The Houston Dynamo is a professional soccer club based in Houston, Texas. They compete in the Major Soccer League as a member of the West Conference. The team first played their home games at the Roberston Stadium located inside the campus of the University of Houston. However, since 2012, the Houston Dynamo decided to move to the BBVA Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium in Houston. The team is owned by Jake Silverstein, Gabriel Brener, Ben Guill, former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, and NBA star James Harden. In this article, we are going to know more about the Houston Dynamo.
Who are the Houston Dynamo?
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced in November 2006 that the league gave the San Jose Earthquake owners the Anschutz Entertainment Group permission to relocate the team for the 2006 season. The following month, the relocation finally happened, and the San Jose franchise, along with the coaches and all the players under contract, moved to Houston. On December 16, 2005, a ceremony was held outside the Houston City Hall to announce the arrival of the franchise.
The team played their first MLS league game in April 2006 at the Roberston Stadium and in front of a cheering crowd of 25,462 people. During that game, the Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids in a 5-2 game. Later that season, the Dynamo managed to hit other established MLS clubs like the Los Angeles Galaxy, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Chicago Fire, and New England Revolution. The Houston Dynamo won against the New England Revolution in the 2006 MLS Cup. It made the team qualified for the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In 2007, the Houston Dynamo started the season by competing in the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup. After they won the quarterfinal against the Costa Rican team Puntarenas F.C., the Houston Dynamo decided to exit the competition in the semifinals.
The Dynamo began their 2007 MLS league seasons with shutouts against Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy. After that, the Houston Dynamo struggled in the regular season. They lost against the Toronto FC, Chicago Fire, New York Red Bulls, and the New England Revolution. It was also in 2007 when Houston made some significant trades. They traded Kevin Goldthwaite to Toronto F.C. for Richard Mulrooney. They also traded Alejandro Moreno to Columbus Crew to Nate Jaqua of the Los Angeles Galaxy. After regrouping, the Houston Dynamo began an unbeaten streak of eleven games and a shutout streak of aa whopping 726 minutes, a new MLS record. 2007 proved to be an excellent year for the Dynamo because they also managed to win their second MLS Cup in a row.
Why are they called the Houston Dynamo?
In March 2006, Houston announced that the team will be named Dynamo, which refers to Houston’s energy-based industrial economy. It is also a reference to the previous Houston soccer team, the Houston Dynamos, which played in the United Soccer League and the Lone Star Soccer Alliance. Another reason behind their name is because Dynamo refers to someone who is never tired and never gives up. It is a word that is symbolic of Houston as a town with hard-working, energetic, and risk-taking people.
However, on January 25, 2006, the team initially announced that their name would be Houston 1836. It was followed by an online survey for the fans who want to provide suggestions for the name. According to the AEG and MLS, the name 1836 refers to the year that the city of Houston was founded, and it was also the year of the Texan independence from Mexico. As time passed, the name Houston 1836 became a political issue wherein Hispanic fans protests because they related 1836 with the war for Texas independence. That is why the team’s name was changed to Dynamo and since then, the MLS did no longer allow any online surveys to name expansion teams.
What is the Story Behind their Color and Badge
The Houston Dynamo’s crest official colors are Space City blue, Wildcatter orange, and Raven black. The crest also has a star which is an ad hoc adoption and it a nod to the Houston Texas Flag. It also has a soccer ball that has a star in the middle which is from the “1836” logo.
After the team won the 2006 MLS Cup, they added a sanctioned star above the shield in 2008. The following year, the team added another sanctioned star on their logo to represent their win at the MLS Cup 2007.
