. This was Chung's second consecutive appearance on the MLS Best XI and it marked the first time in league history that two Rapids had been so honored in the same season.

The Rapids set a new MLS record for the lowest home Goals Against Average over an entire season with at 0.53 by only allowing eight goals in 15 matches at Invesco Field during the season, and never more than one in a single game. After Kansas City broke the Rapids’ MLS record 16 game home undefeated streak on June 9, the Black & Blue reeled off 11 more undefeated home games. On the year Colorado was undefeated when scoring more than one goal, a credit to the play of goalkeeper Joe Cannon and the suffocating defense.

Kroenke Sports Enterprises purchased the club in late 2004 and made several changes before the 2005 season. In the front office, KSE replaced long-time executive GM Dan Counce with Charlie Wright, who appointed Fernando Clavijo as the new head coach.

Clavijo and Wright brought in many new additions to the squad including Jeff Cunningham, Terry Cooke, and David "Dedi" Ben Dayan. The team saw steady improvement over the course of the 2005 season. The season's success was highlighted by a dramatic playoff victory over FC Dallas in a penalty shootout, and their claiming of the brand new Rocky Mountain Cup in the tournament's inaugural year.

Colorado's 2006 season seemed to parallel trends from previous years. Clavijo's squad performed inconsistently and only secured a playoff spot at the last instant. Lightning managed to strike twice as they duplicated their 2005 playoff run by again beating FC Dallas in penalties only to crash out of the Western Conference Final by a two-goal deficit. Other highlights from the final black and blue season include securing the Rocky Mountain Cup for the second consecutive year and winning the MLS Reserve Division.

2007–13
The Rapids (in pale blue) in action against Houston Dynamo in 2009

New head executive Jeff Plush took over the business responsibilities of the club when he was named Managing Director in January 2006. The club's colors were changed to burgundy and blue, to "mesh" with other clubs owned by Kroenke Sports Enterprise. This accompanied the introduction of a state of the art soccer stadium and fields complex, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, and formulating relationships with Arsenal [2] of the English Premier League and Pachuca of Mexico.

The Rapids enjoyed a successful inaugural year at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, hosting numerous international exhibitions and tournaments on the stadium's complex, and the 2007 MLS All-Star Game; on the pitch though the team's record was 9–13–8. The team started out strong with a 2–1 victory over D.C. United in frigid conditions. Herculez Gomez became the first player to score in the Rapids' brand new stadium. The team had a long winless streak that saw them sink in the standings. Colorado ultimately finished just shy of a playoff spot. Major low points in the season included an embarrassing 5–0 loss to the Seattle Sounders in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and a defeat to Real Salt Lake that saw them lose both a playoff berth and the possession of the Rocky Mountain Cup. The club won the MLS Reserve League for the second consecutive year.

Heading into the 2008 season, Rapids GM Charlie Wright added depth to the midfield and defense. Major signings included Christian Gómez and Jose Burciaga Jr. The 2008 season saw a resurgent Rapids side, which started off the season with a complete thrashing of David Beckham and the LA Galaxy by a 4–0 score on Opening Day to launch the season. However, an inconsistent mid-season stretch where, for 13 games,[3] the Rapids could not win two games in a row or lose 2 in a row, saw Clavijo resign from the head coach position for personal reasons, and saw Gary Smith, an assistant coach who came from the Arsenal F.C. system, take over on an interim basis with 11 games left in the season. Under Smith's direction, the Rapids surged into the playoff race, with two key away wins, but fall short of the playoffs in the last game of the season, against Real Salt Lake. Salt Lake tied the Rapids 1–1 in the 90th minute of that game to eliminate the Rapids from playoff contention.[3] Because of the signs of improvement shown in the last 11 games, Smith was hired as the head coach.

The 2009 campaign featured head coach Gary Smith in his first full season.[4] Smith took over the reins from Fernando Clavijo as interim manager after Clavijo resigned. Smith's first appointment was ex-England international Steve Guppy as his assistant; Guppy had spent the previous season at USL-1 team Rochester Rhinos as their player assistant coach. Shortly after, Rapids veteran midfielder Pablo Mastroeni re-signed with the club for four years after mulling potential offers from Europe.[4] The Rapids also signed new four-year contracts with midfielders Colin Clark and Nick LaBrocca and defenders Jordan Harvey and Kosuke Kimura.[5] The Colorado Rapids acquired former QPR and Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens to replace Senegalese goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul. The other major roster move included the arrival of Ivan Guerrero from D.C. United in exchange for midfielder Christian Gomez and backup goalkeeper Mike Graczyk.[6] The media criticized the Rapids for not making more roster changes for the 2009 season. However, the core of the team remained intact.[7]

