Speaking before a happy crowd at Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub on Friday, Seattle Sounders FC minority owner Drew Carey announced the details of a members association with real clout.

The group -- made up of season ticket holders and others willing to pay a $125 membership fee -- will vote every four seasons on whether the team's general manager should be retained. There also is a way for association to force annual votes on the GM's status. Additionally, team ownership reserves the right to fire the general manager or call for a lack-of-confidence vote at any time.

The first vote is scheduled for November 2012. The team's inaugural general manager is longtime USL Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer.

Here are the basics from the Sounders FC Web site.

Carey said members also will decide issues such as whether the team should have a mascot or cheerleaders. And in his capacity as the association's chairman, Carey will preside over annual meetings -- the first of which is targeted for later this year.

From all indications, they should be fun meetings. Carey was a terrific host at Kells, signing posters and soccer balls and bantering with fans. (If he tires of the ample number of "Price is Right" jokes, he doesn't let it show.) He said that he considers himself more an FC fan than an FC owner, and that's how he came across.

He said he got the idea for the association from Barcelona -- his favorite European club, and he instantly wanted to bring the idea to the States.

The way to do that, he figured, was to get an MLS team. And there must be some pretty good bucks in comedy, because Carey said he could have handled the $30 million expansion fee, but not the investment that might have been needed for a soccer-specific stadium.

Eventually, he was put in touch with Joe Roth -- FC's majority owner. The two did lunch, ended up talking soccer for two hours, and the rest in history.

Carey said he believes the Members Association idea could catch on with other franchises. And he clearly seems to hope it does. It's a way to invest fans in the soccer team's performance in a way that, say, Mariners fans, lack.

As he jokingly told the fans at Kells: "If you don't like they way the season goes, look in the mirror dude."

A few other notes from the gathering:

*No Sounders FC merchandise is expected in stores until November.

*Carey said "Emerald City Greens" was never on the table as a serious name. He also said that if there hadn't been such passion for the name "Sounders," his own vote would have gone to a traditional name such as Seattle FC or Seattle United.

*About 25,000 tickets have been sold for the Brazil-Canada game at the end of the month. Sounders officials are expecting a bump now that the star-studded Brazil roster has been announced. (See post below.)

* FC officials also said MLS knows that Qwest Field would like to host an FCBarcelona game (see other post below). Also, they would like to see Qwest follow Toronto's lead and host the MLS All-Star game, perhaps as soon as 2010.