Club: | Chicago Fire |
Season: | 2016 |
Chairman: | Andrew Hauptman |
Manager: | Veljko Paunović |
Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
Stdtitle: | Stadium |
Stadium: | Toyota Park (capacity: 20,000) |
League: | MLS |
League Result: | Conference: 10th Overall: 20th |
League2: | MLS Cup Playoffs |
League2 Result: | Did not qualify |
Cup1: | U.S. Open Cup |
Cup1 Result: | Semifinals |
Cup2: | Brimstone Cup |
Cup2 Result: | Did not win |
League Topscorer: | David Accam (9) |
Season Topscorer: | David Accam (14) |
Highest Attendance: | 18,976 (Oct 16 vs New England Revolution) |
Lowest Attendance: | League: 12,073 (Apr 2 vs Philadelphia) Open Cup: 3,666 (Jul 20 vs Fort Lauderdale) |
Average Attendance: | League: (regular season) Open Cup: |
Largest Win: | MTL 0-3 CHI (8/20) CHI 3-0 PHL (9/3) |
Largest Loss: | DC 6-2 CHI (8/27) |
Pattern La1: | _thinwhiteborder |
Pattern B1: | _whitehorizontal |
Pattern Ra1: | _thinwhiteborder |
Pattern Sh1: | _adidasnavy |
Pattern So1: | _band_white |
Leftarm1: | FF0000 |
Body1: | FF0000 |
Rightarm1: | FF0000 |
Shorts1: | FF0000 |
Socks1: | FF0000 |
Pattern La2: | _FIRE_15a |
Pattern B2: | _FIRE_15a |
Pattern Ra2: | _FIRE_15a |
Pattern Sh2: | _FIRE_15a |
Pattern So2: | _FIRE_15a |
Leftarm2: | FFFFFF |
Body2: | FFFFFF |
Rightarm2: | FFFFFF |
Shorts2: | FFFFFF |
Socks2: | FFFFFF |
Pattern La3: | _FIRE_14t |
Pattern B3: | _FIRE_14t |
Pattern Ra3: | _adidasaltwhite |
Pattern Sh3: | _adidaswhite |
Pattern So3: | _color_3_stripes_black |
Leftarm3: | 76A7D0 |
Body3: | 000000 |
Rightarm3: | 000000 |
Shorts3: | 000000 |
Socks3: | 76A7D0 |
American: | true |
Prevseason: | 2015 |
Nextseason: | 2017 |
The 2016 Chicago Fire season was the club's 18th year of existence, as well as their 19th season in Major League Soccer and their 19th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer.
On November 24, 2015 Veljko Paunović, coach of the 2015 World Cup champions Serbia U-20 team, was announced as the Chicago Fire's new head coach.[1]
Chicago Fire began the regular season on March 6, 2016, with a home match against New York City FC. The Men in Red finished the regular season on October 23, 2016, with an away match against Toronto FC. The club has missed the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven years.
The loss on the road to Vancouver Whitecaps on May 11, 2016, was the Fire's 28th straight match (19L, 9T) without a road win. This surpassed the New York Red Bulls for the longest road winless streak in MLS history.[2] With the away loss to Real Salt Lake on August 6, 2016, the streak extended to 36 matches (27L, 9T). The two-years and 28 days long streak finally ended when the Fire defeated Montreal Impact, 3–0, on the road on August 20, 2016. It was the first victory away from home since the Fire beat the New England Revolution, 1–0, in Foxborough, MA on July 12, 2014.[3]
Chicago Fire became the first team in MLS history to finish last in the overall table two years in a row.[4]
As of October 23, 2016. Source: Chicago Fire official roster
See also: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2016.
Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.
