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Chicago Fire Premier are an American soccer team, founded in 2001 as part of the development system for the Chicago Fire Major League Soccer club. Until 2005 they were known as the Chicago Fire Reserves. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Midwest Division of the Central Conference against teams from Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and South Bend.
They currently play the majority of their home games at Toyota Park in the city of Bridgeview, Illinois, the home of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club first team. In 2007 they also played selected games at the stadium on the grounds of Lemont Community High School in the village of Lemont, Illinois, about 25 miles south-east of downtown Chicago; at Campton Hills Park in St. Charles, Illinois, 42 miles west of downtown Chicago; and in the stadium on the grounds of Marist High School in Chicago itself. The team's colors are red and white.
The team is one of the most successful in the PDL, having won their respective divisional title six times in seven years, missing out for the first time in 2007, but still qualifying for the playoffs, establishing a PDL record of qualifying for the playoffs for a seventh straight season.
| Year |
Division |
League |
Regular Season |
Playoffs |
Open Cup |
| 2001 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Great Lakes |
Conference Finals |
Did not qualify |
| 2002 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Great Lakes |
Conference Semifinals |
Did not qualify |
| 2003 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Heartland |
Final |
Did not qualify |
| 2004 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Heartland |
Conference Finals |
3rd Round |
| 2005 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Great Lakes |
Conference Semifinals |
2nd Round |
| 2006 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
1st, Great Lakes |
Conference Finals |
Did not qualify |
| 2007 |
"4" |
USL PDL |
2nd, Great Lakes |
Conference Finals |
Did not qualify |
The Fire Premier, in its affiliation with the MLS Chicago Fire, became a member of the USL Super-20 league in 2007. Continuing with the program's successful tradition, the team qualified for the North American Finals with an undefeated regular season record. The team moved all the way through to the North American Championship defeating MLS player development teams from DC United and Red Bull New York on the way, before falling in the North American Championship to the Player Development Academy of New Jersey, by a score of 3-1. First year Coach Larry Sunderland was named Coach of the Year for the Super-20 division and players Chris Schuler (Creighton University) and Braden Fleak (Wright St. University) were named to the Super-20 All League team.
 |
Sports teams based in & around Chicago |
| Soccer |
MLS: Chicago Fire, PDL: Chicago Fire Premier, MISL: Chicago Storm |
| Baseball |
MLB: Chicago Cubs • Chicago White Sox, FL: Windy City ThunderBolts, MWL: Kane County Cougars, NL: Gary SouthShore RailCats • Joliet JackHammers • Schaumburg Flyers |
| Softball |
NPF: Chicago Bandits |
| Basketball |
NBA: Chicago Bulls , WNBA: Chicago Sky, PBL: Chicago Aztecas, ABA: Chicago Throwbacks • South Chi-Land Infernos, IBL: Elgin Racers • Gary Steelheads • Windy City Soldiers |
| Football |
NFL: Chicago Bears, AFL: Chicago Rush, CIFL: Chicago Slaughter |
| Hockey |
NHL: Chicago Blackhawks, AHL: Chicago Wolves, USHL: Chicago Steel |
| Rugby |
RSL: Chicago Lions RFC • Chicago Griffins RFC |
| Lacrosse |
MLL: Chicago Machine, NLL: Chicago Shamrox |
College athletics
(NCAA Division I) |
Chicago State University • DePaul University • Loyola University Chicago • Northern Illinois University • Northwestern University • University of Illinois at Chicago • Valparaiso University |
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