Supporters' Shield Race 2012(-2013)

Just a mid-week update through Sep-20, San Jose is leading the league with 57pts.

D.C., Houston, RSL, L.A. and Columbus will be eliminated this weekend, if S.J. beat Seattle and they do not win their respective games.

Code:

1.Kansas City          12
2.Chicago              11
3.Seattle              9
4.New York            7
5.DC United            5
6.Houston              4
7.Real Salt Lake        4
8.Los Angeles          4
9.Columbus              3
10.Vancoover            Eliminated (Week #28)
11.Montreal            Eliminated (Week #28)
12.Phialdelphia        Eliminated (Week #28)
13.CD Chivas            Eliminated (Week #27)
14.Portland            Eliminated (Week #26)
15.FC Dallas            Eliminated (Week #26)
16.Colorado            Eliminated (Week #26)
17.New England          Eliminated (Week #26)
18.Toronto              Eliminated (Week #25)

 

Chicago/K.C. are the only remaining challengers now, and they are playing each other on Sep-28, which is good news for S.J., as one or both of them will drop points (and probably drop out of the race altogether).

The rest may well be eliminated by the end of September, if S.J. win again in Week #30.

L.A.'s reign as 2-time defending SS winners is certainly coming to an end...

 

By the way, should S.J. remain 1st overall come the end of the regular season, Frank Yallop will secure his first Supporters' Shield as a head coach, having won it once as a player ('96); and finished runners-up twice ('02, '03) during his 1st stint with S.J.

 

N.Y., Seattle & RSL are pretty much out, Chicago is on the brink too as the gap are too big to make up, even with the game in hand.

Only K.C. is still in position to challenge for it... Essentially a 2-horse race at this juncture.

 

Mid-week updates after Oct-3:

 

San Jose leads the league with 64 points, another win will seal the SS:

Code:

1.Kansas City          2
2.Chicago              Eliminated (Week #31)
3.New York            Eliminated (Week #31)
4.Seattle              Eliminated (Week #31)
5.Real Salt Lake      Eliminated (Week #31)
6.DC United            Eliminated (Week #30)
7.Los Angeles          Eliminated (Week #30)
8.Houston              Eliminated (Week #29)
9.Columbus            Eliminated (Week #29)
10.Vancoover          Eliminated (Week #28)
11.Montreal            Eliminated (Week #28)
12.Phialdelphia        Eliminated (Week #28)
13.CD Chivas          Eliminated (Week #27)
14.Portland            Eliminated (Week #26)
15.FC Dallas          Eliminated (Week #26)
16.Colorado            Eliminated (Week #26)
17.New England        Eliminated (Week #26)
18.Toronto            Eliminated (Week #25)

 

A draw would effectively do it, since SKC is not going to make up the Earthquakes' enormous lead in goals scored.

 

Congrats to San Jose!

Any idea when will the trophy be presented to Frank & Team?

 

MLS Supporters’ Shield Still Has Few Guarantees and Little Significance

http://majorleaguesoccertalk.com/20...l-has-few-guarantees-and-little-significance/

 

Bolded mine....I stopped reading right there.... really.

 

But wait isn't called the Leagues Shield? S.S. for short.

 

When/where is the 2012 Supporters' Summit taking place?
(Does it have to wait until the MLS Cup Final Venue is decided?)

Was googling though there are very little information about it:
http://vancouversouthsiders.ca/mls-supporters-summit-2012-collaborating-towards-solutions/

Any idea when will the SS trophy be presented to Frank & Team?

 

Updated the List of MLS clubs' post-season droughts for Supporters' Shield at Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MLS_club_post-season_droughts#MLS_Supporters.27_Shield

