MLS

[cubaricho]

i was in portland the other day when they had a match on, the bars were flooded with people wearing the official shirts. reminded me of newcastle in a way cos the stadium is so close to the downtown area.

 

It is the only MLS stadium actually in the downtown area.  They are the best support in the league to be honest.  Everything is connected to the public transport and is in a central location.

 

yeah. they're replaying their game on tv now and showed some lumberjack guy chainsawing a log of wood pitch side. mental.

 

Timber Joey is their official "mascot" but he saws off a big plank of wood for every goal they score and at the end of each match (if they score) the team comes over the supporters section (Timbers Army) and celebrates with the fans by holding up the wood and cheering/dancing/etc.  They are just really doing some awesome stuff out there with a lot of cordinated chants and what not.  They have a pretty awesome one that they do to the Tetris Song.

 

Here's some raw footage from the sideline that shows a bit of the Tetris Song and how crazy loud is gets there after a goal goes in.

 

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

That's awesome. 

 

Still, have to keep my Union ties, though can't deny that Portland and Seattle fans have got it right, though Union have a decent set of fans too.

[cubaricho]

I should also state for the record that Timber Joey is an actual lumberjack (although I'm sure much more part-time now that they are in MLS).  He's like fourth or fifth generation lumber dude.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

There was a small piece about Portland in a recent edition of FourFourTwo now I think about it.

[SEMTEX]

I guess this is better in here.

 

I, er, I thought I'd write up this guide for people. Cos I'm kind and all that.

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/MLS.png

SEMTEX's Major League Soccer and North American football Guide and Frequently Asked Questions

 

1 - Introduction

 

So, Major League Soccer.  That wacky American league, where they call it soccer and there be dragons.  But many of the Europeans here have been wondering about it and asking questions to try and understand it.  And so I present this guide, which will attempt to explain to you all how MLS works, why it is the way it is, its history, and the people and teams involved.  So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.

 

2 - History

 

2.1 - MLS, What Is It?

 

MLS is the abbreviation of Major League Soccer, the top football league in the US and Canada.  It was formed in 1993, and its first season was played in 1996.  Prior to that, football in North America had had a tumultous history.  The creation of a domestic league was one of the conditions imposed by FIFA after it awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States in an effort to grow the game in the country.  The 1994 World Cup was a huge success, still holding the World Cup record for total attendance even though the tournament was expanded to 32 teams afterwards.  As of this season, MLS has expanded from 10 teams in 1996 to 18, with the addition of a 19th next year and an expected 20th team sometime in the future.

 

2.2 - In The Beginning

 

The first football match of what would be familiar as assocation football is thought to have been in 1869, when Rutgers University defeated Princeton University 6-4.  The game spread to other universities, but by the middle of the 1870's, universities began converting to rugby, which would eventually evolve into American football.  From this point, American football began to take off, first as an amateur game, but eventually turning professional in 1920 with the founding of the National Football League.

 

At the same time that football was gaining popularity in England, American sports began to take off.  Baseball was the early leader, with the first match with codified rules taking place in 1846, and by 1857 a league had already developed in New York.  The first professional club, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, showed up in 1869.  From there, baseball became massive, getting the nickname of "America's pasttime".  By 1900, when football was already fairly organized in England, Major League Baseball as it is known today was already more or less in place.  At this time, baseball ruled in the US, while American football played by colleges also enjoyed considerable popularity.  In Canada, ice hockey had taken off and established itself as the number one game in the country.

 

While there were football leagues in the United States in this time, it showed up late.  There were leagues, but they were dwarfed in popularity by other sports.  In 1914 the US Open Cup was created, and is today still an important fixtures of the American footballing season.  In the early years, it was dominated by Bethlehem Steel FC, but by 1930 they had disappeared.  Until the creation of MLS, this was a competition between amateur clubs from across the US.

 

2.3 - Between and After the Wars

 

So the US had its cup, but there was still no national professional league, or even a national amateur one.  The American footballing landscape was still dominated by small, amateur leagues dotting the map.  In this time, baseball continued to grow, football organized into the National Football League, the National Hockey League expanded from Canada into the US, and basketball started to find popularity by the interwar period.  In this time there were a few attempts at creating a league, but they all failed.  With such market saturation of sports fans, it was hard for football to gain a foothold.

 

From 1876 onward, I can find numerous failed leagues.  American Football Association, American League of Professional Football, National Association Football League, and American Soccer League twice.  The first two failed within a few years, while both American Soccer Leagues stuck around for a little while before finally dissolving.  And this failure for football to catch on certainly has hurt the sports development in the United States, and by extension, Canada.  The other four big sports all established their own footprints early on, and have had the last century to grow and find fan bases.

 

Even America's famous 1-0 defeat of England at Belo Horizonte in the 1950 World Cup failed to help.  In fact, football was so off the radar of Americans that only one newspaper in the entire country even reported it.  And they only did that because one of their reporters had decided to take time off work to cover the event because the paper wouldn't finance the trip.

 

2.4 - The United Soccer Association and National Premier Soccer League

 

However, in 1967, a group of American businessmen formed the United Soccer Association, with the intent of developing a national professional football league.  There was also the National Professional Soccer League which formed at the same time, and had even acquired a TV contract.  The USA decided to beat their rival to the punch, and to get a head start, they actually imported entire teams from Europe and South America.  Stoke City became the Cleveland Stokers, Wolverhampton Wanderers the Los Angeles Wolves, Sunderland the Vancouver Royal Canadians, Aberdeen FC, the Washington Whips, and several other teams went over, including Hibernian, Dundee United, Glentoran, Shamrock Rovers, and Cagliari.  Things started off good, with fans turning out in huge numbers to this new novelty.

 

But by the end of the year, crowds had disappeared, and in the end the league only averaged 7,890 fans throughout the season.  In 1968, the USA merged with its rival the NPSL, which had faced its own problems.  The NPSL was not FIFA-sanctioned, and the TV ratings were absolutely terrible.

 

2.5 - The North American Soccer League

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/NASL.png

 

From this merger, the North American Soccer League emerged.  Until the creation of MLS, the NASL was by far the most successful football league in American history.  The major problem with the North American Soccer League was that it was built like a house of cards.  The league fluctuated wildly in terms of number of teams, starting with 17, and going as low a 8 and high as 24 in its 16 year existence.

 

By the 1970's, American sports had already become massive successes.  Football was seen as a foreign oddity to the majority of people in the country.  In order to try to draw in new fans, the NASL modified several of its rules to try and attract American fans.  For example, there were no draws, as every tied game ended with a shootout.

 

By far the biggest success of the league was the New York Cosmos.  The Cosmos found success, both on the field and off, by employing a strategy of bringing in aging stars.  Among those they signed were Pele and Franz Beckenbauer.  They attracted huge numbers of fans, upwards of 40,000 per game.  But overall, the league averaged below 15,000, with many clubs lower than 5,000.  And other clubs tried to emulate the Cosmos' success by bringing in big name players.

 

This arms race, a long with the fact that most of the owners had no interest whatsoever in football and only in making money in what they saw to be a profitable fad bailed on the league once the popularity began to fall.  By 1984, the league died, from a combination of lack of interest and financial mismanagement.  However, it did produce some positive results.  As a result, football became a popular sport among children in America, with millions upon millions of American and Canadian children taking up the sport.  But the problem still remained that there was nowhere to go with football, as once a child reached their teens, they had usually switched to one of the more popular sports.  In those sports, you could get to the major leagues, but football was still seen as a game people played as small children.

 

2.6 - The World Cup

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/1994FIFAWorldCup.png

 

With the demise of the NASL, America was once again left without a professional football league.  In 1988, FIFA awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States in hopes of growing the game there.  But it came with a condition.  The US had to create its own professional football league.  The 1994 World Cup was a resounding success.  It drew a total of 3.6 million fans in total, and averaged 68,991 per match thanks to the massive capacity of American football stadiums.

 

America had a very good World Cup campaign, qualifying from its group over Colombia thanks to the tragic own goal by Colombia's Andres Escobar, who would be gunned down 10 days later back in Colombia.  The US would lose in the Round of 16 to eventual champion Brazil, but America seemed to embraced football.

 

2.7 - Major League Soccer's Creation

 

After the massive success of the World Cup in 1994, MLS took to the pitch for its first season in 1996 with 10 teams.  Having learned from the example of the NASL, MLS took an entirely different approach.  They took it slowly, and adopting a philosophy of financial restraint.  Gone are the days of big spending on aging stars.  The first season saw the league average over 17,000 fans per game.  D.C. United won the league title, and would go on to win three of the first four titles.

 

The following seasons weren't quite as successful.  Attendance dropped down to 14,000 for the following five seasons.  While the league had initially relied on foreign players, by 2000 many had begun to retire, and the league began to focus on developing American talent.  By 2001, two of the now twelve teams had folded.  However, then came the 2002 World Cup.

 

2.8 - On the Upswing

 

The 2002 World Cup turned out to be a watershed moment for MLS and football in America.  The US ended up surprisingly defeating Portugal 3-2, and qualifying over them into the Group of 16.  In the Round of 16, the US went on to defeat Mexico 2-0, before losing to Germany in the Quarterfinal.  From this point on, football in the US began to grow.

 

Having marketed itself on the talents of American players for a few years now, the time between the 2002 and 2006 World Cup saw American players leaving for European clubs.  Tim Howard went to Manchester United, DaMarcus Beasley went to PSV Eindhoven, and Landon Donovan went on loan to Bayer Leverkusen.

 

With this new success, MLS once again began expanding the league, having been stalled at 10 teams since the demise of Miami and Tampa Bay a few years earlier.  Teams were added in Salt Lake and a second team in the Los Angeles area in 2005, Toronto in 2006, San Jose in 2008, Seattle in 2009, Philadelphia in 2010, and Vancouver and Portland in 2011.

 

One big change was the creation of the Designated Player Rule.  This rule allowed teams to sign players that would not count towards the salary cap, designed to allow teams to bring in star players.  The biggest of these was of course the signing of David Beckham from Real Madrid.  The signing of Beckham brought huge media attention to the league, and has only helped grow the sport, despite lacklustre results on the pitch.

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/beckham.png

 

And so that brings us to today.  MLS currently consists of 18 teams, and soon to be 19.  It has attracted a lot of fans, and has established itself among the big leagues, but still has a long way to go to catch up.

 

MLS, How Does It Work?

 

3.1 - Ownership

 

MLS works a bit differently than leagues in Europe.  In order to market itself to American sports fans, it modeled itself after how the other major North American sports leagues operated.  Each team is a franchise, centrally owned by the league.  The owners of each club then in turn are shareholders in the league.  Think of it kind of like something like a restaurant chain in which a person buys a franchise from the company to set up.

 

As a result of the insecurity of the early years, there were few owners.  Anschutz Entertainment Group actually owned 6 teams at one point, but have sold off 4 of those in recent years as new investors have come in to buy into the league.

 

3.2 - Contracts

 

Unlike in Europe, player contracts are owned by the league, not the individual clubs.  This was done to keep finances under control and prevent spending from spiralling out of control like in the NASL.  When a player signs with an MLS club, his contract is negotiated with the league.  In doing so, MLS has kept itself financially stable.

 

3.3 - Playoffs

 

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Unlike in Europe, in North American sports the regular season is relatively meaningless.  The end of season standings are used to determine who qualifies for the playoffs.  The top team is paired with the lowest qualified team, second placed with second lowest, etc.  They then go on to a knockout tournament similar to the League Cup in England to determine the league champion.  The MLS did eventually add a regular season award called the Supporters' Shield though.

 

3.4 - Schedule

 

The MLS season starts in March and ends in November.  This is a result of North American weather.  Playing football in places like Chicago, Toronto, Boston, or Columbus in December or January would be terrible ideas.  Along the Great Lakes in December it often gets far too cold and snowy to play games outside, and unless teams from more northernly climates start playing in domes, that probably won't change.  On the plus side, this means that while the European clubs are taking a break for the summer, MLS is right in the middle of their season.  So if you want to follow MLS, that would be a good time to do it while there is no other football to be found in England.

 

3.5 - Promotion and Relegation

 

Promotion and relegation are non-existant in North America.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, this system is not found anywhere else in North America and is an alien concept to American and Canadian sports fans.  Second, team owners buy the right to own a MLS team, not just a football team, and relegating a team would breach the contract, unless major reforms were undertaken by MLS.  And finally, the financial aspect.  Football just isn't as big a sport here, so a team that got relegated would likely face financial ruin with the drop off of support from fans.  Consider the case of New York City.  It has 19,000,000 people, 6,000,000 more than London, but only has 1 MLS team.  However, considering all teams in MLS, and the Big 4 of North American sports, NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB, New York supports 10 teams across the 5 leagues.  The market is already saturated, and if the New York Red Bulls were relegated, that would be a big setback.

 

3.6 - Draft

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/Mls_superdraft.png

 

A concept foreign to Europe, drafts are ways of distrubuting young talent evenly throughout all of the league's teams.  Unlike in Europe, we don't have the youth academies like European clubs.  Instead, players usually play on youth teams in local leagues, not associated with teams.  Most of the top young talent that will make it to MLS ends up playing in the American amateur leagues.  Once they reach 18, they usually go to American colleges to play football, before either graduating to MLS or leaving college to go into MLS early.  At this point they are entered into the draft.

 

The draft works rather simply.  The worst team from the previous year gets the first pick, while the best team gets the last pick.  There are multiple rounds, with the same order kept throughout.  In the 2011 draft there were three rounds.  Draft picks may also be traded to other teams for players.

 

Once drafted, that team has exclusive rights to the player.  The player cannot play for or negotiate with any other team while the team that drafted him holds their rights.

 

Another part of the draft is the Combine.  The combine occurs before the draft, and it is when they bring together all the best talent and put them through a series of tests, giving teams a chance to get a closer look at the players to better make their picks for the draft.

 

3.7 - Trading

 

Unlike in Europe, teams don't buy players from other teams.  Instead they conduct trades.  If one team decides it needs help in a certain position, they will trade a player or players to another team that is willing to part with what they want.  Draft picks can also be traded to other teams, with higher draft picks being of greater value.

 

3.8 - Disabled List

 

The disabled list is a way for clubs to clear up space on the rosters for when a player gets injured.  I can't find how it works in MLS, but in other sports it can work in different ways.  In hockey, a player on the disabled list doesn't have his salary count towards the salary cap while he is on the disabled list.  In baseball it allows a team to call up a replacement without going over the roster limit.  In these sports, the disabled list have different degrees of length, for example the 7 day DL, or 15 day DL.  A player on the 7 Day DL for example, cannot be reactivated until at least 7 days have passed, but can stay on for longer if needed.

 

3.9 - The Term Soccer

 

America often gets unfairly criticized for calling football soccer.  The term soccer is actually an English creation, originating at the creation of the game.  Soccer is a contraction of the term Association Football.  Association football was coined to distinguish from rugby football.  Since association football became the predominant footballing code in England, it has become known simply as football.  However, in places like the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where other footballing codes are the predominant sport, soccer became the term used to differentiate between American football, Canadian football, rugby union, rugby league, or Aussie rules and association football. 

 

Additionally, a lot of people falsely assume football refers to a game where you kick a ball with your foot.  This is incorrect, the word football actually means something entirely different.  It originated as a name for games played by peasantry.  As they lacked horses, they had to play games on foot, hence football.  Football simply means a game played on foot with a ball.  So there is nothing wrong with calling American football football, or calling association football soccer.

 

Its as simple as that.  Its not because North Americans are silly or weird, its just that other codes took over before association football started to grow there.

 

 

 

 

4 - Teams

 

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Name: Chicago Fire Soccer Club

Nicknames: The Fire, La Maquina Roja, Men in Red, CF97, Strazacy

Founded: 1997

City: Chicago, Illinois

Stadium: Toyota Park (20,000)

Head Coach: Carlos de los Cobos

Star Players: Brian McBride, Marco Pappa

Former Stars: Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Freddie Ljungberg, Hristo Stoichkov, Piotr Nowak, C.J. Brown, Ante Razov, Carlos Bocanegra

Trophies: MLS Cup (1998), Supporters' Shield (2003), U.S. Open Cup (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006)

Rivals: FC Dallas

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Columbus Crew

Nicknames: The Crew, Massive, The Fighting Canaries, America's Hardest Working Team

Founded: 1994

City: Columbus, Ohio

Stadium: Columbus Crew Stadium (20,455)

Head Coach: Robert Warzycha

Star Players: Jeff Cunningham, Chad Marshall

Former Stars: Brian McBride, Robert Warzycha, Mike Clark, Edson Buddle, Frankie Hejduk

Trophies: MLS Cup (2008), Supporters' Shield (2004, 2008, 2009), U.S. Open Cup (2002)

Rivals: Toronto FC,

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: D.C. United

Nicknames: United, DCU, Black-and-Red

Founded: 1995

City: Washington, D.C.

Stadium: RFK Stadium (45,596)

Head Coach: Ben Olsen

Star Players: Andy Najar,

Former Stars: Jaime Moreno, Eddie Pope, Marco Etcheverry

Trophies: CONCACAF Champions' Cup (1998), MLS Cup (1996, 1997, 1999, 2004), MLS Supporters' Shield (1997, 1999, 2006, 2007), U.S. Open Cup (1996, 2008)

Rivals: New York Red Bulls, Los Angeles Galaxy

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Houston Dynamo

Nicknames: Dynamo, Orange Crush, La Naranja, The Men in Orage, The Orange, Die Oranje

Founded: 2005

City: Houston, Texas

Stadium: Robertson Stadium (32,000)

Head Coach: Dominic Kinnear

Star Players: Brian Ching, Brad Davis

Former Stars: Paul Dalglish, Dwayne De Rosario, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden

Trophies: MLS Cup (2006, 2007)

Rivals: FC Dallas, CF Pachuca, San Jose Earthquakes

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: New England Revolution

Nicknames: Revs

Founded: 1995

City: Foxborough, Massachusetts

Stadium: Gillette Stadium (68,756)

Head Coach: Steve Nicol

Star Players: Shalrie Joseph,

Former Stars: Steve Ralston, Mike Burns, Joe-Max Moore, Taylor Twellman

Trophies: U.S. Open Cup (2007), North American SuperLiga (2008)

Rivals: New York Red Bull, DC United, Chicago Fire

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: New York Red Bulls

Nicknames: Red Bulls, Metro

Founded: 1995 (as NY/NJ MetroStars)

City: Harrison, New Jersey

Stadium: Red Bull Arena (25,189)

Head Coach: Hans Backe

Star Players: Thierry Henry, Dwayne De Rosario,

Former Stars: Juan Pablo Angel, Jozy Altidore, Clint Mathis,

Trophies:

Rivals: D.C. United, Philadelphia Union, New England Revolution, Los Angeles Galaxy

Affiliations: FC Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Red Bull Brasil

 

 

 

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Name: Philadelphia Union

Nicknames: Zolos, The U

Founded: 2008

City: Chester, Pennsylvania

Stadium: PPL Park (18,500)

Head Coach: Piotr Nowak

Star Players: Sebastian Le Toux, Faryd Mondragon

Former Stars:

Trophies:

Rivals: Red Bull New York, D.C. United

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Sporting Kansas City

Nicknames: Sporting, Sporting KC, Wizards, The Wiz, KC

Founded: 1995 (as Kansas City Wiz)

City: Kansas City, Missouri

Stadium: Livestrong Sporting Park (18,500)

Head Coach: Peter Vermes

Star Players: Davy Arnaud, Teal Bunbury

Former Stars: Preki, Kerry Zavagnin, Mo Johnston

Trophies: MLS Cup (2000), MLS Supporter's Shield (2000), U.S. Open Cup (2004)

Rivals: Colorado Rapids, Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, Los Angeles Galaxy

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Toronto FC

Nicknames: Reds, TFC

Founded: 2006

City: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Stadium: BMO Field (23,000)

Head Coach: Aron Winter

Star Players: Maicon Santos, Stefan Frei, Julian de Guzman

Former Stars: Dwayne De Rosario, Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson, Maurice Edu

Trophies: Canadian Championship (2009, 2010)

Rivals: Columbus Crew, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Club Deportivo Chivas USA

Nicknames: Red-and-White, Goats, Rojiblancos

Founded: 2004

City: Carson, California

Stadium: The Home Depot Center (27,000)

Head Coach: Robin Fraser

Star Players: Jimmy Conrad, Ante Jazic

Former Stars: Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan, Jonathan Bornstein

Trophies:

Rivals: Los Angeles Galaxy, CD Guadalajara, San Jose Earthquakes

Affiliations: CD Guadalajara

 

 

 

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Name: Colorado Rapids

Nicknames:

Founded: 1996

City: Commerce City, Colorado

Stadium: Dick's Sporting Goods Park

Head Coach: Gary Smith

Star Players: Pablo Mastroeni, Caleb Folan, Conor Casey

Former Stars: Shaun Bartlet, Marcelo Balboa, Marcus Hahnemann

Trophies: MLS Cup (2010)

Rivals: Real Salt Lake

Affiliations: Arsenal, CF Pachuca

 

 

 

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Name: FC Dallas

Nicknames: FCD, Hoops, Red Stripes, Toros, Burn, The Branders, Dallas 96

Founded: 1996 (as Dallas Burn)

City: Frisco, Texas

Stadium: Pizza Hut Park (20,500)

Head Coach: Schellas Hyndman

Star Players: Daniel Hernandez, David Ferreira, Brek Shea

Former Stars: Carlos Ruiz, Jason Kreis,

Trophies: U.S. Open Cup (1997)

Rivals: Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, Colorado Rapids

Affiliations:

 

 

 

 

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Name: Los Angeles Galaxy

Nicknames: Galaxy, Los Galacticos

Founded: 1995

City: Carson, California

Stadium: The Home Depot Center (27,000)

Head Coach: Bruce Arena

Star Players: David Beckham, Landon Donovan

Former Stars: Cobi Jones, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Edson Buddle, Ezra Hendrickson, Kevin Hartman

Trophies: CONCACAF Champions Cup (2000), MLS Cup (2002, 2005), MLS Supporters' Shield (1998, 2002, 2010), U.S. Open Cup (2001, 2005)

Rivals: CD Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes, D.C. United

Affiliations: Chelsea

 

 

 

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Name: Portland Timbers

Nicknames: The Timbers

Founded: 2009 (original club founded 2001)

City: Portland, Oregon

Stadium: Jeld-Wen Field (18,627)

Head Coach: John Spencer

Star Players: Ryan Pore

Former Stars:

Trophies:

Rivals: Seattle Sounders FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Real Salt Lake

Nicknames: Claret and Cobalt, Royals, RSL, Real, Monarcas, La Realesa

Founded: 2004

City: Sandy, Utah

Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium (20,008)

Head Coach: Jason Kreis

Star Players: Alvaro Saborio, Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando

Former Stars: Eddie Pope, Jason Kreis, Robbie Findlay, Clint Mathis

Trophies: MLS Cup (2009)

Rivals: Colorado Rapids, Los Angeles Galaxy, CD Chivas USA

Affiliations: Real Madrid

 

 

 

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Name: San Jose Earthquakes

Nicknames: Quakes, The Boys in Blue, Los Terremotos de San Jose

Founded: 1995 (as San Jose Clash)

City: Santa Clara, California

Stadium: Buck Shaw Stadium (10,300)

Head Coach: Frank Yallop

Star Players: Ramiro Corrales, Bobby Convey

Former Stars: Landon Donovan, Joe Cannon, Darren Huckerby, Ronald Cerritos, John Doyle

Trophies: MLS Cup (2001, 2003), MLS Supporter's Shield (2005)

Rivals: Los Angeles Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, Seattle Sounders FC

Affiliations: Tottenham Hotspur

 

 

 

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Name: Seattle Sounders FC

Nicknames: The Sounders, Rave Green

Founded: 2007 (original team founded 1994)

City: Seattle, Washington

Stadium: Qwest Field (35,700 or 67,000)

Head Coach: Sigi Schmid

Star Players: Fredy Montero, Kasey Keller

Former Stars: Sebastien Le Toux, Freddie Ljungberg

Trophies: U.S. Open Cup (2009, 2010)

Rivals: Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, D.C. United

Affiliations:

 

 

 

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Name: Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Nicknames: 'Caps, Blue and White

Founded: 2009 (original club founded 1986)

City: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Stadium: Empire Field (27,528), BC Place Stadium (22,000-54,500) after September 30, 2011

Head Coach: Teitur Thordarson

Star Players: Jay DeMerit, Eric Hassli

Former Stars: Martin Nash

Trophies:

Rivals: Seattle Sounders FC, Portland Timbers, Toronto FC

Affiliations:

 

 

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Name: Montreal Impact

Nicknames: Impact

Founded: 1992 (joining MLS in 2012)

City: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Stadium: Saputo Stadium (20,341)

Head Coach: Marc Dos Santos

Star Players: Ali Gerba

Former Stars: Mauro Biello, Adrian Cann. Jason de Vos, Greg Sutton,

Trophies: USL First Division (2004, 2009), Canadian Championship (2008)

Rivals: Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Affiliations:

 

 

 

 

5 - Leagues

 

In the United States, there are three levels of professional football, with two amateur levels below that.  Naturally the top league is Major League Soccer, but what about the lower leagues?  This section will be an overview of the various leagues at all five levels.

 

Level 1 - Major League Soccer

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/MLS.png

 

Major League Soccer is the top league in America and Canada.  It attracts all of the top North American player and has helped a lot in developing the American national team.  In the past few years it has even managed to attract some big name players like David Beckham and Thierry Henry in the later stages of their careers, provided a big publicity boost for the league.

 

Level 2 - North American Soccer League

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/NASL_Logo.png

 

This is not the old NASL, but a new league with the same name.  This league consists of 8 teams.  Five in the US, two in Canada, and one in Puerto Rico.  The NASL was founded in 2009 when several clubs split from the United Soccer League after becoming dissatisfied with ownership.  The league originally did not get sanctioning from the United States Soccer Federation and in a temporary compromise a league consisting of both NASL and USL teams was created for a year called the USSF Division 2 Professional League.

 

The league was approved for its next season and it became the new second level of football in the US and Canada.

 

Current teams:

 

Atlanta Silverbacks

Carolina RailHawks

FC Edmonton

Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Montreal Impact (joining MLS in 2012)

NSC Minnesota Stars

Puerto Rico Islanders

FC Tampa Bay

 

Future teams:

 

Baltimore (formerly Crystal Palace Baltimore)

San Antonio Scorpions FC

 

Level 3 - USL Professional Division

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/USL_Pro_Logo.png

 

Also known as USL Pro, this division was created after a reorganization of the United Soccer League to become the third tier of US football.  It consists of teams from both of those divisions, as well as a few new teams.  Overall there are 12 teams, 11 in the US, and one in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

 

Current teams:

 

Antigua Barracuda

Charleston Battery

Charlotte Eagles

Dayton Dutch Lions (affiliated with FC Twente)

FC New York

Harrisburg City Islanders

Los Angeles Blues

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Orlando City

Richmond Kickers

Rochester Rhinos

Wilmington Hammerheads

 

Level 4 & 5 - Amateur Leagues

 

The bottom two levels consist of four leagues, all amateur.  In level 4 is the USL Premier Development League, where most of the future American and Canadian MLS players play here before moving onto college and the professional leagues.  Level 5 is mostly just the amateur adult leagues.

 

Canadian Soccer League

 

A semi-professional league in Canada.  CSL teams currently do not participate in the Canadian Championship, though the possibility remains for the future.

 

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/LHUSOpenCupLogo.png

 

Along with the MLS Cup, this is the top domestic cup in the US.  Was created in 1914 as the National Challenge Cup.  American teams are eligible to enter the competition, from MLS to amateur teams.  The two most successful clubs in its history are Bethlehem Steel FC and Maccabi Los Angeles, though that will certainly change once an MLS team surpasses them in total wins.

 

Qualificiation:

MLS - Finishing in the top 6 in the MLS standings (Canadian MLS teams are not eligibile).  The other 10 MLS teams play a qualification tournament, with the final two teams qualifying.

NASL - NASL teams are not eligible currently, but will most likely for next year.

USL Pro - All 11 USL Pro teams in America qualify

USL PDL - 9 teams from the USL Premier Development League's 54 eligible teams

NPSL - Four teams qualify

USASA - Eight teams in total qualify from the American amateur leagues

 

MLS Cup

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/MLSCup2011.jpg

 

The MLS Cup is the championship for MLS.  At the end of the MLS season, the top 8 teams qualified for a playoff.  The first round consists of a two leg aggregate, while the second and third round are a one game winner takes all match.  As of 2008, the winner of the MLS Cup is entitled to wear the MLS Scudetto patch for the following season.

 

MLS Supporters' Shield

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/Supporters_Shield.jpg

 

The MLS Supporters' Shield was created in 1998.  MLS originally had no prize for the top team in the regular season.  The idea was started by a fan as a result of his team having the best record in the regular season, but failing to win the MLS Cup.  No progress was made until the following year when another group tried to revive the idea.  However, MLS refused to provide any money towards it, so a fundraising effort was conducted among fans of every MLS team.  Eventually enough money was raised to purchase a trophy, and since 2000 the Supporters' Shield has officially been presented to the team with the best record at the end of the regular season.\

 

Canadian Championship

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/Nutrilitecc.jpg

 

The Canadian Championship was created in 2008 in an effort to determine the top team in Canada and the Canadian representative in the North American Champions League.  Currently 4 teams compete from 2 different leagues.  Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps Fc from MLS and Montreal Impact and FC Edmonton from NASL.

 

The tournament is a two round aggregate goal series, with the reigning champion taking on the lowest seeded team, this year Edmonton as it is their first year in the tournament.  The two winners of the first round meet up in another two game aggregate matchup, with the winner becoming the Canadian Champion.

 

CONCACAF Champions League

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/CONCACAF_CL_logo.png

 

The CONCACAF Champions League is the North American equivalent to the UEFA Champions League.  A total of 16 qualify for the preliminary round and the 8 winners of that round qualify for the group stage.  Mexican teams tend to dominate the competition, having won 8 of the last 10 competitions.

 

Qualification for the Champions League:

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/clqual-1.png

 

That is the qualification for the 2010 Champions League, showing how many spots every country gets and how each of those slots is determined.  The Caribbean countries play their own tournament which acts as a qualifier to the Champions League, with the top three teams from that entering the Champions League.  Nicaragua and Belize don't seem to be able to match CONCACAF stadium requirements, so their spots (1 each) go to other Central American countries.

 

Seedings:

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/clround.png

 

North American SuperLiga

 

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb79/subesia/MLS/SuperLiga.png

 

The North American SuperLiga is a secondary competition, kind of like the Europa League.  The top four American MLS teams not already qualified for the Champions League face off against the top four Mexican teams not already qualified for the Champions League qualify.  Only American and Mexican teams compete.  It starts with two groups of four teams, with the top two winners from each group advancing to a one game semifinal and 1 game final.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

I was tempted to post a link to this thread, but resisted. It is a somewhat good guide, I would recommend it people who didn't know the sport. I shall PM it to Mike later on.

