Football
Soccer

    Real Salt Lake

    Freddy Juarez, Real Salt Lake manager, pictured in March 2020 at the home MLS game with New York Red Bulls

    Real were the first American club to reach the CONCACAF Champions League final.

    Real Salt Lake entered MLS as the 12th team in the league, with their first game taking place in 2005. They were announced as an expansion team in July 2004, with SCP Worldwide as the owners. Former NBA executive Dave Checketts was the founder of SCP Worldwide and the face of the franchise. The team began to play at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.

    The name comes from global soccer tradition as Real means royal in Spanish and their founders were admirers of Real Madrid. Salt Lake SC and Union SLC were also considered. The official team colours are claret red, cobalt blue and real gold. The team's nickname is the Claret and Cobalt. The badge is a shield with the letters R S and L in the middle in red and gold. There is a crown on top of the R with a soccer ball below the letters.

    RSL play at Rio Tinto Stadium, a soccer-specific arena in Sandy, Utah. The stadium sits 4,450 feet above sea level and has a capacity of 20,213 fans. The stadium hosted the 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton as well as FIFA World Cup qualifiers, CONCACAF Gold Cup games and USWNT games. The NWSL's Utah Royals played at Rio Tinto until moving to Kansas City after the 2020 season.

    Real's Will Johnson battles David Beckham in the 2009 MLS Cup final

    The Claret and Cobalt won the 2009 MLS Cup and followed this up by finishing second in the Supporters' Shield race in 2010. They were the first American club to reach the CONCACAF Champions League final, but lost the showpiece game in 2011. They also finished as runners-up in the 2013 US Open Cup and the 2013 MLS Cup.

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    Real Salt Lake's top players

    Real Salt Lake News