Historical Football Kits

Major League Soccer 2011

For the 2011 season, MLS consists of 18 teams with Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers joining the competition.

The MLS is organised on the American franchise model, with all teams owned and centrally controlled by the league and run by owner-operators. To keep costs under control and promote equality of competition all revenues are shared and player contracts negotiated by the league.

MLS is organised into Eastern and Western Conferences: teams play each other twice, home and away with additional games organised within each conference. The best ten teams then compete in national play-offs, the Conference champions receiving home advantage. The team winning the play-off final (the MLS Cup) become the league champions while the team with the best overall record (ie who would have been champions in a conventional league structure) are awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. The season runs from late-March to November.

Further expansion is planned with a new franchise in Montreal granted in May 2010. The third Canadian team will join MLS in 2012. It is widely known that MLS favours creating a second franchise in New York City.

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Chicago Fire SC (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Chicago Fire Soccer Club are one of the United States' leading teams, having won the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters' Shield once each, the Conference championship three times and Lamar Hunt US Open Cup four times but they have suffered lean times of late. Chicago play at Toyota Park, which seats 20,000.

Chicago's strips are basically unchanged from last season but are no longer sponsored. The dates embroidered below the collar have been removed.

CD Chivas USA (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Corona Beer

Club Deportivo Chivas USA was formed in August 2004 as the sister club of Mexican team CD Guadalajara, popularly known as Chivas (Goats) in Spanish, whose colours they wear. The venture was a deliberate attempt to capture the support of the large Mexican-American population of Los Angeles. Chivas share The Home Depot Center with LA Galaxy.

Chivas USA were Western Conference champions in 2007.

Last season's home strip is unchanged aside from a new shirt sponsor. The new away strip is a variation on their usual dark blue and white alternative combination.

Colorado Rapids (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Charter (founder) members of the MLS, Colorado enjoyed little success until last season when they won the MLS Cup for the first time.

The team play in Commerce City, a suburb of Denver and have been rebranded twice. The most recent was in 2007, when they were bought by Kroenke Sports Enterprises, whose corporate livery of burgundy, sky blue and grey were adopted.

Rapids' home strip is only slightly updated while a smart new white change outfit replaces the pale blue version worn for the last two seasons.

(Shorts/socks to be confirmed.)

Columbus Crew (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Columbus Crew, from the capital of the State of Ohio, are one of the ten founders of MLS, the first franchise to build a soccer-specific stadium, imaginatively called the Columbus Crew Stadium. The Crew won the Supporters' Shield in 2009 to add to their tally of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (2002) and a "double" of MLS Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup in 2008.

The team's new kits are identical to last season but without shirt sponsorship.

DC United (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Volkswagen

Charter members of the original MLS in 1996, United represent Washington DC. They are the most successful team in the history of professional league soccer in the US.

The "Black and Red" currently play in the 56,000 seat RFK Stadium, previously the home of NFL side, Washington Redskins, the Washington Senators Major League baseball team and the national soccer team. Plans to build a stadium of their own have so far come to nothing and the administration of Baltimore has commissioned a feasibility study into attracting the franchise to move to their city.

A red third strip is added for 2011. The gold stars above the crest represent United's four MLS Cup wins.

FC Dallas (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Charter members of MLS (as Dallas Burn), the team was rebranded in 2004 and has played as FC Dallas ever since. They moved into Pizza Hut Park in August 2005, which is situated in and owned by the City of Frisco, a northern suburb of Dallas. FC Dallas have won the US Open Cup once (1997).

The club's official colours are Republic Red, Bovine Blue, Shawnee Silver and Lonestar White. That's red, white and blue then. The strips are unchanged from last season.

Houston Dynamo (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Greenstar Recycling

Houston have been placed in the Eastern Conference this season due to league expansion.

Houston play in the Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus but are seeking to build a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Houston. They play in orange, white and "Space City Blue" and have two stars embroidered above their crest, marking their championship wins.

Although the basic colour scheme is unchanged, Houston's new home shirts feature an elaborate jacquard print.

(Robert Brown)

Los Angeles Galaxy (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Herbalife

LA Galaxy's share the Home Depot Centre with Chivas USA in the suburb of Carson. They won the Supporter's Shield last year to add to their impressive haul of trophies: Galaxy have previously won the US Open Cup twice (2001, 2005), the MLS Cup twice (2002, 2005), the MLS Supporters' Shield twice (1998, 2002) and the CONCACEF Champions' League once (2000).

