New England Revolution

The New England Revolution has been one of MLS’ most successful clubs since its inception. One of the league’s founding members, New England has been to 4 MLS Cups, losing each of them, including 3 in a row from 2005-07. The unfortunate results have led opposing fans to dub them “the Buffalo Bills of MLS.” The Revolution is known for a direct, physical style of play, preferred by Revolution manager Steve Nicol (the longest tenured head coach in MLS).

KEY PLAYERS:
Shalrie Joseph has controlled the midfield of the Revolution and dominated MLS for years. The Grenadan international is a big target in the center of the pitch and in recent years has featured as a striker to help the offensively challenged Revs. Scottish club Celtic FC once made an offer for the dreadlocked Joseph that was rejected by the league.

The Revolution picked up Benny Feilhaber through the MLS allocation process in 2011 after Philadelphia and Chivas USA passed on the opportunity to add him to their squads. Feilhaber scored the winning goal for the U.S. in the 2007 Gold Cup final and has found himself in and out of the U.S. lineup. Feilhaber most recently played in Denmark with AGF Aarhus.

CLUB ICON:
Taylor Twellman played a large role in each of New England’s runs to the MLS Cup. An extra-time goal put the Revs in the driver’s seat in 2006, but a Brian Ching goal only a minute later sent the match to penalties where Houston prevailed. Twellman became the youngest players to reach 100 goals in MLS history, but his career was cut short due to a head injury suffered by an errant goalkeeper punch. Twellman is currently the color commentator for the Philadelphia Union and an analyst for Comcast Sports Net New England.

STADIUM SITUATION:
The Revolution has played at Gillette Stadium (capacity: 68,756), also the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, since MLS began play in 1996. Revs fans are longing for a stadium within reach of Boston’s public transit system, as Gillette is located in Foxborough, south of Boston. Gillette is one of three MLS turf fields (Portland and Seattle are the others).

MAJOR TROPHIES WON: (2)
U.S. Open Cup (1): 2007
SuperLiga (1): 2008