Historical Football Kits

Major League Soccer 2010

Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top-flight, professional soccer (association football) competition in North America. Founded in 1993 as part of the USA's successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the competition began in 1996 with ten teams. The MLS is organised on the American franchise model, which also operates in the national American Football and Baseball Leagues.

The teams are centrally controlled by the MLS and revenues are shared across the league. Players are contracted to the MLS rather than the teams they play for. Adidas holds the central contract for providing playing kit but the teams are free to generate their own income from shirt sponsorship. The MLS has established a minimum of $500,000 for sponsorship deals and receives a flat fee of $200,000 for each one. Online gambling and hard liquor are banned.

MLS is organised into Eastern and Western Conferences: teams play each other twice, home and away with additional games organised within each conference to bring the total to 30 games. The best eight 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 2010 season runs from late-March to November.

Due to the USA team qualifying for the World Cup finals in South Africa, the MLS took a four-week break in June.

MLS 2009 | MLS 2010 | MLS 2011 | MLS 2012 | MLS 2013 |MLS 2014 | MLS 2015

Chicago Fire SC (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Best Buy Co.

Chicago Fire Soccer Club are one of the United States' leading teams, having won one MLS Cup, one MLS Supporters' Shield, three Conference championships and four Lamar Hunt US Open Cups. After leading a nomadic existence for several seasons, Chicago moved into their current home, Toyota Park in June 2006, which seats 20,000.

The white chest band on The Fire's new home strip is slightly different to last season's version but otherwise there is very little change. The white away strip is now trimmed in dark navy rather than red as it was last year.

Just below the neckline, the years of their MLS Cup wins are embroidered on a navy background.

CD Chivas USA (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Extra

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 and Chivas share The Home Depot Center with LA Galaxy. Chivas seeks to celebrate and provide a focus for the Hispanic community of Southern California and is active through its non-profit organisation, Fundación Chivas de Corazón USA.

Chivas USA were Western Conference champions in 2007.

This season the familiar stripes have been reduced to cover only part of the shirt. The team's jerseys were not sponsored in their opening game but subsequently a sponsorship deal was arranged with a chain of Mexican convenience stores.

Colorado Rapids (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Charter (founder) members of the MLS, Colorado finished bottom of the Western Conference in their inaugural season. In fact they have enjoyed little success, reaching the final of the MLS Cup in 1997 and the US Open Cup in 1999, but losing on both occasions.

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. The team are in partnership with Arsenal FC, sharing expertise in coaching, player development and mutual promotion.

The Rapids kicked off the 2010 season in the same kits as last season.

Columbus Crew (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Glidden

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 last season 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 updated but otherwise little changed. The home strip now has black seams on the body while the strip used on the road is now predominantly black with white pinstripes and gold trimmings.

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, having won four MLS Cups, four MLS Supporters' Shields, the US Open Cup (twice) and in 1998 the CONCACEF Champions Cup and Copa Interamericana to earn the title "Champion of the Americas". In 2009 they were runners-up in the US Open Cup.

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 within the District of Columbia have foundered as have proposals to build one in neighbouring Prince George's County in Maryland. The administration of the city of Baltimore have made overtures to the owners in the hope of enticing the team to move to their city.

The team's kits have changed only marginally for the new season.

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).

Officially the club's colours are Republic Red, Bovine Blue, Shawnee Silver and Lonestar White. Yee-haw.

The team's strips are slightly modified from last season: the crooked hoops are replaced by conventional ones and the third colour is used more sparingly.

Dallas are currently owned by the Hunt Sports Group.

Houston Dynamo (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Amigo Energy

Formed in 2005, Houston previously played as San Jose Earthquakes and moved to Texas because they could not secure a soccer-specific stadium. Although the team moved with all its playing staff and management, they were treated as a new franchise and were not allowed to carry their previous records with them when they joined the MLS in April 2006.

Houston won back-to-back MLS Cup Championships in 2006 and 2007. They 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.

Kansas City Wizards (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Kansas are one of the ten charter members of MLS and were originally known as Kansas City Wiz but were required to change this in a copyright dispute. The team have won the MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield in 2000 and the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in 2004. The club was sold by Lamar Hunt in 2006 to a Kansas-based consortium.

The Wizards are currently sharing a baseball stadium with the Kansas City T-Bones. A major mixed-use development that would have included a soccer-specific stadium for the Wizards was abandoned due to the financial crisis of 2008-09 but an alternative site in Wyandotte County has been found. Work began on 20 January 2010.

The team play in cobalt blue, white and indigo.

Los Angeles Galaxy (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Herbalife

LA Galaxy's share the romantically named Home Depot Centre with Chivas USA in the suburb of Carson. Galaxy have 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) but have underperformed in recent years.

