Emerald City toasts Sounders

A gallery can be seen here.

The first annual Emerald City Supporters Winter Soccer Party at Kells went off well on February 19th at the Irish Restaurant and Pub. The Sounders were represented by Managing Partner Adrian Hanauer, Assistant General Manager Bart Wiley, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer and Game-Day Operations Manager Vince Johnson. Players in attendance were Danny Jackson, Jason Farrell, Preston Burpo and Craig Tomlinson. In all around 60 people came to tip a pint or two and break up the long off season with soccer talk. Emerald City Supporters exchanged ideas and plans for the upcoming season and distributed SounderCentral.com business cards and "Section 113" handbills.

Seattle v. Milwaukee from 2004 shows on the Kells big screen.

Supporters watched video highlights from the 1982 Sounders NASL season, the 1995 A-League Championship and the 2004 playoff victories over P*rtland and Vancouver. Coach Brian Schmetzer held a "Question and Answer" session with fans.

Coach Schmetzer (at right) takes questions from fans.

Door prizes given away included a series of autographed photos, a giant autographed soccer flag and a 2004 home jersey.

Danny Jackson, fresh off a tryout stint with KC Wizards of MLS, was a surprise guest.

The Sounders confirmed that Sunderland FC will visit Qwest Field to play Seattle this July. Adrian Hanauer also said to watch for a "few more" interesting scheduling developments. Coach Schmetzer spoke about his years as a Sounders player and gave credit to Jimmy Gabriel as a reason why he has been successful as a coach. When asked about where Welton, last season's Sounders scoring leader was, Schmetzer joked "Probably on a beach in Brazil somewhere." Schmetzer also acknowledged the 10-match July gauntlet as a key to the season. "If we can just come out of that month OK, then we have fewer matches each month after that and a chance to rest up and push for another title drive."

Danny Jackson did well in his trial with the Wizards. He said "I tried to represent the name of the Sounders well. Several players and coaches gave me positive input. With the rules in MLS about Senior Internationals, it makes it difficult for a foreigner to catch on. They (MLS clubs) often like to use their two SI spots in the offensive area. I am more than happy to be back in Seattle for 2005. Hopefully we can bring in some more talent here after MLS makes its cuts at the end of February."

---David Falk