MLS Supporters' Shield

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The MLS Supporters' Shield
The MLS Supporters' Shield

The Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system —- much like the Presidents' Trophy in the NHL. While MLS is similar to other North American sport leagues in that the winner of the end-of-season playoff final —- the MLS Cup —- is crowned league champion, fans wanted a way to recognize the team that would have become champion in a domestic soccer format: the team that scored the most points in league play over the regular season. To this end, the Supporters' Shield was created and first awarded following the 1998 season. It was retroactively awarded to Tampa Bay and D.C. United for the 1996 and 1997 season.

Since the 2000 season, the system of awarding points in the MLS is the same as the international standard, three points for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. In the event of an end-of-season tie in total accumulated points, the win-loss record of head-to-head matchups between the tied teams is used as the first tiebreaker, goal difference as the second, and the total number of goals scored as the third. Should these measures fail to resolve the tie, the fourth breaker takes the previous methods and applies them only to away games, the fifth does the same for games played at home, the sixth awards the title to the team with the fewest disciplinary points, and, failing that, the seventh and final tiebreaker is a coin toss.[1] These are standard MLS regulations for breaking ties in point totals.[2]

In February 2006, MLS decided that the Supporters' Shield winner and the MLS Cup winner will represent the United States in the CONCACAF Champions League and its' predecessor, the CONCAFAC Champions' Cup.[3] If the Supporters Shield winner also wins the MLS Cup, the team with the second-most points qualifies as well.[4]

Contents

[edit] Winners of the Supporters' Shield

Year
 Winners
 Records
(W-L-T)
[5]		 Points
[6]		 Runners-up
 Records
(W-L-T)
 Points
1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny 20-12[7] 58 Los Angeles Galaxy 19-13 49
1997 D.C. United 21-11[8] 55 Kansas City Wizards 21-11 49
1998 Los Angeles Galaxy 24-8 68[9] D.C. United 24-8 58
1999 D.C. United 23-9 57 Los Angeles Galaxy 20-12 54
2000 Kansas City Wizards 16-7-9[10] 57[11] Chicago Fire 17-9-6 57
2001 Miami Fusion 16-5-5[12] 53[13] Chicago Fire 16-6-5 53
2002 Los Angeles Galaxy 16-9-3[14] 51 San Jose Earthquakes 14-11-3 45
2003 Chicago Fire 15-7-8[15] 53 San Jose Earthquakes 14-7-9 51
2004 Columbus Crew 12-5-13[16] 49[17] Kansas City Wizards 14-9-7 49
2005 San Jose Earthquakes 18-4-10[18] 64[19] New England Revolution 17-7-8 59
2006 D.C. United 15-7-10 55 FC Dallas 16-12-4 52
2007 D.C. United 16-7-7 55 Chivas USA 15-7-8 53
2008 TBD TBD

[edit] Qualifications of the MLS Supporters' Shield

[edit] The Supporters' Shield's jinx

On several occasions, the Supporters' Shield winners have in fact faltered badly in the next season(s), notable examples were:

  • In 1996, Tampa Bay Mutiny won the first Supporters' Shield,[20] but could not achieve much successes in the next few seasons, either by missing the playoffs (1998, 2001) or getting knocked out in the Conference Semifinals (1997, 1999, 2000). They eventually folded after the 2001 season.
  • In 1999, D.C. United won the Supporters' Shield, but missed the playoffs in the next season, finishing last in the Eastern Conference (11th out of 12 overall). In fact they also failed to make the playoffs in 2001 (last in the Eastern Conference, 10th out of 12) and 2002 (last in the Eastern Conference, 10th out of 10), while barely made the playoffs in 2003, finishing 2nd last (just a point ahead of last-placed Columbus Crew) in the Eastern Conference (7th out of 10), and they were knocked out by Chicago Fire in the Conference Semifinals with 2 straight losses.
  • In 2000, Kansas City Wizards won the Supporters' Shield, but barely made the playoffs in the next season, finishing 2nd last in the Western Conference (7th out of 12), and they were knocked out by Miami Fusion in the Conference Semifinals. In 2002 they barely made the playoffs as well, despite finishing last in the Western Conference (8th out of 10), and they were knocked out by Los Angeles Galaxy in the Conference Semifinals.
  • In 2002, Los Angeles Galaxy won the Supporters' Shield, but barely made the playoffs in the next season, finishing 2nd last in the Western Conference (9th out of 10), and they were knocked out by San Jose Earthquakes in the Conference Semifinals, having actually taken a 4-goals aggregate lead in the tie.
  • In 2003, Chicago Fire won the Supporters' Shield, but missed the playoffs in the next season, finishing last in the Eastern Conference (10th out of 10).
  • In 2004, Columbus Crew won the Supporters' Shield, but missed the playoffs in the next season, finishing last in the Eastern Conference (10th out of 12). They again failed to make the playoffs in 2006, with an even worse record (last in the Eastern Conference, 12th out of 12). The Crew were significantly improved in 2007, but still missed out on the playoffs.

