A-League 1997 Season

Carolina Dynamo - Charleston Battery - Connecticut Wolves - Hershey Wildcats

Jacksonville Cyclones - Long Island Rough Riders - Montreal Impact - Raleigh Flyers

Richmond Kickers - Rochester Raging Rhinos - Toronto Lynx -Worcester Wildfire

Milwaukee Rampage - Minnesota Thunder - Nashville Metros - New Orleans Storm

Hershey, Atlanta, Colorado, Seattle and
Vancouver from the old A-League which then folded.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Northeast Division             GP   W   L   SO   GF   GA Pts
Montreal Impact                28 20   6 1-1   58   19   61
Rochester Raging Rhinos        28 14   9 0-5   56   47   42
Long Island Rough Riders       28 13 10 3-2   44   36   42
Toronto Lynx                   28 12 14 2-0   44   43   38
Connecticut Wolves             28   8 15 4-1   31   45   28
Worcester Wildfire             28   6 19 1-2   26   61   19

Atlantic Division              GP   W   L   SO   GF   GA Pts
Hershey Wildcats               28 18   8 1-1   56   33   55
Carolina Dynamo                28 16   8 2-2   63   33   50
Richmond Kickers               28 15 11 0-2   41   35   45
Charleston Battery             28 10 13 2-3   39   50   32
Raleigh Flyers                 28   8 13 4-3   34   52   28
Jacksonville Cyclones          28   4 23 1-1   28   73   13

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division               GP   W   L   SO   GF   GA Pts
New Orleans Storm              28 13 10 3-2   45   42   42
Nashville Metros               28 10   9 7-2   42   34   37
Orlando Sundogs                28 12 12 0-4   39   40   36
Milwaukee Rampage              28 11 12 3-2   33   36   36
Minnesota Thunder              28 11 10 2-5   22   30   35
Atlanta Ruckus                 28   9 15 3-1   39   48   30

Pacific Division               GP   W   L   SO   GF   GA Pts
California Jaguars             28 17 10 1-0   48   34   52
Seattle Sounders               28 16   7 2-3   42   19   50
Vancouver 86ers                28 15 11 1-1   50   29   46
Colorado Foxes                 28 15 10 1-2   55   49   46
Orange County Zodiac           28 10 17 1-0   35   62   31
El Paso Patriots               28   5 17 3-3   30   50   18

Overview of the 1997 A-League Season - From the American Soccer History Archives

Less than a month after the conclusion of the 1996 season, the A-League reached a merger agreement with the USISL, bringing all outdoor lower divisions into one corporate entity. What actually happened is the original A-League folded, and five of the six remaining teams joined the USISL Select League which adopted the "A-League" name. Also joining were the two expansion A-League teams, Toronto and Hershey. The old A-league's New York Fever sat out the year, eventually joining the USISL D3Pro League as the Staten Island Vipers. This new league provided a stronger training ground for up and coming MLS players.

To facilitate this, the A-League laid plans to establish an elite team consisting of promising newcomers culled from the top ranks of the NCAA college ranks. Dubbed "US Project 40", this team, starting in 1998, would practice full time, and play a full schedule against the other A-League teams. All players would be signed with MLS clubs and be subject for promotion to the MLS for varying lengths of service. This was intended to bypass the shortcomings of college soccer as a training ground for future professionals and give the amount of playing/practice time and quality of competition required to develop players to their fullest potential and ensure a steady flow of new talent to MLS, and ultimately the National Team.

The reconfigured A-League consisted of 24 teams in four divisions. The new teams from the old A-League immediate made their impact felt, as they immediately assumed commanding positions within the league standings. Montreal and Rochester finished 1-2 in the Northeast Division while expansion Toronto finished a respectable 4th. The fledgling Hershey Wildcats won the Atlantic, while Seattle, Vancouver and Colorado finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Pacific. Only the struggling Atlanta Ruckus failed to make an impact. Making their first impact this season were future MLS stars Stern John and Dominic Mobilio.

The old A-League teams generally were top performers at the box office, with the notable exception of Colorado who were feeling the competition from the MLS Rapids; they would move to San Diego after the season. The Rochester Rhinos averaged an incredible 10,677 per game, better than a couple MLS teams, leading to a push for them to apply for the MLS. Total league attendance was 1,085,777 (2,828 per game).

To make the different leagues more consistent, the round robin tournaments were eliminated in favor of straight divisional playoffs followed by a final four. Surprisingly, the A-League teams, who performed so well during the regular season, fell short when it really counted, as only Vancouver made it to the Conference Finals where they bowed to the Milwaukee Rampage 3-1, 0-1, after a mini-game and shootout. Carolina defeated the Long Island Rough Riders, leading to the first unified Championship, where Milwaukee won their first league title, defeating Carolina 1-1 in the shootout. Thus capped an amazing surge by a team that had not qualified for the playoffs until the final week of the season.

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