(Redirected from Major League Soccer 1997 season )
2nd season of Major League Soccer
Football league season
D.C. United MetroStars Tampa Bay Columbus New England Colorado Dallas Los Angeles Kansas City San Jose class=notpageimage| Locations of teams for the 1997 Major League Soccer seasonWestern Conference Eastern Conference
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
Main article: 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
Coaching changes
Standings
Eastern Conference
Source: MLS
Western Conference
Source: MLS
Overall standings
Source: MLS MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
The ties were a best-of-three series. Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference
October 5, 1997 Game 1RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C. Attendance: 12,540Referee: Tim Weyland
October 8, 1997 Game 2Foxboro Stadium , Foxborough, Massachusetts Attendance: 16,233
D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals. October 5, 1997 Game 1Houlihan's Stadium , Tampa, Florida Attendance: 8,272Referee: Noel Kenny
October 8, 1997 Game 2Ohio Stadium , Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 13,102Referee: Joshua Patlak
Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals. Western Conference
October 5, 1997 Game 1Rose Bowl , Pasadena, California Attendance: 18,921Referee: Kevin Stott
October 8, 1997 Game 2Cotton Bowl , Dallas, Texas Attendance: 11,248Referee: Esse Baharmast
Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals. October 4, 1997 Game 1Arrowhead Stadium , Kansas City, Missouri Attendance: 10,174Referee: Brian Hall
October 8, 1997 Game 2Mile High Stadium , Denver, Colorado Attendance: 13,117Referee: Paul Tamberino
Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals. Conference finals
Western Conference
October 12, 1997 Game 1Cotton Bowl , Dallas, Texas Attendance: 7,376Referee: Kevin Stott
October 15, 1997 Game 2Mile High Stadium , Denver, Colorado Attendance: 18,452Referee: Noel Kenny
Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup. Eastern Conference
October 12, 1997 Game 1RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C. Attendance: 11,820Referee: Kevin Terry
October 15, 1997 Game 2Ohio Stadium , Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 9,506Referee: Arturo Angeles
D.C. United advance to MLS Cup. MLS Cup
Main article: MLS Cup 1997
October 26, 1997 RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C. Attendance: 57,431Referee: Brian Hall
Player statistics
Goals
Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks
Assists
Clean sheets
Awards
Individual awards
Best XI
Goalkeeper
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
Brad Friedel , Columbus
Jeff Agoos , D.C. United Thomas Dooley , Columbus Richard Gough , Kansas City Eddie Pope , D.C. United
Mark Chung , Kansas City Marco Etcheverry , D.C. United Preki , Kansas City Carlos Valderrama , Tampa Bay
Ronald Cerritos , San Jose Jaime Moreno , D.C. United
Player of the Month
Weekly awards
Attendance
Main article: Major League Soccer attendance
Rank
Team
GP
Cumulative
High
Low
Mean
1
New England Revolution 16
340,762
57,407
10,242
21,298
2
Los Angeles Galaxy 16
330,015
53,147
7,232
20,626
3
NY/NJ MetroStars 16
270,288
26,322
10,510
16,893
4
D.C. United 16
267,171
28,749
9,675
16,698
5
Columbus Crew 16
240,650
22,259
10,662
15,041
6
San Jose Clash 16
217,546
23,501
7,955
13,597
7
Colorado Rapids 16
189,355
36,252
4,120
11,835
8
Tampa Bay Mutiny 16
181,322
18,070
6,984
11,333
9
Dallas Burn 16
154,845
16,089
4,451
9,678
10
Kansas City Wizards 16
144,935
12,485
6,272
9,058
Total
160
2,336,889
57,407
4,120
14,606
References
^ Jones, Grahame L. (June 10, 1997). "Galaxy Dumps Osiander" . Los Angeles Times Newspapers.com .
^ Caldwell, Kevin (June 11, 1997). "Osiander out, Caligiuri in as Galaxy making changes" . News-Pilot Newspapers.com .
External links
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D.C. United
Colorado
Western Conference 
Eastern Conference
Lothar Osiander
Octavio Zambrano
Laurie Calloway
Brian Quinn
29', 69'
Raúl Díaz Arce
Alberto Naveda
Dante Washington
Richard Gough, Kansas City
Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay
Alain Sutter
Wélton
Walter Zenga
