In the second of our two-part series introducing the new expansion teams for 2017, we profile Minnesota United and their preparations for the season.
Genesis
Founded in 2010, Minnesota United played in the North American Soccer League, winning the NASL Championship in their second year of existence.
On March 25, 2015, it was announced that The Loons had been chosen as an Expansion Team to begin play in 2017, becoming Major League Soccer’s 22nd team.
Bull McGuire leads the ownership group, which also runs operations for the Minnesota Twins, Timberwolves and Wild.
Coach: Adrian Heath
In their coach Adrian Heath, Minnesota have a man with experience of leading an Expansion Team through their first year of play.
The Englishman was in charge of Orlando City when they joined MLS with NYCFC in 2015 following a three-year spell at the helm when they played in USL.
He was replaced by Jason Kreis last summer but took up this new post at the end of November.
Roster
Minnesota still have some work to do in putting together their first MLS squad but they have benefitted from the Expansion Draft and a few trades.
Femi Hollinger-Janzen, Mohammed Saeid, Collen Warner, Joseph Greenspan, Justin Davis, Kevin Venegas and Johan Venegas have all signed on the dotted line this month, leaving plenty of squad spots free.
The Combine and the SuperDraft look key for Minnesota as they put the finishing touches on their roster.
Uniform
Minnesota kept their name and logo for their move to MLS from NASL, with owner Bill McGuire declaring: “What’s in the name? In this case it’s everything. Consider where we’ve been what is in front of us. Think about who are we. Who we will become, and what we value. You can’t really say it better than, ‘We are United’.”
Their uniforms are yet to be revealed but they played in predominately sky blue colors throughout their NASL past.
Stadium
Minnesota United broke ground on their new stadium on December 12, 2016 – an ambitious $150m project which is expected to be completed in 2018.
While awaiting a permanent home, they will play out of University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium in their debut year.
Key Quotes
Head Coach, Adrian Heath: "The most important thing for me is they have a project and a real plan in place. [Owner Bill] McGuire and this club have big ambitions, you look at the stadium that's going to be built in a couple of years, all incredible things to look forward to, but my job now is to make sure that we're competitive from day one.”
Sporting Director, Manny Lagos: “It was an incredibly exciting [Expansion Draft] day and we are ecstatic with the draft and the list we prepared, we certainly got a great group of guys to help build this roster who can help us from day one.”