The aquisition of David Beckham from Real Madrid in 2007 was a considerable coup, although his impact was somewhat reduced by the terms of the loan agreement with AC Milan, which meant he missed the first two months of the MLS season.

In 2009 Galaxy won the Western Conference title and reached the MLS Cup final where they were beaten by Real Salt Lake on penalties.

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.

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 started this season in the brand new Red Bull Arena, which cost $200 million, paid for entirely by the Red Bull company.

The scale of Red Bull's investment is reflected in the blanket coverage of their brand in all aspects of the team, from the name of the stadium to the design of the playing kit. Officially they are New York Red Bulls but their website and official crest styles them as Red Bull New York.

Philadelphia Union (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

Philadelphia make their debut in MLS having been granted the sixteenth MLS franchise in February 2008, part of a $47m urban renewal project that includes the building of a soccer-specific stadium, PPL Park. Just over 12 months later the team's official name was announced following a poll of potential fans.

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.

Because of construction delays, the team plays at Lincoln Financial Field pending completion of the PPL Stadium.

Real Salt Lake (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XanGo

Real Salt Lake enter the new season as MLS Cup Winners, the first time the team has won a major competition. This success has effectively silenced domestic criticism of the decision to take a Spanish title (Real being Spanish for "royal") rather than a name that reflects the local area. On the other hand Salt Lake Mormons does lack a certain general appeal.

Salt Lake are in partnership with Real Madrid to create a youth academy as part of the MLS drive to develop of youth talent. The team play in a home kit inspired by that worn by the Spanish national team.

(Pat from Canada)

San Jose Earthquakes (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Amway Global

San Jose Clash were charter members of MLS and in 1999 they became San Jose Earthquakes, a name previously used by the original NASL team with which they had tenuous links. They won two MLS Cups within three years but in December 2005 they moved to Texas to become Houston Dynamo.

The MLS retained the San Jose franchise and in May 2006 a deal was negotiated to develop a soccer-specific stadium in the San Francisco Bay area. Under the rules of MLS, the new incarnation of San Jose Earthquakes inherited the record of the original team (which entitles them to wear two stars above their badge).

The city council has now given permission for a new stadium adjacent to San Jose International Airport: meanwhile home games are played at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara while larger attendances are catered for at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

(Shorts and socks for the away kit not confirmed.)

Seattle Sounders (Western Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Microsoft

The Sounders joined MLS last season, following the award of the franchise in 2007. Their name was chosen by supporters who added a fourth "write-in" option to the names offered. Almost half of the 14,500 who voted favoured "Sounders."

The Sounders played their first ever game on 9 February, 2009, beating LA Galaxy 3-1. They share NFL side Seattle Seahawks' stadium, which has an artificial playing surface. The upper tier is closed for soccer games reducing the capacity to 24,500. More than 20,000 season tickets have been sold for the 2009 season.

The colours are officially described as Sounder Blue, Rave Green and Cascade Shale to represent the sea, forests and mountains of the area and are unchanged from last season. The third kit is in "electric yellow" and "rave green." Any suggestion that this is an attempt to exploit the replica kit market was dismissed by the franchise owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer who stated, "A third kit is traditional among many international soccer clubs. We will wear (it) for international friendlies, possibly for some cup matches, and whenever Sigi feels like the "electricity" might bring us a result."

Toronto FC (Eastern Conference)

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

Due to the success of Toronto FC, who have been profitable since they joined MLS in 2007 and regularly sell out their tickets for home games, a second Canadian franchise has been awarded to Vancouver. The club has a waiting list for season tickets and work is under way to expand their stadium's capacity to around 21,800.

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 new all-white "road kit" was unveiled in Toronto's first match in Columbus, Ohio while their home strip is unchanged.

Portland Timbers

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Alaska Airlines

Portland Timbers were granted an MLS franchise in March 2009 and will take their place in the competition in 2011. The new franchise will replace the side currently playing in the USL First Division under the same ownership so effectively the existing Portland Timbers team will be promoted to the top level of North American soccer.

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.
(Todd Diskin)

Vancouver Whitecaps

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bell Canada

Vancouver was awarded an MLS franchise in March 2009 and the existing Vancouver Whitecaps team will join the competition in 2011, thus becoming the second Canadian side in the competition. The team will 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.

(Bob Tebbit)

Montreal

Designer: XXXX

Sponsor: XXXX

In May 2010 the MLS announced that the latest franchise would go to the city of Montreal. The new team will play at Saputo Park, home of Montreal Impact, which will be expanded to accomodate 20,000 spectators, a development largely to be funded by the government of Quebec.

Montreal will join MLS in 2012 and a twentieth franchise is expected to be announced to join the coimpetition in 2012 or 2013.