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The Chicago Fire's first new addition of the offseason will be center forward Tom Barlow, the Athletic's Tom Bogert reported this afternoon. In exchange for Barlow, the New York Red Bulls will receive $250,000 in General Allocation Money, with up to $150,000 in incentives that could see the fee rise...

The Chicago Fire announced their end-of-season roster decisions ahead of 2024 this morning, with several players leaving the club and a few confirming their returns for the new year. The decisions, which were due to be announced before December 1st, are the first official act from Georg Heitz since his...

In 2024, the Fire will return to being the Men In Red for the first time since their return to Soldier Field. To celebrate, we’re launching our first-ever merchandise, a custom scarf to be made for us by Ruffneck Scarves, who produce many of the higher-quality scarves you’ve seen, including...

Chicago House Athletic Club booked their place in the U.S. Open Cup on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Valhalla FC 3-1 at Charity Lucas Soccer Stadium. It was a classic competitive cup match, and the home side actually jumped in front past the half-hour mark. Chicago responded well, finding an...

Chicago House Athletic Club is one game away from returning to the U.S. Open Cup. The fourth and final round of Open Cup qualifying takes place this weekend, and the House will travel to Ohio to take on Valhalla FC on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is set for 3 pm Eastern...

Georg Heitz will return as the Chicago Fire’s Sporting Director in 2024, the club announced in a statement today. The 53-year-old was rewarded with a new contract extension despite leading the Fire to four playoff-less seasons since he took over in 2019. Technical Director Sebastian Pelzter will also continue in...

Oh hi! I’m Jiggly. And it’s a Tuesday. This week we saw a wild NWSL Final that went in so many surprising directions, the long-awaited end to the first round of the MLS Playoffs, and the start of the WE League season. But with all that happening, I want to...

Note: This is the final part of our four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I, Part II, and Part III. Shortly after Georg Heitz’s hiring as Sporting Director of the Chicago Fire was announced in December 2019, he met with the media. He set clear goals....

Note: This is the third part of a four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I where we put the Fire’s results in the past four years into context, and Part II, which looks at player signings.  Within a few months of being hired in late 2019,...

Former homegrown Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gaga Slonina was called up to the USMNT's camp today for the CONCACAF Nations League. This represents Gaga's third call-up for a competitive window, following his maiden call in January 2022 and the CONCACAF Gold Cup over the summer. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a mixed...

Setting aside Lionel Messi of Inter Miami, there was arguably no bigger MLS signing in the last few years than Javier “Chicharito” Hernández. The ex-Mexican international, who is the all-time leading goalscorer for El Tri, arrived at the Los Angeles Galaxy with much bravado, having been sought after by MLS...

Note: This is the second part of a four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I where we put the Fire’s results in the past four years into context. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team’s high roster spend and generally disappointing results, many of the Fire’s most expensive...

The Fire’s loss on Decision Day gave them an ignominious honor: They now have the longest active playoff drought in the league and are the sole owners of the second-longest playoff drought in league history at six seasons, following only Toronto FC’s eight season stretch from 2007-2014. We’d previously said...

When Joaquín Torres’ stoppage time blast slipped through Chris Brady’s fingers in the second game of the Fire’s 2023 season, some began to ask questions. It was Brady’s first game as the official #1 goalkeeper and just his second MLS appearance, and despite a strong goalkeeping performance for 89 minutes...

The 2023 Chicago Fire season has come to an end, so it's time to hand out some end-of-season honors. Last week, MIR97 readers submitted their votes on eight different awards, and throughout the week, we'll be announcing the winners. This story will be updated as the winners are declared. Most...

Oh hi! I’m Jiggly. And it’s a Tuesday. About a month ago, I asked for questions from my readers to answer. And boy, did I take my time answering every single question. I called it the mailbag, and it’s honestly something that I can do maybe once a season. So,...

As the Chicago Fire’s offseason begins, so does its coaching search. After Ezra Hendrickson was dismissed last May, club legend and longtime assistant Frank Klopas was promoted to the interim job for the third time in his career, but with the season now over, it's time for a fresh start....

25 years ago today, history was made at Soldier Field. The Chicago Fire won their first-ever U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Columbus Crew in overtime to secure a historic double in their debut season. Frank Klopas wrote his name into Fire folklore that night, scoring a 99th-minute golden goal to...

Oh hi! I’m Jiggly. And it’s a Tuesday. Last week, immediately following the Sad Bois recording session, I went out to get both my flu and COVID booster shots. Well, that and get pizza, but the pizza cost way too much, and I guess I’m not doing that anymore. But...

Kei Kamara quietly walks into the back of a small movie theater in Waukegan, Illinois. There is not a huge crowd, but they are energized as the then-38-year-old striker entered the cinema. Following a screening of a short film about his journey from war-torn Sierra Leone to MLS, he fielded...

With complete control over their fate, the Fire missed out on the playoffs once again after a goal from Julián Fernández in the 64th minute hoisted the hosts into the post-season. Here is a recap of the Fire’s individual performers. *Players are listed in the order they lined up, followed...

The Chicago Fire came up one point short of a playoff spot as they were defeated 1-0 by NYCFC yesterday. Julián Fernández's second-half screamer was the only difference between the two teams. Alex Calabrese spoke to Frank Klopas and Kei Kamara postgame at Citi Field. https://youtu.be/JDVP6Jp-teY Video: Max Sánchez Josa...

That’s the ball game. The Chicago Fire’s 2023 season came to an end Saturday in a dry, dull 1-0 loss at Citi Field against New York City FC. The rollercoaster season quietly withered away in the Big Apple, with the Men in Red hopelessly stranded just one agonizing points below...

The Chicago Fire will take to the field tonight for the final time in the 2023 regular season and will have everything to play for on Decision Day. They travel to face New York City FC, another team battling to break into the final playoff places, though both teams need...

Chicago House Athletic Club advanced to the 4th and final round of U.S. Open Cup qualifying on Saturday night as they defeated Edgewater Castle 3-1 at Taft High School. The House came out the blocks hot, opening the scoring in the 4th minute thanks to striker Alejandro Mentasti. Edgewater went...

It all comes down to this. The Chicago Fire will take on NYCFC tomorrow evening at Citi Field, with an MLS Wild Card spot on the line. The Fire must win (or tie in certain circumstances) and hope results elsewhere go their way to reach the postseason for the first...

DJ and Tim talk about Fire players on international duty, preview the final game away at the Pigeons, and figure out what the Fire need to do to make the playoffs. Check out our socials! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MIR97 Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MIR97 Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MIR97 Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mir97/support

And so it ends. On March 4, 2023, the Fire opened their 26th regular season in MLS against New York City FC and 231 days later, they face the same opponent – this time in Queens, NY – to finish their regular season. Both teams enter the match with a...

The last time that the Chicago Fire went into the final game of the MLS regular season with a chance of making the playoffs was in 2020, when they hosted New York City FC at an empty Soldier Field. A hat trick of Djordje Mihailovic assists wasn’t enough to evade...

Xherdan Shaqiri has company.  In what has become a semi-annual tradition, the MLS Players Association has released its salary guide, revealing the pay of each player in the league, and the league has a new highest-paid player: Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, who has guaranteed annual compensation of $20,446,667 this year,...