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Chivas USA

Frank Fleming
Author: 
Frank Fleming
7 mins
October 31st, 2023
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  • First Game Played April 2, 2005

Historical Moments:

2005: Jorge Vergara owner of the legendary Mexican League franchise Chivas de Guadalajara starts an MLS franchise in Los Angeles. Hoping to reach out to LA’s large Mexican community, he names the team Chivas USA to honor his famous 10-time Mexica League Championship team. Like many sports expansion teams, Chivas’ first season would be a tumultuous one. Starting with a 2-0 shutout loss on opening day against defending champions DC United, the team would suffer a tremendous downward spiral, winning their first game on May 7 against expansion counterpart Real Salt Lake and then go winless in June, August, and September. There would also be a coaching carousel for Chivas. After Thomas Rongen was fired in midseason, Javier Ledesma would give it a try before the team settled on Dutchman Hans Westerhoff for the rest of the season. At season’s end, Chivas would find themselves in last place in MLS with a record of 4-22-6. Providing glimmers of hope for Chivas would be new coach Bob Bradley and up-and-coming players such as Ezra Hendrickson, Brad Guzan, and Ramon Ramirez. The brightest spot for the team had to be a 1-0 win over eventual Eastern Conference champions New England Revolution on July 22

2006: After a horrific first year of existence, Chivas rebounded nicely with the help of new coach Bob Bradley and eventual Rookie of the Year Jonathan Bornstein. Consistent play by the team and acclimation to the league helped Chivas to an impressive 2nd year record of 10-9-13 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. The team would have the LA soccer spotlight to themselves for the first time as the LA Galaxy failed to make the playoffs. Against the Houston Dynamo, Chivas USA stole a 2-1 victory, with Brad Guzan stopping a penalty kick in the closing seconds of the game. But in the next match, Chivas would have the tables turned on them with Dynamo scoring two goals to tie the series, and Brian Ching scored the series winner at the very end of stoppage time to eliminate Chivas. A huge postgame fight put a sad end to a successful season for the club.

2007: In what proved to be a record-breaking year for the club, Preki took over as coach, and Chivas USA jelled as a team and became the class of the West. Among the many bright spots was the acquisition of Maykel Galindo, who scored 12 goals on the year, and Ante Razov continued to show he had a lot left in the tank playing alongside him. A perfect August propelled Chivas USA to a solid 15-7-8 record and the top spot in the Western Conference. This would not lead to an improvement in the playoffs as they were beaten by the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0 on aggregate.

2008: Chivas USA got off to a good start, as they were in a first-place battle with the LA Galaxy much of the first half. However, in the middle of the season the were forced to play without star midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who was playing for the US National Team in the Beijing Olympics, while their star goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who was sold to Aston Villa FC However, they were able to still make the playoffs, by finishing in second place with 12-11-7 record. The playoffs would see a quick exit as they were bounced by Real Salt Lake 3-2 aggregate score.

2009: In their fifth year in existence, Chivas got off to an impressive start, winning seven of their first ten matches to climb to the top of the West early on. After that, though, the club would begin to slump, although earning a wild card spot with a record of 13-11-6. Chivas would play the LA Galaxy, the team they share the Home Depot Center with, in the first round of the playoffs, where the Galaxy would outwit Chivas 3-2 on aggregate.

2010: Following four straight playoff appearances, Chivas would take a huge step backward, enduring a nine-game winless streak and ending up in last place in the West with an 8-18-4 record. A bright spot for the club was the presence of Jonathan Bornstein on the US National team during the World Cup in South Africa.\

2011: Chivas would suffer through a mediocre first half of the season, alternating ties and losses through a small amount of wins. While they were able to keep a relatively balanced attack on their opponents with a -2 goal differential on the season, the year would be considered a disappointment at 8-14-12, sitting in eighth place in the West.

2012: Owner Jorge Vergara would buy out his partners in midseason and would become Chivas’ only owner, and that would lead to a whirlwind of changes for the club as they muddled through a difficult 7-18-9 campaign. After being in playoff contention for the first half of the season, Chivas would go 0-9-4, including a seven-game losing streak after July 29.