Club	Last Supporters' Shield won	Supporters' Shield drought
Colorado Rapids	never (club entered MLS in 1996)	17 seasons
New York Red Bulls	never (club entered MLS in 1996)	17 seasons
New England Revolution	never (club entered MLS in 1996, runners-up in 2005)	17 seasons
FC Dallas	never (club entered MLS in 1996, runners-up in 2006)	17 seasons
Sporting Kansas City	2000	12 seasons
Chicago Fire	2003	9 seasons
Chivas USA	never (club entered MLS in 2005, runners-up in 2007)	8 seasons
Real Salt Lake	never (club entered MLS in 2005, runners-up in 2010)	8 seasons
Houston Dynamo	never (club entered MLS in 2006, runners-up in 2008)	7 seasons
Toronto FC	never (club entered MLS in 2007)	6 seasons
D.C. United	2007	5 seasons
Seattle Sounders FC	never (club entered MLS in 2009, runners-up in 2011)	4 seasons
Columbus Crew	2009	3 seasons
Philadelphia Union	never (club entered MLS in 2010)	3 seasons
Portland Timbers	never (club entered MLS in 2011)	2 seasons
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	never (club entered MLS in 2011)	2 seasons
Montreal Impact	never (club entered MLS in 2012)	1 season
Los Angeles Galaxy	2011	1 season
San Jose Earthquakes	2012	0 seasons*

* Through 2012 season.
* Does not count the two years the Earthquakes were on hiatus.

 

Yes, the season is still early, though 2013 could be year to see the first D1 regular season champions from Canada, after two 2nd-places by the Caps in '78/'83...

 

So, Montreal has reached 4 straight wins now, contending for the Shield should be a possibility (though not necessarily a priority) for the team.

Previously, L.A. had won 8 opening game in 1996, yet lost the Shield to Tampa back then:
http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/table.php?stageId=1232&matches=0&rounds=1&roundCount=8

There are still much to play for, more twists to come...

 

Not to forget that SKC won the first 7 games in 2012 yet finished runners-up to S.J. for the Shield.

RSL opened with 4 wins in 2011 as well and ended-up 3rd overall.

In fact, 2 other "Last-standing 100% Teams" didn't win the Shield as well:
- '99 Chicago, won first 3, ended 4th: http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/table.php?stageId=1229&matches=0&rounds=1&roundCount=3
- '97 Tampa, won first 3, ended 3rd: http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/table.php?stageId=1231&matches=0&rounds=1&roundCount=3

 

Alright, so only once did the team with the longest winning streak at the beginning take the Shield. But it looks like every last one of them qualified for the MLS Cup, right?

 

Yes, which means Montreal most likely will... as well.

And the team you mentioned would be L.A. in 2010, at 4 wins.

Both Seattle / Chivas USA had 3 wins each too in 2009, but ended 4th / 6th respectively.

 

A quick look at how the team(s) with the most opening wins (MOW) have fared previously:

Season	Team(s) with MOW	Record	Final Overall Position(s) / Teams
1996	L.A.	8-0-0	2nd/10
1997	Tampa Bay	3-0-0	3rd/10
1998	D.C., Chicago	2-0-0	2nd, 3rd/12
1999	Chicago	3-0-0	4th/12
2000	K.C., Tampa Bay, L.A.	2-0-0	1st, 4th, 5th/12
2001	Miami	2-0-0	1st/12
2002	L.A.	2-0-0	1st/10
2003	S.J., K.C.	1-0-0	2nd, 4th/10
2004	N.Y.	2-0-0	6th/10
2005	D.C., Dallas, K.C.(*), Columbus(*)	1-0-0	3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th/12
2006	K.C.(*)	3-0-0	11th/12
2007	Chivas, Chicago, K.C., Colorado(*)	1-0-0	2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th/13
2008	K.C.	2-0-0	6th/14
2009	Seattle, Chivas	3-0-0	4th, 6th/15
2010	L.A.	4-0-0	1st/16
2011	R.S.L.	4-0-0	3rd/18
2012	K.C.	7-0-0	2nd/19
2013	Montreal	4-0-0 (as at Mar-23 & counting)	??/19
Total	29 teams (excl. '13 Montreal)	50-0-0 (i.e. Avg. ~3-0-0 over 17 seasons, excl. '13 Montreal)

(*) Missed Playoffs

Summary:

1. In the past 17 seasons, the team with MOW have won the Supporters' Shield on 4 occasions (2000-02 & 10). That's about 23.53% or slightly less than a quarter chance.​

​

2. Going by the total number of leading teams (28, excl. '13 Montreal), the odds became 4/28 = 14.23%.​

​

3. The longest MOW streak: 8-0-0 by L.A. in 1996. The shortest: 1-0-0 in 2003, 05 & 07. None of them won the SS...​

​

4. All the leaders have made the playoffs, except K.C. (2005-06), Columbus (2006) & Colorado (2007).​

​

5. K.C. have been leading the pack in 7 seasons, the most among all teams (L.A. is 2nd with 4), including 4-straight in 2005-08!!​

