DFW Tornados (also known as Dallas–Fort Worth Tornados ) was an American soccer team based in Dallas, Texas , United States. Founded in 1986, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid , in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference. The franchise folded at the end of the 2010 season and left the league thereafter.
31-618: The team played its home games at Pizza Hut Park (the home of Major League Soccer 's FC Dallas ) in nearby Frisco, Texas . The team's colors were black, blue and white. In 1986, the club, known as Garland Genesis , based in Garland, Texas , became a founding member of the Southwest Indoor Soccer League . The team topped the standings during the 1986–1987 season before defeating the Lubbock Lazers in
62-435: A $ 182 million redevelopment project. Improvements include three new clubs, renovated stadium entrances, the removal of the north-end concert stage for supporter standing areas, the largest LED video board of any soccer-specific stadium in the nation, and architecturally distinctive European-style roof structures covering the east, west, and majority of the north stands that will provide much-needed shade for supporters. Part of
93-566: A major football program. Division I-AA still had just 50 members when the four-year deadline set in January 1978 expired, forcing 41 schools that did not meet I-A criteria to reclassify to I-AA. Some successfully appealed the decision, including eight members of the Mid-American Conference along with Cincinnati , a football independent at the time. Thus I-AA membership hit an early peak of 91 in 1982, before settling down into
124-463: A match between FC Dallas and the MetroStars , which ended in a 2–2 draw. The stadium seats 20,500 in a U-shaped design with the north end including a permanent covered stage for hosting concerts, similar to SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago , which opened one year after Toyota Stadium. Although it was then hoped the permanent stage would help the stadium increase revenue by hosting mid-sized concerts,
155-570: A press conference room, team stores, and a multi-tiered viewing stand that replaced the old bleacher section. This also brought in a European-style roof built over the south end of the stadium. One of the more notable additions was the National Soccer Hall of Fame , which included the National Soccer Hall of Fame Experience and the 19,350 square-foot National Soccer Hall of Fame Club. This addition made Toyota Stadium
186-491: A program's admittance to I-A included (1) scheduling 60% of its games against other I-A teams, and either (2) having a 30,000-seat stadium and an average attendance of 17,000 for one year in the last four, or (3) drawing an average of 17,000 over the last four years. Division I football schools satisfying #1 and either #2 or #3 also had to maintain eight sports overall. Schools failing to meet either #2 or #3 could still qualify for I-A if they maintained twelve sports overall. (NOTE:
217-568: Is a soccer-specific stadium located in Frisco , a suburb of Dallas , Texas , United States. Built and owned by the city of Frisco, the 20,500-seat stadium opened in 2005. Its primary tenants are Major League Soccer club FC Dallas and the Frisco Independent School District , which supported the construction to host their high school football games. It also hosts the annual NCAA Division I Football Championship ,
248-695: The 1989–1990 indoor season , defeating the Phoenix Hearts to take their second indoor championship. Following the completion of the indoor season, the team moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth are and was renamed North Texas United . In November 1990, they merged with the Waco Kickers and became the Fort Worth Kickers . After team owner Pat Parker was unable to gain financial backing for the team, it moved to Dallas and became
279-769: The 2005 MLS Cup final, seeing the LA Galaxy defeat the New England Revolution 1–0 in extra time for their second MLS Cup . It was also selected to host the 2006 MLS Cup , which ended 1–1 after overtime with the Houston Dynamo defeating the New England Revolution 4–3 on penalty kicks . In 2016, FC Dallas hosted and won the U.S. Open Cup Final , also against the Revolution. The complex also has an additional 17 regulation size, stadium-quality soccer fields (both grass and artificial turf) outside
310-944: The Dallas Kickers for the 1991/92 indoor season. The team was renamed the Dallas Americans before the 1992 outdoor season. They were renamed the Dallas/Fort Worth Toros in 1993, and remained as such until 1996, when they were renamed the Dallas Toros for the 1997 outdoor season. They became the Texas Toros in 1998, and the Texas Rattlers for the 2000 season. Upon their move to the Premier Development League for 2001 they changed their name, and were bought by
341-889: The Texas Spurs , which they maintained until 2003, when the Spurs club sold the team to the owner of Arena Athletics in Euless, Texas . They finally took their current name, the DFW Tornados , beginning in 2004. This list is a historical record of the final group of players on the last Tornados roster for their final game in August 2010. Source: [1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for
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#1732787772173372-465: The 1978 season. Meanwhile, another 35 reclassified from Division II to Division I-AA, including four entire conferences. Thus, at least initially, the creation of Division I-AA appeared to backfire; rather than serve as a home for the smaller or less competitive football programs of Division I, it created a pathway for football-playing Division II schools to join Division I without the burden of funding
403-525: The 80-90 range for the next several years. The next big increase in Division I-AA membership came after the January 1991 NCAA convention voted to require an athletic program to maintain all of its sports at the same divisional level by the 1993 season. In order to comply, 28 Division I schools with football programs at the Division II and Division III levels were forced to upgrade their teams to
434-547: The Division I level, and all of them (at least initially) chose Division I-AA as their new football home. At the same time, the number of football scholarships allowed in I-AA was reduced from the original 70 to 63, effective in 1994; it has remained at that number ever since. With the new additions, membership in I-AA hit a new high of 118 in 1993. The subdivision stabilized thereafter, maintaining at least 120 members from 1997 onward. Membership peaked at 130 in 2022 before settling at
465-586: The FCS level comprises 129 teams in 13 conferences as of the 2024 season . The FCS designation is relevant only for football; members of the subdivision compete in NCAA Division I in all other sports. From 1906 to 1955, the NCAA had no divisional structure for member schools. Prior to the 1956 college football season, NCAA schools were organized into an upper University Division and lower College Division . In
