Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999.
Club history Founding The Riverhounds were founded by Paul Heasley, chief executive of Pittsburgh-based Alliance International Ltd., a merchant banking and investment firm, in 1998 as a member of the USL A-League. Pittsburgh was awarded the then-unnamed club on March 11, 1998, with the announcement coming from then USISL commissioner Francisco Marcos. The franchise was awarded to Heasley and his ownership group known as Alliance Soccer Resources, Inc. and became the first professional team in Pittsburgh in 30 years. Heasley, based in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, wanted to create role models and a pathway to a professional career for local talent. The club's name was initially announced as the Pittsburgh Riverdogs after a naming committee of five local businessmen with an interest in soccer was established to name the club in 1998. The "Riverdogs" name was suggested by Mike Geigel, a member of the committee. Other names that were considered were the Pittsburgh Pulse and Pittsburgh Power. In December 1998, before the "Riverdogs" ever played a match under that moniker, the name was changed to the Riverhounds after the Charleston RiverDogs, a minor league baseball team in South Carolina, threatened legal action against the club.
The club initially played their home games in Bethel Park, at Bethel Park High School's football stadium. John Kowalski was named the first head coach of the club and Justin Evans, a local Peters Township native, was the first player drafted to play for the Riverhounds. Dave Kasper, another Pittsburgh native, was named the first vice president and general manager by Heasley in 1998, a position that he held for the club's first two seasons before taking up executive positions with the New England Revolution and D.C. United. Heasley and Kasper initially worked out of a small office in Pittsburgh's South Side. In their inaugural season, the Riverhounds advanced to the conference semi-finals in the A-league playoffs after finishing the regular season with a 16–12 record. Following the season, the Riverhounds were named the A-League Organization of the Year. Two years later in 2001, the club achieved its greatest cup success by reaching the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals after beating the Colorado Rapids of the Major League Soccer and then-A-league opponent El Paso Patriots in their first two games, but the Hounds were eliminated in the quarterfinals by their second MLS opponent of the tournament, the Chicago Fire, in a two-overtime, 3–2 defeat. In 2004, the club moved down to the USL's Second Division. The team also moved to Moon Township to play at Moon Area High School's football stadium for just one season. The 2004 season saw the club also earn its most notable league accomplishment, winning the USL Atlantic Division with a record of 17–2–1. In December 2004, Heasley sold the team to Sports Facility LLC, owners of the Washington Wild Things baseball team of the Frontier League. The Riverhounds played both the 2005 and 2006 seasons at the Wild Things' minor league baseball stadium, Consol Energy Park, on the outskirts of Washington, Pennsylvania, about south of Pittsburgh. The franchise continued to hold soccer academies and training for youths across the tri-state Area, but went on hiatus and did not play during the 2007 season due to a structural reorganization. During that hiatus, the Riverhounds were sold yet again to a new ownership group. This time, the club was purchased by Greentree Sports-Plex. At the time, Jason Kutney, then Riverhounds defender and future Riverhounds CEO and co-owner, was also CEO of the multi-sport facility. On October 29, 2007, the organization announced another venue change. Beginning with the 2008 season, Chartiers Valley High School's stadium, located just off the Kirwan Heights exit of Interstate 79 in Pittsburgh's South Hills, would be the new home of the Riverhounds. The club played its home matches in the stadium through the 2012 season when its own, permanent soccer-specific stadium was completed. Another significant development just prior to the 2008 season was a partnership that was entered into by the Riverhounds and Everton of the Premier League. As part of the partnership the Riverhounds would implement Everton's youth development program into its own academies. Because of this partnership, the Riverhounds also changed its color scheme from its original red, black, and white palette to predominantly blue with white and black accents, reflecting the colors of Everton.
From its inception in 1998 to 2012, the club was sold at least three times and called four stadiums home until achieving more stability and beginning the process of acquiring its own stadium beginning in 2012.