MLS Champions

The 2010 campaign featured many roster moves: Danny Earls, Jeff Larentowicz, Claudio Lopez, Quincy Amarikwa, Ian Joyce, and Wells Thompson join the club. The offseason also included a new contract for star forward Conor Casey. The Colorado Rapids also excited many of the ultras supporter groups by the creation and construction of a supporters terrace within Dick's Sporting Goods Park.[8] During the summer transfer window, the Colorado Rapids signed academy youth player Davy Armstrong, and brought in defender Anthony Wallace from FC Dallas. Colorado also sent Mehdi Ballouchy to New York Red Bulls in exchange for Macoumba Kandji and acquired Brian Mullan from Houston Dynamo in exchange for Colin Clark. Following these changes, Colorado qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs and defeated the Columbus Crew in the first round. On November 13, Colorado hosted the San Jose Earthquakes in the MLS Eastern Conference Championship and won by a score of 1–0, leading to the team's first trip to the MLS Cup since 1997. Colorado faced off against FC Dallas in the finals. During the final, the Rapids trailed 1–0 at half time. Conor Casey equalized in the second half to send the game to extra time. Macoumba Kandji helped set up the game-winner that went off FC Dallas defender George John. Colorado won the 2010 MLS Cup 2–1, Colorado's first MLS Cup championship and first major trophy in the club's history.

Colorado Rapids after winning MLS Cup 2010

The 2011 campaign led to no roster changes. However, Sanna Nyassi and Tyrone Marshall were signed from Seattle Sounders FC. Joseph Nane and Josh Janniere were additions from Toronto FC. Local product Steven Emory was signed after an open tryout during preseason. The Rapids made the headlines when Irish International and former Hull City striker Caleb Folan signed with the club. The primary departure was defender Julian Baudet. Since Colorado won the 2010 MLS Cup, they automatically qualified for the group stages of the 2011–2012 CONCACAF Champions League. On September 9, Colorado signed versatile defender Miguel Comminges. The Guadeloupe International can play at either Left or Right back. On September 13, Comminges made his debut for Colorado as a substitute in a 4–1 home loss to Club Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League.

The 2012 season began with several changes to the club. Oscar Pareja was appointed head coach following the departure of Gary Smith. The team traded Sanna Nyassi to the Montreal Impact, and Macoumba Kandji to Houston Dynamo. Acquiring Hunter Freeman, Jaime Castrillón, Luis Zapata, and young Kamani Hill and the loan of young talent Martín Rivero the Rapids looked to begin on a positive note. After defeating the Columbus Crew 2–0 on opening day, things seemed promising. However, as the season ticked by, things started to turn for the worst. Looking for a turn around, Hárrison Henao was loaned and Brazilian Edu was signed. In July, Kosuke Kimura was traded to the Portland Timbers. Shortly after, defender Tyson Wahl was brought in via trade from the Montreal Impact. After a poor season, the Rapids looked for a late season turn around when they signed Hendry Thomas from Wigan Athletic. The Rapids were eliminated from play-off contention in late September ending hopes for another MLS cup.

The 2013 season for the Rapids saw massive changes made to the team. All-time leading goal scorer Conor Casey was released and Omar Cummings would be traded during the offseason, the Forward duo combining for 89 goals in the Rapids' careers. With the majority of the 2010 MLS Champions team gone (only 5 players remaining on the squad), the team looked considerably different. Coach Oscar Pareja wanting a squad of younger, more athletic players. Colorado finished the 2013 season campaign with a 14–11–9 (W-L-T) record which placed them fifth in the Western Conference, eighth in the overall standings. They were eliminated in the knockout round in the playoffs. During the off-season, Oscar Pareja revealed his desire to return to FC Dallas to be the head coach there after taking the opportunity to do so. Eventually Colorado found his successor which would be none other than Colorado veteran Pablo Mastroeni who had previously retired as a player.

