The Charleston Battery have been the envy of nearly everyone in the A-League. Not for championships won, but for their pearl of a stadium, Blackbaud - the nation’s first privately funded soccer-specific stadium. Despite being the envy of their counterparts and having won a championship at the third division level in 1996, the club was still missing something to complete the stadium, an A-League championship cup.

Despite playoff appearances in all six previous seasons and possessing one of the league's most talented rosters since 2000, the Battery could never quite seem to get over the hump in the playoffs. The team tasted success in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, reaching the Semifinals in 1999 and the Third Round twice. It won regular season division and conference titles in 2000 and 2002 and was the second-best team in the 2002 regular season. In that same span, however, the club went 2-5 in the playoffs and was building a reputation of not being able to win when it most counts.

Enter 2003. With the addition of Josh Henderson from 2002 finalist Richmond Kickers and former MLS midfielder Ted Chronopoulos, the Battery claimed their third regular season division title in four years with the duo leading the team in scoring.

The team finished fourth in goals allowed with veteran Dusty Hudock tied with Montreal's Greg Sutton for the league lead in shutouts with 11.

Nearing the end of the season, the Battery showed signs of struggle with a seven-game winless streak (0-3-4) only to rebound to finish the regular season with three straight wins.

The Virginia Beach Mariners, who came to prominence with the addition of former MLS stars Dante Washington and Roy Lassiter and newcomer Roland Aguilera, shut defending conference champion Richmond out of the postseason and took a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the opening round of the playoffs against the Battery. Charleston, however, rebounded with a convincing 4-1 win in the second leg to move onto a conference final series against three-time league champion Rochester.

The Battery played the Rhinos to a scoreless draw in the opening leg in Rochester and secured their first spot in the A-League final with a 1-0 win in Charleston on a goal from Henderson in the 41st minute.

The drama wasn’t restricted to just the Eastern Conference. The four playoff participants in the Western Conference finished within three points of one another with the expansion Milwaukee Wave United claiming the regular season title on tiebreakers with Montreal.

Both division finals went beyond the regulation 180 minutes with the Minnesota Thunder knocking off Milwaukee in series overtime, 2-1, on aggregate and the Seattle Sounders exacting revenge for the previous year’s stunning 8-2 loss with a 6-5 win in penalty kicks after a 1-1 aggregate draw.

Minnesota edged the Sounders twice, 1-0, in the Western Conference Final to advance to the championship for the fourth time in six seasons.

Ninety minutes and three goals later, the Charleston Battery and owner Tony Bakker, who has invested a significant amount of his own personal money in the franchise and the stadium, were celebrating their first A-League Championship at midfield of Blackbaud.