Editing Sporting Kansas City (section)

===Move east (2005–2010)===
Following MLS expansion, the Wizards moved to the Eastern Conference in [[2005 Major League Soccer season|2005]]. By the end of the 2005 season, despite the solid play of 2005 MLS Defender of the Year [[Jimmy Conrad]], the Wizards found themselves outside the playoffs with a record of 11–9–12. After the season, the team's veteran leader, [[Preki]] announced his retirement.

In the [[2006 Major League Soccer season|2006 season]], the Wizards just missed out on a playoff berth with a loss to the [[New York Red Bulls]] on the final day of the regular season, finishing with a 10–14–8 record. [[Lamar Hunt]] sold the club in August 2006 to [[OnGoal, LLC]], a six-man ownership group led by [[Cerner Corporation]] co-founders [[Neal Patterson]] and Cliff Illig, a local group committed to keeping the Wizards in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].

The club dedicated its [[2007 Major League Soccer season|2007 season]] to Lamar Hunt, who had died in December 2006. A good start earned them four wins in the first seven weeks of the season. The club picked up goalkeeper [[Kevin Hartman]] from the LA Galaxy to help with that position. Despite winning just four games after the All-Star break, Kansas City managed to finish fifth in the East at 11–12–7 and qualify for the playoffs. The club shifted over to the West as a result of a playoff format change, the Wizards played against [[Chivas USA]]. With the Wizards [[Davy Arnaud]]'s goal in the first game to win the series, the defense and [[Kevin Hartman]] did the rest and kept Chivas USA off the scoreboard. In the conference final, the Wizards came up short to the [[Houston Dynamo]], 2–0.

In [[2008 Major League Soccer season|2008]], the Wizards played their home games at [[CommunityAmerica Ballpark]] in Kansas, and ended a four-year playoff drought by posting an 11–10–9 record, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Facing the [[Columbus Crew]], the Wizards earned a 1–1 tie in Game 1 of the first round series, but with a 2–0 loss in Game 2 the Wizards lost the aggregate series 3–1.

In the [[2009 Major League Soccer season|2009 season]], the Wizards remained at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, but struggled to score. They went 426 minutes without scoring a goal,<ref>{{cite web|title=Kansas City finds the goal!|url=http://www.socceramerica.com/article/34028/kansas-city-finds-the-goal.html|website=Soccer America|date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927063328/http://www.socceramerica.com/article/34028/kansas-city-finds-the-goal.html|archive-date=September 27, 2013}}</ref> the longest streak of the season. In August 2009, with the team holding a 5–7–6 record, KC fired Head Coach [[Curt Onalfo]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Onalfo out as Kansas City head coach|url=http://www.soccerbyives.net/2009/08/onalfo-out-as-kansas-city-head-coach.html|website=SBI Soccer|date=August 3, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924103152/http://www.soccerbyives.net/2009/08/onalfo-out-as-kansas-city-head-coach.html|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> and named general manager [[Peter Vermes]] the head coach. The Wizards finished with the worst home record in the league,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Young|first1=Mark|title=SKC is more than A-OK|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/blog/_/name/young_mark/id/7836431/the-sporting-life-kansas-city-mark-young|website=ESPN.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926104621/http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/blog/_/name/young_mark/id/7836431/the-sporting-life-kansas-city-mark-young|archive-date=September 26, 2013}}</ref> and at 8–13–9 were third to last in the league standings. Top players were [[Claudio López (footballer)|Claudio López]] (8 goals & 7 assists) and [[Josh Wolff]] (11 goals), who sparked the Wizards offense.

[[File:25 July 2010 Kansas City Wizards vs Manchester United friendly.jpg|thumb|right|The Wizards hosting [[Manchester United F.C.]] in July 2010 at Arrowhead Stadium. This match was considered a turning point in the franchise's history,<ref name="Top20">{{cite web |last=Kovzan |first=Sam |date=December 25, 2019 |title=Top 20 Moments of the Decade #7: Beating Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium |url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/top-20-moments-decade-7-beating-manchester-united-arrowhead-stadium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210031555/https://www.sportingkc.com/news/top-20-moments-decade-7-beating-manchester-united-arrowhead-stadium |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |website=SportingKC.com |language=en}}</ref> as their attendance would rapidly grow once the Sporting KC rebrand was announced, and upon the opening of their own stadium the following year.]]
The Wizards hosted [[Manchester United F.C.]] in a [[Exhibition game|friendly]] on July 25, 2010, and won the match by a score of 2–1. The announced attendance of 52,342 was a record for a professional soccer match in [[Kansas City metropolitan area|the Kansas City area]]<ref name=ManU>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5409407/wizards-beat-manchester-united-front-record-crowd|title=Record crowd watches Man U in KC|publisher=Associated Press|website=ESPN.com|date=July 25, 2010|access-date=February 9, 2022|language=en|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210024642/http://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5409407/wizards-beat-manchester-united-front-record-crowd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ManU2">{{cite web |last=Kovzan |first=Sam |date=July 25, 2020 |title=Ten years ago today: Kansas City topples Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium |url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/ten-years-ago-today-kansas-city-topples-manchester-united-arrowhead-stadium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210024644/https://www.sportingkc.com/news/ten-years-ago-today-kansas-city-topples-manchester-united-arrowhead-stadium |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> In the [[2010 Kansas City Wizards season|2010 regular season]], the Wizards finished third in the Eastern Conference and narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs.