C.D. Chivas USA Tickets
In 2004, C.D. Chivas USA became the MLS’ eleventh team, and finds their home in Carson, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. At its conception, it was created by Jorge Vergara Madrigal, owner of the Mexican league team CD Guadalajara, and was designed to be related to the Mexican league team. The team plays its games in the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The venue is shared between them and the team’s rival, the Los Angeles Galaxy.
After being created in August 2004, the team had a rough beginning, starting the team’s tenure at 1-8-1, which resulted in the removal of then coach Thomas Rongen. For their second season, the team hired Bob Bradley, former coach of the Chicago Fire, and soon to become coach of the US National Team. Bradley won MLS Coach of the Year for the second time due to Chivas USA’s remarkable turnaround as they finished 10-9-13 and earned their first playoff birth in team history. The next couple of years brought more success to the team, but even more to its players, as Chivas USA stars such as goalkeeper Brad Guzan was able to land a contract to play in Europe, while Jonathan Bornstein was named to the MLS All-Star team along with teammate Sacha Kljestan.
Despite only tepid amounts of sustained success, Chivas USA features a strong group of supporters. One of the groups, known as Legión 1908, has about 1,500 registered members of the Los Angeles chapter, making it the third largest chapter of the group behind Mexico City, and Guadalajara. They have other, smaller groups of supporters including the Union Ultras and Black Army 1850; however, both of those groups have a much smaller membership base.
The 2011-12 season was not so kind to Chivas USA. The team finished 8-14-12, good enough for a 15th place finish out of 18 teams, and they did not qualify for the playoffs. The team was captained by Simon Elliott, one of just five non-American captains in the MLS. This past year, Corona was the sponsor displayed on the team’s jerseys. Despite the team’s lack of success, goalkeeper Dan Kennedy played a large role in keeping them in games, notching a 1.22 goals against average and tallying 100 saves, good for second in the league. In week 9 of the season, forward Justin Braun was awarded the Player of the Week award.