The 2011 Major League Soccer season was the 16th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 99th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 33rd with a national first-division league.
This season marked the arrival of two new clubs, the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who replaced teams of the same name that last played in the USSF D2 Pro League. The addition of those two clubs led to a realignment of the league's conferences, with the Houston Dynamo moving to the Eastern Conference to create two conferences of nine teams each.
The Kansas City Wizards rebranded as Sporting Kansas City, which coincided with its move to its new stadium, Livestrong Sporting Park.
The MLS Reserve League returned this season after previously disbanding following the 2008 season.
The regular season began on March 15 and concluded on October 23. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 26 and ended on November 20, when the LA Galaxy claimed their third league title by defeating the Houston Dynamo, 1–0, in MLS Cup.
Overview Season format The season began on March 15 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 20. The 18 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 34 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in the league twice.
This was the first playoffs to include ten teams. The top three teams in each conference earned a bye to the conference semifinals, while the next four teams with the most points earned wild card berths. The wild card round included two single-elimination matches where the winners advanced to the conference semifinals. 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 and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, as Canadian-based teams, could not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and had to instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.
Roster rule changes Team rosters were expanded to 30 players in order to accommodate the re-introduction of the MLS Reserve League. Of these 30 players, 18–20 count against a club's salary cap of $2,675,000. Clubs may still have a maximum of three Designated Players per club, each of whom counts $335,000 for salary cap purposes. The transfer windows for acquisition of players under contract in another country run from January 21 to April 15 and from July 15 to August 14.
Other key roster rule changes were the introduction of Off-Budget players who do not count against a club's salary cap; the ability of clubs to forgo fielding a full roster of 30 players for salary reasons; the introduction of roster slots paid below last year's league minimum; the ability of the two Canadian clubs to count U.S. domestic players as domestic players for roster purposes; and the ability of clubs to buy out one guaranteed player contract during the off-season and free up the corresponding budget space.
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 45,596 FC Dallas Pizza Hut Park 21,193 Houston Dynamo Robertson Stadium 32,000 LA Galaxy Home Depot Center 27,000 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 68,756 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Philadelphia Union PPL Park 18,500 Portland Timbers Jeld-Wen Field 18,627 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Buck Shaw Stadium 10,525 Seattle Sounders FC Qwest Field 68,740 Sporting Kansas City Livestrong Sporting Park 18,467 Toronto FC BMO Field 21,566 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Empire Field BC Place 27,528 22,120
Personnel and sponsorships
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsorChicago Fire —Chivas USA CoronaColorado Rapids —Columbus Crew —D.C. United VolkswagenFC Dallas —Houston Dynamo Greenstar RecyclingLA Galaxy HerbalifeNew England Revolution UnitedHealthcareNew York Red Bulls Red BullPhiladelphia Union BimboPortland Timbers Alaska AirlinesReal Salt Lake XanGoSan Jose Earthquakes Amway GlobalSeattle Sounders FC XboxSporting Kansas City —Toronto FC Bank of MontrealVancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming coachDate of appointmentTablePortland TimbersExpansion club John SpencerAugust 10, 2010Pre-seasonChivas USA Martín VásquezFiredOctober 27, 20108th West ('10) Robin FraserJanuary 4, 2011Pre-seasonToronto FC Nick DasovicEnd of interim periodSeptember 14, 20105th East ('09) Aron WinterJanuary 6, 2011Pre-seasonVancouver Whitecaps FC Teitur ThordarsonFiredMay 29, 20119th West ('11) Tom SoehnMay 29, 20119th West ('11)Chicago Fire Carlos de los CobosFiredMay 30, 20118th East ('11) Frank KlopasMay 30, 20118th East ('11)
Results table
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup playoffs
Bracket
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals1 Dwayne De Rosario D.C. United16 Chris Wondolowski San Jose Earthquakes 3 Thierry Henry New York Red Bulls 14 4 Andrés Mendoza Columbus Crew 135 Camilo Sanvezzo Vancouver Whitecaps FC12 Landon Donovan LA Galaxy Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC Dominic Oduro Chicago Fire9 Charlie Davies D.C. United 11 Sébastien Le Toux Philadelphia Union Álvaro Saborío Real Salt Lake Brek Shea FC Dallas
Assists Rank Player Club Goals 1 Brad Davis Houston Dynamo 16 2 David Beckham LA Galaxy 15 3 Mauro Rosales Seattle Sounders FC 13 4 Dwayne De Rosario D.C. United 125 Kyle Beckerman Real Salt Lake9 Davide Chiumiento Vancouver Whitecaps FC Sébastien Le Toux Philadelphia Union Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC Patrick Nyarko Chicago Fire 10 Jack Jewsbury Portland Timbers 8
