The 2008 Major League Soccer season was the 13th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 96th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 30th with a national first-division league.

The San Jose Earthquakes returned to the league, following a two-year hiatus that began after the 2005 season.

The Kansas City Wizards left Arrowhead Stadium and moved to the Kansas side of the metropolitan area, occupying CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City. The league also debuted its newest soccer-specific stadium in October when Real Salt Lake opened Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on October 26. The 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 30, and concluded with MLS Cup 2008 on November 23. The Columbus Crew captured the league double by winning their second Supporters' Shield and by defeating the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, in MLS Cup.

Overview

Season format The season began on March 29 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 23. The 14 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 26 games. The remaining four games were played against four regional rivals, two at home and two away.

The top three teams from each conference automatically qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the two highest remaining point totals, regardless of conference, also qualified. 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 League. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. An additional berth in the Champions League was also awarded to the winner of the U.S. Open Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Also, Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based team, could not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and had to instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.

Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top six overall finishers, as opposed 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.

Due to fixture congestion, qualification for the SuperLiga was limited to the top four overall finishers not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. This applied retroactively to the 2008 season, and thus was related to qualification for MLS teams to SuperLiga 2009.

Stadiums and locations

Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Toyota Park 20,000 Chivas USA Home Depot Center 27,000 Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061 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 CommunityAmerica Ballpark 10,385 LA 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 Rio Tinto Stadium 45,017 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Buck Shaw Stadium 10,525 Toronto FC BMO Field 21,566

Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Chicago Fire Denis Hamlett Best Buy Chivas USA Preki Comex Colorado Rapids Fernando Clavijo — Columbus Crew Sigi Schmid Frankie Hejduk Glidden D.C. United Tom Soehn Volkswagen FC Dallas Steve Morrow — Houston Dynamo Dominic Kinnear Wade Barrett— Kansas City Wizards Curt Onalfo — LA Galaxy Ruud Gullit Herbalife New England Revolution Steve Nicol — New York Red Bulls Juan Carlos Osorio Juan Pablo Ángel Red Bull Real Salt Lake Jason Kreis Kyle Beckerman— San Jose Earthquakes Frank Yallop Nick Garcia— Toronto FC John Carver —

Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment FC Dallas Steve Morrow Fired May 20, 2008 Marco Ferruzzi May 20, 2008 FC Dallas Marco Ferruzzi End of interim period June 16, 2008 Schellas Hyndman June 16, 2008

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key:Chicago Fire - CHI • Chivas USA - CHV • Colorado Rapids - COL • Columbus Crew - CLB • D.C. United - DCFC Dallas - DAL • Houston Dynamo - HOU • Kansas City Wizards - KC • Los Angeles Galaxy - LA • New England Revolution - NENew York Red Bulls - NY • Real Salt Lake - RSL • San Jose Earthquakes - SJ • Toronto FC - TORWin Loss Tie HomeClubMatch123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930Chicago Fire RSLNESJKCCOLNEDCHOUNYDCDALCHVSJCLBTORRSLKCCHVNEDCLAHOUNYCOLDALLAKCCLBTORNY1-10-41-01-01-23-02-02-15-12-10-10-20-02-21-20-00-00-12-11-01-01-20-10-24-11-31-12-22-32-5Chivas USA DALRSLCLBDALLAHOUNEDCCOLCLBNYRSLCHINYSJLACHIKCLAHOUSJTORTORNERSLKCDCSJCOLHOU1-11-33-42-02-50-02-11-32-10-20-11-00-21-10-11-10-12-32-20-40-01-23-10-41-01-23-01-02-11-1Colorado Rapids LAKCNESJCHIDCHOURSLCHVDALLATORHOUCLBNYSJDALCLBTORKCDCRSLDALCHINENYHOULACHVRSL0-42-31-02-01-20-21-20-22-11-22-31-30-01-20-41-12-22-00-11-20-30-21-00-21-15-43-12-32-11-1Columbus Crew TORNYCHVDCHOUKCSJTORNECHVSJKCLACOLCHIRSLKCCOLHOUDALRSLDALNETORNYNELACHINYDC0-20-23-42-10-11-23-20-01-00-22-03-03-31-22-20-23-32-00-21-20-32-10-41-11-31-00-12-21-30-1D.C. United KCTORRSLCLBRSLCOLCHICHVTORTORNECHINYSJLAHOUKCNYCHINECOLNYSJDALLADALCHVHOUNECLB0-21-40-42-11-40-22-01-30-12-32-22-11-41-31-42-00-24-11-01-20-30-01-22-22-50-33-00-01-20-1FC Dallas CHVHOUNYCHVNESJRSLLARSLHOUCOLNECHINYHOUKCCOLLATORCLBKCCLBCOLDCCHIDCSJTORRSLLA1-13-30-22-01-00-01-25-11-22-21-21-20-10-11-11-12-20-42-01-21-12-11-02-24-10-31-12-21-32-2Houston Dynamo NEDALKCLACLBCHVCOLCHISJDALNYTORNECOLDALRSLDCCLBRSLCHVNYCHIKCSJTORCOLDCSJLACHV0-33-30-02-20-10-01-22-11-22-20-11-32-00-01-10-02-00-23-40-40-31-21-31-11-13-10-01-20-31-1Kansas City Wizards DCCOLNEHOUCHITORCLBNYLARSLCLBTORRSLDALNYCLBCHIDCCHVCOLDALSJHOULATORCHVCHINESJNE0-22-33-10-01-00-21-21-11-30-03-00-00-11-11-23-30-00-22-31-21-11-21-30-20-21-21-10-12-33-1Los Angeles Galaxy COLSJTORHOUCHVRSLNYDALKCTORCOLSJCLBDCNECHVNYDALSJCHVCHINERSLKCDCCHICLBCOLHOUDAL0-40-23-22-22-52-22-15-11-30-22-33-03-31-42-11-12-20-42-32-21-02-22-20-22-51-30-12-30-32-2New England Revolution HOUCHIKCCOLNYDALCHICHVSJCLBDCDALHOUNYRSLTORLACHISJDCTORLACLBCHVCOLCLBRSLKCDCKC0-30-43-11-01-11-03-02-10-21-02-21-22-01-11-21-22-12-10-41-21-12-20-40-41-11-02-20-11-23-1New York Red Bulls CLBDALNESJTORLAKCCHIHOUCHVDCNEDALCHVCOLKCLASJDCTORHOUDCCHIRSLCLBCOLTORRSLCLBCHI0-20-21-10-21-12-11-15-10-10-11-41-10-11-10-41-22-21-14-10-20-30-00-11-21-35-43-11-11-32-5Real Salt Lake CHICHVDCTORDCLADALCOLDALSJKCCHVSJNEKCHOUCLBCHITORHOUCLBCOLLANYCHVSJNENYDALCOL1-11-30-40-11-42-21-20-21-21-30-01-00-01-20-10-00-20-01-23-40-30-22-21-21-03-22-21-11-31-1San Jose Earthquakes LACHICOLNYDALCLBNEHOURSLCLBLARSLDCCHICHVCOLTORNYLANECHVKCDCHOURSLDALCHVHOUKCTOR0-21-02-00-20-03-20-21-21-32-03-00-01-30-01-01-10-01-12-30-40-01-21-21-13-21-11-01-22-30-2Toronto FC CLBDCLARSLKCNYCLBDCDCLAHOUCOLKCNECHISJRSLDALCOLNYNECHVCHVCLBKCHOUNYDALCHISJ0-21-43-20-10-21-10-00-12-30-21-31-30-01-21-20-01-22-01-00-21-11-23-11-10-21-13-12-22-30-2

Standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall standings

MLS Cup playoffs

Bracket

Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals 1 Landon Donovan LA Galaxy 20 2 Kenny Cooper FC Dallas 18 3 Edson Buddle LA Galaxy 15 4 Juan Pablo Ángel New York Red Bulls 14 5 Brian Ching Houston Dynamo 136 Luciano Emilio D.C. United 11 Conor Casey Colorado Rapids 8 Jaime Moreno D.C. United 109 Chad Barrett Chicago Fire Toronto FC9 Chris Rolfe Chicago Fire

Assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Guillermo Barros Schelotto Columbus Crew 16 2 Javier Morales Real Salt Lake 11 3 Terry Cooke Colorado Rapids 104 David Beckham LA Galaxy 8 Justin Mapp Chicago Fire 6 Christian Gómez Colorado Rapids 77 Cuauhtémoc Blanco Chicago Fire6 Brad Davis Houston Dynamo Landon Donovan LA Galaxy Jaime Moreno D.C. United Ronnie O'Brien San Jose Earthquakes

Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Jon BuschChicago Fire10 Kevin HartmanKansas City Wizards Will HesmerColumbus Crew4 Joe CannonSan Jose Earthquakes95 Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake86 Jon ConwayNew York Red Bulls7 Pat OnstadHouston Dynamo Darío SalaFC Dallas9 Matt ReisNew England Revolution6 Greg SuttonToronto FC

Awards

Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewDefender of the Year Chad MarshallColumbus CrewGoalkeeper of the Year Jon BuschChicago FireCoach of the Year Sigi SchmidColumbus CrewRookie of the Year Sean FranklinLA GalaxyNewcomer of the Year Darren HuckerbySan Jose EarthquakesComeback Player of the Year Kenny CooperFC DallasGolden Boot Landon DonovanLA GalaxyGoal of the Year Will JohnsonReal Salt LakeFair Play Award Michael ParkhurstNew England RevolutionHumanitarian of the Year José Burciaga Jr.Colorado Rapids

MLS Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Jon Busch, Chicago Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Chad Marshall, Columbus Bakary Soumaré, Chicago Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago Shalrie Joseph, New England Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA Robbie Rogers, Columbus Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Kenny Cooper, Dallas Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy

Player of the Month WeekPlayerClubApril Landon DonovanLA GalaxyMay Cuauhtémoc BlancoChicago FireJune Luciano EmilioD.C. UnitedJuly Nick RimandoReal Salt LakeAugust Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewSeptember Darren HuckerbySan Jose EarthquakesOctober Juan Pablo ÁngelNew York Red Bulls

Weekly awards Player of the WeekWeekPlayerClubWeek 1 Terry CookeColorado RapidsWeek 2 David BeckhamLA GalaxyWeek 3 Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewWeek 4 Landon DonovanLA GalaxyWeek 5 Landon DonovanLA GalaxyWeek 6 David BeckhamLA GalaxyWeek 7 Robbie RogersColumbus CrewWeek 8 Edson BuddleLA GalaxyWeek 9 Cuauhtémoc BlancoChicago FireWeek 10 Robbie FindleyReal Salt LakeWeek 11 Brian ChingHouston DynamoWeek 12 Edson BuddleLA GalaxyWeek 13 Landon DonovanLA GalaxyWeek 14 Steve RalstonNew England RevolutionWeek 15 Adam CristmanNew England RevolutionWeek 16 John ThorringtonChicago FireWeek 17 Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewWeek 18 Kenny CooperFC DallasWeek 19 Kenny CooperFC DallasWeek 20 Juan Pablo ÁngelNew York Red BullsWeek 21 Ronnie O'BrienSan Jose EarthquakesWeek 22 Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewWeek 23 Fabian EspindolaReal Salt LakeWeek 24 Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewWeek 25 Steve RalstonNew England RevolutionWeek 26 Landon DonovanLA GalaxyWeek 27 Conor CaseyColorado RapidsWeek 28 Brian ChingHouston DynamoWeek 29 Brian McBrideChicago FireWeek 30 Claudio LópezKansas City WizardsWeek 31 Chris RolfeChicago Fire