The 2014 Major League Soccer season was the 19th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 102nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 36th with a national first-division league.
The regular season began on March 8 and ended on October 26. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 29 and ended on December 7, when the LA Galaxy claimed their fifth league title by defeating the New England Revolution, 2–1, in MLS Cup
Teams, stadiums, and personnel
Schedule Teams played 34 games: 17 at home and 17 away. The nine Western Conference teams faced each West club three times, with the home teams reversed from the previous year. The 10 Eastern Conference teams played 7 East teams three times (home teams reversed from 2013) and two East teams twice. Eastern and Western Conference teams played each other once, with the home team reversed from previous year. 90 percent of matches were on weekends. A proposal to cut the regular season to 28 matches and allow for balanced in-conference schedules was reported in the media but not adopted.
Stadiums and locations
Chicago Fire Chivas USA/ LA Galaxy Colorado Rapids Columbus Crew D.C. United FC Dallas Toyota Park StubHub Center Dick's Sporting Goods Park Crew Stadium RFK Memorial Stadium Toyota Stadium Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 18,086 Capacity: 20,145 Capacity: 19,467 Capacity: 21,193
Houston Dynamo Montreal Impact New England Revolution New York Red Bulls Philadelphia Union Portland Timbers BBVA Compass Stadium Saputo Stadium Gillette Stadium Red Bull Arena PPL Park Providence Park Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 20,801 Capacity: 22,385 Capacity: 25,189 Capacity: 18,500 Capacity: 20,438
Real Salt Lake San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders FC Sporting Kansas City Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC Rio Tinto Stadium Buck Shaw Stadium CenturyLink Field Sporting Park BMO Field BC Place Capacity: 20,213 Capacity: 11,500 Capacity: 67,000 Capacity: 18,467 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 21,000
Personnel and sponsorship On October 29, 2013, Real Salt Lake announced a 10-year contract with LifeVantage to become their jersey sponsor effective January 1, 2014. They replaced XanGo, which had been their sponsor since the 2006 season. On February 10, 2014, Portland Timbers announced a partnership with Providence Health & Services to rename their stadium to Providence Park, which had been called Jeld-Wen Field since 2011. On February 24, 2014, D.C. United announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with Leidos. On May 1, 2014, Colorado Rapids announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with Ciao Telecom. On July 1, 2014, following two years without jersey sponsorship, Houston Dynamo announced a multi-year jersey sponsorship with BHP Billiton.Houston Dynamo Enter Partnership with BHP Billiton BHP Billiton July 2, 2014
Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsorChicago Fire QuakerChivas USA —Colorado Rapids Ciao TelecomColumbus Crew BarbasolD.C. United LeidosFC Dallas AdvoCareHouston Dynamo BHP Billiton LA Galaxy HerbalifeMontreal Impact Bank of MontrealNew England Revolution UnitedHealthcareNew York Red Bulls Red BullPhiladelphia Union BimboPortland Timbers Alaska AirlinesReal Salt Lake Jeff Cassar LifeVantageSan Jose Earthquakes (Interim) —Seattle Sounders FC XboxSporting Kansas City Ivy FundsToronto FC Bank of MontrealVancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment FC Dallas Schellas Hyndman Resigned October 26, 2013Preseason Oscar Pareja January 10, 2014 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Martin Rennie Fired October 29, 2013 Carl Robinson December 16, 2013 Chicago Fire Frank Klopas Resigned October 30, 2013 October 31, 2013 Columbus Crew End of caretaker spellNovember 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 Chivas USA November 25, 2013 January 9, 2014 Real Salt Lake Jason KreisEnd of contractDecember 10, 2013 Jeff Cassar December 18, 2013 Montreal Impact Marco SchällibaumFiredDecember 18, 2013 Frank KlopasDecember 18, 2013 Colorado Rapids Oscar Pareja Resigned January 10, 2014 Pablo Mastroeni March 8, 2014 Philadelphia Union John Hackworth Fired June 10, 2014 16th Jim Curtin June 10, 2014 Toronto FC Ryan Nelsen August 31, 2014 7th Greg Vanney August 31, 2014 San Jose Earthquakes Mark Watson October 15, 2014 18th Ian Russell (interim) October 15, 2014
Player transfers
Major League Soccer employs twelve methods to acquire players. These mechanisms are the following: (a) via allocation; (b) via the Designated Player Rule; (c) via the annual SuperDraft; (d) via trade; (e) placing a discovery claim; (f) via the Homegrown Player Rule; (g) via the annual Re-Entry Draft; (h) via the annual Waiver Draft; (i) through weighted lottery; (j) through an "extreme hardship" call-up; (k) by replacing a player who has been placed on the Season Ending Injury List; (l) by replacing a player who has been placed on the Disabled List.
Allocation ranking The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the League after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. The allocation rankings may also be used in the event two or more clubs file a request for the same player on the same day. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2013 season, taking playoff performance into account.
Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. At all times, each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS League season.
Original RankingClubDate Allocation UsedPlayer signedPrevious clubRef 1 Philadelphia Union January 27, 2014 Maurice Edu Stoke City 2 Seattle Sounders FC January 31, 2014 Marco Pappa Heerenveen 3 Houston Dynamo∞ July 23, 2014 DaMarcus Beasley Puebla 4 Columbus Crew SC October 7, 2014 Kei Kamara Middlesbrough 5 FC Dallas 6 Los Angeles Galaxy 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 8 Chicago Fire 9 San Jose Earthquakes 10 Montreal Impact 11 Colorado Rapids 12 New England Revolution 13 Chivas USA 14 D.C. United 15 New York Red Bulls 16 Toronto FC∞ 17 Portland Timbers 18 Real Salt Lake 19 Sporting Kansas City On January 14, 2014, Philadelphia Union acquired the No. 1 ranking and Ethan White from D.C. United in exchange for the No. 6 allocation ranking and Jeff Parke.
