The 2003 Major League Soccer season was the eighth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 91st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 25th with a national first-division league.
The Los Angeles Galaxy moved into the league's second soccer-specific stadium when the Home Depot Center opened on June 1, 2003. The Chicago Fire continued to play at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville but returned to the newly renovated Soldier Field for their final regular season game.
The number of games was increased to 30 after a reduction to 28 for the 2002 season. Instead of a best-of-three series, the playoffs were tweaked so that the conference semifinals would be determined by a home-and-away aggregate score over two matches, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. Additionally, the two conference finals became single-leg hosted by the higher seed.
The regular season began on April 5, and concluded on October 26. The 2003 MLS Cup Playoffs began on November 1, and concluded with MLS Cup 2003 on November 23. The San Jose Earthquakes won their second MLS Cup in three years with a victory over Chicago.
Overview
Season format The season began on April 5 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 23. The 10 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 in their conference, and two designated opponents from the opposite conference, four times, and the remaining teams 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 Cardinal Stadium Soldier Field 15,000 61,500 Colorado Rapids Invesco Field at Mile High 76,125 Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555 D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000 Dallas Burn Dragon Stadium 11,000 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 San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Chicago Fire Dave Sarachan — Colorado Rapids Tim Hankinson Columbus Crew Greg Andrulis Pepsi D.C. United Ray Hudson — Dallas Burn Colin Clarke Kansas City Wizards Bob Gansler — Los Angeles Galaxy Sigi Schmid Budweiser MetroStars Bob Bradley Eddie Pope— New England Revolution Steve Nicol — San Jose Earthquakes Frank Yallop Jeff Agoos Yahoo! en Español
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Dallas Burn Mike Jeffries Fired September 15, 2003 Colin Clarke September 15, 2003
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Eastern Conference semifinals
Chicago Fire won 4–0 on aggregate.
New England Revolution won 3–1 on aggregate.
Western Conference semifinals
San Jose Earthquakes won 5–4 on aggregate after golden goal extra time.
Kansas City Wizards won 3–1 on aggregate.
Conference finals Eastern Conference
Western Conference
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals 1 Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 15 Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 3 Ante Razov Chicago Fire 14 John Spencer Colorado Rapids 5 Landon Donovan San Jose Earthquakes 12 Brian McBride Columbus Crew Preki Kansas City Wizards 8 Mark Chung Colorado Rapids 11 Damani Ralph Chicago Fire 10 Edson Buddle Columbus Crew 10 Pat Noonan New England Revolution
Assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Preki Kansas City Wizards 12 2 Amado Guevara MetroStars 9 3 Mark Lisi MetroStars 6 Ross Paule Columbus Crew Steve Ralston New England Revolution 6 Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy 5 Manny Lagos San Jose Earthquakes Brian Mullan San Jose Earthquakes Richard Mulrooney San Jose Earthquakes Pat Noonan New England Revolution Eric Quill Kansas City Wizards Andy Williams Chicago Fire
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Scott GarlickColorado Rapids9 Pat OnstadSan Jose Earthquakes3 Zach ThorntonChicago Fire84 Nick RimandoD.C. United75 Adin BrownNew England Revolution4 Jon BuschColumbus Crew Kevin HartmanLA Galaxy Tony MeolaKansas City Wizards Jonny WalkerMetroStars10 D.J. CountessDallas Burn3 Tim HowardMetroStars
Awards
Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player PrekiKansas City WizardsDefender of the Year Carlos BocanegraChicago FireGoalkeeper of the Year Pat OnstadSan Jose EarthquakesCoach of the Year Dave SarachanChicago FireRookie of the Year Damani RalphChicago Fire Comeback Player of the Year Chris ArmasChicago FireScoring Champion PrekiKansas City WizardsGoal of the Year Damani RalphChicago FireFair Play Award Brian McBrideColumbus CrewHumanitarian of the Year Ben OlsenD.C. United
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Tim Howard, MetroStars Wade Barrett, San Jose Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago Alexi Lalas, LA Galaxy Mark Chung, Colorado Ronnie Ekelund, San Jose Óscar Pareja, Dallas Steve Ralston, New England Jeff Cunningham, Columbus Carlos Ruiz, LA Galaxy Taylor Twellman, New England
Attendance
ClubGames SeasonGame Avg.Los Angeles Galaxy15329,75221,983 Colorado Rapids 15251,578 16,772Columbus Crew15243,75616,250MetroStars15237,326 15,822 Kansas City Wizards 15233,59415,573D.C. United 15233,47615,565New England Revolution15219,61114,641Chicago Fire15210,08014,005San Jose Earthquakes15156,98910,466Dallas Burn15118,5857,906Totals1502,234,74714,898
References
External links MLS Site