2014 Major League Soccer season

The 2014 Major League Soccer season was the 19th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 102nd season of soccer approved by FIFA in the United States, and the 36th with a top-level national league. The regular season started on March 8 and finished on October 26. The MLS Cup Playoffs started on October 29 and ended on December 7, when the LA Galaxy won their fifth league title by beating the New England Revolution 2–1 in the MLS Cup. Many teams competed in this season, with matches played between teams in the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. The season was exciting for fans of soccer all across the United States.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Schedule

In the 2014 Major League Soccer season, teams played 34 games each — 17 at home and 17 away. The nine teams in the Western Conference played each other three times, with home and away switches from the year before. The ten teams in the Eastern Conference played seven teams three times and two teams twice, also switching home and away from 2013. Teams from different conferences played each other once, again switching home and away. Most games happened on weekends. There were plans to shorten the season to 28 games, but this idea was not used.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Personnel and sponsorship

• On October 29, 2013, Real Salt Lake announced a 10-year deal with LifeVantage to sponsor their jerseys starting January 1, 2014. They replaced XanGo, which had been their sponsor since 2006.
• On February 10, 2014, Portland Timbers partnered with Providence Health & Services to rename their stadium to Providence Park. It had been called Jeld-Wen Field since 2011.
• On February 24, 2014, D.C. United announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with Leidos.
• On May 1, 2014, Colorado Rapids announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with Ciao Telecom.
• On July 1, 2014, Houston Dynamo announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with BHP Billiton.

All teams use Adidas for their uniforms.

Managerial changes

Player transfers

Main article: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2014

Major League Soccer has twelve ways to get new players. These include special rules for important players, yearly drafts, trades, and other methods.

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking decides which team gets a player first if multiple teams want the same player. The rankings are based on how teams finished in the previous season, with the worse teams getting higher rankings. When a team uses its ranking, it goes to the bottom of the list. Rankings can be traded. The rankings reset each season.

^{† On January 14, 2014, Philadelphia Union got the top ranking and Ethan White from D.C. United in exchange for the sixth ranking and Jeff Parke.}

^{‡ On December 11, 2013, Seattle Sounders got the second ranking from Chivas USA in exchange for the thirteenth ranking and Tristan Bowen.}

^{∞ On July 23, 2014, Houston Dynamo got the top allocation ranking and money from Toronto FC in exchange for the fourteenth ranking and Warren Creavalle.}

^{# On July 29, 2014, Los Angeles Galaxy got the third allocation ranking from D.C. United in exchange for the eleventh ranking, a draft pick, and Kofi Opare.}

Ownership changes

Rule changes

The rules for the 2014 season were mostly the same as in 2013, but with one big change. For the first time, the away goals rule was used in playoff matches. This rule is used only at the end of regular time in the second game, not after extra time. MLS also changed the tiebreaker rules. The first tiebreaker is still total wins, but now goal difference is the second tiebreaker, and goals scored is third.

Other small changes included standard rules for special player signings, formal rules for loans between teams, and rules for signing players from a team's own youth system. The salary cap was also increased to $3.1 million.

Standings

The 2014 Major League Soccer season had teams divided into two conferences: Eastern and Western. Each conference had its own standings, showing how well the teams performed throughout the season.

The overall standings for all teams are also available, following specific rules to determine rankings. These rules include points earned, head-to-head records, goal differences, and the number of goals scored.

Source: MLS

Source: MLS

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) MLS Cup Champion; (S) Supporters' Shield

MLS Cup Playoffs

Main article: 2014 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2014 Major League Soccer season included playoffs leading to the MLS Cup. These playoffs are a special part of the season where the best teams compete to become the league champion. The games were exciting and showed the skills of many players from different teams.

Player statistics

Goals

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

The 2014 Major League Soccer season had several awards to honor the best players and performances. Players could win monthly and weekly awards. For the weekly awards, the player of the week was chosen by sports journalists, while the other awards were decided by votes from fans online.