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Kevin HartmanFC Dallas13 Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake3 Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FC9 Dan KennedyChivas USA Troy PerkinsPortland Timbers6 Will HesmerColumbus Crew8 Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas City Matt PickensColorado Rapids Josh SaundersLA Galaxy10 Jon BuschSan Jose Earthquakes7 Bill HamidD.C. United Sean JohnsonChicago Fire Faryd MondragónPhiladelphia Union Donovan RickettsLA Galaxy
Awards
Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Dwayne De RosarioD.C. UnitedDefender of the Year Omar GonzalezLA GalaxyGoalkeeper of the Year Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCCoach of the Year Bruce ArenaLA GalaxyRookie of the Year C.J. SapongSporting Kansas CityNewcomer of the Year Mauro RosalesSeattle Sounders FCComeback Player of the Year David BeckhamLA GalaxyGolden Boot Dwayne De RosarioD.C. UnitedGoal of the Year Darlington NagbePortland TimbersSave of the Year Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCFair Play Award Sébastien Le TouxPhiladelphia UnionHumanitarian of the Year Zak Boggs New England Revolution
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Kasey Keller, Seattle Todd Dunivant, LA Galaxy Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy Jámison Olave, Salt Lake David Beckham, LA Galaxy Brad Davis, Houston Dwayne De Rosario, D.C. United Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Brek Shea, Dallas Thierry Henry, Red Bulls Chris Wondolowski, San Jose
Player of the Month MonthPlayerClubStatsMarch Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake1GAApril Brad DavisHouston Dynamo6AMay Landon DonovanLA Galaxy6GJune Graham ZusiSporting Kansas City2G, 3AJuly Kevin HartmanFC Dallas4GAAugust Dwayne De RosarioD.C. United3G, 2ASeptember Sébastien Le TouxPhiladelphia Union7GOctober Chris WondolowskiSan Jose Earthquakes5G
Weekly awards WeekPlayer of the WeekAT&T Goal of the WeekMLS Save of the WeekPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubWeek 1 Omar BravoSporting Kansas City Juan AgudeloNew York Red Bulls Nick RimandoReal Salt LakeWeek 2 Javier MoralesReal Salt Lake Javier MartinaToronto FC Jake GleesonPortland TimbersWeek 3 CamiloVancouver Whitecaps FC Khari StephensonSan Jose Earthquakes Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 4 David FerreiraFC Dallas O'Brian WhiteSeattle Sounders FC Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 5 Luke RodgersNew York Red Bulls Jorge PerlazaPortland Timbers Jake GleesonPortland TimbersWeek 6 Landon DonovanLos Angeles Galaxy Juan AgudeloNew York Red Bulls Donovan RickettsLos Angeles GalaxyWeek 7 Will BruinHouston Dynamo Brek SheaFC Dallas Bobby ShuttleworthNew England RevolutionWeek 8 Joao PlataToronto FC Thierry HenryNew York Red Bulls Tim ReamNew York Red BullsWeek 9 Justin BraunChivas USA David BeckhamLos Angeles Galaxy Stefan FreiToronto FCWeek 10 Jeff ParkeSeattle Sounders FC Carlos RuizPhiladelphia Union Troy PerkinsPortland TimbersWeek 11 Justin MappPhiladelphia Union Lamar NeagleSeattle Sounders FC Donovan & DeLaGarzaLos Angeles GalaxyWeek 12 Jean AlexandreReal Salt Lake Jean AlexandreReal Salt Lake Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 13 Steven LenhartSan Jose Earthquakes Eric HassliVancouver Whitecaps FC Greg SuttonNew York Red BullsWeek 14 Bernardo AnorColumbus Crew Fredy MonteroSeattle Sounders FC Teemu TainioNew York Red BullsWeek 15 Mike MageeLos Angeles Galaxy Tyson WahlSeattle Sounders FC Mike MageeLos Angeles GalaxyWeek 16 Joel LindpereNew York Red Bulls Darlington NagbePortland Timbers Brian PerkLos Angeles GalaxyWeek 17 Fredy MonteroSeattle Sounders FC David BeckhamLos Angeles Galaxy Troy PerkinsPortland TimbersWeek 18 Mauro RosalesSeattle Sounders FC Carlos RuizPhiladelphia Union Troy PerkinsPortland TimbersWeek 19 Sanna NyassiColorado Rapids Kei KamaraSporting Kansas City Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas CityWeek 20 Dwayne De RosarioD.C. United Roger TorresPhiladelphia Union Andy GruenebaumColumbus CrewWeek 21 Dwayne De RosarioD.C. United Luis GilReal Salt Lake Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas CityWeek 22 Chris PontiusD.C. United Adam MoffatHouston Dynamo Miloš KocićToronto FCWeek 23 Graham ZusiSporting Kansas City Graham ZusiSporting Kansas City Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 24 Lamar NeagleSeattle Sounders FC Lamar NeagleSeattle Sounders FC Nick RimandoReal Salt LakeWeek 25No award given Kyle BeckermanReal Salt Lake Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas CityWeek 26 Charlie DaviesD.C. United Davide ChiumientoVancouver Whitecaps FC Joe CannonVancouver Whitecaps FCWeek 27 Danny KoevermansToronto FC Álvaro FernándezSeattle Sounders FC Zac MacMathPhiladelphia UnionWeek 28 Dwayne De RosarioD.C. United Fredy MonteroSeattle Sounders FC Troy PerkinsPortland TimbersWeek 29 Marco PappaChicago Fire Kenny CooperPortland Timbers Nick RimandoReal Salt LakeWeek 30No award given Chris WondolowskiSan Jose Earthquakes Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 31 Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FC Danny CruzHouston Dynamo Kasey KellerSeattle Sounders FCWeek 32 Jalil AnibabaChicago Fire Adam MoffatHouston Dynamo Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas City
Transfers
Major League Soccer employs no fewer than 12 methods to acquire players. These include: signing players on transfers/free transfers as is done in most of the world; via trades; drafting players through mechanisms such as the MLS SuperDraft, MLS Supplemental Draft, or MLS Re-Entry Draft; rarely used methods which cover extreme hardship and injury replacement; signing players as Designated Players or Homegrown Players; placing a discovery claim on players; waivers; and methods peculiar to MLS such as through allocation or a weighted lottery.
Allocation ranking