The 2004 Major League Soccer season was the ninth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 92nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 26th with a national first-division league.
After playing one season in the suburb of Southlake, the Dallas Burn returned to the Cotton Bowl.
D.C. United signed 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made his debut as a substitute in their season opener becoming the youngest player in North American sports history. The Columbus Crew emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to winning the Supporters' Shield.
The regular season began on April 3, and concluded on October 17. The 2004 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 22, and concluded with MLS Cup 2004 on November 14. D.C. United won their record 4th league title by defeating the Kansas City Wizards in MLS Cup.
Overview
Season format
The season began on April 3 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 14. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference, and two designated opponents from the opposite conference, four times, and the remaining teams in the opposite conference twice.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks 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. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! Team
! Stadium
! Capacity
|-
| Chicago Fire
| Soldier Field
| 61,500
|-
|-
| Colorado Rapids
| Invesco Field at Mile High
| 76,125
|-
| 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
| Home Depot Center
| 27,000
|-
| MetroStars
| Giants Stadium
| 80,200
|-
| New England Revolution
| Gillette Stadium
| 68,756
|-
| San Jose Earthquakes
| Spartan Stadium
| 30,456
|}
Personnel and sponsorships
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
! Team
! Head coach
! Captain
!Manufacturer
! Shirt sponsor
|-
|Chicago Fire
| Dave Sarachan
|
|Puma
|Honda
|-
| Colorado Rapids
| Tim Hankinson
|
|Atletica
| colspan="1" align="center" style="background:#ececec; color:gray " |—
|-
| Columbus Crew
| Greg Andrulis
| Robin Fraser
|Adidas
| Sierra Mist
|-
| D.C. United
| Piotr Nowak
|
|Adidas
| colspan="1" align="center" style="background:#ececec; color:gray " |—
|-
| Dallas Burn
| Colin Clarke
|
|Atletica
|RadioShack
|-
|Kansas City Wizards
| Bob Gansler
|
|Adidas
|U.S. Soccer Foundation
|-
| Los Angeles Galaxy
| Steve Sampson
|
|Nike
|Budweiser
|-
| MetroStars
| Bob Bradley
| Eddie Pope
|Nike
| colspan="1" align="center" style="background:#ececec; color:gray " |—
|-
| New England Revolution
| Steve Nicol
|
|Reebok
| Sierra Mist
|-
| San Jose Earthquakes
| Dominic Kinnear
| Jeff Agoos
|Nike
| Yahoo! en Español
|}
Coaching changes
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Team!! Outgoing coach!! Manner of departure!! Date of vacancy!! Incoming coach!! Date of appointment
|-
| Los Angeles Galaxy
| Sigi Schmid
| Fired
| August 16, 2004
| Steve Sampson
| August 18, 2004
|-
|}
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Conference semifinals <span class="anchor" id="Conference Semifinals"></span>
New England Revolution advance 2–1 on aggregate.
----
D.C. United advance 4–0 on aggregate.
----
Kansas City Wizards advance 3–2 on aggregate.
----
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1 on aggregate.
----
Conference finals
----
D.C. United advance 4–3 on penalties (3–3 after full time).
----
MLS Cup
Player statistics
Goals
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Player !! Club !! Goals
|-
| rowspan="2" |1
| align="left"| Brian Ching
| align="left"| San Jose Earthquakes
| rowspan="2" |12
|-
| align="left"| Eddie Johnson
| align="left"| Dallas Burn
|-
| rowspan="4" |3
| align="left"| Edson Buddle
| align="left"| Columbus Crew
| rowspan="4" |11
|-
| align="left"| Pat Noonan
| align="left"| New England Revolution
|-
| align="left"| Damani Ralph
| align="left"| Chicago Fire
|-
| align="left"| Carlos Ruiz
| align="left"| Los Angeles Galaxy
|-
| rowspan="4" |7
| align="left"| Alecko Eskandarian
| align="left"| D.C. United
| rowspan="4" |10
|-
| align="left"| Amado Guevara