2012 Months before the opening of the 2012 USL Pro season, despite speculation and previous attempts to build a permanent home for the Riverhounds at other locations, on December 8, 2011, it was revealed that a stadium for the club could be built at Station Square on what was, at the time, the site of the amphitheater close to downtown Pittsburgh as part of a redevelopment of the area. However, at the time there was no timeline set for the proposed redevelopment. Less than a month later on January 10, 2012, an official announcement was made that the construction would begin and that the stadium would be completed by summer 2012, meaning that the club could play at least a portion of its 2012 home schedule at the new stadium. Construction of the stadium was scheduled to begin in late March to early April 2012 and to be completed during summer 2012. However, construction at the site began in August, several months behind schedule, and the stadium's projected opening was scheduled for fall 2012, potentially as soon as late September. The stadium was financed with an estimated $7 million by private investors in addition to several corporate sponsors including Highmark who hold naming rights for the stadium. Thus, the stadium was named Highmark Stadium. Because of the prolonged construction of Highmark Stadium, the Riverhounds played the entirety of their 2012 season at the stadium of Chartiers Valley High School, the stadium in which the club had played since the 2008 season. In April 2012, the Riverhounds signed Matt Kassel, formerly of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. Following the standout season in which he scored a team-leading six goals, he was named to the USL PRO All-League 2nd Team, the only Pittsburgh player to make the 1st or 2nd team selection. Following his impressive season, Kassel returned to Major League Soccer by signing for the Philadelphia Union for the 2013 season. In 2012, the Riverhounds also experienced a short run in the 2012 U.S. Open Cup as they entered and were eliminated in the 2nd round after losing 0–1 to the Michigan Bucks of the lower division Premier Development League. The club finished the regular season second to last in the league with a record of 4–5–15, only finishing above the Antigua Barracuda and missing out on the playoffs. The club played its final match at Chartiers Valley High School on August 10, 2012.
2013
Prior to the 2013 USL Pro season, Pittsburgh signed several experienced offensive players such as Rob Vincent, Kevin Kerr, and José Angulo. Although several warm-up matches and other non-soccer events were held at Highmark Stadium previously, the first official Riverhounds league match took place on April 13, 2013, against the Harrisburg City Islanders, several months after the anticipated completion date. The Riverhounds went on to lose the opening day match 1–2 in front of a sellout crowd of over 4,000 fans. Newly signed Riverhounds striker José Angulo opened the scoring in the match, thus scoring the first goal in the new stadium's history. In summer 2013, the Riverhounds introduced the Frank B. Fuhrer International Friendly Series, an annual international friendly match pitting the Riverhounds against top clubs from around the world. The series was named after investor and local businessman Frank B. Fuhrer who was also former owner of the Pittsburgh Spirit indoor soccer team. The first edition of the series was held on July 19, 2013, as the Riverhounds fell 1–4 against reigning FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic with José Angulo again scoring the Riverhounds' only goal of the match. On the final matchday of the 2013 regular season, Angulo scored Pittsburgh's only goal in a 1–1 draw with the regular season champion Richmond Kickers. With the goal, Angulo tied Dom Dwyer's goal tally of 15 for the season but was crowned scoring champion on total points, with a total of 34 to 31, after he tallied four assists and Dwyer tallied only one. Angulo's 15 goals tied Dwyer for the all-time single season USL Pro scoring record, which was then broken by Kevin Molino of Orlando City SC the following season. At the end of the season, Angulo was also named USL Pro league MVP. Another single-season league record was set by a Pittsburgh player in 2013 as Matthew Dallman tallied twelve assists for the Riverhounds throughout the season. This was the first time in league history that Riverhounds players led the league in both categories. On June 27, 2013, it was announced that Terry "Tuffy" Shallenberger of Connellsville, Pennsylvania became an investor in the club, a move that would have major significance to the club in the near future. Shallenberger also established a Riverhounds academy in his hometown at that time. After a slow start to the season in which the Riverhounds recorded only two victories in its first ten matches, the club finished the regular season seventh in the league with a 10–8–8 record, qualifying for the playoffs. However, the Riverhounds did not make it out of the first round after suffering a heavy 0–5 defeat to Orlando City on August 24, 2013.
2014