MLS Supporters' Shield 1123365 219057224 2008-06-13T11:09:16Z 74.237.125.244 /* Amount of Supporters' Shields by Club */ fixed grammatical error [[Image:Supporters shield.jpg|thumb|135px|right|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 [[National Hockey League|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 [[Soccer#Domestic competitions|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 [[Major League Soccer 1998 Season|1998 season]]. It was retroactively awarded to Tampa Bay and D.C. United for the 1996 and 1997 season. Since the [[2000 Major League Soccer season|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.<ref>MLS Tiebreaker: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-177500.html</ref> These are standard MLS regulations for breaking ties in point totals.<ref>MLS Cup Playoff Format and Team-Standings Tie-Breakers: http://web.mlsnet.com/about/league.jsp?section=regulations&content=playoffs</ref> 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.<ref>Jeepers, Some Wishes Really Do Come True! http://www.wecallitsoccer.com/archives/001032.html</ref> If the Supporters Shield winner also wins the MLS Cup, the team with the second-most points qualifies as well.<ref>MLS announces competition changes for 2006 <br>http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060214&content_id=52200&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp</ref> ==Winners of the Supporters' Shield== {| class="wikitable sortable" !style="background:#ccccff;"|Year <br> !style="background:#ccccff;"|Winners <br> !style="background:#ccccff;"|Records <br> (W-L-T) <br><ref>From season [[Major League Soccer 1996 Season|1996]] to [[Major League Soccer 1999 Season|1999]], games tied in 90 minutes were followed by shootouts.<br>From season [[Major League Soccer 2000 Season|2000]] onwards, games tied are allowed to stand.</ref> !style="background:#ccccff;"|Points <br> <ref>From season [[Major League Soccer 1996 Season|1996]] to [[Major League Soccer 1999 Season|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.<br>From season [[Major League Soccer 2000 Season|2000]] onwards, 3 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 point for a loss.</ref> !style="background:#ccffff;"|Runners-up <br> !style="background:#ccffff;"|Records <br> (W-L-T) <br> !style="background:#ccffff;"|Points <br> |- |[[Major League Soccer 1996 Season|1996]] || [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]] || 20-12<ref>Its 12 losses stand as the all-time highest regular season record for winners.</ref> || 58 || [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] || 19-13 || 49 |- |[[Major League Soccer 1997 Season|1997]] || [[D.C. United]] || 21-11<ref>Its 53 goals conceded stand as the all-time highest regular season record for winners.</ref> || 55 || [[Kansas City Wizards]] || 21-11 || 49 |- |[[Major League Soccer 1998 Season|1998]] || [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] || 24-8 || 68<ref> 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.</ref> || [[D.C. United]] || 24-8 || 58 |- |[[Major League Soccer 1999 Season|1999]] || [[D.C. United]] || 23-9 || 57 || [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] || 20-12 || 54 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2000 Season|2000]] || [[Kansas City Wizards]] || 16-7-9<ref>Its 29 goals conceded stand as the all-time lowest regular season record.</ref> || 57<ref>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.</ref> || [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|Chicago Fire]] || 17-9-6 || 57 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]] || [[Miami Fusion]] || 16-5-5<ref>28-games season. The 2001 season was cut short by the attacks of [[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11th]].</ref> || 53<ref>At that time, the [[Miami Fusion]] had 53 points from 26 games, and the [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|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 (soccer)|Chicago Fire]].</ref> || [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|Chicago Fire]] || 16-6-5 || 53 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2002 Season|2002]] || [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] || 16-9-3<ref>28-games season</ref> || 51 || [[San Jose Earthquakes]] || 14-11-3 || 45 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2003 Season|2003]] || [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|Chicago Fire]] || 15-7-8<ref>30-games season</ref> || 53 || [[San Jose Earthquakes]] || 14-7-9 || 51 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2004 Season|2004]] || [[Columbus Crew]] || 12-5-13<ref>30-games season.</ref> || 49<ref>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.</ref> || [[Kansas City Wizards]] || 14-9-7 || 49 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2005 Season|2005]] || [[San Jose Earthquakes]] || 18-4-10<ref>Its 4 losses stand as the all-time lowest regular season record.