Galaxy's home kit is unchanged aside from a minor change to the shirt sponsor's logo while the usual dark blue road kit has slightly modified trim. The third kit, launched in July, is in "Punjab and Gold." No, really.

(Pat Carrasco)

New England Revolution (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

"The Revs" are based in Foxburgh, Massachusetts but aim to draw support from throughout New England. They are owned by Robert Kraft who also owns the NFL New England Patriots team. (The names of both sides reflect New England's involvement in the American Revolution of 1776.) The team wears patriotic dark navy blue, red and white and are unchanged this season.

In 2007, New England Revolution won the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, their only major honour to date, although they have come close a number of times, appearing in four MLS Cup finals and reaching the final of the 2001 US Open Cup.

New York Red Bulls (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Red Bull

Charter members of the MLS as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, the team were known simply as the MetroStars between 1998 and 2006. After the franchise was sold to Red Bull GmbH in 2006 they underwent a comprehensive rebrand. The team is in fact based in Harrison, New Jersey and plays in the $200m Red Bull Arena, paid for entirely by the parent company.

Red Bull's invest heavily in sport and now own four professional teams (the others are RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig and RB Brasil) all of whom wear identical strips.

The home strip is unchanged but a new away kit is introduced.

Philadelphia Union (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bimbo Bakeries

Philadelphia had a modest debut season, finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference and 14th overall.

The colours of midnight blue and natural khaki are based on the uniforms of the Continental Army worn during the Revolutionary War and the team crest features thirteen stars, symbolising the original Thirteen Colonies. Light blue piping across the chest represents the colour of the flag of Philadelphia.

Union's strips are unchanged apart from new shirt sponsorship and a new third strip appears for the first time.

(Pat Carrasco)

Portland Timbers (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Alaska Airlines

Portland Timbers take their place in the competition in 2011. The new franchise replaces the side that played in the USL First Division under the same ownership.

Their new strips, unveiled in December, display a wealth of carefully chosen detail. The home strip is in ponderosa and moss green to represent the forests of the state of Oregon while the road kit is themed on the cultivation of roses for which the city is famous. The two tone shirt features a thorn motif down the centre line and carries an additional, "rose city" logo.

Real Salt Lake (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XanGo

Real Salt Lake finished second in the Western Conference in 2010 but were eliminated in the quarter-final of the play-offs. They also reached the semi-finals of the 2010-11 CONCACEF Champions' League.

Their kits are unchanged.

San Jose Earthquakes (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Amway Global

San Jose Earthquakes inherited the record of San Jose Clash (now Houston Dynamo) when they were granted a franchise in May 2006.

Home games are played at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara while larger attendances are catered for at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A brand new soccer-specific stadium is expected to open within 12 months.

A new blue third kit makes a first appearance while the home and road kits appear to be unchanged.

Seattle Sounders (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XBox

Although the Sounders had a modest season in MLS they did win the US Open Cup final, beating Columbus Crew 2-1.

The Sounders share Qwest Field with the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. Capacity for soccer games is artificially reduced to enhance the atmosphere but, with al their home games sold out last season, it is likely the 35,700 limit will be raised.

The colours are officially described as Sounder Blue, Rave Green and Cascade Shale to represent the sea, forests and mountains of the area.

Sporting Kansas City (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Previously known as Kansas City Wizards the team have adopted a new name, crest and colours to coincide with the opening of their new stadium, the Livestrong Sporting Park.

While the team still plays in blue the shades have been modified and are now described as "Sporting Blue" and dark indigo. Wizards used a dark shade of blue for their home strip and wore a pale road kit when a change was required, a system reversed as part of the new image.

Toronto FC (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

A high-tech "bubble" protects the MBO Stadium's playing area allowing year-round use even during the harsh Canadian winter.

Toronto FC are ineligible for the US Open Cup so instead take part in the Canadian Championship with Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps to determine Canada's entrant into the CONCACEF Champions' League.

Their all-white "road kit" is unchanged. The new home kit was unveiled in the openening game at Vancouver.

(Ivan Barsby)

Vancouver Whitecaps (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bell Canada

Vancouver Whitecaps become the second Canadian side in the competition. The team continue to wear their usual white and smoke blue strip but with a brand new crest.

Work is currently underway to renovate the BC Place stadium with a retractable roof, which will eventually be the Whitecap's new home.