MLS Thread

[Fireman451]

Hey folks, thought I'd start a Major League Soccer thread for those interested. If anyone has questions about MLS, players, the current season, our various competitions, expansion teams, stadiums, supporters culture, etc. I'll do my best to answer you.

Mind you, I will probably have a bias for the Chicago Fire but I'll try to offer a fair view of the other clubs too.




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[Fireman451]

I'll start by showing some photos of our supporters section here in Chicago, Section 8.

Section 8 is a not-for-profit independent supporters organization which consists of members from various supporters clubs (Fire Ultras, BarnBurners, Red Side Ultras, Mike Ditka Street Crew, Whiskey Bros, Sector Latino, etc).

Enjoy






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[Fireman451]

Section 8 Chicago photos continued:






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[Fireman451]

Here's some Seattle Sounders FC supporters photos:






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[Fireman451]

Toronto FC supporters (Red Patch Boys)




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[Fireman451]

Columbus Crew supporters . . . the Nordecke




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[Fireman451]

Houston Dynamo supporters - Texian Army & El Batallon




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[Fireman451]

CD Chivas USA supporters - Legion 1908, Union Ultras





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[Fireman451]

DC United supporters - Barra Brava & Screaming Eagles:






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[Fireman451]

I just noticed that you can enlarge any of the images if you click on them.

That's all for now, gotta go to sleep. I'm driving to Memphis for the 4th of July holiday.

Cheeers!
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[Darius]

Welcome Fireman451, and thanks for the pics. I like the way football (I'm not going to call it soccer, mind you) is evolving in the US, and how it is gaining more followers by the day. The US will have quite a strong national team someday in a not to distant future I think.

And I see the supporters are getting better as well. I don't know if you guys sing any songs during the games or not? But the pics are definitely impressive! Even though there is still a lot of potential.

[longines]

[Fireman451]

[Fireman451]

[Fireman451]

For those of you interested in watching some soccer if you're still awake, here's a live, free link to the semifinal round of the US Open Cup:

http://www.soundersfc.com...layer.aspx

Seattle Sounders v. Houston Dynamo

Winner of this match will play on the title match against DC United, who defeated Rochester Rhinos (USL Div. 1) earlier tonight.

The US Open Cup is our version of the FA Cup and is the oldest soccer tournament in the US,est. 1914.

Enjoy.
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[Fireman451]

Tonight at 7:30 Eastern Time the US Open Cup final will be played between DC United and Seattle Sounders.

The game will broadcast here on Fox Soccer Channel, but I'm sure there are several ways (torrents) to catch the game online if you want to watch the final while at work . . . or follow the live blog feed at http://thecup.us/.


The Us Open Cup is our oldest soccer tournament (est. 1914) and is a single elimination tourney that begins with amateur teams and finishes the later rounds with our pro teams getting involved (MLS and USL [second division]).



EDIT: Here's the link to watch the game if anyone is still up late.
http://atdhe.net/9001/wat...e-sounders
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[Fireman451]

Well, Seattle Sounders FC won the US Open Cup over DC United in a pretty exciting match.

Freddie Ljungberg had a nice shot on goal that was delfected and followed up by Freddy Montero for the finish for the first goal. Seattle scored again when Sebastian LeToux made a beautiful cross that was tapped home by Roger Levesque.

United got one back in the 89th minute on a deflected free kick from 28 yards out. There was 5 minutes of added time which was run at a frantic pace, but Seattle held off DCU to earn their club's first trophy.

Sounder FC 2 - 1 DC United



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[Zorac]

Fireman, what's the average attendance in MLS games? Are there big differences from team to tem?
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[Fireman451]

I wasn't sure of the answer so I checked a few of my MLS websites I follow and found that the league average attendance this season is 16,508.

Yes there is quite a bit of difference between some clubs. Most are right in the middle 14,000-16,000 range but there are a couple of exceptions on both the high and low side.

Seattle and Toronto have sold 100% of their seats to season ticket holders, and both cities have waiting lists of a few thousand to buy season tickets.

Kansas City, Dallas and Red Bull New York are the worst.

Dallas has their own soccer stadium, but draw awfully since they built the grounds 30 miles outside of Dallas - real bad move.

KC is currently playing in a very small stadium that seats 12,000 or so until they build their soccer stadium (to be completed by 2011).

NY has always drawn horribly and play in the worst place imaginable, Giants Stadium )a huge American football stadium). Fortunately for the Red Bulls they will be moving into a proper soccer stadium of their own next season finally, which should help . . . as long as they get a better team on the field. Here's the New Red Bull Arena:





Currently, 9 teams play in their own soccer stadiums and next year NY and expansion Philadelphia will add 2 more soccer stadiums. By 2011, 4 more soccer stadiums should be built. Additionally, Vancouver and Portland will start their MLS clubs that year. So 15 of 18 clubs will be playing in soccer stadiums they own and operate by 2012.

Here's a website outlining each club's attendance:
http://www.mls-daily.com/...gures.html
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[Zorac]

Thanks for the answer, fireman.

I've always thought it looks kind of strange playing soccer on a football pitch (to use you American's terms ). What's your impression of the reactions to this? Do people care, and does it influence attendence?

EDIT: Here in Norway we have the never ending natural vs. artificial grass discussion, but I imagine playing soccer in stadiums built for other purposes (at least for the top leagues) would be an even bigger issue.
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[Svendsea]

Seattle Sounders FC have the largest attendance in MLS. Are they a new team? The average attendance is calculated with and without Seattle Sounders FC.
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Smeknamn: Troillongan (trollbarnen)

[julegrisen]

Greetings Fireman 451.
Thank you for your updates from MLS . In the TL the average is around 9000 attendendences this year , yet we like to call the MLS a "failure" ....
As always, we Norwegians like to look at the outside world from a peephole and without much knowledge i´m sorry to say. That´s why we´re not a member of the EU yet.....
I´m impressed by the average attendences in MLS so far, although the population in the US is far beyond ours.
I´m also impressed by the young national teams from U-17 to U 21 in the US.
It´s telling me you are doing much right with the development of young players.
Keep on with the good work and your much appreciated comments in this forum regarding MLS.

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[hefffner]

Hey Fireman

Seattle Sounders had those open tryouts last year.. Do you know who won, and if so, how he's performing for the team? My guess is that he's not a regular in the startup, and that this was more of a promotion scheme made by the Sounders..

Not a wild guess though!
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