Date | Player | Position | Previous Club | Notes | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 30, 2015 | M | Exercised option | [5] | |||
November 30, 2015 | D | Exercised option | ||||
December 17, 2015 | F | [6] | ||||
December 17, 2015 | M | |||||
January 14, 2016 | D | Drafted 4th overall (first round) in 2016 MLS SuperDraft, already signed contract with MLS | [7] | |||
January 14, 2016 | D | Drafted 12th overall (first round) in 2016 MLS SuperDraft, already signed contract with MLS | ||||
January 18, 2016 | D | Signed as a free agent | [8] | |||
January 18, 2016 | GK | Signed as a free agent | ||||
January 23, 2016 | M | Re-signed with the club, after initially having his contract option declined; signed one-year deal with one year club option | [9] | |||
January 23, 2016 | D | Signed as a free agent, one-year deal with one year club option | ||||
January 27, 2016 | M | Signed as a free agent, one-year deal with one year club option | [10] | |||
February 2, 2016 | D | [11] [12] | ||||
February 26, 2016 | GK | Signed as a free agent after trial, one-year deal with one year club option | [13] [14] | |||
February 29, 2016 | M | Signed after a trial, two-year deal with one year club option | [15] [16] | |||
March 3, 2016 | M | Signed after a trial, one-year deal with one year club option | [17] | |||
March 11, 2016 | M | [18] [19] | ||||
May 17, 2016 | F | Signed as a discovery signing using targeted allocation money for a three-year deal through 2018 with a club option for 2019 | [20] | |||
August 3, 2016 | F | Signed as a Special Discovery Player, two-year deal with options for the third and fourth years | [21] | |||
August 3, 2016 | F | Acquired in exchange for General Allocation Money | [22] |
Date | Player | Position | Destination Club | Notes | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 30, 2015 | D | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with Miami FC as a free agent on February 9 | [23] | |||
November 30, 2015 | GK | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with Indy Eleven as a free agent on January 22 | [24] | |||
November 30, 2015 | D | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with San Antonio FC as a free agent on February 25 | [25] | |||
November 30, 2015 | F | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with San Antonio FC as a free agent on February 16 | [26] | |||
November 30, 2015 | GK | [27] | ||||
November 30, 2015 | D | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with LA Galaxy as a free agent on January 6 | [28] | |||
November 30, 2015 | D | 2016 contract option was declined, signed with Indy Eleven on January 12 | [29] | |||
November 30, 2015 | M | None | 2016 contract option was declined | |||
November 30, 2015 | D | Loan deal expired | ||||
November 30, 2015 | D | None | Out of contract, eligible for free agency | |||
November 30, 2015 | F | Out of contract, signed with LA Galaxy as a free agent on January 14 | [30] | |||
November 30, 2015 | M | Out of contract, signed with Carolina RailHawks as a free agent on January 15 | [31] | |||
January 6, 2016 | F | [32] | ||||
January 14, 2016 | D | Traded in exchange for first round pick in 2016 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money | [33] | |||
February 13, 2016 | M | Traded for general allocation money and targeted allocation money, after initially having his option exercised on November 30, 2015 | [34] [35] | |||
March 2, 2016 | M | None | Waived, after initially having his option exercised on November 30, 2015 | [36] [37] | ||
June 29, 2016 | F | Mutual termination of contract; signed with São Paulo FC on July 15 | [38] [39] | |||
July 29, 2016 | F | Traded for Targeted Allocation Money and the natural third round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft | [40] |
Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.
Date | Player | Position | Loaned from | Notes | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 3, 2016 | D | Acquired as a Discovery Signing on a one-year loan | [47] | |||
May 4, 2016 | M | Acquired on loan through the end of 2016 | [48] |
Kickoff times are in CST (UTC-06)
Simple Invitational
Team | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chicago Fire | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | |
2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | |
3 | Portland Timbers | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
4 | Minnesota United FC | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | -10 | 0 |
See main article: 2016 Major League Soccer season. Kickoff times are in CDT (UTC-05), unless posted otherwise
The Chicago Fire entered the 2016 U.S. Open Cup with the rest of Major League Soccer in the fourth round.[49]