On December 11, 2013, Seattle Sounders acquired the No. 2 allocation ranking from Chivas USA in exchange for the No. 13 allocation ranking and Tristan Bowen.
∞ On July 23, 2014, Houston Dynamo acquired the then-no. 1 allocation ranking (original ranking number 3) and allocation money from Toronto FC in exchange for the then-no. 14 allocation ranking (original ranking number 16) and Warren Creavalle.
On July 29, 2014, Los Angeles Galaxy acquired the then-No. 3 allocation ranking (original ranking number 6) from D.C. United in exchange for the then-No. 11 allocation ranking (original ranking number 14), a second-round selection in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, and Kofi Opare.
Ownership changes Club New owner Previous owner Date Chivas USA Major League Soccer Jorge Vergara
Rule changes The rules for the 2014 season are largely identical as those in 2013, with one major exception. For the first time in league history, the away goals rule will be used in two-legged MLS Cup playoff matches. MLS will use the version of the rule employed in CONCACAF competitions, which is applied only at the end of regular time of the second leg and not after extra time. MLS has also tweaked the tiebreaker rules for the league standings. The first tiebreaker remains total wins, but the second and third tiebreakers have been swapped—goal difference is now second and goals scored is third. All other tiebreakers remain the same as in 2013.
More minor changes include the following: The so-called "Special Discovery Signing" has been standardized. Under this provision, each team is allowed to amortize the total acquisition costs for one player, including the transfer fee, over the length of his contract without making him a Designated Player. Regulations for loans between MLS teams have been formalized. Each team may loan out one player per season to another league team, with the loan deal being finalized no later than the close of the primary transfer window (May 12 in 2014). The player must be no older than 24 at the time of the loan, must stay on the receiving team's roster for the entire season, and cannot play against the team that loaned him out. Deals may include an option to buy. Players who have trained for at least one year in a team's youth system, and have trained for at least 80 days with the team's academy in that year, may be signed to a first professional contract without being subject to the MLS SuperDraft.
The salary cap for 2014 has also been adjusted upward. The team salary cap, which as in previous years covers the first 20 of the 30 available roster spots, has increased to $3.1 million. The cap charge for a Designated Player is now $387,500, up from $368,750 last season. Midseason Designated Player signings carry a cap charge of $193,750. The minimum salaries for "off-budget" players (roster spots 21–30, including Generation adidas players) have also increased from last season.
Regular season
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup playoffs
Bracket
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals1 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls272 Dom DwyerSporting Kansas City223 Robbie KeaneLA Galaxy194 Lee NguyenNew England Revolution185 Obafemi MartinsSeattle Sounders FC176 Gyasi ZardesLA Galaxy167 Clint DempseySeattle Sounders FC15 Erick TorresChivas USA9 Chris WondolowskiSan Jose Earthquakes1410 Joao PlataReal Salt Lake13
Hat-tricks
+PlayerForAgainstScoreDate Clint DempseySeattle Sounders FCPortland Timbers4−4April 5 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red BullsHouston Dynamo4−0April 23 Harry ShippChicago FireNew York Red Bulls5−4May 10 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red BullsChicago Fire4−5 Javier MoralesReal Salt LakeHouston Dynamo5−2May 11 Luis SilvaD.C. UnitedMontreal Impact4−2June 11 Tesho AkindeleFC DallasSan Jose Earthquakes5−0August 16 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red BullsSeattle Sounders FC4−1September 20
Assists Rank Player Club Assists1 Landon DonovanLA Galaxy192 Thierry HenryNew York Red Bulls14 Robbie KeaneLA Galaxy Diego ValeriPortland Timbers5 Obafemi MartinsSeattle Sounders FC136 Javier MoralesReal Salt Lake12 Pedro MoralesVancouver Whitecaps FC8 Brad DavisHouston Dynamo11 Cristian MaidanaPhiladelphia Union Mauro RosalesVancouver Whitecaps FC Marcelo SarvasLA Galaxy
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 David OustedVancouver Whitecaps FC132 Bill HamidD.C. United103 Stefan FreiSeattle Sounders FC94 Steve ClarkColumbus Crew8 Jaime PenedoLA Galaxy Bobby ShuttleworthNew England Revolution7 Tally HallHouston Dynamo7 Clint IrwinColorado Rapids Eric KronbergSporting Kansas City Donovan RickettsPortland Timbers Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake
Awards
Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Robbie KeaneLA GalaxyDefender of the Year Chad MarshallSeattle Sounders FCGoalkeeper of the Year Bill HamidD.C. UnitedCoach of the Year Ben OlsenD.C. UnitedRookie of the Year Tesho AkindeleFC DallasNewcomer of the Year Pedro MoralesVancouver Whitecaps FCComeback Player of the Year Rodney WallacePortland TimbersGolden Boot Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red BullsFair Play Award Michael ParkhurstColumbus CrewHumanitarian of the Year A. J. DeLaGarzaLA GalaxyGoal of the Year Obafemi MartinsSeattle Sounders FCSave of the Year Luis Robles New York Red Bulls
Best XI