1997 Major League Soccer season

2nd season of Major League Soccer August 2023 June 2024 1997 10 D.C. United (2nd title) D.C. United (1st shield) CONCACAF Champions' Cup D.C. UnitedColorado Rapids Jaime Moreno(16 goals) 160 522 Kansas City WizardsGames: 7(07/19 – 08/31) New England RevolutionGames: 9(07/20 – 09/12) 57,407NE 2–1 TB (April 20, 1997) 4,120COL 1–0 DAL (April 23, 1997) 2,336,889 14,606 1996 1998 United States 525 right Locations of teams for the 1997 Major League Soccer season8px Western Conference   8px Eastern Conference United States 38.889722 -76.971667 D.C. United bottom ButtonBlue.svg United States 40.737411 -74.153763 MetroStars left ButtonBlue.svg United States 27.978889 -82.503611 Tampa Bay top ButtonBlue.svg United States 40.009444 -82.991111 Columbus left ButtonBlue.svg United States 42.090833 -71.264444 New England top ButtonBlue.svg United States 39.35 -104.8918 Colorado top ButtonRed.svg United States 33.154444 -96.835278 Dallas right ButtonRed.svg United States 33.864444 -118.261111 Los Angeles bottom ButtonRed.svg United States 39.1218 -94.8237 Kansas City bottom ButtonRed.svg United States 37.350556 -121.936667 San Jose top ButtonRed.svg 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 List of Major League Soccer stadiums 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 Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Colorado Rapids USA Glenn Myernick Columbus Crew USA Tom Fitzgerald ARG Marcelo Carrera Snickers D.C. United USA Bruce Arena MasterCard Dallas Burn USA Dave Dir Kansas City Wizards ENG Ron Newman — Los Angeles Galaxy ECU Octavio Zambrano — New England Revolution NED Thomas Rongen — NY/NJ MetroStars BRA Carlos Alberto Parreira USA Tony Meola Fujifilm San Jose Clash IRL Brian Quinn USA John Doyle Honda Tampa Bay Mutiny POL John Kowalski Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Los Angeles Galaxy GER Lothar Osiander Fired June 10, 1997https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/148921177/ Galaxy Dumps Osiander Grahame L. Jones Los Angeles Times June 10, 1997 June 7, 2024 37 Newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot/148921315/ Osiander out, Caligiuri in as Galaxy making changes Kevin Caldwell News-Pilot June 11, 1997 June 7, 2024 20 Newspapers.com ECU Octavio Zambrano June 10, 1997 San Jose Clash ENG Laurie Calloway Fired June 25, 1997 IRL Brian Quinn June 25, 1997 Standings Eastern Conference Western Conference Overall standings MLS Cup playoffs Bracket The ties were a best-of-three series. 3/3/1 Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup Eastern Conference Western Conference 35px 170px 1 D.C. United 4 1 (4) x 4 New England Revolution 1 1 (3) x 2 Tampa Bay Mutiny 1 0 x 3 Columbus Crew 2 2 x 1 Kansas City Wizards 0 2 x 4 Colorado Rapids 3 3 x 2 LA Galaxy 0 (0) 0 x 3 Dallas Burn 0 (2) 3 x 1 D.C. United 3 1 x 3 Columbus Crew 2 0 x 4 Colorado Rapids 1 2 x 3 Dallas Burn 0 1 x 1 D.C. United 2 4 Colorado Rapids 1 Conference semifinals Eastern Conference October 5, 1997 Game 1 D.C. United 4 New England Revolution 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/99aeeee2/DC-United-New-England-Revolution-October-5-1997-Major-League-Soccer Wegerle 13 56 Moreno 65 76 Burns 89 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 12,540 Tim Weyland October 8, 1997 Game 2 New England Revolution 1 D.C. United 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/2380d931/New-England-Revolution-DC-United-October-8-1997-Major-League-Soccer Moore 72 Williams 53 Moore Burns Chronopoulos Galderisi Naveda Keegan McKinley 3–4 Etcheverry Moreno Kelderman Agoos Iroha Harkes Llamosa Foxboro Stadium Foxborough, Massachusetts 16,233 D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals. October 5, 1997 Game 1 Tampa Bay Mutiny 1 Columbus Crew 2 https://fbref.com/en/matches/3cda9f5c/Tampa-Bay-Mutiny-Columbus-Crew-October-5-1997-Major-League-Soccer Gilmar 35 Farrell 11 Wood 83 Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, Florida 