New England Revolution History - 1996-2007
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Mike Burns1995
On October 17, 1995, the New England Revolution was born. Behind the leadership of Investor/Operators Robert K. Kraft and Jonathan A. Kraft, the Revolution was established as one of Major League Soccer's 10 original clubs with Foxboro Stadium as its home venue. U.S. internationals Alexi Lalas and Mike Burns - a Massachusetts native - were allocated to New England as the Revs' founding players.
1996
15-17 Overall
The Revolution began its inaugural campaign under head coach Frank Stapleton, fielding star players Burns, Lalas, Alberto Naveda, Welton, and, later in the season, Joe-Max Moore. The Revs' first MLS game was a 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay Mutiny on April 13, 1996, but New England came back a week later to earn its first victory, a 1-0 win over the MetroStars. The following weekend, the Revs prevailed in their first game at Foxboro Stadium, defeating eventual MLS Cup champions D.C. United, 2-1, in a shootout. The Revs' missed out on the 1996 MLS playoffs, although Foxboro Stadium was the site of the inaugural MLS Cup.
Alexi Lalas1997
15-17 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
Thomas Rongen replaced Stapleton, who resigned at the conclusion of the 1996 season. Rongen led the Revolution to the club's first-ever berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs, where the team fell to defending MLS Cup champion D.C. United. New England also led the league in attendance, with 342,762 fans watching Revolution soccer in 1997. The team made some notable acquisitions during Rongen's first year, including goalkeeper Walter Zenga and forward Giuseppe Galderisi.
1998
11-21 Overall
In 1998, the team struggled throughout the club's third campaign as stalwarts Moore and Burns missed a substantial portion of the season with the U.S. National Team at the World Cup in France. The Revolution dropped nine straight games between May and early July and in August, Rongen and his staff resigned and Zenga, the Revs' goalkeeper, took over as player/coach. New England went 3-3 down the stretch. Off-season aquision Raul Diaz Arce scored 18 goals to go along with eight assists, while Moore added seven goals and 15 assists.
1999
12-20 Overall
Prior to the season, the Revolution acquired former U.S. Men's National Team captain John Harkes, Giovanni Savarese and Dan Calichman to help boost the team's bid to return to the playoffs. Zenga continued as player/coach, and the team made several acquisitions in mid-season, including Mario Gori, Leonel Alvarez and Jeff Baicher, but the team was unable to come together and make a run into the postseason. For the second consecutive year the Revs made a late-season coaching change as Zenga was relieved of his playing and coaching duties and replaced by Steve Nicol for the team's final two matches. For the second time in four years, Foxboro Stadium hosted MLS Cup.
Walter Zenga2000
13-13-6 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
Before the start of the 2000 campaign Sunil Gulati, a longtime executive with Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer, was named Managing Director of Kraft Soccer, while Brian O'Donovan was appointed Chief Operating Officer and former U.S. National Team defender Fernando Clavijo was named Head Coach. MLS also moved to three four-team divisions and eliminated penalty-kick shootouts to decide games. The Revs finished second in the Eastern Conference and earned the club's second-ever MLS Cup Playoffs berth on the last day of the regular season, finishing with the best record in club history. Wolde Harris scored 15 goals while Imad Baba added nine goals and eight assists and Ted Chronopoulos five goals. The Revs advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second time in club history, but lost to Chicago.
2001
7-14-6 Overall, U.S. Open Cup Finals
Among the Revs’ newcomers for 2001 were Jamaican midfielder Andy Williams, Caté, a Brazilian playmaker, and Jay Heaps - the 1999 MLS Rookie of the Year and Massachusetts product - who was acquired in a mid-season trade. The Revolution went winless in its first six games and despite several strong stretches during the season, the team failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the 2001 U.S. Open Cup, however, the Revolution advanced to the championship game against the L.A. Galaxy. On Oct. 27, in Fullerton, Calif., the Revs took an early 1-0 lead into the second half, but L.A. leveled the game and Danny Califf scored two minutes into extra time to clinch the title for the Galaxy.
Taylor Twellman2002
12-14-2, MLS Cup Playoffs
MLS Cup 2002 (Foxborough, Mass.)
The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion ceased operations in the off-season, and the Revs acquired Steve Ralston in the resulting Allocation Draft. New England also took Taylor Twellman with the second pick in the MLS SuperDraft and acquired goalkeeper Adin Brown. The Revs went 1-2-1 on their season-opening road trip, before defeating the Dallas Burn 2-0 on May 11 in the first event held at the newly-constructed, $325 million Gillette Stadium. Twellman tallied twice in the win - two of his club single-season record 23 goals that season. Clavijo was fired on May 23, replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Steve Nicol. The Revs went 5-0-1 down the stretch, clinching a playoff berth on the final day of the season. New England then defeated the Chicago Fire in the MLS Cup Quarterfinals, the club's first playoff series victory, before earning a series victory over Columbus in the Eastern Conference Championship to advance to MLS Cup 2002 at Gillette Stadium. A MLS Cup Playoffs record crowd of 61,316 saw the Revs lose to the Galaxy on a golden goal in the 113th minute. After earning MLS Coach of the Year, the Revs named Nicol head coach of the team on Nov. 6.