2014–present

Under Mastroeni's first year as head coach, Colorado finished eighth in the West and seventeenth overall having 8 wins, 18 losses, and 8 ties having the Rapids fail to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, after previously qualifying last year.[9] Despite an upper-mid table performance to start the season, the club was plagued heavily by injuries, causing the team to go winless in their final fourteen matches of the season. In the U.S. Open Cup, the Rapids were eliminated from the tournament to the Atlanta Silverbacks. Additionally, they were unable to defend their Rocky Mountain Cup title, losing to rivals, Real Salt Lake.[10]

During the off-season following the 2015 season, where Colorado finished last in the Western Conference, The Rapids had made major changes in their line up, which includes acquiring players: Shkelzen Gashi, Marco Pappa, Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard, who all joined by the summer transfer window. The club went on to having a successful 2016 campaign with a 15-game unbeaten streak and a trip to the western conference championship in which they lost to Seattle Sounders 3–1 aggregate.[11] The 2017 campaign saw the departure of Jermaine Jones,[12] and several weeks into the season, the Rapids made more changes to their roster by trading Sam Cronin and Marc Burch to new expansion side Minnesota United.[13] The team struggled, and head coach Pablo Mastroeni was fired by the end of the season[14] as the Rapids finished the 2017 season with 9 wins, 19 losses and 6 draws, good for 10th in the Western Conference.[15]

For the 2018 season, the Rapids hired former New Zealand coach Anthony Hudson.[16] The Rapids made many additions, including wingback Edgar Castillo and midfielder Jack Price while switching to Hudson's preferred 3-5-2 formation.[17] The season began with the Rapids being eliminated from the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League by Toronto FC, a tournament they had qualified for on the strength of the 2016 campaign.[18] The middle of the 2018 saw another major trade with 2017's leading goalscorer Dominique Badji being traded to FC Dallas for Kellyn Acosta.[19] Despite the changes in the 2018 season, it ended with another 10th place Western Conference finish, with the Rapids accruing 8 wins, 19 losses and 7 draws.[20]

For the 2019, the Rapids turned their attention to MLS veterans for additions to the roster adding Benny Feilhaber, Kei Kamara, Diego Rubio and Keegan Rosenberry.[21] The team also added youngsters Jonathan Lewis, Matt Hundley, Sam Raben and Andre Shinyashiki to the squad. In preseason, the Rapids parted ways with Sheklzen Gashi.[22] Despite the changes to the team and scoring in every game but one, the Rapids began the 2019 season winless in their first 11 games.[23] The Rapids parted ways with Hudson after going winless in the first nine games of the season. The club named Conor Casey as interim head coach on May 1.[24] Casey led the Rapids to a record of 7 wins, 7 losses and 4 draws. On Aug. 25, the Rapids named Robin Fraser the club's ninth permanent head coach.[25] Fraser posted a 5-2-0 (W-L-D) record, falling just shy of the postseason.

The Rapids made several moves ahead of 2020, trading for Auston Trusty[26] and permanently acquiring Lalas Abubakar.[27] The club also brought in Drew Moor,[28] a 2010 MLS Cup champion with Colorado, as well as goalkeeper William Yarbrough,[29] midfielder Nicolas Benezet[30] and Designated Player Younes Namli.[31] The Rapids started 2020 with two wins before MLS paused its season in early March due to COVID-19.[32] Colorado was placed in Group D of the MLS is Back Tournament with Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United FC. The MLS regular season restarted in August with Colorado taking three points from four games. On Sept. 12, the Rapids defeated Real Salt Lake, 5-0, marking Colorado's first ever win at Rio Tinto Stadium and beginning a run of three wins in four, including three shutouts. After several players and team staff tested positive for COVID-19, the Rapids paused their season, eventually cancelling five matches.[33] After a full month between games, the Rapids returned to action with losses at Sporting KC and Minnesota. MLS changed the MLS Cup Playoffs qualifying format to points-per-game on Oct. 31.[34] The Rapids then defeated defending MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC, 3-1, before clinching a playoff berth with a 1-0 win at Portland Timbers on Nov. 4.[35] Colorado closed the regular season with a 2-1 win at Houston Dynamo on Nov. 8. Colorado visited Minnesota in the first round of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 3-0. The season featured break-out performances by Rapids Homegrown defender Sam Vines and Homegrown midfielder Cole Bassett. Vines played every minute of every regular season match, while Bassett led the team with five goals and five assists. Both were named to MLS 22 Under 22 for a second consecutive year.[36]

Colors and badge
  • Colorado Rapids first logo (1996–2001)
  • Colorado Rapids second logo (2001–06)

The Rapids' image has evolved a great deal since their inception. The team has undergone two complete re-brandings. Originally using green as the primary uniform color, the team changed to black and blue for the 2003 season.

