The 1995 US Open Cup

August 27 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Richmond Kickers winning the US Open Cup. In the long history of the trophy, this is a noteworthy tournament because it serves as a transition between the old guard and the arrival of MLS clubs. Teams with ethnic identities, ones that seem relatively grassroots, were often the winners; the final match in '94 was a three-nil victory for Greek-American of San Francisco over Bavarian of Milwaukee, and it drew only 400 to United German-Hungarian Field in Oakford, Pennsylvania.

In 1995, a new era began, one in which contenders for the trophy are clubs with shorter histories representing a metropolitan area, state, or region. Also, they're in the top divisions of American soccer, like many of the winners in the period before the NASL, and these top divisions are not strictly regional leagues. Though the US Open Cup has been almost exclusively a prize for MLS teams, second- and third-division clubs have surfaced in the final occasionally, while former champions stay small in the lower tiers. The championship match is held not in May, June, or July, as is the case with other nations' cups, but in September or October, near the end of the MLS season.

The Kickers' greatest year came at that turning point for American club soccer. In their run for the US Open Cup, they started against a team from the tournament's old guard, the Spartans of Fairfax. On June 11, Richmond won 5-2, but a replay was held a week later because the Spartans, according to my source, "filed a protest that they were not given enough notification of a change in kickoff time." On June 18, Richmond beat them even worse, with a score of 6-1.

In July against the A-League Atlanta Ruckus (Richmond was in a lower-level league at the time, the USISL Premier League), the Kickers pulled off an upset, winning 2-1. Their opponent in the semifinals was a fellow USISL team that defeated an A-League team in the quarterfinals, the Chicago Stingers, who beat the New York Centaurs. The Kickers won that match against the Pro League club 4-3.

Finally, sixteen days after winning their league championship, Richmond played the final with USISL Pro club El Paso Patriots hosting and 7,378 in attendance. With the score knotted up at 1-1 after extra time, a penalty shootout was in order, and the Kickers won that 4-2.

Dennis Viollet, a former Manchester United player who survived the crash of '58, managed the team, and current manager Leigh Cowlishaw, a U of R man, played. The most notable name on the team was that of local Rob Ukrop of the supermarket family.

More research would enable a writer to provide sufficient coverage.

EDIT 7/8/2019: Removed "the late" and a dubious part of the last sentence