2013: Chivas got off the year to a good start as they won three of their first five matches to contend for the top spot. But it was all very much downhill from there as the club endured a 14-match winless streak that included losing seven in a row to blow any chances they had of contending for the playoffs as the team ended with a 6-20-8 record and in dead last in the West. In the offseason, MLS bought the club.

2014: Hoping to rebound from a last-place finish, Chivas did not fare well out of the gate, winning only two of their first thirteen matches as MLS continued to search for long term owners for the club. Things temporarily seemed to be looking up after a four-game winning streak early in the summer with the help of Mexican Cubo Torres, but a horrific 0-11-1 stretch from mid-July through September spelled doom for the Goats on the way to a seventh-place finish of 9-19-6. Throughout the season, rumors circulated about the future of Chivas, such as shutting the club down altogether while many different prospective owners for the club lined up, which likely resulted in the struggles throughout the year. Attendance was always a concern with the team regularly playing in front of small crowds, including only 3,702 people showing up for a game against Portland the last week of May. The official end came on October 26 against the San Jose Earthquakes, a 1-0 decision with Felix Borja scoring the club’s final goal in front of a home crowd of 5,571. The next day, Major League Soccer took the team off life support and turned the lights out on Chivas USA after ten years, to be replaced by Los Angeles FC in March 2018.

Chivas USA Stadiums

Stub Hub Center

2005-2014

El Grande Chivas USA

Isaac Romo

2005

Douglas Sequeira

2005

Arturo Torres

2005

Juan Pablo Garcia

2005-2006

Ezra Hendrickson

2005-2006

Francisco Palencia

2005-2006

Tim Regan

2006

Orlando Perez

2005-2007

Ramon Ramirez

2005-2007

Matt Taylor

2005-2007

Jason Hernandez

2006-2007

Brad Guzan

2005-2008

2007 Goalkeeper of the Year

Francisco Mendoza

2005-2008

Jesse Marsch

2006-2009

Ante Razov

2006-2009

Claudio Suarez

2006-2009

Lawson Vaughn

2006-2009

Shavar Thomas

2007-2008

Alecko Eskandarian

2008-2009

Atiba Harris

2008-2009

Carey Talley

2008-2009

Jonathan Bornstein

2006-2010

2006 Rookie of the Year

Sacha Kljestan

2006-2010

Maykel Galindo

2007-2010

Alex Zotica

2007-2008, 2010

Eduardo Lillington

2009-2010

Jesus Padilla

2009-2010

Paulo Nagamura

2007-2009, 2010-2011

Justin Braun

2008-2011

Zach Thornton

2008-2011

2009 Rookie of the Year

Mariano Trujillo

2009-2011

Michael Umana

2010-2011

Marcos Mondaini

2011

Ante Jazic

2009-2012

Michael Lahoud

2009-2012

Blair Gavin

2010-2012

Ben Zemanski

2010-2012

Juan Pablo Angel

2011-2012

Nick Larocca

2011-2012

Alejandro Moreno

2011-2012

Heath Pearce

2011-2012

James Riley

2012

Laurent Courtois

2011-2013

Juan Agudelo

2012-2013

Miller Bolanos

2012-2013

Marvin Iraheta

2012-2013

Joaquin Velazquez

2013

Bobby Burling

2007-2009, 2012-2014

Jorge Villafana

2007-2014

Dan Kennedy

2008-2014

Jose Erik Correa

2012-2014

Marky Delgado

2012-2014

Oswaldo Minda

2012-2014

Eric Avilla

2013-2014

Erick Torres

2013-2014

Leondro Barrera

2014

Adolfo Bautista

2014

Marvin Chavez

2014

Andrew Jean-Baptiste

2014

Thomas McNamara

2014

Martin Rivero

2014

Mauro Rosales

2014

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Author

Frank Fleming
Frank Fleming founded the Sports Ecyclopedia in 2001 & is a passionate Devils fan.