Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. Founded in 2004, the club began play in 2005 as an expansion team of the league. The club plays its home games at America First Field (formerly known as Rio Tinto Stadium), a soccer-specific stadium located in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, which they shared with their sister team, Utah Royals FC. Before moving to America First Field, RSL previously played home games at Rice-Eccles Stadium, located on the campus of the University of Utah, from 2005 to 2007. The team is currently led by head coach Pablo Mastroeni. In domestic soccer, Real Salt Lake won the 2009 MLS Cup, and they finished as runners-up in the Supporters Shield in 2010, and the 2013 edition of the U.S. Open Cup. They were also runners-up in the 2013 MLS Cup. The franchise's greatest success to date was in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. RSL finished runners-up in the tournament, becoming the first American club, during the CONCACAF Champions League's group stage format, (from 2008–2017), to advance to the final stage of the tournament. Their fully owned USL affiliate Real Monarchs won the USL Championship, the second division in American soccer, in 2019. Name The Spanish title Real, meaning "royal" in English, has been used since the early 20th century by Spanish soccer clubs who have received royal patronage from a reigning monarch — most notably Madrid, Zaragoza, Betis and Sociedad. In choosing the name Real for the Salt Lake-based team, initial owner Dave Checketts intended to create a brand name that would become well-known for its simplicity, followed the European-style naming conventions of the league, and would potentially foster a partnership with Real Madrid — admired both because of their successful soccer history and close association with basketball (similar to Checketts' own history with Utah's NBA team).