As Colorado were preparing to move into Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the 2007 season, the club re-invented themselves again to more closely align with the DNA and color scheme of other KSE teams, changing their colors to burgundy and blue, and creating a brand new shield logo to fit in with more traditional global soccer marks.

Colorado has had three logos in their history. They originally first used the "river" logo as their primary crest with the "circular" logo as a secondary one. In 2002, the two logos would switch, with the "circular" one becoming the primary. For the 2007 re-branding, the Rapids created the new shield-style logo, which is the one that is currently used today. Its main features consist of a mountain representing the Rocky mountains in the region as well as the number 96, referring to the franchise's Inaugural season.

The original look of the Rapids sported a predominantly white kit with green trim, when the club's uniform supplier was Puma. Other minor colors such as gold and blue were occasionally incorporated, with the club's association with Reebok. Eventually black became more heavily used and eventually overtook white as the more dominant color that accompanied the green, when the club switched to Kappa.

The Rapids underwent an image change prior to the 2003 season. Following the club's switch to Atletica, the uniform colors switched to black and blue vertical stripes, similar to the uniforms worn by Italian Serie A club Inter Milan. The blue and black vertical stripes remained almost unchanged when MLS adopted Adidas as their league wide kit sponsor.

The uniforms underwent one last change for the 2007 season. The Rapids now sport burgundy (Pantone 202) and sky blue (Pantone 278) as their primary colors.[37] The Colorado Rapids also have a brand new third uniform, consisting of a white shirt, white socks and burgundy shorts.

The Rapids' home jersey for 2013 featured the same burgundy primary color and featured the names of all season ticket holders imprinted in the fabric. The Rapids also had a special away jersey for the 2013 season, featuring the colors of the Colorado state flag.[38]

The club's use of burgundy led to Scottish pop band Little Eye, fronted by the brother of Rapids player Jamie Smith, writing a song about the team called "Burgundy Sky", which is now used as the Rapids official anthem.[39]

The Colorado Rapids were the last existing MLS club to earn a paid sponsorship deal on the front of their jerseys. In May 2014, the club announced a five-year sponsorship deal with Ciao Telecom.[40] In October 2014, the Rapids sued Ciao for missed payments[41] and quietly disassociated from the company. The club later reached an agreement with Transamerica as a shirt sponsor for two seasons starting in 2015. The Rapids then extended their agreement with Transamerica in March 2016 to go through the 2019 season.

Stadium
Dicks Sporting Goods park during a game between the Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy (November 2016)
NameLocationYears in use
Mile High Stadium Denver, Colorado 1996–2001
Invesco Field at Mile High 2002–2006
North Area Athletic Complex Arvada, Colorado 2003; 1 game in U.S. Open Cup
Dick's Sporting Goods Park Commerce City, Colorado 2007–present

The Rapids play their home games at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City (approximately 8 miles north of downtown Denver). The stadium capacity is 19,680 and cost $131 million to construct. It is also referred to as a soccer-specific stadium, since it was constructed for the Colorado Rapids. The soccer stadium opened on April 7, 2007. The stadium complex includes youth soccer fields and various retail establishments, and is owned and operated by Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE) which also owns the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Crush and Colorado Mammoth sports franchises, and is a co-owner of English Premier League club Arsenal.

Prior to moving to DSG Park in 2007, Colorado Rapids shared Mile High Stadium and then Invesco Field at Mile High with the Denver Broncos American football franchise. The Rapids have one of the highest discrepancies between their home record and away record in MLS. From their inception in 1996 through the 2014 season, the Rapids record at home was 146–73–6, winning about 65% of their matches at home. However, the Rapids were only 70–164–4 on the road during that same time-span, winning only 29% of their games on the road.[42]

Club culture

Rocky Mountain Cup
Main article: Rocky Mountain Cup

With Major League Soccer's expansion in 2005, Real Salt Lake became the second team in the Rocky Mountain region and the Rapids' closest neighbor and therefore geographical rival. The marketing departments and supporters clubs of the two clubs created a regular-season competition between the two sides to foster and memorialize this budding rivalry. Each season, the Rocky Mountain Cup is determined by the winner of the head-to-head fixtures within league play.

