The 2005 Major League Soccer season was the tenth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 93rd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 27th with a national first-division league.
At MLS Cup 2004, two new expansion teams were announced to start play in 2005, Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA. Since both teams were assigned to the Western Conference, the Kansas City Wizards moved to the Eastern Conference to maintain regional balance.
The Dallas Burn re-branded as FC Dallas and moved to the league's newest soccer-specific stadium when Pizza Hut Park opened on August 6, 2005.
The league returned to a 32-game schedule which marked the most games played since the 2000 season.
The regular season began on April 2, and concluded on October 16. The 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 22, and concluded with MLS Cup 2005 on November 13. For the second time in four years, the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New England Revolution to win MLS Cup before a sell-out crowd at Pizza Hut Park.
Overview
Season format The season began on April 2 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 13. The 12 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, and every team in the opposite conference twice.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks 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. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Soldier Field 61,500 Chivas USA Home Depot Center 27,000 Colorado Rapids Invesco Field at Mile High 76,125 Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555 D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000 FC Dallas Cotton Bowl Pizza Hut Park 92,100 21,193 Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425 Los Angeles Galaxy Home Depot Center 27,000 MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 68,756 Real Salt Lake Rice-Eccles Stadium 45,017 San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsorChicago Fire Dave SarachanHonda Chivas USA Hans Westerhof — Colorado Rapids Fernando Clavijo — Columbus Crew Robert Warzycha Robin Fraser— D.C. United Piotr Nowak Sierra Mist FC Dallas Colin Clarke RadioShackKansas City Wizards Bob GanslerU.S. Soccer Foundation Los Angeles Galaxy Steve Sampson Budweiser MetroStars Mo Johnston Youri Djorkaeff— New England Revolution Steve Nicol — Real Salt Lake John Ellinger Jason Kreis— San Jose Earthquakes Dominic Kinnear Wade Barrett—
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Chivas USA Thomas Rongen Reassigned May 30, 2005 Javier Ledesma May 30, 2005 Chivas USA Javier Ledesma End of interim period June 3, 2005 Hans Westerhof June 3, 2005 Columbus Crew Greg Andrulis Fired July 16, 2005 Robert Warzycha July 16, 2005 MetroStars Bob Bradley Fired October 4, 2005 Mo Johnston October 4, 2005
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Conference semifinals
New England Revolution advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Chicago Fire advance 4-0 on aggregate.
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 4-2 on aggregate.
Colorado Rapids advance 5-4 on penalties (2-2 on aggregate).
Conference finals
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals 1 Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 17 2 Jaime Moreno D.C. United 163 Jeff Cunningham Colorado Rapids12 Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 5 Christian Gómez D.C. United11 Herculez Gomez Los Angeles Galaxy Amado Guevara MetroStars Carlos Ruiz FC Dallas9 Clint Dempsey New England Revolution 10 Youri Djorkaeff MetroStars Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards
Assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards 10 2 Landon Donovan FC Dallas 93 Ronnie O'Brien Colorado Rapids 84 Christian Gómez D.C. United 7 Amado Guevara MetroStars Dwayne De Rosario San Jose Earthquakes Ronald Cerritos San Jose Earthquakes Brad Davis San Jose Earthquakes 9 Chris Rolfe Chicago Fire 61016 players5
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Pat OnstadSan Jose Earthquakes122 Nick RimandoD.C. United113 Matt ReisNew England Revolution104 Joe CannonColorado Rapids85 Bo OshoniyiKansas City Wizards76 Scott GarlickFC Dallas6 Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy Zach ThorntonChicago Fire9 Jonny WalkerColumbus Crew510 D.J. CountessReal Salt Lake4 Zach WellsMetroStars
Awards Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Taylor TwellmanNew England RevolutionDefender of the Year Jimmy ConradKansas City WizardsGoalkeeper of the Year Pat OnstadSan Jose EarthquakesCoach of the Year Dominic KinnearSan Jose EarthquakesRookie of the Year Michael ParkhurstNew England Revolution Comeback Player of the Year Chris KleinKansas City WizardsGolden Boot Taylor Twellman New England RevolutionGoal of the Year Dwayne De RosarioSan Jose EarthquakesFair Play Award Ronald CerritosSan Jose EarthquakesHumanitarian of the Year Brian KamlerReal Salt Lake
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Pat Onstad, San Jose Chris Albright, LA Galaxy Danny Califf, San Jose Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, San Jose Christian Gómez, D.C. United Shalrie Joseph, New England Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas Jaime Moreno, D.C. United Taylor Twellman, New England
Attendance ClubGames TotalAverageLos Angeles Galaxy16387,25624,204Real Salt Lake16288,58618,037 Chicago Fire16275,81117,238 Chivas USA 16273,28417,080 D.C. United 16266,61716,664MetroStars16241,23015,077Colorado Rapids16218,20613,638San Jose Earthquakes16 208,59413,037Columbus Crew 16206,65412,916New England Revolution16200,39712,525 FC Dallas 16179,02111,189 Kansas City Wizards 16155,0609,691 Totals1922,900,71615,108
References