Overview
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. Since 2013, the Riverhounds have played their home games at the 5,000-seat Highmark Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium located in Station Square. Their current head coach is Bob Lilley. Saint Lucian international David Flavius currently holds the club records for most appearances and goals which he set over his eight seasons with the Riverhounds between 1999 and 2006. In June 2017, the Riverhounds entered into a developmental partnership with the Ocean City Nor'easters of the Premier Development League, running through the 2018 season.
In 2013, the Riverhounds organization announced its intentions to join Major League Soccer by 2023; but have never submitted a formal bid during any of the league's rounds of expansion. Highmark Stadium initially seated 3,500 spectators, though the stadium is designed to be capable of being expanded to 18,500.
History
Colors and badge
Originally, the Riverhounds' colors were predominantly red with smaller amounts of black and white. Pittsburgh-based BD&E designed the original logo. The firm made a strategic decision not to make the club's colors black and gold. The choice meant the Hounds would not align with the region's established professional sports identity but would allow the soccer fans' jerseys to stand out in a Pittsburgh crowd. The club adopted new colors, predominantly blue with white and black added, before the start of the 2008 season to honor their academy and training partnership with Everton. The use of blue was also an allusion to the blue collar populace of Pittsburgh. Beginning in 2014, the Riverhounds began wearing black and gold uniforms more regularly, aligning the club with the colors representative of Pittsburgh's other professional sports teams. Blue and black kits continued to be worn as an alternate third version.
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