Supporters
Omar Cummings greeting the fans at the Supporters Terrace

The Rapids had strong fan attendance in 2002 when they led the league in average fans per game.[43] For 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) games, the Supporters Terrace was officially closed. CONCACAF regulations require "all-seater" stadiums, and the terraces at Dick's Sporting Goods Park are standing-only areas with no stadium seating. CCL group stage fixtures have seen the Pid Army and the Bulldog Supporters Group relocated to either midfield in the East stands (against Isidro Metapán) or directly behind the South goal in sections 117 and 118 (against Santos Laguna and Real España). In 2012, it was revealed that the Rapids had 3,561 season ticket holders after the club's front office mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet that contained a list of every season ticket holder in the season ticket base. The front office admitted to the mistake in a follow-up email to the season ticket holders.[44] On February 9, 2013, the leaders of the club's three supporters groups—Class VI, the Pid Army and the Bulldog Supporters Group—announced that they would combine into one group going forward: Centennial 38.[45]

Broadcasting

Rapids matches appear on several channels including Altitude Television, which is owned by Kroenke Sports Entertainment as are the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. Major League Soccer determined in 2007 that every game must be televised, either through a regional (or local) TV station, or a national channel.

All games are broadcast on television by Altitude, the official television partner of the Rapids, or else via nationally available channels, including ESPN/ESPN2, Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports 2, and Univision/Unimas/Univision Deportes Network, or the MLS Direct Kick package.

Prior to 2013, the play-by-play duties were covered by a variety of voices, notably Todd Romero and Marc Stout, before the Rapids brought in former BBC sports broadcaster, Richard Fleming. Fleming spent 16 years at the BBC, covering the FIFA World Cup, Confederations Cup, the European Championship, the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and the English Premier League. He even reported on a World Cup qualifier in North Korea, and later worked for Arsenal TV. He is joined by U.S. legend Marcelo Balboa as color analyst.

Fleming and Balboa co-host a 30-minute preview show before each game, calling the home matches from Dick's Sporting Goods Park, and the road games from Altitude's studios.

Conor Cape and others also do play-by-play for Altitude Radio.

Players and staff
For details of former players, see All-time Colorado Rapids roster.

Roster
As of February 2, 2021[46]
No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Clint Irwin  United States
2 Defender Keegan Rosenberry  United States
3 Defender Drew Moor  United States
4 Defender Danny Wilson  Scotland
5 Defender Auston Trusty  United States
6 Defender Lalas Abubakar  Ghana
7 Forward Jonathan Lewis  United States
9 Midfielder Nicolas Benezet  France
10 Midfielder Kellyn Acosta  United States
11 Forward Diego Rubio  Chile
13 Defender Sam Vines (HG)  United States
15 Goalkeeper Andre Rawls  United States
16 Midfielder Will Vint (HG)  United States
18 Defender Jeremy Kelly  United States
19 Midfielder Jack Price  England
20 Midfielder Nicolás Mezquida  Uruguay
21 Midfielder Younes Namli (DP; on loan from FC Krasnodar)  Denmark
22 Defender Sebastian Anderson (HG)  United States
24 Defender Kortne Ford (HG)  United States
26 Midfielder Cole Bassett (HG)  United States
29 Forward Matt Hundley (HG)  United States
30 Goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez (HG)  United States
32 Midfielder Collen Warner  United States
33 Defender Steven Beitashour  Iran
50 Goalkeeper William Yarbrough  United States
52 Midfielder Braian Galván  Argentina
99 Forward Andre Shinyashiki  Brazil
— Midfielder Michael Barrios  Colombia
— Midfielder Philip Mayaka (GA)  Kenya

Team management
Front office
Owner Stan Kroenke
President Jim Martin
Executive VP / General Manager Pádraig Smith
Assistant GM Fran Taylor
Director, Soccer Operations and Compliance Courtney Intara
Snr. Director, Soccer Development / USL GM Brian Crookham
Senior Director, Scouting and Recruitment Mitch Murray
Manager, Scouting Chris Zitterbart
Data Analyst Matt Pfeffer
Scouting Video Analyst Brennan Stieneker
Coaching staff
Head coach Robin Fraser
Assistant coach Neil Emblen
Assistant coach / Goalkeeper coach Chris Sharpe
Team Analyst Jase Kim
Colorado Rapids Academy
Academy administrator Boyd Kirk
Academy head coaches Marcelo Balboa
Erik Bushey
Chris Cartlidge
Andrew Kewley
Antti Ronkanen

Last updated: August 25, 2019
Source:

