Storify: The Fire's First 15 to 100
Very nice use of Storify by the Chicago Fire, illustrating the first 15 Fire players to reach 100 appearances for the club as midfielder Marco Pappa is set to hit that mark this weekend.
"The less soccer-friendly crowd used to say, ‘Oh look, it’s a bunch of crazies! They had no idea why people would want to stand and sing. Singing is not natural in US sports. People started to laugh. But the fans who were soccer savvy — many of the Latino fans — they all got it."
- Screaming Eagles original Matt Mathai recalls the earliest days of supporter culture in MLS with DC United, from this superb article “Respecting the Original MLS Crazies”.
The Fire’s founding general manager Peter Wilt, celebrating the club’s 2006 US Open Cup win in Section 8 (a year after he was fired as GM). He was handed the medal by Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens. It was the Fire’s fourth US Open Cup championship.
On May 9th 2012, CJ Brown will be inducted into the Chicago Fire’s Ring of Fire at Toyota Park during half-time of tonight’s game between the Fire and Real Salt Lake. I will be there to honor a true MLS legend and perhaps the most humble star the club has had. CJ retired in 2010 following 13 years with the club - the last Fire original, who played on the inaugural 1998 MLS Cup and US Open Cup winning team.
Brown holds the club record for most MLS regular season appearances (296), MLS Cup playoff appearances (35) and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearances (25). Serving as Fire captain from 2008-09, Brown’s 372 appearances across all competitions are also a club record and rank him third all-time behind only Jaime Moreno (415) and Cobi Jones (392) for most competitive games played for one MLS club.
He joins a ring consisting of former Fire captain Peter Nowak, former Fire defender Lubos Kubik, former Fire forward and current head coach Frank Klopas, the Fire’s first General Manager Peter Wilt, former Fire head coach Bob Bradley and former Fire midfielder Armas in the club’s Ring of Fire.
Most importantly, CJ is the Chicago Fire, and made real the words tradition, honor, passion.
If only he was still at the club (he’s now an assistant coach for the visiting Real Salt Lake tonight). Cheers CJ, come back soon.
All pictures by official Section 8 Chicago photographers Marty Groark and Conrad Akier.
Hristo Stoichkov, Chicago Fire v Colorado, MLS
The fourth episode of the monthly Pitch Invasion podcast features interviews with Sporting Kansas City CEO Robb Heineman and Section 8 Chicago ISA Chairman Joel Piktel.
Chris Rolfe returns to the Chicago Fire, and the old chant will be going again soon….
Chris Rolfe is getting laid tonight…
(sorry folks, sometimes the partisan Fire fan in me cannot be contained.)
Affiliated North American supporter groups to the Independent Supporters Council (ISC) have been marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21st) over the past month with displays on a Show Racism the Red Card theme.
Last night, Section 8 Chicago - the Independent Supporters Association for the Chicago Fire - extended that theme and unveiled a large banner celebrating Chicago and the Fire’s diversity in general. The message, of course, implies a strong opposition to discrimination of any kind but especially homophobia; the Fire’s opponent yesterday was the Houston Dynamo, whose midfielder Colin Clark was serving a suspension last night for his recent anti-gay slur made to a ballboy at an MLS game.
The banners read: “Our City, Our Club. Our Diversity, Our Strength.”
The severe weather made displaying the banner at Toyota Park very difficult - a major thunderstorm caused the game to be delayed 10 minutes in, and it was later abandoned after 66 minutes - but it just about held up. The pictures above also show the making of the banner, which took a total of over 200 man hours by supporters at four builds during the previous week.
New scarf by Section 8 Chicago, the Independent Supporters Association for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club. Inspired, of course, by this, and a longstanding banner in Section 8.
Graphic for the Chicago Fire’s fifteenth anniversary, created independently by supporters planning a major event for the occasion. The club was founded on October 8th 1997, the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. Founding Fire General Manager Peter Wilt explained the backstory to the club’s identity on PI a few years ago.
www.twitter.com/fireanniversary
www.facebook.com/fireanniversary
Chicago Fire Soccer Club billboard at Kinzie and Ashland, Chicago, with the Sears Willis Tower in the background.
Banner produced for a tifo display in Section 8 at the Chicago Fire home opener this past Saturday. The third photo shows Fire forward and top goalscorer in 2011 Dominic Oduro helping fans to paint the banner; Oduro then scored the winning goal in the Fire’s 1-0 victory following the display on Saturday.
The cf97 emblem was created by Fire supporters. It represents the club’s initials, the year of its founding and the civic elements of the star from the flag of Chicago and the municipal “Y” symbol below, representing the joining of the river’s branches downtown.
Photos via Section 8 Chicago and Ultras Red Side
