Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - All-Time MLS Year 1 (1998)

Wolfpack · 08-08-2010, 10:40 PM

There will be two other cup competitions: an "MLS Open Cup" and a "Champions League". These Cup tournaments will play out during the regular season on mid-week nights. Teams that are participating will still be subject to penalties from injuries suffered in weekend league games, but the discipline points will be kept separately.

The Open Cup will feature a single-elimination random draw tournament of all the teams in league history to date (even ones that have been relegated from existence in league play). Some teams will gain byes and later placement in the tournament field by performance from prior years. This year, the first round will consist of the 10 teams in Division 2 playing one another, followed by a second round where the five survivors are joined by nine teams from Division 1. The lucky TBD tenth team will get a bye to the quarterfinals alongside the seven winners from round two. Knockouts will proceed in the normal way from that point on.

Meanwhile, the Champions League will have a minimum of eight teams and will eventually have more participants than that over time. The only eligible teams for this competition each year will be teams who have won championships either in the real life MLS, or in this all-time league. Real life winners eligible are all MLS Cup winners to date and all Supporter's Shield winners to date, while All-time winners eligible are any teams that have won an all-time competition in the league's history (a prior all-time MLS Cup, all-time Supporter's Shield, all-time Open Cup, or all-time Champions League). Occasionally, this may result in an odd number of teams, so to even numbers out, the highest available team from the prior year's standings may be drawn into the field, as well. For this first season, the field will merely consist of the four semi-finalists from each of 1996 and 1997 since that is sufficient to cover the only "trophy" holders from 1996 and 1997 (DC United both years, Tampa Bay from 1996). These teams will be drawn into two groups to play a double-round robin of six games. Group winners advance to a one-game final that's played out after the regular season is over.

08-08-2010, 10:40 PM	#4
Wolfpack Pro Rookie Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC	There will be two other cup competitions: an "MLS Open Cup" and a "Champions League". These Cup tournaments will play out during the regular season on mid-week nights. Teams that are participating will still be subject to penalties from injuries suffered in weekend league games, but the discipline points will be kept separately. The Open Cup will feature a single-elimination random draw tournament of all the teams in league history to date (even ones that have been relegated from existence in league play). Some teams will gain byes and later placement in the tournament field by performance from prior years. This year, the first round will consist of the 10 teams in Division 2 playing one another, followed by a second round where the five survivors are joined by nine teams from Division 1. The lucky TBD tenth team will get a bye to the quarterfinals alongside the seven winners from round two. Knockouts will proceed in the normal way from that point on. Meanwhile, the Champions League will have a minimum of eight teams and will eventually have more participants than that over time. The only eligible teams for this competition each year will be teams who have won championships either in the real life MLS, or in this all-time league. Real life winners eligible are all MLS Cup winners to date and all Supporter's Shield winners to date, while All-time winners eligible are any teams that have won an all-time competition in the league's history (a prior all-time MLS Cup, all-time Supporter's Shield, all-time Open Cup, or all-time Champions League). Occasionally, this may result in an odd number of teams, so to even numbers out, the highest available team from the prior year's standings may be drawn into the field, as well. For this first season, the field will merely consist of the four semi-finalists from each of 1996 and 1997 since that is sufficient to cover the only "trophy" holders from 1996 and 1997 (DC United both years, Tampa Bay from 1996). These teams will be drawn into two groups to play a double-round robin of six games. Group winners advance to a one-game final that's played out after the regular season is over.