</ref> || 64<ref>Its 46-point gap over the bottom team stands as the all-time highest regular season record.</ref> || [[New England Revolution]] || 17-7-8 || 59 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2006 Season|2006]] || [[D.C. United]] || 15-7-10 || 55 || [[FC Dallas]] || 16-12-4 || 52 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2007 season|2007]] || [[D.C. United]] || 16-7-7 || 55 || [[Chivas USA]] || 15-7-8 || 53 |- |[[Major League Soccer 2008 season|2008]] || TBD || || || TBD || || |} ==Qualifications of the MLS Supporters' Shield== * See [[Major_League_Soccer_records_and_statistics#Regular_Season_Successes_By_Club|Regular_Season_Successes_By_Club]] ==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 [[Major League Soccer 1996 Season|1996]], [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]] won the first Supporters' Shield,<ref>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</ref> but could not achieve much successes in the next few seasons, either by missing the playoffs ([[Major League Soccer 1998 Season|1998]], [[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]]) or getting knocked out in the Conference Semifinals ([[Major League Soccer 1997 Season|1997]], [[Major League Soccer 1999 Season|1999]], [[Major League Soccer 2000 Season|2000]]). They eventually folded after the [[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]] season. * In [[Major League Soccer 1999 Season|1999]], [[D.C. United]] won the Supporters' Shield, but missed the playoffs in the next season, finishing last in the [[MLS Eastern Conference|Eastern Conference]] (11th out of 12 overall). In fact they also failed to make the playoffs in [[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]] (last in the Eastern Conference, 10th out of 12) and [[Major League Soccer 2002 Season|2002]] (last in the Eastern Conference, 10th out of 10), while barely made the playoffs in [[Major League Soccer 2003 Season|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 (soccer)|Chicago Fire]] in the Conference Semifinals with 2 straight losses. * In [[Major League Soccer 2000 Season|2000]], [[Kansas City Wizards]] won the Supporters' Shield, but barely made the playoffs in the next season, finishing 2nd last in the [[MLS Western Conference|Western Conference]] (7th out of 12), and they were knocked out by [[Miami Fusion]] in the Conference Semifinals. In [[Major League Soccer 2002 Season|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 [[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]], [[Miami Fusion]] won the Supporters' Shield, but folded the next season. * In [[Major League Soccer 2002 Season|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 [[Major League Soccer 2003 Season|2003]], [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|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 [[Major League Soccer 2004 Season|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 [[Major League Soccer 2006 Season|2006]], with an even worse record (last in the Eastern Conference, 12th out of 12). The Crew were significantly improved in [[2007 Major League Soccer season|2007]], but still missed out on the playoffs. * In [[Major League Soccer 2005 Season|2005]], [[San Jose Earthquakes]] won the Supporters' Shield, but were relocated the following season to [[Houston]] (as a brand new franchise: [[Houston Dynamo]]) without inheriting the franchise's successful history (especially being two-time winners of the [[MLS Cup]] in [[Major League Soccer 2001 Season|2001]] and [[Major League Soccer 2003 Season|2003]]). In [[2007 Major League Soccer season|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 (soccer)|Chicago Fire]] in the first round of the playoffs. == Number of Supporters' Shields by Club == 4: [[D.C. United]]<p> 2: [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] <p> 1: [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]] (defunct), [[Kansas City Wizards]], [[Miami Fusion]] (defunct), [[Chicago Fire (soccer)|Chicago Fire]], [[Columbus Crew]], [[San Jose Earthquakes]] ==Notes== <div class="references-small"> <references/> </div> ==External links== *[http://www.mlsnet.com/about/ Supporters' Shield Info on MLSnet.com] *[http://www.supportersshield.com/ SUPPORTERS SHIELD Site] *[http://www.mbovin.com/soccerdb/league/latest.php?countryId=14 Latest MLS Combined Standings] *[http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/tellme/index.html?article_id=310 What is the Supporters Shield?] {{fb start}} {{Major League Soccer}} {{fb end}} [[Category:Major League Soccer|Supporters' Shield]] [[ca:Escut dels seguidors de la MLS]] [[de:MLS Supporter's Shield]] [[es:MLS Supporters' Shield]] [[fr:MLS Supporters' Shield]] [[it:MLS Supporters' Shield]] [[he:מגן הקהילה ב-MLS]] [[nl:MLS Supporters' Shield]] [[pt:MLS Supporters' Shield]] [[zh:美国足球大联盟支持者盾杯]]