2nd season of Major League Soccer
Football league season
1997 Major League Soccer seasonSeason | 1997 |
---|
MLS Cup | D.C. United (2nd title) |
---|
Supporters' Shield | D.C. United (1st shield) |
---|
CONCACAF Champions' Cup | D.C. United Colorado Rapids |
---|
Matches played | 160 |
---|
Goals scored | 522 (3.26 per match) |
---|
Top goalscorer | Jaime Moreno (16 goals) |
---|
Longest winning run | Kansas City Wizards Games: 7 (07/19 – 08/31) |
---|
Longest losing run | New England Revolution Games: 9 (07/20 – 09/12) |
---|
Highest attendance | 57,407 NE 2–1 TB (April 20, 1997) |
---|
Lowest attendance | 4,120 COL 1–0 DAL (April 23, 1997) |
---|
Total attendance | 2,336,889 |
---|
Average attendance | 14,606 |
---|
|
class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams for the 1997 Major League Soccer season
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/ButtonRed.svg/8px-ButtonRed.svg.png)
Western Conference
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/ButtonBlue.svg/8px-ButtonBlue.svg.png)
Eastern Conference
The 1997 Major League Soccer season was the second season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 85th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 19th with a national first-division league.
Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the Wizards, following legal action from electronics retailer The Wiz.
The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on September 28. The 1997 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 4, and concluded with MLS Cup 1997 on October 26. D.C. United won their first Supporters' Shield and defended their MLS Cup championship becoming the first team to win back-to-back cups.
Overview
Season format
The season began on March 22 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 26. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, for a total of 16 games. The rest of the schedule consisted of three games against each team from the opposite conference, with four games against one designated team.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
Team | Stadium | Capacity |
Colorado Rapids | Mile High Stadium | 76,273 |
Columbus Crew | Ohio Stadium | 102,329 |
D.C. United | RFK Stadium | 46,000 |
Dallas Burn | Cotton Bowl | 92,100 |
Kansas City Wizards | Arrowhead Stadium | 81,425 |
Los Angeles Galaxy | Rose Bowl | 92,542 |
New England Revolution | Foxboro Stadium | 60,292 |
NY/NJ MetroStars | Giants Stadium | 80,200 |
San Jose Clash | Spartan Stadium | 30,456 |
Tampa Bay Mutiny | Houlihan's Stadium | 74,301 |
Personnel and sponsorships
Coaching changes
Standings
Eastern Conference
Source: MLS
Western Conference
Source: MLS
Overall standings
Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
- The ties were a best-of-three series.
Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference
Attendance: 12,540
Referee: Tim Weyland
- D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals.
Attendance: 8,272
Referee: Noel Kenny
Attendance: 13,102
Referee: Joshua Patlak
- Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals.
Western Conference
- Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals.
Attendance: 10,174
Referee: Brian Hall
- Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals.
Conference finals
Western Conference
Attendance: 18,452
Referee: Noel Kenny
- Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup.
Eastern Conference
- D.C. United advance to MLS Cup.
MLS Cup
Attendance: 57,431
Referee: Brian Hall
Player statistics
Goals
Hat-tricks
Assists
Clean sheets
Awards
Individual awards
Best XI
Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
Brad Friedel, Columbus | Jeff Agoos, D.C. United
Thomas Dooley, Columbus
Richard Gough, Kansas City
Eddie Pope, D.C. United | Mark Chung, Kansas City
Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
Preki, Kansas City
Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay | Ronald Cerritos, San Jose
Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |
Player of the Month
Weekly awards
Attendance
Rank | Team | GP | Cumulative | High | Low | Mean |
1 | New England Revolution | 16 | 340,762 | 57,407 | 10,242 | 21,298 |
2 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 16 | 330,015 | 53,147 | 7,232 | 20,626 |
3 | NY/NJ MetroStars | 16 | 270,288 | 26,322 | 10,510 | 16,893 |
4 | D.C. United | 16 | 267,171 | 28,749 | 9,675 | 16,698 |
5 | Columbus Crew | 16 | 240,650 | 22,259 | 10,662 | 15,041 |
6 | San Jose Clash | 16 | 217,546 | 23,501 | 7,955 | 13,597 |
7 | Colorado Rapids | 16 | 189,355 | 36,252 | 4,120 | 11,835 |
8 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 16 | 181,322 | 18,070 | 6,984 | 11,333 |
9 | Dallas Burn | 16 | 154,845 | 16,089 | 4,451 | 9,678 |
10 | Kansas City Wizards | 16 | 144,935 | 12,485 | 6,272 | 9,058 |
Total | 160 | 2,336,889 | 57,407 | 4,120 | 14,606 |
References
- ^ a b Jones, Grahame L. (June 10, 1997). "Galaxy Dumps Osiander". Los Angeles Times. p. 37. Retrieved June 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Caldwell, Kevin (June 11, 1997). "Osiander out, Caligiuri in as Galaxy making changes". News-Pilot. p. 20. Retrieved June 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
|
---|
|
Eastern Conference | |
---|
Western Conference | |
---|
Future teams | |
---|
Former teams | |
---|
Personnel | |
---|
Competition | |
---|
Associated competitions | |
---|
Other | |
---|
Category Portal Multimedia |
1997 MLS season by team |
---|
|
Eastern | |
---|
Western | |
---|