The team is entering its sixth year in Major League Soccer, but with an identity that was founded in 1974, the Seattle Sounders are celebrating their 40th year of existence, a fact fans noted before today’s opener with Sporting Kansas City. With two tifo displays before kicking off the first game of MLS’s 2013 season, Seattle fans embraced their big “4-0".
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From the Emerald City Supporters’ at the south end of the CenturyLink Field:
Starting in 1974, the Seattle Sounders spent 10 years in the old North American Soccer League. Though soccer remained in the area after the NASL’s folding, the Sounders name returned in earnest in 1994, with the current Major League Soccer franchise adopting the identity after fans of the newly awarded franchise expressed overwhelming support of the name in 2008.
A second display, highlighting the different looks the Sounders’ logo has had through the years:
On March 19, 2009, the team’s latest incarnation debuted for their fans, embracing an identity they’ve carried into the Sounders’ 40th anniversary season.