A brief History of UnitedMania.com and The UnitedMania Podcast
Words and photos by Martin Fernandez
Creator and publisher of UnitedMania.com, a website dedicated to the dissemination of news and information about D.C. United and Major League Soccer. In addition to publishing weekly articles, the website also produced an hour long bi-weekly podcast, "The UnitedMania Podcast". UnitedMania.com began operations in mid 1998 and closed its doors nearly two decades later in 2017.
Back in the late 90s and early 2Ks, shortly after Major League Soccer (MLS) was formed and D.C. United (DCU) began operations, I, along with a group of friends, planted the seed for what would become UnitedMania.com.
In the early days of MLS, DCU team coverage was sparse, and I felt that that void could be filled with coverage of the team from a fan’s perspective. My background in web development fueled my desire to create a website to fill that gap. To that end, I recruited Mike Martin, Chris Webb, and local news photographer, Rafael “Rafa” Crisostomo, to help me with the endeavor. Together, and with little fanfare, we launched UnitedMania as a subdomain of my own domain (frescodesigns.com). Later, in July of 2000, I purchased the domain UnitedMania.com, officially launching our project.
In time, we began to amass a robust library of pre and post match reports and miscellaneous articles accompanied by photography from Rafa. Rafa was an official photographer for the local Hispanic newspaper, El Pregonero. His images, along with generous contributions from the legendary Tony Quinn and Andy Mead, would help add a great visual identity to UnitedMania.com.
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Rafael “Rafa” Crisostomo
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Tony Quinn
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Andy Mead
In 2003, once the site had sufficient content and a dedicated audience of DCU fans, we approached the team and were granted a set of coveted press credentials that included access to the press box, the team, and to the field so that I could put my visual information and photography skills to good use.
The publishing of the website also allowed us to band together with local radio host John Dyson, and together we hosted “The Soccer Show” from a short range AM station in Falls Church, VA. In early 2007, The Soccer Show began to pick up steam when we left the narrow confines of the AM network and moved operations to the web; converting it to a weekly podcast. The move increased our audience exponentially.
Shortly after, we rebranded The Soccer Show, and changed the name officially to the UnitedMania Podcast. Weekly episodes were uploaded to iTunes and the website and augmented our rich library of articles and photo galleries. The relative success of the site led us to receive contributions from other journalists, including Jimmy LaRoue and Ian Plenderlith. In addition, content from the site, including my photos, was syndicated across other mediums, such as When Saturday Comes (above), El Pregonero, and Soccer America. Thanks to my bi-lingual capabilities, I also became a sporadic guest on Radio America’s “La Mesa Redonda del Fútbol,” sharing the mic with renowned radio host, Danilo Noel Dirón.
DC United’s Josh Wolff (shirtless) celebrates a goal with United’s Faithful, La Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles.
Photo: Martin Fernandez
UnitedMania.com was also recruited by, and appeared for several years on both the rivals.com and matchnight.com sports networks, before going fully independent once again in 2005.
The UnitedMania podcast settled into a weekly rotation with several hosts. At the core of the team was Chris Webb, Mike Martin, Randy Ruff, and myself. John Dyson continued to be involved as a regular guest, along with Ed Morgans.
Other notable guests included team players, members of the coaching staff, most notably Coach Ray Hudson, local journalists like John Haydon of the Washington Times, Beau Dure of USA Today, Dave “It’s in the net” Johnson and other team pundits.
The podcast success can be attributed not only to its insightful coverage, but also to its polemic and thought provoking nature. The show would often evolve into an intense and often hilarious battle of words, usually between Mike Martin and the rest of the team. Controversial disagreements always made for an entertaining hour of no holds barred commentary. Interviews with guests often veered into different topics. Our goal was to stay away from getting the “canned” responses always offered by players and coaches. Ray Hudson was one of our most beloved guests, since his colorful commentary often swung into hilarious stories about his pets and other non-soccer related topics.
Unfortunately, the site’s nearly two decade run, along with the podcast, came to an abrupt end shortly after the beginning of the 2017 MLS season. The team VP for Marketing Communications, summarily revoked UnitedMania’s press and field credentials. The reasons given were vague, and did not square with her management of access for other media.
