Washington, D.C. (September 2, 2009) - D.C. United announced today plans to recognize the ten-year anniversary of the club’s 1999 squad that captured both the Supporters’ Shield and the MLS Cup on October 17. Members of United’s championship team will return to D.C. for a weekend of promotional events and a halftime tribute during the current team’s final MLS home game against Columbus (8 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet).
“1999 was a great year in the history of D.C. United,” said United President and CEO Kevin Payne. “The entire organization was on a mission after we had failed to win the 1998 MLS Cup. We had a new coach in Thomas Rongen and had said good-bye to several players who had been important members of our team. But in spite of tremendous schedule congestion the team came together down the stretch, outlasted a difficult challenge from Columbus in the Conference Finals, and beat a fine Galaxy team once again for the Cup. It was a great team and a great memory.”
D.C. United’s 1999 side stormed through League play, earning the club’s second Supporters Shield trophy, before winning the MLS Cup. The feat completed a third domestic double (two major trophies won in a single season) and marked the club’s third MLS Cup title in a four-year span.
Among those confirmed to attend the game on October 17 are: Jeff Agoos, Judah Cooks, Marco Etcheverry, John Maessner, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen, Eddie Pope, Tom Presthus, Mark Simpson, Richie Williams, AJ Wood, Roy Lassiter, Antonio Otero and coach Thomas Rongen.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
