2009 Major League Soccer season

Updated on Dec 18, 2023

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Season 2009 Goals scored 570		Dates 19 Mar 2009 – 22 Nov 2009 Matches played 225
MLS Cup Real Salt Lake (1st title) Supporters' Shield Columbus Crew (3rd shield) Champions League Columbus Crew Real Salt Lake Los Angeles Galaxy Seattle Sounders FC SuperLiga Houston Dynamo Chicago Fire Chivas USA N.E. Revolution Top goalscorer Jeff Cunningham FC Dallas Goals: 17 Similar 2008 Major League Soccer se, 2012 Major League Soccer se, 2015 Major League Soccer se, 1996 Major League Soccer se, 2014 Major League Soccer se

The 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and ended with Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Changes from the 2008 season

The following changes were made since the 2008 season:

Seattle Sounders FC began play as an expansion team in the Western Conference.

Two teams signed shirt sponsorship deals:

Xbox 360 Live became the shirt sponsor of Seattle Sounders FC.

Amway Global became the shirt sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes.

The top two teams from each conference will qualify automatically for the playoffs (down from three). In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, will also qualify (up from two).

Sigi Schmid did not sign a new contract with the Columbus Crew and was hired as head coach of Seattle Sounders FC.

The Columbus Crew promoted assistant coach Robert Warzycha to head coach.

After three seasons, the MLS Reserve Division was discontinued. As a result, each team's Developmental Roster spots were reduced from 10 to four, and each team's Senior Roster spots were increased from 18 to 20. This had the effect of reducing each team's total roster from 28 to 24 players.

Competition format

The format for the 2009 season was as follows:

The season began on March 19 and ended on November 22 with MLS Cup 2009.

The 15 teams were split into two conferences. The Western Conference had eight teams with the addition of Seattle Sounders FC, and the Eastern Conference had seven teams. Each team played a total of 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 28 games. The remaining two games were played against two conference rivals, one at home and one away.

The two teams in each conference with the most points qualified for the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the next four highest ranked teams, regardless of conference, also qualified. Teams were bracketed by conference, with the lowest ranked teams crossing over to the other conference if necessary. In the Conference Semifinals, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The Conference Finals were played as single matches, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup 2009. After the completion of any round, ties were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kick shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.

The team with the most points in the regular season won the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified directly into the Group Stage of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. The MLS Cup Winner also qualified for the Champions League Group Stage. The MLS Cup Runners-Up and the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Winners qualified for the Preliminary Round of the Champions League. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest-placed team(s) in the 2009 MLS regular season's overall standings that had not already qualified.

The four teams with the most points, regardless of conference, who had not qualified for the Champions League qualified for SuperLiga 2010.

The six U.S.-based teams with the most points, regardless of conference, qualified for the Third Round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup. The remaining U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.

As a Canadian-based team, Toronto FC could not qualify through MLS for the Champions League or the U.S. Open Cup. In either case, any berth earned by Toronto FC was awarded to the highest-placed team in the overall standings which had not already qualified. Their means of entry into the Champions League is the Canadian Championship; they won that competition in both 2009 and 2010 to gain entry to the Champions League for 2009–10 and 2010–11.

Tiebreakers

Head-to-Head (Points-per-match average)
Overall Goal Differential
Overall Total Goals Scored
Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
Coin toss

If more than two clubs are tied, once a club advances through any step, the process reverts to Tiebreaker 1 among the remaining tied clubs recursively until all ties are resolved.

Standings

For an explanation of the playoff qualifications, see Competition format.

Overall standings

^Note 1 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team. If they qualify for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified will be given a berth. Similarly, they cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Soccer Championship. If they qualify for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified will qualify.

^Note 2 - The winner of the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield (Columbus Crew) and the winner of MLS Cup 2009 (Real Salt Lake) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. The runner-up of MLS Cup 2009 (Los Angeles Galaxy) and the winner of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup (Seattle Sounders) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round.

^Note 3 - SuperLiga 2010 berths are awarded to the top 4 finishing teams from MLS who do not qualify for Champions League (Houston, Chicago, Chivas USA and New England).

Playoffs

¹ Real Salt Lake earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Western Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Eastern Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Golden Boot

Full article: MLS Golden Boot

Stats last updated 24 October 2009.

Goalkeeping leaders

Stats last updated October 26, 2009.

Save of the Week

Save of the week was first introduced during week 10 of the 2009 season.

CONCACAF Champions League

The Houston Dynamo continued their CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09 campaign that began during the previous season. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals over two legs by eventual champions Atlante.

Columbus (MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield winner), Houston (MLS Supporters' Shield Runner-up), New York (MLS Cup runner-up), and D.C. United (U.S. Open Cup winner), will be the representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10—an additional slot from Canada was gained by Toronto by virtue of their Voyageurs Cup win. New York and Toronto were eliminated at the preliminary round, while D.C. advanced to the group stage on penalty kicks. Columbus and Houston qualified directly into the Group stage. Houston and D.C. were eliminated during the group stage, with only Columbus progressing to the knockout rounds.

SuperLiga 2009

Chicago, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City were MLS's entrants in SuperLiga 2009, based on their finish in the 2008 regular season as the top four teams not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Chivas U.S.A. and Kansas City were eliminated in the group stage. Chicago eliminated New England in the semi-finals, only to lose to Tigres in the final.

2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

MLS awarded the top six finishers in 2008, regardless of conference, automatic berths into the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup's third round. Columbus, Houston, Chicago Fire, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City qualified based on their top-six finish. D.C. United and Seattle qualified via an eight team qualifying tournament.

Each of the qualified MLS teams were matched up against the winner of a second round game, all of whom come from one of the USL's three divisions. Seattle and D.C. eventually emerged to play the final on 2 September at RFK stadium, which Seattle ultimately won.

2009 Canadian Championship

Canada's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC, USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC competed in the Voyageurs Cup. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 6 to June 18, and won by Toronto, who gained Canada's berth into the CONCACAF Champions League 2009-10.

All-Star game

The 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton F.C., of the English Premier League, took place on July 29 from Rio Tinto Stadium home of Real Salt Lake. Everton defeated the MLS All-Stars in a penalty shootout 4-3 after the game was tied 1-1. No extra time was played following regular time. Tim Howard, the Everton and U.S. Men's National Team goalkeeper, was named the game's MVP.

References

2009 Major League Soccer season Wikipedia

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