8,272 Noel Kenny October 8, 1997 Game 2 Columbus Crew 2 Tampa Bay Mutiny 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/fe875131/Columbus-Crew-Tampa-Bay-Mutiny-October-8-1997-Major-League-Soccer McBride 43 Warzycha 73 Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio 13,102 Joshua Patlak Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals. Western Conference October 5, 1997 Game 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 0 Dallas Burn 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/d53e2d39/LA-Galaxy-Dallas-Burn-October-5-1997-Major-League-Soccer Karapetyan Armas Machón Vanney 0–2 Sutter Soehn Santel Álvarez Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 18,921 Kevin Stott October 8, 1997 Game 2 Dallas Burn 3 Los Angeles Galaxy 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/ea35a670/Dallas-Burn-LA-Galaxy-October-8-1997-Major-League-Soccer Washington 29 69Peinado 86 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 11,248 Esse Baharmast Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals. October 4, 1997 Game 1 Kansas City Wizards 0 Colorado Rapids 3 https://fbref.com/en/matches/d529c2a4/Kansas-City-Wizards-Colorado-Rapids-October-4-1997-Major-League-Soccer C. Henderson 25 Bravo 67 Paule 75 Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 10,174 Brian Hall October 8, 1997 Game 2 Colorado Rapids 3 Kansas City Wizards 2 https://fbref.com/en/matches/ddd2d200/Colorado-Rapids-Kansas-City-Wizards-October-8-1997-Major-League-Soccer Bravo 16 68 Harris 83 Takawira 9 Preki 88 Mile High Stadium Denver, Colorado 13,117 Paul Tamberino Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals. Conference finals Western Conference October 12, 1997 Game 1 Dallas Burn 0 Colorado Rapids 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/a6f575bb/Dallas-Burn-Colorado-Rapids-October-12-1997-Major-League-Soccer S. Henderson 42 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 7,376 Kevin Stott October 15, 1997 Game 2 Colorado Rapids 2 Dallas Burn 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/74037041/Colorado-Rapids-Dallas-Burn-October-15-1997-Major-League-Soccer Patiño 22 C. Henderson 87 Álvarez 5 Mile High Stadium Denver, Colorado 18,452 Noel Kenny Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup. Eastern Conference October 12, 1997 Game 1 D.C. United 3 Columbus Crew 2 https://fbref.com/en/matches/822ee96e/DC-United-Columbus-Crew-October-12-1997-Major-League-Soccer Sanneh 9 45 Díaz Arce 29 Farrell 57 Dooley 73 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 11,820 Kevin Terry October 15, 1997 Game 2 Columbus Crew 0 D.C. United 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/0fdde4e8/Columbus-Crew-DC-United-October-15-1997-Major-League-Soccer Díaz Arce 47 Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio 9,506 Arturo Angeles D.C. United advance to MLS Cup. MLS Cup MLS Cup 1997 October 26, 1997 D.C. United 2 Colorado Rapids 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/3f6c63ce/DC-United-Colorado-Rapids-October-26-1997-Major-League-Soccer Moreno 37 Sanneh 68 Paz 75 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 57,431 Brian Hall Player statistics Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1BOL Jaime MorenoD.C. United162SLV Raúl Díaz ArceD.C. United153VEN 1954 Giovanni SavareseNY/NJ MetroStars144 USA PrekiKansas City Wizards12SLV Ronald CerritosSan Jose ClashUSA Dante WashingtonDallas Burn7MEX Damián ÁlvarezDallas Burn11BRA WéltonLos Angeles Galaxy9USA Jeff BaicherSan Jose Clash10USA Mark ChungKansas City WizardsUSA Roy LassiterTampa Bay MutinyUSA Lawrence LozzanoSan Jose Clash Hat-tricks List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks Player Club Against Result DateSLV Raúl Díaz Arce4 D.C. United Colorado Rapids 5–2 md 1997 4 12ARG Alberto Naveda New England Revolution NY/NJ MetroStars 3–1 md 1997 5 30USA Dante Washington Dallas Burn San Jose Clash 3–1 md 1997 7 18ECU Eduardo Hurtado Los Angeles Galaxy Tampa Bay Mutiny 