The 2020 season was Seattle Sounders FC's twelfth season in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. It was the 37th season played by a professional team bearing the Sounders name, which had originated in 1974 with the first incarnation of the franchise. The team was under the management of Brian Schmetzer, who was in his fourth full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders.
The Sounders were the reigning MLS Cup champions, having defeated Toronto FC 3–1 in the 2019 final at their home stadium, CenturyLink Field (renamed Lumen Field in November 2020). The season began with two home matches but was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the second Sounders match had reduced attendance due to the pandemic's spread in the Seattle metropolitan area. MLS resumed with a special tournament in July hosted in the Orlando area, and teams returned home a month later to play in matches behind closed doors. The Sounders only played 22 regular season matches, mostly against opponents in the Western Conference, due to a shortened schedule and several canceled matches. The 2020 Campeones Cup was canceled along with the 2020 U.S. Open Cup.
Seattle qualified for the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs as the second-placed team in the Western Conference, determined by points per game due to the unbalanced number of games played by MLS teams during the season. The Sounders defeated Los Angeles FC, FC Dallas, and Minnesota United FC at home to win a second consecutive conference championship and qualify for MLS Cup 2020, where they lost 3–0 to Columbus Crew SC.
Background
Seattle Sounders FC were announced as an MLS expansion team in 2007 and joined the league two years later; the team were the third to use the Sounders name, which had originated with an earlier team in the former North American Soccer League in 1974. During their first eleven seasons in MLS, the club won two MLS Cup championships, one Supporters' Shield, and four U.S. Open Cup titles, making them one of the most successful in American soccer. The Sounders had also qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs during each season, setting an MLS record, and also led the league in average attendance for several years. Brian Schmetzer, formerly an assistant coach for the Sounders under Sigi Schmid, was hired as interim head coach in July 2016 and took the job on a permanent basis later that year as he guided the team to their first MLS Cup. The team finished the 2019 season with the second-best record in the Western Conference and won their second MLS Cup title after defeating Toronto FC at CenturyLink Field.
The team debuted a new primary jersey for the season, named "Forever Green", that adds wave-like stripes in several shades of green to the main Rave Green kit used since 2009. The jersey also incorporates three white stripes added for all MLS jerseys to reflect the league's 25th season along with the flag of Cascadia and an outline of the state of Washington. The Sounders retained their 2019 secondary jersey, named "Nightfall", a black-and-pink design that was inspired by a sunset at CenturyLink Field during a 2014 match. The 2020 season also marked the second year of a sponsorship agreement with online retailer Zulily, who had their logo displayed on both jerseys. WaFd Bank was announced as the team's first sleeve patch sponsor in July 2020 and had their logo displayed on both shoulders through the end of the season.
Summary
Roster moves
The club initially retained 19 players over the offseason and lost several significant players, including winger Víctor Rodríguez, winner of the MLS Cup 2019 most valuable player award; and starting defenders Román Torres and Kim Kee-hee. Backup goalkeeper Bryan Meredith also left the Sounders after he was selected by Inter Miami CF in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft. At the start of training camp in early January, the Sounders had 21 signed first-team players and were still engaged in talks with several others, but they lacked replacements in defense and for Rodríguez. General manager Garth Lagerwey stated that the club had yet to make major roster decisions due to the ongoing negotiations between the league and the MLS Players Association over a new collective bargaining agreement, which would affect the salary cap. Schmetzer also led a scouting trip to Argentina in December 2019 as part of preparations for the season.
On January 31, 2020, the Sounders announced that they had signed Brazilian midfielder João Paulo, on loan from Botafogo, to a Designated Player contract. The club also signed defenders Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Miguel Ibarra, and Shane O'Neill to replace Torres, Kee-hee, and left-back Brad Smith, who returned to AFC Bournemouth following the end of his loan. Existing midfielder Alex Roldán was also shifted to right-back and signed to a new contract after his option was initially declined during the offseason. The team also added John Hutchinson and Henry Brauner as development coaches during preseason and retained most of their existing technical staff.
Preseason and CONCACAF Champions League
The club opened their preseason training camp at Starfire Sports on January 14 amid snowy conditions. Several young, unsigned players were called up to the training camp, as well as members of the Seattle Sounders FC Academy and reserve team Tacoma Defiance; key members of the team, including Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan, were absent from the training camp due to international callups. After four days, the Sounders traveled to Long Beach, California, to open a twelve-day training camp that would also include a pair of friendlies and other scrimmages. The team were defeated 1–0 by Uruguay's Peñarol in their first friendly and won 3–2 against Loyola Marymount University a week later in an extended scrimmage.
