The 2003 Major League Soccer season was the eighth season of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. It was also the 91st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and the 25th with a national first-division league. The

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

moved into the league's second

soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...

when the Home Depot Center opened on June 1, 2003. The Chicago Fire continued to play at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville but returned to the newly renovated

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

for their final regular season game. The number of games was increased to 30 after a reduction to 28 for the 2002 season. Instead of a best-of-three series, the playoffs were tweaked so that the conference semifinals would be determined by a home-and-away

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

over two matches. Additionally, the two conference finals became one match fixtures instead of two legs. The regular season began on April 5, and concluded on October 26. The 2003 MLS Cup Playoffs began on November 1, and concluded with MLS Cup 2003 on November 23. The

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

won their second MLS Cup in three years with a victory over Chicago.

Overview

Season format

The season began on April 5 and concluded with

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

on November 23. 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

. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

was not used in any round. The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

. Additionally, the winner of

and the runner-up qualified for the

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorships

Coaching changes

Standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall standings

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

Eastern Conference semifinals

''Chicago Fire won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''New England Revolution won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Western Conference semifinals

''San Jose Earthquakes won 5–4 on aggregate after golden goal extra time''. ---- ''Kansas City Wizards won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Overview

Season format

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorships

Coaching changes

Standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall standings

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

Eastern Conference semifinals

Western Conference semifinals

Conference finals

MLS Cup

Player statistics

Goals

Hat-tricks

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

Individual awards

Best XI

Attendance

References

External links