In 2007, D.C. United arguably has broken the Supporters' Shield "jinx" by repeating as Supporters' Shield winner. They are the first club to successfully do so. However, they did subsequently fall to Chicago Fire in the first round of the playoffs.

[edit] Amount of Supporters' Shields by Club

4: D.C. United

2: Los Angeles Galaxy

1: Tampa Bay Mutiny (defunct), Kansas City Wizards, Miami Fusion (defunct), Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, San Jose Earthquakes

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ MLS Tiebreaker: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-177500.html
  2. ^ MLS Cup Playoff Format and Team-Standings Tie-Breakers: http://web.mlsnet.com/about/league.jsp?section=regulations&content=playoffs
  3. ^ Jeepers, Some Wishes Really Do Come True! http://www.wecallitsoccer.com/archives/001032.html
  4. ^ MLS announces competition changes for 2006
    http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060214&content_id=52200&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp
  5. ^ From season 1996 to 1999, games tied in 90 minutes were followed by shootouts.
    From season 2000 onwards, games tied are allowed to stand.
  6. ^ From season 1996 to 1999, 3 points were awarded for a win in 90 minutes, 1 point for a shootout win, and 0 point for a loss in 90 minutes or shootout.
    From season 2000 onwards, 3 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 point for a loss.
  7. ^ Its 12 losses stand as the all-time highest regular season record for winners.
  8. ^ Its 53 goals conceded stand as the all-time highest regular season record for winners.
  9. ^ Its 24 wins (22 of them in 90 minutes), 68 points, 85 goals scored, +41 goal difference and a 10-point gap over the runners-up, still stand as the all-time highest regular season records.
  10. ^ Its 29 goals conceded stand as the all-time lowest regular season record.
  11. ^ Tied with the Chicago Fire in points and still tied after the first tiebreaker (season record, head-to-head: one win and one loss each), KC had a goal differential of +18 to Chicago's +16.
  12. ^ 28-games season. The 2001 season was cut short by the attacks of September 11th.
  13. ^ At that time, the Miami Fusion had 53 points from 26 games, and the Chicago Fire 53 points from 27. The Miami Fusion also had a better head-to-head record (two 2-1 wins) against the Chicago Fire.
  14. ^ 28-games season
  15. ^ 30-games season
  16. ^ 30-games season.
  17. ^ Tied with Kansas City in points and still tied through the first two tiebreakers (head-to-head results stood at 1-1-1, goal differential at +8 apiece), the Crew had 40 total goals to KC's 38. Its 12 wins, 49 points, 40 goals scored, +8 goal difference, a 0-point gap over the runners-up and a 16-point gap over the bottom team, still stand as the all-time lowest regular season records.
  18. ^ Its 4 losses stand as the all-time lowest regular season record.
  19. ^ Its 46-point gap over the bottom team stands as the all-time highest regular season record.
  20. ^ Technically speaking, the very "first" Supporters' Shield was indeed awarded to 1998 Winners, Los Angeles Galaxy, in the year 1999. Tampa Bay Mutiny's trophy was awarded retroactively, see the following link for more details: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/printer_friendly/y2005/m10/d09/c45257.html

[edit] External links

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