The Sounders returned to Seattle to play the Sacramento Republic FC of the second-division USL Championship on February 5 at CenturyLink Field. The hosts won 6–2 during the 117-minute match, which was divided between the first team for 72 minutes and a combination of reserves and trialists for the remaining 45 minutes. The team departed the following day to begin a second travelling camp based in Mexico City as part of preparations for the CONCACAF Champions League. In Mexico City, the Sounders played two friendlies on February 12 against local teams, drawing 2–2 with Atlético Zacatepec using most of their starting lineup and defeating the under-20 reserves for UNAM Pumas 2–1. Midfielder and captain Nicolás Lodeiro was absent from part of the preseason camps while undergoing treatment for tendinitis in Uruguay and remained unavailable to begin the season.
In the Champions League's round of 16, the club faced Honduran side C.D. Olimpia, who hosted the first leg in San Pedro Sula. The visiting Sounders took a 2–0 lead early in the second half with goals from João Paulo, making his debut for Seattle, and Jordan Morris; several yellow cards were issued by referee Juan Calderón during a scuffle that followed a controversial challenge by Justin Arboleda on goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the first half. Arboleda went on to score twice in the second half to complete a 2–2 draw for Olimpia. The Sounders conceded early in the second leg, but goals from João Paulo and Cristian Roldan gave the hosts a 2–1 lead in the second half; a volleyed goal by Carlos Pineda in the 86th minute equalized the match's score at 2–2 and aggregate score at 4–4 with no away goals advantage. After a scoreless extra time, the Sounders lost 2–4 in the penalty shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.
March and COVID-19 suspension
Under the original 34-match regular season schedule, the Sounders would face each team in the Western Conference twice and play the remaining ten matches against teams from the Eastern Conference in 2020. As the league had expanded to 26 teams, the now-unbalanced schedule would no longer have teams playing every other MLS team during the season; the Sounders were not expected to play against FC Cincinnati, Orlando City SC, and the Philadelphia Union during the 2020 regular season. The team's first regular season match was played at CenturyLink Field on March 1 against the Chicago Fire, which the Sounders won 2–1 in front of 40,126 spectators. The hosts conceded early in the second half, but halftime substitute Jordan Morris scored two goals, the latter in stoppage time; he also had an earlier assist on a goal by Cristian Roldan that was ruled offside by the referee.
The March 1 match was played amid a local outbreak of COVID-19, which had been detected in the Seattle metropolitan area in late January; the first U.S. death attributed to the disease and a state of emergency declared by Governor Jay Inslee were announced the day before the match. The Sounders announced further precautions, including the deployment of hand sanitizer stations at the stadium, that would carry over into the next match. The second match, a 1–1 draw with the Columbus Crew on March 7, had an attendance of 33,080—the lowest for an MLS regular season game in Seattle since 2009. A stadium concessions worker tested positive for COVID-19 after a Seattle Sea Dragons game, but public health authorities permitted the Sounders match to be held with full capacity. The club remained in contact with local health officials over the following week and prepared several contingency plans to address the COVID-19 outbreak, including postponement or playing without spectators.
The Sounders announced on March 11 that their next home match against FC Dallas, originally scheduled for March 21, would be postponed due to a statewide ban on large gatherings. The following day, MLS suspended the season for a month due to the impact of the pandemic; the Sounders, who had been scheduled to fly to Houston for an away match, also canceled all operations until further notice. The U.S. Open Cup was also postponed—and later canceled entirely along with the Campeones Cup, which the Sounders were scheduled to host on August 12. The team began holding videoconference practice and conditioning sessions, as well as weekly chat sessions, over Zoom while preparing for the resumption of league activity. Players were also shipped a "care package" that included a soccer ball, hand sanitizer, and basic exercise equipment. Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer also announced a $500,000 investment into a club relief fund for businesses, workers, and non-profits in Seattle that were affected by the lack of matches at CenturyLink Field. Season ticket holders were given the choice of a refund for the remaining home matches, a credit for future matches in 2020 or 2021, or an early renewal for 2021 using the 2020 season as credit.
MLS is Back in Orlando
MLS permitted clubs to begin voluntary workouts and in-person sessions in early May with health and safety protocols in place. The Sounders resumed individualized training sessions at Starfire Sports on May 18 with outdoor social distancing, limited use of indoor facilities, daily temperature and symptom screenings, and use of personal protective equipment. The sessions resumed two weeks later than most MLS teams due to stricter local regulations, which also limited group training to passing balls between delineated areas. Among the participants was Jordan Morris, who has type 1 diabetes and would have been at greater risk of complications from COVID-19. Midfielder Harry Shipp, a seven-year league veteran who had been with the club since 2017, announced his retirement from professional soccer in June to pursue a business degree.