page_title: FC Dallas
section_title: Dallas Burn era: 1996–2004
hierarchical_section_title: FC Dallas / History / Dallas Burn era: 1996–2004
caption_attribution_description: English: A view from midfield at Soldier Field as the Chicago Fire and Dallas Burn compete in a Major League Soccer match. עברית: משחק כדורגל בין השיקגו פייר ודאלס ברן באצטדיון סולג'יר בשיקגו.
context_page_description: FC Dallas are an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer. The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the league. The club was founded in 1995 as the Dallas Burn before adopting its current name in 2004.
  Dallas plays its home games at their 20,500-capacity soccer-specific Toyota Stadium, where they have played since 2005. In the club's early years, Dallas played their home games in the Cotton Bowl. The team is owned by the Hunt Sports Group led by brothers Clark Hunt and Dan Hunt, who is the team's president. The Hunt family also owns the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and part of the Chicago Bulls.
  FC Dallas in 2016 won their first Supporters' Shield. In 2010 they were runners-up in the MLS Cup, losing to the Colorado Rapids in extra time. The team has won the U.S. Open Cup on two occasions. Their fully owned USL affiliate, North Texas SC, won the 2019 USL League One regular season and overall championship titles, the third division title in American soccer.
context_section_description: Dallas was awarded a Major League Soccer franchise on June 6, 1995, the same day as teams were awarded to Kansas City and Colorado. The team was given its name for the burning in the Texan oilfields and the state's hot weather. On October 17, former Mexico international Hugo Sánchez was designated to the team as their first player. Initially not attracting investors, the Burn was financed by the league itself.
  On April 14, 1996, the Dallas Burn played their first game, defeating the San Jose Clash in a shootout win in front of a crowd of 27,779 fans at the Cotton Bowl. Five days later, Jason Kreis scored the team's first goal in a 3–0 home win over the Wiz. With a record of 17–15, the Burn finished in second in the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. They lost in the best of three playoff semifinals to the Wiz after three games, the last one being decided by a shootout. Their first campaign in the U.S. Open Cup ended with a 2–3 home defeat in the semi-finals against D.C. United. In their second season, the Burn again reached the playoffs, where they lost in the conference finals to the Colorado Rapids. Later in 1997, they won their first U.S. Open Cup by defeating the MLS Cup champions, D.C. United. In 1999, striker Kreis was voted the league's MVP for a season in which he became the first player to reach 15 goals and 15 assists. That season ended in the playoffs with a defeat to the Galaxy in the conference finals. In October 2000, head coach Dave Dir was fired, despite again taking the team to the playoffs for the fifth consecutive time.
  Dir's replacement in January 2001 was Mike Jeffries, who had won the 1998 MLS Cup and two U.S. Open Cups with the Chicago Fire. In his first season in charge, which was cut short as a result of the September 11 attacks, Dallas lost in the playoff quarterfinals to Jeffries' former team. For the 2003 season, the Burn relocated their home games from the Cotton Bowl to the much lower capacity Dragon Stadium (a high school football stadium) in Southlake, which is a northern Fort Worth suburb. The team performed poorly in 2003 and Jeffries was fired in September. He was temporarily replaced by his assistant, former Northern Ireland international Colin Clarke. The team missed the playoffs for the first time, having been one of only two teams to have qualified on all seven prior occasions.
  For the 2004 season, Clarke was named the permanent coach and the team returned to the Cotton Bowl, for a campaign in which they again missed the playoffs. In August, club owner Lamar Hunt announced that the club, would be re-branded and known as "FC Dallas" to coincide with their new soccer-specific stadium in Frisco for the 2005 season.
caption: Dallas Burn (in white) playing against Chicago Fire at the Chicago Fire's Soldier Field in July 1998
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