2003
12-9-9 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
Eastern Conference Final
Joe-Max Moore returned after a three-year stint with Everton in England, and the Revs also added key newcomers Pat Noonan, Shalrie Joseph and Matt Reis to the fold. The Revs struggled in the middle portion of the season, going two months without a win, and New England found itself mired in fifth place in early September. But the Revs went 6-0-1 to close the season and clinched second place in the Eastern Conference. Twellman (15 goals) was sidelined for the playoffs with a fractured left foot, and Noonan led the team to a victory over MetroStars in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Revs missed the chance to return to MLS Cup when Chicago’s Chris Armas scored the golden goal in the 11th minute of overtime. The Revs were the highest scoring team in MLS (55 goals) in the regular season.
Clint Dempsey2004
8-13-9 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
Eastern Conference Final
It was a roller coaster season, with the Revs earning a 1-4-2 mark through April and May before stringing together a seven-game midsummer unbeaten run. Injuries to key players saw others like Andy Dorman and Matt Reis step up, but as September began, the Revs sat in last place. However, the Revs made another late-season push going 3-2-0 down the stretch and used a 2-1 home victory over Chicago on the last night of the season to clinch a playoff berth. New England defeated the Columbus Crew in the conference semifinals - helped by Reis' two penalty kick saves in Game Two of the series. The Revs then played D.C. Eastern Conference Final at RFK Stadium, a 3-3 thriller widely considered MLS’ best match ever. New England lost to the eventual champions on penalty kicks after three times coming back from one-goal deficits, capped by Noonan's 85th minute equalizer. Also in 2004, Twellman scored his 42nd goal as a member of the Revolution to become the club's all-time leading goal scorer and Clint Dempsey earned MLS Rookie of the Year honors.
2005
17-7-8 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
MLS Cup 2005 (Frisco, Texas)
The Revolution had its best regular season in club history, setting team records for wins (17) and points (59). The Revs also set records with their six-game winning streak that was part of the club-record 11-game unbeaten streak to pen the season. In the MLS Cup Conference Semifinals the Revs again came from behind to defeat the MetroStars on aggregate to advance to the team’s fourth Eastern Conference Championship in a row where the Revs downed Chicago, 1-0, at home on a fourth-minute Dempsey goal. In MLS Cup 2005, the Revs fell to LA, 1-0, in double overtime. Despite the championship game loss, the team accumulated many individual accolades, including Twellman claiming MLS MVP honors, and Dempsey, Joseph and Twellman earning spots on the league's Best XI squad, and unheralded first-year defender Michael Parkhurst winning Rookie of the Year accolades.
Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan celebrate after a goal2006
12-8-12 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
MLS Cup 2006 (Frisco, Texas)
Although the Revs returned the majority of their roster from the record-setting 2005 squad, a rash of injuries and international call-ups limited the Revs' early-season success. Dempsey (U.S.) and Avery John (Trinidad & Tobago) were both named to their countries’ World Cup squads and missed seven weeks of MLS action. Nicol used a different starting 11 almost every game to contend with his personnel shortages, but in what had become an annual ritual, the Revs assembled another late-season run, going 5-0-2 to close the schedule and surge into the playoffs. The Revs defeated Chicago in the Eastern Conference Semifinal series, coming back from a two-goal aggregate deficit at home in Game Two to earn the series victory in penalty kicks. Against D.C. in the Eastern Conference Championship, the Revs downed United, 1-0, for the conference crown behind Twellman's fourth-minute strike to advance to MLS Cup in Frisco for the third time in club history. The Houston Dynamo, however, was crowned champion after winning on penalty kicks, 4-3, after the 1-1 stalemate following extra time, during which Twellman’s 113th-minute go-ahead goal in extra time was negated by a Brian Ching tally just over a minute later.
2007
14-8-8 Overall, MLS Cup Playoffs
U.S. Open Cup Champion
MLS Cup 2007 (Washington, D.C.)
The Revs resumed their place at or near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, finishing second after another consistent season under Nicol, the longest-tenured coach in MLS. Midyear, the team won its first-ever cup championship, winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup behind a 3-2 victory at FC Dallas on Oct. 3 as rookie Wells Thompson scored the game-winner in the second half. The team uncharacteristically entered the playoffs winless in their final three regular-season matches, but once again reached the MLS Cup championship match, defeating the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series (1-0 on aggregate) and Chicago, 1-0 in the Revs’ record-setting sixth consecutive Eastern Conference Championship match. At MLS Cup 2007, New England and Houston played the first-ever rematch of the previous year’s final, with the Dynamo repeating the 2006 result and taking a 2-1 victory at RFK Stadium in Washington. Twellman scored his league-leading third playoff goal in the first half, but Houston struck twice in the second to repeat as champions.