Head coach history
Name Nat Tenure MLS record
Bob Houghton  England 1996 9–16–6 (2–3 Shootout)
Roy Wegerle (interim)  United States 1996 0–1–0
Glenn Myernick  United States 1997 – 2000 53–53–22 (10–8 Shootout)
Tim Hankinson  United States December 20, 2000 – December 15, 2004 39–45–30
Fernando Clavijo  United States December 22, 2004 – August 20, 2008 44–53–27
Gary Smith  England November 11, 2008 – November 7, 2011 34–27–33
Óscar Pareja  Colombia January 6, 2012 – January 4, 2014 25–30–13
Pablo Mastroeni  United States January 4, 2014 – August 15, 2017 38–50–35
Steve Cooke (interim)  England August 15, 2017 – November 29, 2017 3–7–2
Anthony Hudson  England November 29, 2017 – May 1, 2019 8–26–9
Conor Casey (interim)  United States May 1, 2019 – August 25, 2019 7–7–4
Robin Fraser  United States August 25, 2019 – present 13–8–4

General manager and sporting director history
Name Nat Tenure
Dan Counce  United States 1997–2005
Pádraig Smith  Ireland 2014–present

The Rapids Gallery of Honor was established in 2003 to honor the club's all-time top players. The Gallery of Honor is commemorated with signage on the main stand on the west end of Dick's Sporting Goods Park with the players' names and uniform numbers. The two inaugural entrants were Marcelo Balboa and Paul Bravo, co-entered in the Gallery's formation during halftime of the Rapids' home match on July 4, 2003 at Invesco Field at Mile High.[47]

Honors

Source:[48]

MLS Cup

Supporters' Shield

U.S. Open Cup

Reserve and friendly

Team records

Year-by-year results
Main article: List of Colorado Rapids seasons

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Rapids. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Colorado Rapids seasons.

Season League Position Playoffs USOC Continental / Other Average
attendance		 Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts PPG Conf. Overall Name(s) Goals
2016 1 MLS 34 15 6 13 39 32 +7 58 1.71 2nd 2nd SF Ro16 DNQ 16,278 Shkëlzen Gashi 10
2017 MLS 34 9 19 6 31 51 −20 33 0.97 10th 20th DNQ Ro16 15,322 Dominique Badji 10
2018 MLS 34 8 19 7 36 63 −27 31 0.91 11th 21st R4 CONCACAF Champions League GS 15,333 Dominique Badji 7
2019 MLS 34 12 16 6 58 63 −5 42 1.24 9th 16th R4 DNQ 14,284 Kei Kamara 14
2020 MLS 18 8 6 4 32 28 +4 28 1.56 5th 10th R1 NH MLS is Back Tournament GS 13,062 Cole Bassett
Jonathan Lewis		 5

^ 1. Avg. Attendance include statistics from league matches only.
^ 2. Top Goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, MLS Cup Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, MLS is Back Tournament, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

By opponent
Regular season record [49]
Team W L D Total
Atlanta United FC 0303
Chicago Fire 14201044
Chivas USA 2 147728
Columbus Crew SC 20131043
D.C. United 14211045
FC Cincinnati 1001
FC Dallas 24351776
Houston Dynamo 12101032
LA Galaxy 29371177
Los Angeles FC 1304
Miami Fusion 1 37010
Minnesota United FC 3339
CF Montréal 5218
New England Revolution 2018947
New York City FC 0325
New York Red Bulls 1916742
Orlando City SC 1416
Philadelphia Union 42612
Portland Timbers 810523
Real Salt Lake 14231148
San Jose Earthquakes 23301770
Seattle Sounders FC 718227
Sporting Kansas City 23281768
Tampa Bay Mutiny 1 87015
Toronto FC 79218
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 109524

As of November 8, 2020
  1. Dissolved after 2001 season.
  2. Dissolved after 2014 season.

International tournaments
Season Tournament Round W L D GF GA
1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup Qualifying Playoff 1 1 0 3 4
2011 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage 2 3 1 9 12
2018 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 0 2 0 0 2

Player records

Goals
As of October 6, 2019[50]
# Name Years MLS Playoffs Open Cup Conti­nental Total
1 Conor Casey 2007–2012 5021053
2 Paul Bravo 1997–2001 3951146
3 John Spencer 2001–2004 3724043
4 Omar Cummings 2007–2012 3911142
5 Chris Henderson 1996–1998
2002–2005		 3124037
6 Dominique Badji 2015–2018 2404028
Wolde Harris 1997–1999
2005		 2710028
8 Mark Chung 2002–2005 2610027
9 Marcelo Balboa 1996–2001 2400125
10 Deshorn Brown 2013–2015 2003023

Bold denotes players still playing for the club.

Affiliations

References
  1. "Stadium Facts" (PDF). Dick's Sporting Goods Park 2018 Fan Guide. March 23, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
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