The first reason she cited for the action was that team policies stipulated that a member of the media covering the team or their immediate family could not hold season tickets. According to the VP for Marketing Communications, “it presented a clear conflict of interest.” Since my wife and both Chris and Randy (press) had season tickets, our passes were immediately withdrawn. After questioning the decision we were presented with additional vague team policies. Finally, after questioning those, we were simply told the team “does not want you covering it.”
Given the dishonest and unprofessional way in which our credentials were rescinded, we simply didn’t want to go back to RFK Stadium for the remainder of the season; the whole experience left us with a very sour taste in our mouths. Moreover, the team refused to refund our remaining season tickets. Ultimately they refunded my wife’s, but not before relations with the front office considerably deteriorated.
Robert “Big Rob” Gillespie, long time supporter of DC United and founding member of La Barra Brava was always at the center leading on the cheers. Sadly, Big Rob lost his battle with Cancer in June 2021 .
Photo: Martin Fernandez
The parting was bitter and disappointing.
For me, it was particularly heartbreaking. I had been a devoted fan of the team for over two decades, well before their first match in 1996. I had invested, not only money into the endeavor, but countless hours of time and energy to keep the site and podcast running.
The break-up did have a silver lining.
Just around the same time I was offered the opportunity to write and publish Mountain Biking Virginia by Falcon Guides, allowing me to add another book to my existing library of Cycling books. The sudden “free time” away from DCU allowed me to focus my efforts on researching, documenting and writing the guide and gave me the opportunity to travel throughout the Old Dominion visiting new mountain biking destinations. Along the way I met and made countless new friends and got to ride some incredible trails.
I have yet to visit Audi Filed for a DCU match, or for that matter watch a full one on TV. Not even the arrival of Messi to Inter Miami has rekindled my interest for MLS and DCU. I have, however, refocused my energy into following and supporting other local clubs, including the Washington Spirit, Loudoun United FC, as well as the Richmond kickers.
My now 20 year old daughter and I have a ticket plan to see the Spirit and have enjoyed the level of competition shown by the amazing athletes on the team. We’re looking forward to seeing the NWSL advance even further into the future, and compete globally with other international women’s teams.
The one thing I do miss the most is being on the sidelines shooting pictures of the action. There is nothing like the rush of excitement you get as a play develops before your camera’s lens and pressing the shutter to capture a moment in time. Seeing the subsequent images I took over the many years along the backline behind the goal, still brings back lots of great memories, not only of the matches I attended, but of the other professional photographers, journalists and fans I met during that time.
The podcast and website also opened the opportunity to not only shoot DC United matches, but also notable MLS encounters. I also shot several MLS Cups, including the 2010 matchup between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas. Colorado would go on to win by a score of 2-1.
Photo: Martin Fernandez
Some of my fondest memories from my years being a DCU fan and covering the team under the UnitedMania.com Banner
Making a spur of the moment decision to drive to Foxboro to see DCU win their first MLS Cup vs the LA Galaxy.
Being in the front row at RFK stadium behind the team’s bench to witness their second win in 1997.
Launching and publishing UnitedMania.com three years after that in July of 2000.
Meeting and friending Marco Etcheverry. Ultimately I became a coach in his academy and my team of 13 year-olds won the inaugural Marco Etcheverry Academy (MAESA) Tournament in 1999.
Working with Luciano Emilio to help him promote his brand. The kind Brazilian welcomed me into his home and introduced me to Fred before his arrival to the team.
Fred - humble and down to earth. Kindest player on DCU’s roster. Fred quickly became my young daughter’s favorite. You could always hear her yelling “Fred” from the stands and he would always come to say hello.
The many road trips along with friends from the Screaming Eagles, La Barra Brava and the District Ultras - the tailgates! First in lot 4, then in lot 8.
Every single episode of the UniteMania.com Podcast. Hanging out with Mike, Randy and Chris talking soccer for 1 - 2 hours was always fun. I still hold the record for picking actual MLS Cup winners prior to the start of the season.
Interviewing Ray Hudson - the man is a cornucopia of anecdotes and highly entertaining stories.
Seeing my godson earn a job with the team and become a valued member of the public relations department for the team. He handled media relations with the Hispanic Community for years before moving to Florida.