Kickoff times are in CDT (UTC-05)
Scorer | Goals | Assists | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Accam | 9 | 5 |
2 | Michael de Leeuw | 7 | 3 |
3 | Arturo Álvarez | 5 | 9 |
4 | Răzvan Cociș | 5 | 2 |
5 | Kennedy Igboananike | 4 | 1 |
6 | John Goossens | 3 | 4 |
7 | Matt Polster | 2 | 2 |
8 | Luis Solignac | 2 | 0 |
9 | Joey Calistri | 1 | 1 |
Jonathan Campbell | 1 | 1 | |
11 | Khaly Thiam | 1 | 0 |
12 | Rodrigo Ramos | 0 | 3 |
Brandon Vincent | 0 | 3 | |
13 | Gilberto | 0 | 2 |
Michael Stephens | 0 | 2 | |
16 | Michael Harrington | 0 | 1 |
Nick LaBrocca | 0 | 1 | |
João Meira | 0 | 1 |
Scorer | Goals | Assists | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Accam | 5 | 1 |
2 | Michael de Leeuw | 1 | 1 |
3 | Khaly Thiam | 1 | 0 |
4 | John Goossens | 0 | 1 |
Rodrigo Ramos | 0 | 1 | |
Nick LaBrocca | 0 | 1 |
Scorer | Goals | Assists | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | David Accam | 14 | 5 |
2 | Arturo Álvarez | 5 | 5 |
3 | Michael de Leeuw | 4 | 4 |
4 | Kennedy Igboananike | 4 | 1 |
Răzvan Cociș | 4 | 1 | |
6 | John Goossens | 2 | 4 |
7 | Matt Polster | 2 | 1 |
8 | Khaly Thiam | 2 | 0 |
9 | Joey Calistri | 1 | 1 |
10 | Jonathan Campbell | 1 | 0 |
Luis Solignac | 1 | 0 | |
12 | Rodrigo Ramos | 0 | 4 |
13 | Gilberto | 0 | 2 |
Michael Stephens | 0 | 2 | |
Nick LaBrocca | 0 | 2 | |
Brandon Vincent | 0 | 2 | |
17 | João Meira | 0 | 1 |
Michael Harrington | 0 | 1 |
|-|colspan="14"|Players currently out on loan with another club: (Statistics shown are the appearances made and goals scored while at Chicago Fire)|-|colspan="14"|Players who left the club during the season: (Statistics shown are the appearances made and goals scored while at Chicago Fire)|}
Player | Total | Major League Soccer | U.S. Open Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | width=60 | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | Patrick McLain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
25 | Sean Johnson | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 37 | 1.68 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 37 | 1.68 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
28 | Matt Lampson | 15 | 15 | 1380 | 22 | 1.43 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 990 | 18 | 1.64 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 390 | 4 | 0.92 | 3 |
Four Fire players have been called up to play for their senior national teams during this season.
Players | Team | Competition | Opponent | Date | Goals | Minutes | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 5, 2016 | 0 | 45' | [50] [51] | |||||
February 5, 2016 | 0 | unused sub | ||||||
March 24, 2016 | 0 | 0' (injury) | [52] | |||||
March 27, 2016 | 0 | 0' (injury) | ||||||
August 31, 2016 | 0 | unused sub | [53] [54] | |||||
September 3, 2016 | 0 | Earned a start | [55] | |||||
September 4, 2016 | 0 | 70' | [56] | |||||
September 6, 2016 | 0 | 12' | [57] |
Week | Player | Position | Report |
---|---|---|---|
5 | Johan Kappelhof | D | Report |
17 | Rodrigo Ramos | D | Report |
24 | David Accam | F | Report |
26 | Sean Johnson | GK | Report |
João Meira | D | ||
Michael de Leeuw | F |
Chicago Fire midfielder Matt Polster was selected to Major League Soccer's "24 under 24" list, an annual ranking of the top players in the league under the age of 24.[58] [59]
Forward/midfielder David Accam was named the team's Most Valuable Player and Golden Boot winner for the second year in a row in both categories. In 24 league matches Accam scored nine goals and had five assists. Accam also had team-high 14 goals across all competitions of the season.[60]
In his first year with the club Johan Kappelhof was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Tied with Jonathan Campbell for a team-high 33 league appearances, Kappelhof made 85 clearances, 17 blocks and 113 interceptions during his first MLS campaign.
Goalkeeper Sean Johnson was chosen Section 8 Chicago Supporters' Player of the Year.[61] [62]
Type | Shirt | Shorts | Socks | First appearance / Info | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home | Red | Red | Red | ||
Away | White | White | White | [63] [64] |
The new primary kit for 2016 season was officially unveiled on January 25, 2016. The jersey features an all-red design with the return of the iconic white bar across the chest. The Chicago city flag embossed on the lower front for the jersey's jock tag.[65] [66]
According to the league's bi-annual rotation of kits the secondary kit carried over from the previous season.It was originally unveiled on March 2, 2015. The design and details were inspired by the City of Chicago flag.
Picks acquired:
Picks traded: