MLS Cup

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The Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy
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The Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy

The MLS Cup is the final game of the Major League Soccer postseason, officially recognized as the championship of the league. The trophy is called the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy, after the founding chairman of MLS. The MLS Cup winner, along with the MLS Supporters' Shield winner or runner-up (if the Cup winner also wins the Shield), represents the United States in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. [1]

Contents

[edit] Previous finals

Year Date Played Winning Team Reg. Season Losing Team Reg. Season Score Location City Att.
1996 October 20 D.C. United 2nd, East Los Angeles Galaxy 1st, West 3-2 (aet) Foxboro Stadium Foxborough, MA 34,643
1997 October 26 D.C. United 1st, East Colorado Rapids 4th, West 2-1 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 57,431^
1998 October 25 Chicago Fire 2nd, West D.C. United 1st, East 2-0 Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA 51,350
1999 November 21 D.C. United 1st, East Los Angeles Galaxy 1st, West 2-0 Foxboro Stadium Foxborough, MA 44,910
2000 October 15 Kansas City Wizards 1st, West Chicago Fire 1st, Central 1-0 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 39,159
2001 October 21 San Jose Earthquakes 2nd, West Los Angeles Galaxy 1st, West 2-1 (aet) Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus, OH 21,626
2002 October 20 Los Angeles Galaxy 1st, West New England Revolution 1st, East 1-0 (aet) Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA 61,316^
2003 November 23 San Jose Earthquakes 1st, West Chicago Fire 1st, East 4-2 Home Depot Center Carson, CA 27,000^
2004 November 14 D.C. United 2nd, East Kansas City Wizards 1st, West 3-2 Home Depot Center Carson, CA 25,797
2005 November 13 Los Angeles Galaxy 4th, West New England Revolution 1st, East 1-0 (aet) Pizza Hut Park Frisco, TX 21,193^
2006 November 12 Houston Dynamo 2nd, West New England Revolution 2nd, East 1-1 (aet, 4-3 pks) Pizza Hut Park Frisco, TX 22,427^

^ Sell-out crowd

[edit] MLS Cup successes by club

Club[2] Winners Runners-Up
D.C. United 4 1
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 3
San Jose Earthquakes 2 0
Chicago Fire 1 2
Kansas City Wizards 1 1
Houston Dynamo 1 0
New England Revolution 0 3
Colorado Rapids 0 1

[edit] MLS scudetto

Los Angeles Galaxy jersey for 2006 season. MLS Scudetto and a star over the team's shield are used.
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Los Angeles Galaxy jersey for 2006 season. MLS Scudetto and a star over the team's shield are used.

For the 2006 season, MLS created their version of the scudetto (Italian: "small shield"), a symbol worn on the jersey by the team who won the previous season's Serie A (the top Italian league).

The MLS scudetto is a curved, triangular badge featuring a backdrop of the American flag behind a replica of the Alan I. Rothenberg MLS Cup trophy. The MLS scudetto is worn by the winning team the season following the victory. It is only during the subsequent season (two years after winning the championship), that the team adds a star — a common soccer signifier of titles won — above the team logo. The team can display the star on other items beside their jersey in the year after winning the Cup, but only if the scudetto is not shown.

The 2005 MLS Cup champion, the Los Angeles Galaxy, was the first team to wear the scudetto and will receive a second star above the team shield on the jersey during the 2007 season[1].

[edit] Most Valuable Player Award recipients

The first MLS Cup, hoisted by John Harkes of D.C. United
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The first MLS Cup, hoisted by John Harkes of D.C. United
Year Winner Position Team
1996 Marco Etcheverry Midfielder D.C. United
1997 Jaime Moreno Forward D.C. United
1998 Peter Nowak Midfielder Chicago Fire
1999 Ben Olsen Midfielder D.C. United
2000 Tony Meola Goalkeeper Kansas City Wizards
2001 Dwayne De Rosario Forward San Jose Earthquakes
2002 Carlos Ruiz Forward Los Angeles Galaxy
2003 Landon Donovan Midfielder San Jose Earthquakes
2004 Alecko Eskandarian Forward D.C. United
2005 Guillermo Ramírez Midfielder Los Angeles Galaxy
2006 Brian Ching Forward Houston Dynamo

[edit] Halftime shows

[edit] Trivia

  • The most successful team in MLS Cup playoffs: D.C. United, winning the title four times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2004).
  • The only team to have successfully defended the MLS Cup: D.C. United (1996, 1997).
  • D.C. United qualified for four successive MLS Cup finals between 1996 to 1999, a standing record as of 2006.
  • Teams with most appearances (5) in MLS Cup finals:
    DC United: 4 Wins (1996, 1997, 1999, 2004); 1 Loss (1998).
    Los Angeles Galaxy: 2 Wins (2002, 2005); 3 Losses (1996, 1999, 2001).
  • Only 2 teams captured the MLS Cup after winning every game in the playoffs:
    D.C. United (won all 5 postseason games in 1997).
    Chicago Fire (won all 5 postseason games in 1998).
  • The Cup winner who lost the most playoff games was Kansas City Wizards, with 2 losses (once in regulation, once PK) in 2000. The runner-up who lost the most playoff games was Chicago Fire, with 3 losses (all in regulation), also in 2000.
  • The MLS Cup winner with the worst regular-season record was Los Angeles Galaxy in 2005; they finished 4th in the Western Conference and 9th of 12 overall, with a 0.500 record (13-13-6) and negative (-1) goal difference (44-45). The MLS Cup winner with the 2nd-worst regular-season record was D.C. United in 2004, who finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 4th of 10 overall, with a 0.524 record (11-10-9) and a goal difference of just +1 (43-42); on the basis of points earned per game, the United of 2004 actually performed worse than the Galaxy of 2005. The 3rd-worst regular-season record was that of D.C. United in 1996; they finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd of 10 overall, with a 0.536 record (15-13-4)[3] and a goal difference of +6 (62-56).
  • The MLS Cup runner-up with the worst regular-season record was Colorado Rapids in 1997, finishing 4th in the Western Conference and 7th of 10 overall, with a 0.444 record (12-15-5)[4] and a negative goal difference (50-59)! The 2nd-worst regular-season record for an MLS Cup runner-up was that of the New England Revolution in 2002 - they finished 1st in the Eastern Conference but only 5th out of 10 teams overall, with a 0.462 record (12-14-2) and a zero goal difference (49-49).
  • The MLS Cup winners who almost achieved the treble (i.e. Shield, playoffs and Open Cup), but lost in the US Open Cup final:
    D.C. United (1997) and
    Los Angeles Galaxy (2002).
  • All but two MLS Cup finals (2001, 2006) involved at least a team that finished in the top two overall during the regular season. Some finals even featured both the Shield winners and runners-up (1999, 2000, 2003).
  • Interestingly, the inaugural MLS Cup (1996) was, to this point, the only one in which both teams were making their championship game debut.
  • Up to 2005, Los Angeles Galaxy had been the only team to have qualified for playoffs every season. However, this proud record has come to an end in 2006, as they were knocked out of the playoffs for the first time in their 11-year history.[6]
  • San Jose Earthquakes was the only previous champion winning every final it contested (2001, 2003). Also, any time that San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the playoffs, it either went all the way to win the Cup or lost out in the conference semifinals.
  • It is an interesting fact that all but one MLS Cup winners also rank (1st to 5th) above every other team who have never won the MLS Cup, based on all-time PPG in the regular season, the only exception being Kansas City Wizards (8th).

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "MLS announces competition changes for 2006"
    http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060214&content_id=52200&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp
  2. ^ The latest names are used for franchises who had name changes,e.g. FC Dallas was formerly known as Dallas Burn.
  3. ^ Based on W-L-T convention, PK scores excluded. Their record was only 0.500 (16-16), if PK scores were included.
  4. ^ Based on W-L-T convention, PK scores excluded. Their record was only 0.438 (14-18), if PK scores were included.
  5. ^ An MLS First For 2006: http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/
  6. ^ Galaxy playoff hopes erased by FCD http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20061008&content_id=75057&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp


MLS Cup
1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007


Major League Soccer 2007

Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire | Columbus Crew | D.C. United
Kansas City Wizards | New England Revolution
Red Bull New York | Toronto FC

Western Conference
C.D. Chivas USA | Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas | Houston Dynamo
Los Angeles Galaxy | Real Salt Lake

Defunct teams
Miami Fusion | Tampa Bay Mutiny
On hiatus
San Jose Earthquakes
Miscellaneous

MLS Cup | All-Star Game | USSF | CSA | Central Division | U.S. Open Cup 
Supporters' Shield | MLS two-team Cups | Current Players | Foreign Players | MLS Drafts | MLS Stadiums

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