The Denver Zephyrs were formerly known as the Denver Bears from 1955 until 1983. In 1984, they adopted the Zephyrs nickname, which they kept when they moved to New Orleans in 1993 as the Major League Colorado Rockies set up shop in the Mile High City.
The New Orleans Zephyrs were established when the MLB Colorado Rockies began play in 1993. The Denver Zephyrs relocated to the Big Easy, where they one a championship.
The Denver Dynamos were Colorado’s first major professional soccer franchise. The Dynamos were part of a West Coast expansion of the NASL during the winter of 1973-74. Three of the other Western clubs formed during this 50-day expansion flurry – the San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps – went on to become iconic North American soccer brands. Re-boots of all three clubs play in Major League Soccer today. The Dynamos, meanwhile, are all but forgotten.
The Colorado Foxes were at outdoor soccer club active for most of the 1990’s in the Denver region. During their early years, the Foxes competed at the highest level of outdoor soccer played in the United States. But the frugal American Professional Soccer League (later re-named the ‘A-League’) still fell something short of a true Division I organization. The Foxes won back-to-back championships in the APSL in 1992 and 1993. The Foxes lost their relevancy after the formation of Major League Soccer in 1996 and the debut of MLS’ Colorado Rapids club the same year. After two years of competition with the Rapids, the franchise moved to southern California and became the San Diego Flash in 1998.
The Caribous of Colorado were a One-Year Wonder in the North American Soccer League during the summer of 1978. The expansion Caribous were the NASL’s second effort at gaining a foothold in the Mile High City. The two-year run of the Denver Dynamos (1974-1975) ended with that club’s relocation to Minneapolis in 1976. Like the Dynamos, the Caribous played out of Mile High Stadium, home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos. The Caribous are best remembered for their garish uniforms, which – in a nod to country & western culture – featured a horizontal strip of tan leather fringe across the lower rib cage. The franchise relocated to Atlanta ahead of the 1979 season.
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