After a 26-year hiatus, Lamar Hunt came in to give Kansas City its second professional outdoor soccer team. This time, the soccer team would last.

That team started out as the Kansas City Wiz in 1996. The Wiz was one of 10 charter members of Major League Soccer.

The team was easily identifiable with loud rainbow-striped kits and began play at Arrowhead Stadium. With a capacity of nearly 80,000 at the time, the Wiz played in front of a mostly empty stadium as they averaged under 13,000 fans a game in the first season.

The Wiz finished fifth of 10 teams in 1996 but had conceded a league-high 63 goals. The Wiz were eliminated in the conference finals by the Los Angeles Galaxy.

A trademark issue forced the Wiz to become the Wizards in 1997, which was followed by a second-place regular season finish before losing to the Colorado Rapids in the conference semifinals.

Wizards forward Preki won MVP and Golden Boot, finishing the season with 12 goals and 12 assists. The Wizards also finished last in MLS attendance with just over 9,000 fans per game.

The Wizards were among the worst teams in 1998 and started with six straight losses to open 1999 until head coach Ron Newman was replaced by Bob Gansler. While the former United States head coach couldn’t avoid another disastrous season, he did get them on the right track for what would come the following year.

A year after finishing last in the Western Conference, the Wizards were the best in 2000. KC won the Supporters’ Shield with the best regular season record before winning the MLS Cup with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire.

Goalkeeper Tony Meola delivered one of the most memorable performances in MLS Cup history, making 10 saves in the shutout victory and earning MLS Cup MVP.

Meola led the Wizards to become the best defense in the league with a league-record 16 shutouts. Meola was so dominant in 2000 that he won Comeback Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and became the only goalkeeper to win MVP in league history. Dender of the Year Peter Vermes was in the heart the defense, which conceded eight fewer goals than any other team.

The recovery from the MLS Cup did not go well for the Wizards as they barely made the playoffs in 2001 and had the Western Conference’s worst record in 2002.

The Wizards rose back to prominence in 2003 as 40-year-old Preki became the only player to win MVP twice. KC finished second in the conference as average attendance hit a franchise record of 15,573 after sliding to around 8,000 from 1998 to 2000.

In 2004, the Wizards claimed their first Open Cup title, defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0 when Igor Simutenkov scored the sudden-death winner with a free kick five minutes into extra time. After a first-place finish in the West, the Wizards came hunting for more silverware but lost to DC United 3-2 in the MLS Cup Final.

The Wizards fell off once more in 2005, this time missing the playoffs completely. Jimmy Conrad took home Defender of the Year.

An even tougher year came in 2006. After a poor start, the Wizards parted ways with Gansler before the Wizards were sold to On Goal LLC, a local ownership group. KC missed the playoffs again finishing fifth in the conference. In December 2006, Hunt passed away.

Under new ownership, the Wizards brought in head coach Curt Onalfo and stayed in Arrowhead Stadium for just one more season, making the playoffs as a wild card and losing in the conference finals. Forward Eddie Johnson scored 15 goals, the most since Preki’s 22-goal campaign in 1996.

KC moved to Community America Ballpark in 2008, losing to DC United in the conference semifinals.

The era of the Wizards drew to a close as Onalfo was fired following a 6-0 loss in 2009. Vermes was later named head coach, but was unable to right the ship in 2010 as they missed the playoffs for two straight seasons for the only time in franchise history.

KC welcomed Manchester United for a friendly at Arrowhead Stadium in 2010. With a club record of over 50,000 fans in attendance, the Wizards beat the European champions 2-1.