Major League Soccer 2018
History was made in 2017 as Toronto became the first Canadian team to win the MLS Cup (not to mention the Supporters' Shield).
MLS rules stipulate that only one new strip can be introduced each season although for obvious reasons this does not apply to expansion teams.
Los Angeles FC have now joined MLS, four years after being awarded a franchise. The Miami Beckham United Group, part owned by David Beckham has now been officially awarded a franchise and will enter the competition in 2020. The commissioners plan to further expand with up to 28 teams during the next decade.
The restructuring of the CONCACEF club competitions means that only the MLS Cup and US Open Cup winners are guaranteed a place in the CONCACEF Champions League from 2019. However, as Toronto take up the single place allocated to Canada, the spare slot will go to the US team that finishes with the best aggregate record in the 2017 and 2018 regular seasons.
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For their home game against Orlando in September, Atlanta sold 69,256 tickets one more than the record held by LA Galaxy. Atlanta have opted to replace their secondary strip for 2018 and have gone for all-white with orange trim.
Chicago improved on their poor 2016 performance and reached the play-offs last term but were knocked out by Red Bulls at the first hurdle. Their first choice kit is new for this year.
Colorado had a forgettable 2017 campaign finishing tenth in their conference. Normally Rapids primary kit is claret and white with light blue accents so the new version is quite a change. On the other hand, the design is standard fare with a few bespoke details.
Columbus made it to the Eastern Conference final where Toronto got the better of them by a single goal over two legs. The new change strip is black with grey trim and yellow applications. The jock tag celebrates the team's status as charter members of MLS.
United finished bottom of the Eastern Conference with just 32 points. Their updated first strip is all-black as usual, with silver trim and horizontal bands on the shirt along with minimal red accents.
The familiar hoops are consigned to the dustbin as Dallas have unveiled a new first strip loosely - very loosely - based on the Texan flag. The initials of their founder, Lamar Hunt, are printed into the single (lone?) star on the left sleeve. In my view this is not a patch on the blue and white outfit held over from last season.
Houston improved on their poor 2016 season to reach the Western Conference Final. They have a new change kit that features a graded band on the chest that supposedly represents diversity. It's also retro, modern and timeless according to the marketing hype. Houston's shirt sponsor has not renewed their contract.
Established in 2014, three days after Chivas USA were wound up by the MLS Commissioners, the latest expansion team means that once again Los Angeles has two sides. Originally chosen as a placeholder, the name was confirmed in 2015 by Henry Nguyen, the principal owner at the time, and follows the recent trend for European rather than American naming conventions. LAFC play at the Banc of Calfornia Stadium, a brand new soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park area of the city.
MLS' glamour team had a rotten season and finished bottom of their conference with the worst record in MLS. Their latest first strip is a variant on the usual white outfit with a dark blue and gold sash.
The Loons had an unremarkable first season in MLS, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference. Last year's attactive light blue sash is dropped from the primary shirt which is now striped in two shades of grey, this season's couleur du jour. Fans who hoped the Loon Bird would return to prominence on the shirt are likely to be disappointed but how likely are the owners to approve a large bird and a target on their team tops?
There was no play-off fun for Montreal who could only manage ninth place in their conference. Since 2015 the Olympic Stadium has been graced by a 1.5m tall bell weighing 715kg known as the North Star. Ths was acquired by a supporters group to celebrate goals and victories. Rather than replace their popular first choice strip, Montreal have retained it for a third year with a few additions to mark their 25th year. There is a special anniversary badge between the Adidas logo and the club crest while the squad numbers and players' names on the back of the shirt are printed in silver.
New England failed to make the play-offs once again in 2017. There's a lot less red in the new primary strip than in previous versions but the two vertical stripes are retained. These are now placed on the left and are in two shades of blue. You may ask why? And the answer is probably, why not?
The City Football Group now owns or co-owns six clubs on four continents and is setting out to realise a vision first developed by Ferran Soriano to create a multinational corporation that has been called the Coca Cola of football. The idea is to trawl the world for young players, train and polish them in state of the art academies run by the group's lower ranked teams before selling them on or sending the best to higher ranked teams within the group, with Manchester City the flagship.
Red Bulls reached the Conference sem-finals where they were beaten by Toronto on the away goals rule.
They were also finalists in the US Open Cup. Launched with the slogan, "All New, All Red," the design, "Signifies our passion and desire to give our fans what they asked for." Well, there's a lot more of this drivel but I was particularly struck by the remark by General Manager Marc de Grandpre who said, "Our priority is delivering the best experience to our loyal fan base," presumably by selling them lots of fizzy energy drink.
Orlando once again failed to make the play-offs. The new change kit is once again prediminantly white and in the standard Adidas template for 2018 and it's frankly pretty dull.
Philadelphia finished eighth in their Conference. They have gone for a new look, dropping the broad vertical stripe that has featured on their first choice shirts since they joined MLS and losing the "natural khaki" in favour of a lighter shade of gold. The result is pretty dull fare.
Portland won the Western Conference. They finished with the same number of points as their main rivals Seattle but were ranked higher because they had won 15 games compared to Seattle's 14.
Salt Lake failed to reach the play-offs last year. There's a bit more cobalt blue on the new primary kit than the previous version and the gold trim is familiar but it's otherwise the usual "claret." Not really very inspiring.
The Earthquakes reached the Knock Out stage of the play-offs but were hammered 5-0 by Vancouver. Their new change strip is based on an Adidas design from 1986. 
Seattle met Toronto in the MLS Cup final for the second time in successive years but it was the Canadian side that triumphed this time round. The new primary strip is in Sounders' distinctive colours but with some novel features. There's a mottled print on the front of the shirt and the phrase, "You Will Hear Us," is printed below the back of the collar, the motto of a Sounder's fan site. The jock tag celebrates ten years of the Sounder's Alliance Council, a group elected by season ticket holders to liaise with the front office and the owners.
SKC won the US Open Cup for the fourth time beating Red Bulls 2-1 at their home ground in Kansas. We have a new secondary strip which is an austere black affair trimmed in silver grey.
Having reached the final of the MLS Cup last season, Toronto have now gone one better and are the first Canadian side to win the title. They also won the Supporters' Shield.
Vancouver had a moderate season, reaching the Conference Semi-Finals. I'm tempted to suggest that the white "rain shirt" is now complemented by the secondary "foggy with low cloud" strip in two shades of grey. The shirt has tiny triangles embossed into the fabric, a theme borrowed from the badge.