UPDATED - January 29, 2007
A-League 2003 Season
Eastern Conference
Atlanta Silverbacks - Charleston Battery - Charlotte Eagles -
Montreal Impact - Pittsburgh Riverhounds - Richmond Kickers
Rochester Raging Rhinos - Syracuse Salty Dogs - Virginia Beach Mariners - Toronto Lynx
Western Conference
Cincinnati Riverhawks - Calgary Storm - El Paso Patriots
Indiana Blast - Milwaukee Rampage - Minnesota Thunder
Portland Timbers - Seattle Sounders - Vancouver Whitecaps
2003 Results - 2003 Stats
2003 FINAL STANDINGS
Before the season, Syracuse and Milwaukee Wave
United were added.
Hampton Roads became Virginia Beach.
During the season, Calgary was taken over
by the league and renamed Team Calgary.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Northeast Division GP
W T L GF GA Pts
Montreal Impact
28 16 6 6 40 21
54
Rochester Raging Rhinos 28 15 6
7 55 36 51
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 28 15
4 9 50 41 49
Syracuse Salty Dogs 28 11
5 12 42 38 38
Toronto Lynx
28 11 4 13 29 38 37
Southeast Division GP
W T L GF GA Pts
Charleston Battery 28
15 7 6 41 27 52
Virginia Beach Mariners 28 14 5
9 51 34 47
Richmond Kickers
28 12 9 9 41 32
43
Charlotte Eagles
28 6 7 15 29 59
25
Atlanta Silverbacks 28
4 7 17 27 48 19
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W T L GF GA Pts
Milwaukee Wave United 28 18
0 10 61 32 54
Minnesota Thunder
28 17 2 9 44 28
53
El Paso Patriots
28 9 3 16 33 48
30
Cincinnati Riverhawks 28 9
0 19 38 62 24
Indiana Blast
28 3 2 23 28 67
11
Pacific Division
GP W T L GF GA Pts
Seattle Sounders
28 16 5 7 45 24
53
Vancouver Whitecaps 28
15 7 6 45 24 52
Portland Timbers
28 15 2 11 39 33 47
Calgary Storm
28 4 3 21 16 62
15
After the season, Pittsburgh and Charlotte were demoted to the PSL.
El Paso and Indiana were demoted to the PDL.
Cincinnati and Calgary folded.
2004 PLAYOFFS *-after sudden death extra time Eastern Conference Semifinals Sept. 5 Virginia Beach 0-1 Charleston Sept. 7 Charleston 4-1 Virginia Beach Charleston advance on 4-2 aggregate
Sept. 5 Rochester 2-1 Montreal Sept. 7 Montreal 0-0 Rochester Rochester advance on 2-1 aggregate
Eastern Conference Final Sept. 12 Rochester 0-0 Charleston Sept. 14 Charleston 1-0 Rochester Charleston advance on 1-0 aggregate
Western Conference Semifinals Sept. 5 Milwaukee 1-0 Minnesota Sept. 7 Minnesota 2-0* Milwaukee Minnesota advance on 2-0 aggregate
Sept. 5 Seattle 0-0 Vancouver Sept. 7 Vancouver 1-1* Seattle Aggregate drawn 1-1 Seattle advance on penalty kicks, 6-5
Western Conference Final Sept. 12 Seattle 0-1 Minnesota Sept. 14 Minnesota 1-0 Seattle Minnesota advance on 2-0 aggregate
A-League Championship Sept. 20 Charleston 3-0 Minnesota |
2004 Leading Goalscorers Thiago Martins, Pittsburgh 22 Dante Washington, Virginia Beach 18 Doug Miller, Rochester 17 Byron Alvarez, Portland 12 Todd Dusosky, Milwaukee 11 McKinley Tennyson, Portland 11 Gregory Howes, Milwaukee 11 Josh Henderson, Charleston 10 Roland Aguilera, Virginia Beach 10 Kevin Jeffrey, Richmond 10
Goalkeeping Leaders GAA
Greg Sutton, Montreal
0.73
2004 A-League Award Winners
Most Valuable
Player: Thiago Martins,
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2004 A-League First IX
G - Greg Sutton,
Montreal Impact Home Attendance G Total Avg. Rochester 14 142,370 10,169 Montreal 14 101,307 7,236 Syracuse 14 96,385 6,885 Portland 14 82,193 5,871 Vancouver 14 60,085 4,292 Minnesota 14 57,411 4,101 Charleston 14 55,572 3,969 Seattle 14 47,000 3,357 Toronto 14 37,112 2,651 Indiana 14 34,505 2,465 Richmond 14 31,816 2,273 Milwaukee 14 29,186 2,085 Pittsburgh 14 24,959 1,783 Virginia Beach 14 23,760 1,697 Atlanta 14 16,803 1,200 Calgary 14 14,975 1,070 El Paso 14 13,801 986 Charlotte 14 12,679 906 Cincinnati 14 5,272 377 LEAGUE 266 887,191 3,335 |
