Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). They play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won the 2009 MLS Cup and were runners-up of the 2013 MLS Cup, the 2010 MLS Supporters Shield, the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League, and the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The team's head coach is former MLS goalkeeper Jeff Cassar.
Real Salt Lake became the twelfth MLS franchise when Major League Soccer awarded an expansion franchise on July 14, 2004, to SCP Worldwide, headed by Dave Checketts. Jason Kreis became the first player in RSL history, coming in a trade from the Dallas Burn. Other notable players that played in RSL includes veterans Clint Mathis, Eddie Pope and Jeff Cunningham to these early teams.
RSL began play on April 2, 2005, by coach John Ellinger, in a windy, rain-soaked game against New York MetroStars at ...