The 2012 Seattle Sounders FC season was the club's fourth season in Major League Soccer, the United States' top-tier of professional soccer. For the Sounders FC organization, it was their fourth year of existence, and including all previous clubs, it was the 32nd season of a soccer team bearing the Sounders name.
On November 23, 2011, James Riley was drafted away from Seattle by the Montreal Impact as part of the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft. He was immediately traded to Chivas USA with allocation money for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen. The Sounders also traded Tyson Wahl to the Impact for allocation money.[2] Other off-season transactions included the transfer of Erik Friberg to Malmö FF, the retirements of Kasey Keller, Terry Boss, and Taylor Graham, the release of Nate Jaqua and Pat Noonan, the acquisition of Marc Burch from D.C. United via the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft, and the signings of out of contract players Michael Gspurning and Adam Johansson.
In the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, the Sounders took Creighton University defender Andrew Duran in the first round and University of Alabama-Birmingham forward Babayele Sodade. A week later, in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft the Sounders took University of California-Santa Barbara defender Tim Pontius and former Leicester City F.C. forward Jason Banton in the second round, University of Washington forward Abdul Aman in the third round, and Cal Poly defender Wes Feighner in the fourth round. On the same day as the Supplemental Draft, the Sounders traded the rights to defender Leone Cruz, whom the Sounders acquired in the second round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft but did not sign to a contract, to Real Salt Lake for UCLA defender Andy Rose, whom Real Salt Lake had drafted in the first round of the Supplemental Draft.
The Sounders played 50 matches during the 2012 season across all competitions and including major friendlies—the most in the team's history. They had a record of 26 wins, 11 losses, and 13 draws overall.[3]
Source: Staff, Organization,
Source: Soundersfc.com
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of October 3, 2012.[4]
Win Tie Loss
Updated to match played November 18, 2012Source: Competitions
Western Conference
Overall
Last updated: October 28, 2012 Source: 2012 Major League Soccer season Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference
The Cascadia Cup is a trophy that was created in 2004 by supporters of the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. It is awarded to the club with the best record in league games versus the other participants.
Updated to match played November 18, 2012Source: Competitive matches
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
Last updated: November 18, 2012Source: Competitive matches
Italic: denotes no longer with club.
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.
Last updated: November 9, 2012Source: Competitive matches
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total cards are equal.
Last updated: November 19, 2012Source: Competitive matches
Sounders FC Team Award Recipients
MLS Goal of the Year
MLS Comeback Player of the Year
MLS Best XI
U.S. Open Cup Player of the Tournament
MLS Player of the Week
MLS Team of the Week
MLS Goal of the Week
MLS All-Stars 2012
Castrol Index Top 25 performers
24 Under 24
MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Month
Source: MLSsoccer.com
Seattle is in the No. 15 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.[18]
Seattle has eight MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated eight international roster spots and no trades involving Seattle have been reported.