The 2006 Major League Soccer season was the 11th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 94th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 28th with a national first-division league.
The MetroStars were bought by Austrian company Red Bull and rebranded as the New York Red Bulls.
Due to owner AEG being unable to secure a soccer specific stadium in San Jose, the Earthquakes ceased operations and had their personnel transferred to the expansion Houston Dynamo.
In June, the Chicago Fire moved into their new soccer-specific stadium, Toyota Park, in Bridgeview, Illinois.
The regular season began on April 1, and concluded on October 15. The 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 21, and concluded with MLS Cup 2006 on November 12. Houston marked their inaugural season with a league championship by defeating the New England Revolution on penalties in MLS Cup.
Overview
Season format The season began on April 1 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 12. 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 and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions' Cup, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Qualification for the inaugural SuperLiga was also awarded to the MLS Cup Champion and Supporters' Shield winner, as well two invited teams, FC Dallas and LA Galaxy.
Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top three finishers in each conference. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Toyota Park 20,000 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 Pizza Hut Park 21,193 Houston Dynamo Robertson Stadium 32,000 Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425 Los Angeles Galaxy Home Depot Center 27,000 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 68,756 New York Red Bulls Giants Stadium 80,200 Real Salt Lake Rice-Eccles Stadium 45,017
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach CaptainShirt sponsor Chicago Fire Dave Sarachan Honda Chivas USA Bob Bradley — Colorado Rapids Fernando Clavijo — Columbus Crew Sigi Schmid Robin Fraser— D.C. United Piotr Nowak Sierra Mist FC Dallas Colin Clarke RadioShack Houston Dynamo Dominic Kinnear Wade Barrett— Kansas City Wizards Brian Bliss U.S. Soccer Foundation Los Angeles Galaxy Frank Yallop Budweiser New England Revolution Steve Nicol Sierra Mist New York Red Bulls Bruce Arena Amado GuevaraRed Bull Real Salt Lake John Ellinger Jason Kreis—
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Los Angeles Galaxy Steve Sampson Fired June 6, 2006 Frank Yallop June 7, 2006 New York Red Bulls Mo Johnston Fired June 27, 2006 Richie Williams June 28, 2006 New York Red Bulls Richie Williams End of interim period July 18, 2006 Bruce Arena July 18, 2006 Kansas City Wizards Bob Gansler Resigned July 19, 2006 Brian Bliss July 19, 2006
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup playoffs
Bracket
Conference semifinals
D.C. United advance 2–1 on aggregate.
New England Revolution advance 4–2 on penalties (2–2 aggregate after extra time).
Colorado Rapids advance 5–4 on penalties (4–4 aggregate after extra time).
Houston Dynamo advance 3–2 on aggregate.
Conference finals
New England Revolution advances 1–0 in single elimination.
Houston Dynamo advances 3–1 in single elimination.
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals 1 Jeff Cunningham Real Salt Lake 162 Christian Gómez D.C. United14 Ante Razov Chivas USA 4 Carlos Ruiz FC Dallas 13 5 Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 126 Jaime Moreno D.C. United11 Dwayne De Rosario Houston Dynamo Taylor Twellman New England Revolution Kenny Cooper FC Dallas Brian Ching Houston Dynamo
Hat-tricks
Player Club Against Result Date Brian Ching Houston Dynamo Colorado Rapids 5–2 Peguero Jean Philippe New York Red Bulls Chivas USA 5–4 Edson Buddle New York Red Bulls Real Salt Lake 6–0 Amado Guevara New York Red Bulls Kansas City Wizards 3–2
Assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Brad Davis Houston Dynamo 92 Jeff Cunningham Real Salt Lake8 Christian Gómez D.C. United José Burciaga Jr. Kansas City Wizards Justin Mapp Chicago Fire Carey Talley Real Salt Lake Ronnie O'Brien FC Dallas Terry Cooke Colorado Rapids9 Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 7 Andy Dorman New England Revolution Sasha Victorine Kansas City Wizards
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Matt ReisNew England Revolution102 Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy93 Troy PerkinsD.C. United84 Joe CannonColorado Rapids7 Zach ThorntonChicago Fire6 Preston BurpoChivas USA5 Jon ConwayNew York Red Bulls Brad GuzanChivas USA Tony MeolaNew York Red Bulls Pat OnstadHouston Dynamo Bo OshoniyiKansas City Wizards Darío SalaFC Dallas
Awards Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Christian GómezD.C. UnitedDefender of the Year Bobby BoswellD.C. UnitedGoalkeeper of the Year Troy PerkinsD.C. UnitedCoach of the Year Bob BradleyChivas USARookie of the Year Jonathan BornsteinChivas USAComeback Player of the Year Richard MulrooneyFC DallasGolden Boot Jeff Cunningham Real Salt LakeGoal of the Year Brian ChingHouston DynamoFair Play Award Chris KleinReal Salt LakeHumanitarian of the Year Michael ParkhurstNew England Revolution
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Troy Perkins, D.C. United Bobby Boswell, D.C. United José Burciaga Jr., Kansas City Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Ricardo Clark, Houston Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Christian Gómez, D.C. United Justin Mapp, Chicago Jeff Cunningham, Salt Lake Jaime Moreno, D.C. United
Attendance
ClubGames TotalAverageLos Angeles Galaxy16333,01620,814Chivas USA 16317,43219,840 Houston Dynamo16 302,95718,935D.C. United 16291,44218,215Real Salt Lake16261,85516,366FC Dallas 16239,71414,982 New York Red Bulls 16233,11214,570Chicago Fire16225,77514,111Columbus Crew 16212,69913,294Colorado Rapids16192,89412,056New England Revolution 16188,56911,786 Kansas City Wizards 16177,32211,083 Totals1922,976,78715,504
External links MLS 2006 Season Stats