On April 16, 2005, Real Salt Lake played the club’s first ever home match at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of that 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, with Brian Dunseth scoring the game-winning goal in the 81st minute, we will tell the story of that day from the perspective of those who lived it.
Midfielder Chris Brown
“When I was selected in the expansion draft, it was a pretty special moment to be able to come back home for my wife, who was from Utah. We had two away games leading up to that home game and there was such a big buildup that week and everyone had high hopes for having a professional soccer team in Salt Lake.”
Head Coach John Ellinger
“The first two games were on the road, so everybody was excited to be back home. I remember we had a whole slew of activities that we were doing for the week. All week everyone was just getting more and more juiced for the home opener. It was a long time getting ready for it, so everybody was excited.”
Midfielder Brian Kamler
“We spent it seemed like the entire spring in preseason. I think people were looking forward to getting settled down in Salt Lake City. It was pretty electric around the stadium and the crowd filing in.
Ellinger
“It was an unknown. 90-percent of us had never been at an event in that stadium. You really didn’t know what it was going to look like with people in it. Ticket sales were going pretty good, so everybody was pretty excited about playing in front of our home crowd – after two road games, finally getting a crowd that would cheer for us.”
Kamler
“I remember that game was kind of played around the midfield stripe for most of the match. Neither team really had many clear-cut chances. It wasn’t, probably, the prettiest game to watch.”
Defender Brian Dunseth
“I don’t know if anyone was really sure how many people were going to show up that day. It became really cool really fast. I just remember Eddie Pope and I saying at halftime, ‘Just don’t concede’.”
Kamler
“For Clint to hit that ball into almost the perfect place … that’s the only place it could have bounced for him to have the opportunity to run on to that to dive at it. The longer the game went on it was weird because it was 0-0 and we were playing pretty well. Then when Dunny was able to tuck that one away, the stadium just erupted. It gives me goosebumps to think about. To win the first game at home was pretty special.”
Dunseth
“The celebration wasn’t planned. It was just instinctual and in the moment. I was very comfortable immediately. I loved the people. I loved the city. So it was like, ‘Yeah, we’re here’. I’m very, very honored to be a part of the organization from the very first days. I’m very honored to be a part of such a great piece of history for this club, for this community and for the state of Utah.”
Midfielder Clint Mathis
“There was so much excitement around the new team coming into the league. If all the moments could have been like that throughout the season, that would have been a better start to the club, but they’ve bounced back. The club has come a long ways.”
Ellinger
“You’re an expansion team and the last expansion team was Chicago and they kind of set the bar. The pressure was definitely on everyone – coaching staff, front office staff, players. We wanted to win. So it was huge that Brian got that goal. When the whistle blew, it was like somebody had taken a baby grand piano off of everyone’s back. Seeing it pay off on the field and getting three points and a win was exciting for all of us. It was huge.”
Brown
“It turned out to be a special game. It was a beautiful, sunny day and getting a result in our first home game was a nice way to end it. Having the fans out there and kicking off things here in Utah, it was nice to have that great support in the first game. But to be able to look back and say you won the inaugural home game, it’s a little bit more special. We can say we got things started off right.”
Mathis
“The fans have always been there. Even when the team was bad they stuck with them and in due time they ended up having a good squad there for many years. All-in-all, I loved being there, especially in that first season. It was fun to see how involved people were and how much people loved soccer. It’s continued to grow and to be able to be with the team the first year coming into the league was something special.”
Brown
“It’s a special community. Even back then with RSL when we weren’t doing well, you had strong fan support even though we had a losing record. There were still loyal fans that were there to cheer you on. Playing in four or five different places, Utah has a really strong fan base and I think that’s something special here.”