| align="left"| MetroStars
|-
| align="left"| Josh Wolff
| align="left"| Kansas City Wizards
|-
| align="left"| John Wolyniec
| align="left"| MetroStars
|}
Assists
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Player !! Club !! Assists
|-
| rowspan="3" |1
| align="left"| José Cancela
| align="left"| New England Revolution
| rowspan="3" |8
|-
| align="left"| Simon Elliott
| align="left"| Columbus Crew
|-
| align="left"| Amado Guevara
| align="left"| MetroStars
|-
| 4
| align="left"| Landon Donovan
| align="left"| San Jose Earthquakes
| 7
|-
| rowspan="7" |5
| align="left"| Andreas Herzog
| align="left"| Los Angeles Galaxy
| rowspan="7" |6
|-
| align="left"| Chris Klein
| align="left"| Kansas City Wizards
|-
| align="left"| Dema Kovalenko
| align="left"| D.C. United
|-
| align="left"| Jaime Moreno
| align="left"| D.C. United
|-
| align="left"| Richard Mulrooney
| align="left"| San Jose Earthquakes
|-
| align="left"| Ronnie O'Brien
| align="left"| Dallas Burn
|-
| align="left"| Andy Williams
| align="left"| Chicago Fire
|}
Clean sheets
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Rank
!Player
!Club
!Clean<br>sheets
|-
|rowspan="2"|1
|align="left"| Jon Busch
|align="left"|Columbus Crew
|rowspan="2"|10
|-
|align="left"| Joe Cannon
|align="left"|Colorado Rapids
|-
|rowspan="3"|3
|align="left"| Kevin Hartman
|align="left"|Los Angeles Galaxy
|rowspan="3"|7
|-
|align="left"| Tony Meola
|align="left"|Kansas City Wizards
|-
|align="left"| Henry Ring
|align="left"|Chicago Fire
|-
|6
|align="left"| Pat Onstad
|align="left"|San Jose Earthquakes
|6
|-
|rowspan="2"|7
|align="left"| Bo Oshoniyi
|align="left"|Kansas City Wizards
|rowspan="2"|5
|-
|align="left"| Jonny Walker
|align="left"|MetroStars
|-
|rowspan="3"|9
|align="left"| Jeff Cassar
|align="left"|Dallas Burn
|rowspan="3"|4
|-
|align="left"| Scott Garlick
|align="left"|Dallas Burn
|-
|align="left"| Nick Rimando
|align="left"|D.C. United
|-
|}
Awards
Individual awards
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%"
!Award!!Player!!Club
|-
|Most Valuable Player|| Amado Guevara||MetroStars
|-
|Defender of the Year|| Robin Fraser||Columbus Crew
|-
|Goalkeeper of the Year|| Joe Cannon||Colorado Rapids
|-
|Coach of the Year|| Greg Andrulis||Columbus Crew
|-
|Rookie of the Year|| Clint Dempsey||New England Revolution
|-
|Comeback Player of the Year|| Brian Ching||San Jose Earthquakes
|-
|Scoring Champion|| Amado Guevara <br> Pat Noonan ||MetroStars <br> New England Revolution
|-
|Goal of the Year|| Dwayne De Rosario||San Jose Earthquakes
|-
|Fair Play Award|| Eddie Pope||MetroStars
|-
|Humanitarian of the Year|| Chris Henderson||Colorado Rapids
|}
Best XI
{| class="wikitable"
!Goalkeeper
!Defenders
!Midfielders
!Forwards
|-
| Joe Cannon, Colorado
| Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City<br> Robin Fraser, Columbus<br> Ryan Nelsen, D.C. United <br> Eddie Pope, MetroStars
| Eddie Gaven, MetroStars<br> Amado Guevara, MetroStars<br> Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas<br> Kerry Zavagnin, Kansas City
| Brian Ching, San Jose<br> Jaime Moreno, D.C. United
|-
|}
Attendance
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%"
!Club
!Games
!Total
!Average
|-
|Los Angeles Galaxy
|align=center|15
|align=center|357,137
|align=center|23,809
|-
|D.C. United
|align=center|15
|align=center|258,484
|align=center|17,232
|-
|MetroStars
|align=center|15
|align=center|257,923
|align=center|17,195
|-
|Chicago Fire
|align=center|15
|align=center|257,295
|align=center|17,153
|-
|Columbus Crew
|align=center|15
|align=center|253,079
|align=center|16,872
|-
|Kansas City Wizards
|align=center|15
|align=center|222,235
|align=center|14,816
|-
|Colorado Rapids
|align=center|15
|align=center|212,925
|align=center|14,195
|-
|San Jose Earthquakes
|align=center|15
|align=center|195,015
|align=center|13,001
|-
|New England Revolution
|align=center|15
|align=center|183,385
|align=center|12,226
|-
|Dallas Burn
|align=center|15
|align=center|136,319
|align=center|9,088
|-
|Totals
|align=center|150
|align=center|2,333,797
|align=center|15,559
|}