Fire names Frank Klopas coach

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Frank Klopas didn’t want to be the Fire coach when he took the job on an interim basis on May 30. Now, though, he’s got the position on a full-time basis and is happy about it.

``This is my team, my city, my club,’’ said Klopas at a Toyota Park press conference on Thursday, during which owner Andrew Hauptman made Klopas’ title change official. ``I’m extremely happy for this opportunity to lead my hometown side.’’

Hauptman called Klopas ``a passionate, hard-working coach who has a special bond with our young players.’’

Klopas has been functioning as the club’s technical director, but a coaching change was needed after the Fire got off to a 1-4-6 start under Carlos de los Cobos. The Fire won just two of its first 24 games in Major League Soccer but finished the campaign on a 7-2-1 run to finish at the .500 level (9-9-16).

That wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs, the club missing for the second straight season, but it made the lifting of the interim tag on Klopas’ coaching duties an obvious move.

After winning just 10 of 41 matches over 1 1/2 seasons under de los Cobos, the Fire was 8-5-10 across all competitions with Klopas in charge. The club also reached the finals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for a record sixth time before losing the title match to the Seattle Sounders.

Klopas, 45, played on the first Fire squad in 1998 prior to his retirement as a player. A graduate of Mather High School in 1984, he is the first former Fire player to coach the club. His predecessors on the job were Bob Bradley, Dave Sarachan, Juan Carlos Osorio, Denis Hamlett and de los Cobos. In 14 seasons under those leaders the Fire missed the MLS playoffs only three times and won the Open Cup four times.