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Pittsburgh Riverhounds is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in the USL Second Division (USL-2), the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Chartiers Valley High School's athletic stadium, located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville, where they have played since 2007. The team's colors are tropical blue, black, and white. Their current head coach is Gene Klein.
[edit] HistoryThe Riverhounds were founded by Paul Heasley in 1999 as a member of the USL's A-League, now known as USL-1. It played its home games in Bethel Park, at Bethel Park High School's football stadium. That same year the Riverhounds were named the A-League Organization of the Year. John Kowalski was the first head coach of the club; Justin Evans was the first player drafted to play for the Riverhounds. In their 1999 inaugural season, they advanced to the conference semi-finals in the A-league playoffs. Two years later in 2001, they reached the US Open Cup quarterfinals after beating the Colorado Rapids of the Major League Soccer and then-A-league opponent El Paso Patriots in their first two games, but the Hounds were eliminated in the quarterfinals by their second MLS opponent of the tournament, the Chicago Fire, in a two-overtime, 3-2 defeat. The Riverhounds have not reached that level of success since that time due in large part to undergoing multiple ownership and location changes. In 2004, the club moved down to the USL's Second Division. The team also moved to Moon Township to play at Moon Area High School's football stadium for just one season. In December 2004 Heasley sold the team to Sports Facility LLC, owners of the Washington Wild Things baseball team of the Frontier League.[1] The Riverhounds played both the 2005 and 2006 seasons at the Wild Things' minor league baseball stadium, CONSOL Energy Park, on the outskirts of Washington, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. The franchise continued to hold soccer academies and training to youth across the tri-state area, but did not play during the 2007 season due to a structural reorganization. During that hiatus, the Riverhounds were sold yet again to a new ownership group. On October 29, 2007, they announced another venue change and for the 2008 season at Chartiers Valley High School's stadium, which is just off the Kirwin Heights exit of Interstate 79 in Pittsburgh's South Hills.[2] Only one jersey number, "99", has been officially retired by the Riverhounds. That honor was bestowed upon original owner Paul Heasley for founding the club in 1999. [edit] Colors and mascotThe Riverhounds uniforms are black, blue, and white. These colors were adopted before the start of the 2008 season to honor their academy and training partnership with Everton FC of the English Premier League.[3][4] The team's use of blue is an allusion to the blue collar populace of Pittsburgh. The term Riverhound is derived from the expression, river dog, which refers to the barge workers that ply the three rivers at their confluence in Pittsburgh. In fact, the team's mascot, AMO, is named for the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. [edit] Stadia
[edit] Future homeThere has been no official announcement concerning a permanent home for the Hounds, but much has been speculated since GM and manager Gene Klein, on 13 July 2007, said that the Riverhounds "are to the point on the stadium complex where it is a matter of paperwork and it will get done. We hope to make an official announcement on it...but like everything else, we'll walk with it before we try and run. We are doing things the right way."[3] More recently, on 9 July 2008, Dan Onorato, Chief Executive of Allegheny County, announced a planned development of a 78-acre sports and recreation park that covers area near Pittsburgh in Coraopolis, Robinson, and Moon known as Montour Junction.[5] The land was donated to the county's Redevelopment Authority by the Sports Legacy Foundation, which is chaired by Riverhounds founder and former owner Paul Heasley.[6] The SLF has owned the land since 2002 and has already spent about $60k for the environmental cleanup of the land, which was once owned by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and had been declared a brownfield.[5] The proposed uses for the park include soccer pitches as well as other multipurpose team sports fields such as rugby and lacrosse. It is believed by many that a stadium will be built around one of the fields and that it would likely become a permanent home for the Hounds. [edit] Players[edit] Current rosteras at October 11, 2009
[edit] Notable former players
[edit] CoachesThe Pittsburgh Riverhounds are led by Head Coach and General Manager Gene Klein. This will be his second season at the helm, after a successful career as the championship soccer coach at Quaker Valley High School. He is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Klein's staff includes Pittsburgh soccer notables John Kowalski, Paul Child, and Jeroen Walstra. Kowalski is also the Head Coach of the Robert Morris University Women's Soccer team, where he has been inducted into the university's Hall of Fame. Previously, he coached the MLS Tampa Bay Mutiny, and the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Pittsburgh Spirit. Child was a long-time North American Soccer League (NASL) and MISL All-Star, where he played several seasons for the Pittsburgh Spirit. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Klein has been with the Riverhounds almost continually, since the beginning. He was the goalkeepers coach under Kowalski and Haaskivi. [edit] Front office
[edit] All-time coaches
[edit] Support In November 2007, the Steel Army was formed when their first meeting was held at Piper's Pub in Pittsburgh's South Side. The group started as 5-10 local people interested in supporting the reorganized Riverhounds Football Club and to support the efforts of growing the sport of soccer in Western Pennsylvania. The group has since in a short amount of time grown from those humble beginnings, with the Steel Army message board active daily with members discussing the Hounds, events, meetings, and the international game of football. Members are not only from Pittsburgh but also from states as close as Ohio to states as far away as Oregon and Florida. Membership in the Steel Army is now even international with members joining the group from Sunderland and Surrey in the U.K., as well as Bray, in the Republic of Ireland, who will be following the Riverhounds from abroad.  Fans of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds The section of Chartiers Valley High School Stadium where the Steel Army stands and supports the Riverhounds from is called "The Yard". The Steel Army has a rivalry with the Green Army, the Supporters Club of the Cleveland City Stars. The rivalry and intensity between the Riverhounds and the City Stars on the pitch has carried into the stands. The Steel Army travels in mass to Cleveland when the two teams meet and the Green Army travels to Pittsburgh for the matches between the two teams as well. It can be argued that these two supporter groups are the best traveled supporter groups in USL-2. [edit] Achievements
[edit] Year-by-year
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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