Atlanta United FC is an American professional football club based in Atlanta , Georgia . Since 2017, he has been playing at MLS , the major football league in the USA and Canada.
 Atlanta United | |||
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| Full title | Atlanta United FC | ||
| Based | 2014 | ||
| Stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta , Georgia , USA | ||
| Capacity | 75,000 | ||
| Owner |  Arthur Blank | ||
| The president |  Darren Ils | ||
| Main coach |  Frank de Boer | ||
| Captain | Michael Parkhurst | ||
| Site | atlutd.com | ||
| Competition | Mls | ||
| 2018 season | Eastern Conference: 2nd Overall standings: 2nd Playoffs: Champion | ||
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Content
History
The club was formally established on April 16, 2014, when the league announced the award of the 22nd MLS franchise to Atlanta [1] . According to MLS Commissioner Don Garber, the cost of joining the league ranged from $ 70 to $ 100 million [2] . At the time the club entered the league, Atlanta remained the largest metropolitan area of the country without its team in the MLS [3] . The owner of the club is Arthur Blank, one of the founders of The Home Depot . Blank also owns the NFL Atlanta Falcons .
On August 20, 2014, Arthur Blank announced that five months after the establishment of the club, more than 14 thousand fans had already pledged to purchase seasonal passes [4] . In August 2016, the club announced that out of the 31 thousand fans who made bail for subscriptions, 22 thousand bought tickets for the season completely, which became a league record for new teams [5] .
On September 10, 2014, the former Tottenham Hotspur sports director Darren Eels was appointed president of the club [6] . March 3, 2015, the former captain of the US team Carlos Bocanegra was appointed sports director of the club [7] . On September 27, 2016, Gerardo Martino was appointed coach of the club, who in the past trained the Argentina national team and Barcelona [8] .
Name, emblem and colors
On June 26, 2015, the club unveiled its name - Atlanta United. The name was chosen by interviewing 21 thousand fans who made a deposit to purchase seasonal passes. Fans were asked to rate 36 words and how much these words were associated in their minds with the new club. The four most popular words were “Atlanta”, “Football Club”, “ATL” and “United”, which led to the approval of the name “Atlanta United” [9] .
On July 7, 2015, the club introduced its logo and club colors [10] . The round shape of the emblem pays tribute to the coat of arms and the Olympic legacy of Atlanta . Five vertical stripes symbolize the pillars of the club's character - cohesion, determination, community, excellence and innovation. Black bars also highlight the city’s railway past. The official colors of the club are black, red and gold [11] .
Stadium
Since 2017, the club has been performing at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta [12] . In addition to the MLS club, the stadium is the new home field for the Atlanta Falcons NFL team. The stadium capacity for NFL matches is 75,000 spectators. For MLS matches, the stadium configuration is subject to change and capacity can be reduced to 42,000 spectators. Despite this, Atlanta United has the highest attendance in the league. The match of the 24th round of 2018 against Seattle Sounders gathered 72,243 spectators. It was assumed that the arena would be opened only by half, but the demand for United forced to change all plans. Now, only the upper tier is closed for MLF passing games (capacity is reduced to 50 thousand, of which 37 are season ticket holders), and at the top they work at full capacity. Due to special technologies, the lower stands are moved apart to accommodate a wider football field, and the upper stands are closed with special awnings, if necessary, to create a more comfortable atmosphere. The stadium has a transparent roof and walls made of a special polymer that can change the transmittance of light depending on weather conditions. Through the transparent walls, viewers enjoy views of the city center. Both the roof and walls of the stadium are sliding. The cost of building the stadium is estimated at 1.2 billion dollars [3] [13] .
Current squad
As of February 13, 2019. Source: List of players on the club's official website
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Trainers
- Gerardo Martino (September 27, 2016 - December 18, 2018)
- Frank De Boer (December 23, 2018 - present )
Notes
- ↑ Atlanta lands Major League Soccer expansion team for 2017 . mlssoccer.com (April 16, 2014).
- ↑ Garber: Blank paid between $ 70M to $ 100M for pro soccer team . bizjournals.com (April 17, 2014). Date of treatment November 5, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 Major League Soccer names Atlanta as 22nd franchise, set for 2017 debut . foxsports.com (April 16, 2014).
- ↑ Arthur Blank: New Atlanta MLS expansion team already has 14,000 season ticket deposits (English) (August 20, 2014).
- ↑ Atlanta United FC set new season ticket record for expansion teams . mlssoccer.com (August 19, 2016).
- ↑ Tottenham Hotspur executive Darren Eales named president of MLS Atlanta expansion club . mlssoccer.com (September 10, 2014).
- ↑ MLS Atlanta taps former World Cup Captain Carlos Bocanegra as technical director (English) (March 3, 2015). Date of appeal April 16, 2015.
- ↑ Atlanta United Names Gerardo “Tata” Martino Head Coach . atlutd.com (September 27, 2016).
- ↑ Atlanta United FC: How the 2017 MLS expansion club selected its name . mlssoccer.com (July 26, 2015). Date of treatment June 26, 2015.
- ↑ Atlanta United FC reveal logo, team colors in front of thousands of fans: “We want it to be your club" (eng.) . Mlssoccer.com (July 8, 2015). Date accessed July 8, 2015.
- ↑ Atlanta United: Logo Evolution . atlutd.com. Date of treatment July 8, 2015.
- ↑ Mercedes Benz Stadium .
- ↑ MLS in Atlanta: The $ 1.2 billion stadium Blank's new team will share with the Falcons . soccer.si.com (April 16, 2014). Archived on April 22, 2014.