D.C. United were one of the two clubs that officially inaugurated Major League Soccer on April 6, 1996, when the league first took on the format we now see these days. The game was broadcast nationally, and saw them take on the San Jose clash - now the San Jose Earthquakes - at Spartan Stadium. The match was the starting point for one of the most competitive leagues on the continent, one that now sees its teams feature at Leagues Cup.
The Black and Red represented a more traditional slant in terms of a marketing approach that favoured those familiar with football from Europe, Mexico, and South America. The Clash, meanwhile, were one of the names created by Nike in order to attract young fans to soccer. The idea was to bring to the stage a vibrant, passionate and competitive take on soccer, the same we would later see at Leagues Cup 2023.
The late Kevin Payne, the D.C. United CEO from 1994 to 2012, had looked back on the process that saw the team’s founding, and the desire for a team name that would speak to both soccer fans as well as the Washington community,
Speaking to the official MLS website, he recalls a meeting over lunch in the early 90s with his US Soccer colleagues. While discussing potential options for a team name, one of his employees said: “Well, why don’t you call it United? That’s what every team is called”.
Although the process by which the team’s brand was created went beyond that moment of sarcasm, the team had approved of the D.C. United name at that very moment. Payne added it to the shortlist of potential names, and in the end it would prevail over the other candidates, among which “Justice”, “Force”, and “Spies”.
It was the Clash who would end up winning that inaugural game 1-0, thanks to a goal from Eric Wynalda. Although the Black and Red side’s jerseys looked elegant, the style of play out on the field was anything but. Payne recalls that then-head coach Bruce Arena was still dividing his time between the USA Olympic national team and D.C. United.
“I wouldn’t go as far as Bruce, who called it the worst game in history”, Payne said, although he did admit that the level of play was “disappointing”.
However, he does remember that the atmosphere around the match-up was electric :”It was an absolutely perfect day, the weather was gorgeous. There were huge throngs of people around the venue before the game. It was festive, encouraging, and felt like a big event. We all felt like, ‘Wow, maybe this is really going to work.”
This Wednesday, D.C. United will be looking to write another chapter of their on-pitch history. They’ll be taking the field for the **Leagues Cup** round of 32 against the Philadelphia Union. Will they manage to get past their MLS rivals and move on to the last 16?
