2010 Major League Soccer season

The 2010 Major League Soccer season was the 15th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 98th season of soccer in the United States that was approved by FIFA, and the 32nd season to have a national top-level league. During this time, teams could sign special players under new rules. Before, only one special player was allowed, but now teams could sign two without extra cost and pay a fee to sign a third.

A new team, the Philadelphia Union, joined the league as the 16th team. Their first two home games were played in a bigger stadium while their own stadium was being built. Another team, the New York Red Bulls, opened a brand-new stadium called Red Bull Arena on March 27. The regular season started on March 25 and ended on October 24.

The LA Galaxy won a special award called the Supporters' Shield by just one point. The playoffs began on October 28 and ended with the MLS Cup on November 21. The Colorado Rapids won their first MLS Cup by beating FC Dallas, 2-1, in Toronto. This was the first time the MLS Cup was played outside the United States.

Overview

Season format

The 2010 Major League Soccer season started on March 25 and ended with the MLS Cup on November 21. Sixteen teams were divided into two groups, called conferences. Each team played every other team twice — once at home and once away — for a total of 30 games. This was the first time every team played each other this way.

The top two teams from each conference automatically moved to the playoffs, along with the four teams with the most points overall. In the first round of the playoffs, teams played two matches, and the team with more goals over both matches won. The conference finals were single matches, and the winners went to the MLS Cup. If a game ended in a tie, it was followed by extra time and, if needed, penalty kicks to decide the winner. The team with the most points during the regular season won the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. The MLS Cup winner and runner-up also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, as did the winner of the U.S. Open Cup.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Personnel and sponsorships

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managerial changes

Results table

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

Main article: 2010 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2010 Major League Soccer season included playoffs leading to the MLS Cup. These playoffs determined which teams would compete in the final match of the season. The details of the playoffs are covered in the main article linked above.

Player statistics

Goals

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

Individual awards

Best XI

Monthly awards

Weekly awards

Related Competitions

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions League

Main articles: 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League and CONCACAF Champions League 2010–11

The Columbus Crew kept playing in the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League that started last season. They lost to a team from Mexico called Toluca in the quarterfinals.

Seattle Sounders FC got to play in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League by winning the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Columbus Crew also got in by winning the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield. The Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake got in because they were the last two teams in the 2009 MLS Cup. Toronto FC got in because they won the Canadian Championship.

Seattle and Toronto won their early games. Los Angeles lost their early game. The group games happened between August 17 and October 21. Real Salt Lake won their group. Columbus came second in their group. Seattle came last in their group.

On November 1, they drew for the next round. Real Salt Lake will play Columbus in February or March 2011.

SuperLiga

Main article: 2010 North American SuperLiga

The top four MLS teams from 2009 that didn’t get to play in the Champions League played in SuperLiga. These teams were the Houston Dynamo, the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, and the New England Revolution. The Mexican teams were Pachuca, Morelia, Puebla, and UNAM.

New England, Houston, Morelia and Puebla moved on from their groups. New England beat Puebla on penalties, and Morelia beat Houston. Morelia then beat New England 2–1 in the final on September 1 at Gillette Stadium.

Domestic competitions

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Main articles: 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualification

The top six MLS teams from 2009 (Columbus, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, and Chivas USA) went straight to the third round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup. The other U.S. MLS teams and the new Philadelphia Union team played to see who would join them.

For the first time, the last four games were all played by MLS teams. Seattle beat Chivas USA and Columbus beat D.C. United. The final was on October 5 at Qwest Field in Seattle. The defending cup holders, the Sounders, beat the Crew 2–1. The Sounders were the first MLS team to win the U.S. Open Cup two years in a row.

Canadian championship

Main article: 2010 Canadian Championship

Toronto FC, the Canadian MLS team, didn’t play in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Instead, they played against the two Canadian teams from the Division-2 Pro League, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact, for the Canadian Championship. Toronto FC won and got Canada’s spot in the preliminary round of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.