​

6. The worst finish by a MOW leader was none other than K.C. of 2006, who ended-up in 11th-place out of 12 teams!!!​

 

Expanded the table to include the team(s) with the most opening wins and ties (MOWT), i.e. the longest unbeaten start, for cross-comparisons:

Season	Team(s) with MOW	Record	Final Overall Position(s) / Teams		Teams(s) with MOWT (Longest Unbeaten Start)	Record	Final Overall Position(s) / Teams
1996	L.A.	8-0-0	2nd/10		L.A.	10-0-2	2nd/10
1997	Tampa Bay	3-0-0	3rd/10		D.C.	9-0-5	1st/10
1998	D.C., Chicago	2-0-0	2nd, 3rd/12		L.A.	8-0-1	1st/10
1999	Chicago	3-0-0	4th/12		Dallas	6-0-6	4th/10
2000	K.C., Tampa Bay, L.A.	2-0-0	1st, 4th, 5th/12		K.C.	10-0-2	1st/12
2001	Miami	2-0-0	1st/12		Miami	2-0-0	1st/12
2002	L.A.	2-0-0	1st/10		L.A.	2-0-2	1st/10
2003	S.J., K.C.	1-0-0	2nd, 4th/10		S.J.	4-0-2	2nd/10
2004	N.Y.	2-0-0	6th/10		L.A., Dallas(*)	2-0-2	3rd, 8th/10
2005	D.C., Dallas, K.C.(*), Columbus(*)	1-0-0	3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th/12		N.E.	7-0-4	2nd/12
2006	K.C.(*)	3-0-0	11th/12		D.C., Dallas	3-0-2	1st, 2nd/12
2007	Chivas, Chicago, K.C., Colorado(*)	1-0-0	2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th/13		N.Y.	3-0-2	6th/13
2008	K.C.	2-0-0	6th/14		Dallas(*)	2-0-2	11th/14
2009	Seattle, Chivas	3-0-0	4th, 6th/15		Chicago	5-0-6	5th/15
2010	L.A.	4-0-0	1st/16		L.A.	10-0-2	1st/10
2011	R.S.L.	4-0-0	3rd/18		R.S.L., N.E.(*)	4-0-0, 1-0-3	3rd, 17th/18
2012	K.C.	7-0-0	2nd/19		K.C.	7-0-0	2nd/19
2013	Montreal	4-0-0 (as at Mar-23 & counting)	??/19		Montreal, L.A.	4-0-0, 2-0-1 (as at Mar-23 & counting)	??, ??/19
Total	28 teams (excl. '13 Montreal)	50-0-0 (i.e. Avg. ~3-0-0 over 17 seasons, excl. '13 Montreal)			20 teams (excl. '13 Montreal, L.A.)	93-0-40 (i.e. Avg. ~5-0-2 over 17 seasons, excl. '13 Montreal, L.A.)

(*) Missed Playoffs

Summary:

1. In the past 17 seasons, the team with MOWT have won the Supporters' Shield on 7 occasions (97-98, 2000-02, 06 & 10). That's about 41.17%, much higer odds than the

MOW teams (23.53%).

2. Going by the total number of leading teams (20, excl. '13 Montreal), the odds became 7/20 = 35.00%, more than double of MOW teams too (14.23%).

3. The longest MOWT streak: 9-0-5 by D.C. in 1997. The shortest: 2-0-0 by Miami in 2001. Both won the SS.

4. All the MOWT leaders have made the playoffs, except Dallas (2004, 08) & N.E. (2011).

5. L.A. have been the MOWT leaders in 5 seasons, the most among all teams. Dallas is 2nd with 4, though they managed to miss the playoffs twice in 2004 & 08!!

6. The worst finish by a MOWT leader was N.E. of 2011, who ended-up at 17th-place out of 18 teams!!!

 

Following the loss to Dallas on Apr-13, L.A. (2-0-2) now share the longest opening streak without a loss in 2013 with Montreal (4-0-0) at 4 games each.

From past stats, both teams would stand 85% chance (17/20 teams) making the playoffs.

Let's see how they fare come the end of the season...