6–1 md 1997 9 7SLV Jose Vasquez Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Clash 3–2 md 1997 9 21 Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1COL Carlos ValderramaTampa Bay Mutiny152USA PrekiKansas City Wizards12USA Eddie LewisSan Jose Clash4 USA Chris HendersonColorado Rapids9SLV Mauricio CienfuegosLos Angeles Galaxy6USA Lawrence LozzanoSan Jose Clash8USA Steve RalstonTampa Bay MutinyUSA Eric WynaldaSan Jose ClashURU Adrián PazColorado RapidsUSA Miles JosephNY/NJ MetroStars Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1USA Brad FriedelColumbus Crew72ITA Walter ZengaNew England Revolution63USA Mike AmmannKansas City Wizards5 USA Marcus HahnemannColorado RapidsUSA Tony MeolaNY/NJ MetroStars6MEX Jorge CamposLos Angeles Galaxy47USA Mark DoddDallas Burn3USA Mark DoughertyTampa Bay MutinyUSA Kevin HartmanLos Angeles GalaxyUSA Mark SimpsonD.C. United Awards Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player USA PrekiKansas City WizardsDefender of the YearUSA Eddie PopeD.C. UnitedGoalkeeper of the YearUSA Brad FriedelColumbus CrewCoach of the YearUSA Bruce ArenaD.C. UnitedRookie of the YearUSA Mike DuhaneyTampa Bay MutinyScoring Champion USA PrekiKansas City WizardsGoal of the YearBOL Marco EtcheverryD.C. UnitedFair Play Award USA Mark ChungKansas City Wizards Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsUSA Brad Friedel, ColumbusUSA Jeff Agoos, D.C. UnitedUSA Thomas Dooley, ColumbusSCO Richard Gough, Kansas CityUSA Eddie Pope, D.C. UnitedUSA Mark Chung, Kansas CityBOL Marco Etcheverry, D.C. UnitedUSA Preki, Kansas CityCOL Carlos Valderrama, Tampa BaySLV Ronald Cerritos, San JoseBOL Jaime Moreno, D.C. United Player of the Month MonthPlayerClubApril BOL Jaime Moreno D.C. UnitedMay CHE Alain Sutter Dallas BurnJune USA John Harkes D.C. UnitedJuly BRA Wélton Los Angeles GalaxyAugust USA Brad Friedel Columbus CrewSeptember ITA Walter Zenga New England Revolution Weekly awards Player of the WeekWeekPlayerClubWeek 1 USA Dave Salzwedel San Jose ClashWeek 2 ITA Giuseppe Galderisi Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 3 COL Carlos Valderrama Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 4 ESA Raúl Díaz Arce D.C. UnitedWeek 5 USA Dante Washington Dallas BurnWeek 6 ITA Roberto Donadoni NY/NJ MetroStarsWeek 7 ZAF Doctor Khumalo Columbus CrewWeek 8 ARG Damian Alvarez Dallas BurnWeek 9 MOZ Chiquinho Conde New England RevolutionWeek 10 USA Preki Radosavljević Kansas City WizardsWeek 11 USA Eric Wynalda San Jose ClashWeek 12 USA Preki Radosavljević Kansas City WizardsWeek 13 BRA Gilmar Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 14 USA Paul Bravo Colorado RapidsWeek 15 USA Tab Ramos NY/NJ MetroStarsWeek 16 USA Dante Washington Dallas BurnWeek 17 COL Antony de Ávila NY/NJ MetroStarsWeek 18 BRA Gilmar Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 19 JAM Wolde Harris Colorado RapidsWeek 20 USA Thomas Dooley Columbus CrewWeek 21 VEN 1954 Giovanni Savarese NY/NJ MetroStarsWeek 22 BOL Marco Etcheverry D.C. UnitedWeek 23 ECU 1900 Eduardo Hurtado Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 24 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 25 USA Martín Vásquez Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 26 USA Marcelo Balboa Colorado Rapids Attendance Major League Soccer attendance RankTeamGP Home games playedCumulative Cumulative total of all home games attendanceHigh Highest season attendanceLow Lowest season attendanceMean Statistical mean season attendance 1 New England Revolution 16 57,407 10,242 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 16 53,147 7,232 3 NY/NJ MetroStars 16 26,322 10,510 4 D.C. United 16 28,749 9,675 5 Columbus Crew 16 22,259 10,662 6 San Jose Clash 16 23,501 7,955 7 Colorado Rapids 16 36,252 4,120 8 Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 18,070 6,984 9 Dallas Burn 16 16,089 4,451 10 Kansas City Wizards 16 12,485 6,272 Total 160 2,336,889 57,407 4,120 References External links MLS Site 1997 1 United States