Major Leauge Soccer started out in 1996 with only ten teams which included, San Jose Clash, Los Angeles Galaxy, Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, Kansas City Wiz, Tampa Bay Mutiny, and the NY/NJ MetroStars.
The MLS plays in a tournament type system in order to decide the eventual champion. The first two MLS champions were won by D.C. United, who was led by Bruce Arenas at the time. It took until the Chicago Fire, an expansion team that played its first season in 1998, to knock off DC United.
However, attendance was down and teams were finding it hard to sell out their stadiums. But that all changed in 2002 when the United States Men’s National Team reached the Quarter Final of the World Cup after beating nations like Mexico and Portugal. The MLS final that year saw a record attendance of more than 61,000 plus attend the game; the Los Angeles Galaxy won their first title this year.
Freddy Adu made his major league debut in 2004 at the ripe old age of 14 for DC United, which obviously got a lot of media attention in the country and was one of the highest regarded prospects for the time being. Tim Howard was sold from the MetroStars to Manchester United, in 2006, in one of the most lucrative deals in MLS history. Landon Donavon went on loan to Bayer Leverkusen for a brief time to help develop his game a little more. 2010 brought Arsenal and the French-national team all leading goal scorer Theirry Henry to the New York Red Bulls who also opened their own football only stadium.
Two of the most recognized American born players playing in Europe right now are Clint Dempsey, who currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur, and Jozy Altidore, who plays for AZ Alkmaar. There are more American players that are playing in Europe than you may know, but these two are best known.
The Designated Player Rule was established in 2007 to help bring in more foreign players to the clubs. With this rule, Major League Soccer saw the debut of David Beckham, one of the most recognizable footballers in the world, for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Other players started trickling over from Europe and elsewhere, including Juan Pablo Ángel move from Aston Villa to New York Red Bulls. In 2011, Los Angeles Galaxy signed Republic of Ireland all-time leading goal scorer Robbie Keane.
Major League Soccer continues to grow and right now is at 19 teams right now with a plan to add a 20th team in Queens, New York by 2016. There are three teams in Canada, Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC, and Montreal Impact. There is a huge rivalry in the Pacific Northwest, called Cascadia, which is between the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, and the Vancouver Whitecaps and is one of the most watched football areas in the country.
worldfootballreport 