[cubaricho]

A version of the Timbers has been around since the 70s (NASL), if I remember correctly.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

A version of the Timbers has been around since the 70s (NASL), if I remember correctly.

 

Yup. Wille Donachie (Newcastle Coach) used to play for them. Peter Beardsley used to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Former Newcastle GK Coach Paul Barron used to coach in the North-West of America, and had some loose ties with Seattle Sounders (and used to train Kasey Keller before he moved to the UK). John Carver was former manager of Toronto, Laurent Robert and former Fitness Coach Paul Winsper were also part of the team.

 

Babayaro had a brief spell with LA Galaxy, which was also briefly managed by former Newcastle manager Ruud Gulliet. Both of them were rubbish and fired. Though he did employ Warren Barton to head their youth coaching. Barton now part owns, and manages, NPSL team San Diego Flash.

 

Former bit part Toon player Darren Huckerby was welcomed like the second coming of Christ (or David Beckham) when he moved to join the MLS side San Jose Earthquake for one season.

[cubaricho]

Not the MLS, but I am about to head out for the USL final featuring Orlando City.  Pretty excited to see what they have to offer (only have ever seen them play once, against Newcastle).

[SEMTEX]

Winless in their last 5 Philly @ Salt Lake now. NEED to win.

[cubaricho]

Orlando hit a nice goal in the 88th minute, 1-0.  Orlando let's in corner in 90+5. 

[SEMTEX]

Good. I guess im supporting Harrisburg.

 

Anyway, rathair tramp fuck just cracked one in from 20+ yards. Shithead.

[cubaricho]

Wow that was a wrenching match.

 

Orlando scores in the 88th minute, think they have it wrapped up, some busch league defending and Harrisburg score in the 90+5.  They score again 5 minutes into extra time.  With about two minutes left Orlando gets a big shout at a pk but it gets waved away (it was a clear penalty to be honest).  A few seconds later a long ball into the box causes more havoc, another shout (albeit really soft) and gets the PK.  Score the pk.  Two minutes later the whistle blows for full time on extra time.  Orlando wins 3-2 on pks.  Crazy stuff.

[cubaricho]

Good article about Inchy and Orlando City: http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,13283_7143519,00.html

[SEMTEX]

LOST to salt lake. Getting tiring now. 6 games without a win.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

LOST to salt lake. Getting tiring now. 6 games without a win.

 

I'll have words next June.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Bobby Rhine has passed away at 35.

[SEMTEX]

Free tickets from a friend who can't go, and it's Dollar Dog Night tonight... suhweeet.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

That's a good friend. 

[Guest Heneage]

Unfortunately DC are away the three weeks I'm here, but I'm going to a training session in two weeks which should be cool. Definitely want to pick up some gear here too.

 

Did anyone watch KC Galaxy other night? Thought KC got robbed.

[Guest Heneage]

Philly getting humped 4-1. Not such a good friend. 

[SEMTEX]

Drew 4-4.  

 

Football is a tiring pastime.

 

I need my bed.

 

Was awesome, we were total shit in defence, they were always there for the taking. Should've won 8-4 or something ridiculous like that.

[Guest Heneage]

I kept flicking between that and Storage Wars. Was still a great game, do you think they've stopped the rot Dan?

[cubaricho]

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2011/09/08/2534291/a-comprehensive-breakdown-of-available-cities-for-the-20th

 

Orlando, Florida

 

Population rank: 79th

Sports franchises: NBA

Current soccer franchise: Orlando City Soccer Club (USL)

 

Positives: Orlando City just won the USL championship in the past week over Harrisburg City. During the season, the club averaged over 6,000 in attendance, with a high of 11,220 in the championship game. The club actually had a winning record against MLS teams in the preseason, defeating both the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC. Home games are currently played in the Citrus Bowl, which seats 70,000 and recently underwent renovations. Orlando City is owned by director of English Premier League club Stoke City, Phil Rawlins.

 

Negatives: With the two failed franchises in Florida, it would seem that the MLS is hesitant to return to the Sunshine state. However, that does not seem to be the case for Orlando, which has not fielded team like Tampa and Miami. While the city might not routinely bring 36,000+ to the football stadium like Seattle, Orlando has shown it can provide the numbers Commissioner Garber wants in a new team.

 

Robison’s take: Orlando has surged past the other cities listed over the past year. With a successful 2011 season, both in play and in attendance, the overwhelming support for the city’s introduction to MLS has escalated the club to the top of the ranks along with New York and St. Louis. This looks like this could be the destination of the next franchise in 2013.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Thought it was an unwritten rule that Cosmos had the 20th slot?