Overview of the 2003 A-League Season - From the American Soccer History Archives The defunct Milwaukee Rampage were replaced by the MISL's Milwaukee Wave who joined the circuit as Milwaukee Wave United. The Syracuse Salty Dogs were added as an expansion team. Seattle and El Paso made risky moves, jumping to large football stadiums, as the A-League endeavored to resolve some stadium issues in various cities. The Sounders had drawn 25,000 fans to a game in 2002, the first game ever played at the new Seahawks Stadium and they didn't mind getting away from the atrocious Astroturf field at Memorial Stadium. Several teams were sharing stadia with minor league baseball franchises, but Rochester began construction on their new 17,500 seat PaeTec Park, which they expected to sell out. Some major players made their way down from MLS this season. Jamar Beasley, DeMarcus's older brother, signed with the Charleston Battery, longtime Nat Roy Lassiter signed with the newly renamed Virginia Mariners, MISL indoor scoring leader Dino Delevski signed with Milwaukee Wave United, and Rochester signed Mac Cozier. Danny Jackson, late of NCAA Champ North Carolina landed a spot with the Seattle Sounders. The big winner of 2003 was the Montreal Impact, who came out on top of the Northeast division after a season-long three way battle with Rochester and Pittsburgh. Throughout the league, there was remarkably little change in the standings as compared with 2002. The strong remained strong and the weak didn't progress. But there were close and exciting races in all divisions. the new Milwaukee franchise picked up where the Rampage left off, to beast Minnesota by a single point, whole Charleston and Seattle repeated their triumphs of a year ago. The one big success story was the remarkable turnaround of the Virginia Beach Mariners, who were clearly reinvigorated by their new ownership. The playoffs were closely fought. Charleston put an end to Virginia Beach's comeback, and Rochester reclaimed the initiative with an upset series win over Montreal. Minnesota lost to Milwaukee 1-0 but then defeated them 2-0 in the 2nd leg to win on goal aggregate. Seattle played Vancouver through two draws before dispatching them 6-5 on penalty kicks. In the championship match, the Charleston Battery finally claimed their first title. The Battery had been the league's most successful team for the past six seasons, with regular season prowess and strong rosters, as well as notable success in the U. S. Open Cup, but always faltered in the playoffs. But with the addition of ex-MLS talent, including Ted Chronopoulos and Josh Henderson of the Richmond Kickers, the Battery was unstoppable this season, and finally won the gold. Despite the slight loss of franchises, the A-League attendance jumped to 887,191 fans for an average of 3,335 per game, up from 3,034 in 2002. This was the result primarily of the continued support from Rochester (10,100 fans per game), and the amazing growth of attendance in Montreal and Portland. And the future looked very promising. Montreal was poised for even more growth in 2004, Syracuse debuted as the 3rd best drawing team in the league (nearly 7,000 fans per game), and a high degree of interest was greeting the expansion clubs planned for Puerto Rico and Edmonton. Add to this the expected opening of a 17,000 seat soccer-specific stadium in Rochester (which is expected to play to sellout crowds once it opens). It appeared the A-League was finally ready for sustained growth. The only source of concern was the continuing troubles of some weaker teams (Pittsburgh in fact was relegated to the PSL after the season). |
This website and it's content is unofficial, and is not endorsed by, or affiliated with United Soccer Leagues or the clubs associated with them. The content within this website is intended for informational purposes only.