The 1999 Major League Soccer season was the fourth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 87th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 21st with a national first-division league. This was the last season which used the 35 yard line shootout rule to resolve tied games, and that of the countdown timer, with MLS Cup 1999 adopting the IFAB-standard running clock thereafter.
The Columbus Crew moved into the first soccer-specific stadium when Columbus Crew Stadium opened on May 15, 1999.
The regular season began on March 20, and concluded on October 10. The 1999 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 16, and concluded with MLS Cup 1999 on November 21. D.C. United won their second double by winning the Supporters' Shield and defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS Cup.
Overview
Season format The season began on March 20 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 21. 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, for a total of 20 games. The remaining schedule consisted of two games against each team from the opposite conference.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout 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. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Soldier Field 66,944 Colorado Rapids Mile High Stadium 76,273 Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555 D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000 Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100 Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425 Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542 MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200 Miami Fusion Lockhart Stadium 20,450 New England Revolution Foxboro Stadium 60,292 San Jose Clash Spartan Stadium 30,456 Tampa Bay Mutiny Raymond James Stadium 69,218
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Chicago Fire Bob Bradley — Colorado Rapids Glenn Myernick Columbus Crew Tom Fitzgerald Snickers D.C. United Thomas Rongen MasterCard Dallas Burn Dave Dir Kansas City Wizards Ron Newman — Los Angeles Galaxy Octavio Zambrano — MetroStars Bora Milutinović Tab Ramos— Miami Fusion Ivo Wortmann — New England Revolution Walter Zenga — San Jose Clash Brian Quinn John Doyle Honda Tampa Bay Mutiny Tim Hankinson
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Kansas City Wizards Ron Newman Fired April 14, 1999 Ken Fogarty April 14, 1999 Los Angeles Galaxy Octavio Zambrano Fired April 22, 1999 Sigi Schmid April 22, 1999 Kansas City Wizards Ken Fogarty End of interim period April 28, 1999 Bob Gansler April 28, 1999 San Jose Clash Brian Quinn Fired September 16, 1999 Jorge Espinoza September 16, 1999 San Jose Clash Jorge Espinoza End of interim period September 22, 1999 Lothar Osiander September 22, 1999
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Best of Three series winner will advance.
Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference
D.C. United advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
Columbus Crew advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
Western Conference
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
Dallas Burn advance 2–1, to the Conference Finals.
Conference finals
D.C. United advance 2–1, advance to MLS Cup '99.
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1. advance to MLS Cup '99.
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1 Stern JohnColumbus Crew18 Roy LassiterD.C. United Jason KreisDallas Burn4 Joe-Max MooreNew England Revolution15 Ronald CerritosSan Jose Clash6 Ante RazovChicago Fire147 Raúl Díaz ArceSan Jose Clash, Tampa Bay Mutiny138 Musa ShannonTampa Bay Mutiny12 Jeff CunninghamColumbus Crew105 players10
Hat-tricks
Player Club Against Result Date Jason Kreis Dallas Burn New England Revolution 4–0 Stern John Columbus Crew Miami Fusion 4–0 Stern John Columbus Crew MetroStars 4–2
Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Marco EtcheverryD.C. United13 Carlos ValderramaTampa Bay Mutiny3 Steve RalstonTampa Bay Mutiny124 Ben OlsenD.C. United115 Jeff BaicherSan Jose Clash9 Mauricio CienfuegosLos Angeles Galaxy Roman KoseckiChicago Fire Eddie LewisSan Jose Clash9 Henry GutierrezMiami Fusion8 Jason KreisDallas Burn Brian McBrideColumbus Crew
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy11 Matt JordanDallas Burn3 Ian FeuerColorado Rapids84 Zach ThorntonChicago Fire75 Mark DoughertyColumbus Crew66 Scott GarlickTampa Bay Mutiny57 Joe CannonSan Jose Clash4 Marcus HahnemannColorado Rapids9 Jeff CassarMiami Fusion3 Garth LagerwayMiami Fusion Tony MeolaKansas City Wizards Tom PresthusD.C. United
Awards
Individual awards AwardPlayerTeamMost Valuable Player Jason KreisDallas BurnDefender of the Year Robin FraserLos Angeles GalaxyGoalkeeper of the Year Kevin HartmanLos Angeles GalaxyCoach of the Year Sigi SchmidLos Angeles GalaxyRookie of the Year Jay HeapsMiami FusionScoring Champion Jason KreisDallas BurnGoal of the Year Marco EtcheverryD.C. UnitedFair Play Award Steve RalstonTampa Bay Mutiny
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Kevin Hartman, LA Galaxy Jeff Agoos, D.C. United Luboš Kubík, Chicago Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy Chris Armas, Chicago Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Eddie Lewis, San Jose Steve Ralston, Tampa Bay Jason Kreis, Dallas Jaime Moreno, D.C. United
Player of the Month WeekPlayerClubMarch Ante Razov Chicago FireApril Musa Shannon Tampa Bay MutinyMay Roy Lassiter D.C. UnitedJune Jason Kreis Dallas BurnJuly Raúl Díaz Arce Tampa Bay MutinyAugust Matt Jordan Dallas BurnSeptember Ronald Cerritos San Jose Clash
Weekly awards Player of the WeekWeekPlayerClubWeek 1 Jason Kreis Dallas BurnWeek 2 Ante Razov Chicago FireWeek 3 Ante Razov Chicago FireWeek 4 Matt Jordan Dallas BurnWeek 5 Jason Kreis Dallas BurnWeek 6 Ivan McKinley New England RevolutionWeek 7 Jeff Cunningham Columbus CrewWeek 8 Mark Chung MetroStarsWeek 9 Roy Lassiter D.C. UnitedWeek 10 Giovanni Savarese New England RevolutionWeek 11 Jason Kreis Dallas BurnWeek 12 Jaime Moreno D.C. UnitedWeek 13 Joe-Max Moore New England RevolutionWeek 14 Jorge Dely Valdés ColoradoWeek 15 Stern John Columbus CrewWeek 16 Jason Kreis Dallas BurnWeek 17 Chris Klein Kansas City WizardsWeek 18 Raúl Díaz Arce Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 19 Luboš Kubík Chicago FireWeek 20 Ariel Graziani Dallas BurnWeek 21 Ben Olsen D.C. UnitedWeek 22 Manny Lagos Tampa Bay MutinyWeek 23 Giovanni Savarese New England RevolutionWeek 24 Eddie Lewis San Jose ClashWeek 25 Brian McBride Columbus CrewWeek 26 Jason Kreis Dallas BurnWeek 27 Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
Attendance
RankTeam 1 Columbus Crew 16 24,741 13,891 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 16 60,433 4,825 3 D.C. United 16 35,167 10,846 4 New England Revolution 16 30,564 7,260 5 Chicago Fire 16 27,311 6,223 6 San Jose Clash 16 73,123 6,824 7 MetroStars 16 43,192 6,876 8 Colorado Rapids 16 51,025 4,746 9 Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 20,976 8,264 10 Dallas Burn 16 17,621 7,237 11 Miami Fusion 16 13,648 5,862 12 Kansas City Wizards 16 15,509 4,631 Total 192 2,742,108 73,123 4,631
References
MLS Site