496-761: The Frisco Griffins Rugby Club. The Griffins drew an attendance of a few hundred people per game. NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ), formerly known as Division I-AA , is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision . Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),
527-575: The NCAA, at the time, governed male sports only; women's teams did not count toward these totals). Of 144 schools participating in Division I football in the 1977 season, 79 were expected to qualify for I-A, with the remaining 65 relegated to I-AA. But because the NCAA allowed four years for criteria #2 and #3 to be met, just eight schools (seven from the Southwestern Athletic Conference , a league of HBCUs that had just moved to Division I in 1977) opted for Division I-AA for
558-613: The NSHOF Experience and the NSHOF Club. The Experience houses the museum and serves as the location for the Hall of Fame annual induction ceremony. The Club includes specialty seating for season ticket holders for all FC Dallas home matches, as well as multiple event spaces that function as food and beverage hubs on game days. The NSHOF includes soccer memorabilia, modern technology, and virtual reality exhibits. In August 2008,
589-746: The championship game. The team moved to Addison, Texas in 1987 and changed their name to the Addison Arrows . They remained in Addison for two years. In 1989, the league added a summer outdoor season and Addison promptly went to the championship game, this time losing to the Colorado Comets . In 1989, owner Ken Mulhall sold the team. At the time, he also coached the Arrows. The new owner fired Mulhall as coach and named Billy Pettigrew as head coach. The team continued its excellent play during
620-480: The current 129. NCAA Division I-A and NCAA Division I-AA were renamed as NCAA Division I FBS and NCAA Division I FCS prior to the 2006 season. The FCS has held a post-season playoff to award an NCAA-sanctioned national championship since its inception in 1978. The size of the playoff bracket has increased from 4 teams in 1978 to 24 teams in the 2020 season. This makes the FCS the highest level of college football with an NCAA-sanctioned national championship. As of
651-410: The design proved unpopular and other MLS clubs rejected building permanent stages in their new stadiums, leaving the stadium's design looking dated. There is widespread support among club fans for the stage to be removed and replaced with a full stand in a future renovation. The stadium includes 18 luxury suites as well as a private 6,000-square-foot (560 m ) stadium club. The stadium played host to
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#1732787772173682-511: The facility were held by national pizza chain Pizza Hut , which is headquartered in nearby Plano , and the stadium was known as Pizza Hut Park . Nicknames for Pizza Hut Park included PHP, the Hut, and The Oven, the latter referring to Texas' summer climate during afternoon games (and also because the field is well below ground level). On January 7, 2012, the contract linking the pizza franchise with
713-473: The first league sports hall of fame to be built within a stadium. Even with the renovations, many club supporters wanted roof structures to be built over the west and east stands to provide shade during the brutal Texas summers. However, those projects were postponed until 2024, where the City of Frisco approved a larger renovation project addressing these issues. On September 17, 2024, the City of Frisco approved
744-594: The improvements will also include over 1.2 million square feet of office space, a 200-room upscale hotel, a 200-unit multifamily high-rise building, and 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The construction will be carried out in phases, with work on the east side of the stadium slated to begin after the FCS Championship game in January 2025 and completed before the start of the 2028 FC Dallas season. The initial phase of development will see stadium capacity drop to about 11,000 seats. In addition to
775-458: The main stadium. These fields are used for practice by FC Dallas, matches for the FC Dallas reserve squad, and for hosting soccer tournaments. Youth tournaments that have made use of the complex include Dallas Cup , Olympic Development Program National Championships, Generation adidas Cup, USYSA National Championships , and MLS Next Cup. From 2005 until January 2012, the naming rights to
806-519: The renovation project, FC Dallas has signed a lease extension to keep the club in Frisco through 2057. In 2015, plans were announced that the stadium would be the new home of the National Soccer Hall of Fame (NSHOF). In addition to the NSHOF museum, the stadium's south end received extensive renovations and the entire project cost $ 55 million and was completed in 2018. The Hall of Fame has two components –
837-524: The stadium expired, and the stadium was renamed FC Dallas Stadium. On September 10, 2013, FC Dallas reached an agreement with Gulf States Toyota Distributors , headquartered in Houston , to rename its home field Toyota Stadium. The 17 practice fields around the stadium would be known as Toyota Soccer Center. In 2018, Toyota Stadium completed a $ 55 million renovation of the south end of the stadium. Additions included new field access tunnels, locker rooms,
868-468: The stadium hosted the heavy metal / hard rock festival tour Ozzfest . It had regularly hosted concerts by Jimmy Buffett . It was also the site for several editions of Edgefest organized by former Dallas alternative rock station KDGE . North of the main stadium is Dr. Pink Field, a mini-stadium named after former Frisco doctor Dr. Erwin G. Pink. The field is used for Frisco ISD high school football and soccer. Dr. Pink Field formerly hosted games for
899-492: The summer of 1973 , the University Division became Division I , but by 1976, there was a desire to further separate the major football programs from those that were less financially successful, while allowing their other sports to compete at the top level. Division I-AA was created in January 1978, when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and Division I-AA for football only. The initial criteria for
930-688: The team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team. DFW Tornados played in the Premier Arena Soccer League in the South Central Division. The team played its home games at Arena Athletics in Euless, TX . Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at [2] Pizza Hut Park Toyota Stadium
961-512: The title game of college football 's Football Championship Subdivision , and the annual Frisco Bowl . Additionally, it is the home of the National Soccer Hall of Fame , which opened in 2018. Toyota Stadium was the third MLS soccer-specific stadium to be built after Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio (1999) and Dignity Health Sports Park near Los Angeles (2003). It cost approximately $ 80 million and opened on August 6, 2005, with