A-League 2004 Season

Before the season, Puerto Rico and Edmonton were added.
Calgary became the Mustangs.

EASTERN CONFERENCE          GP   W   T   L   GF GA Pts
Montreal Impact             28 17   5   6   36 15   56
Richmond Kickers            28 17   3   8   44 29   54
Syracuse Salty Dogs         28 15   5   8   40 29   50
Rochester Raging Rhinos     28 15   3 10   36 32   48
Atlanta Silverbacks         28 14   3 11   41 48   45
Virginia Beach Mariners     28 11   2 14   43 41   36
Toronto Lynx                28 10   2 16   38 50   32
Charleston Battery          28   7   6 15   30 39   27
Puerto Rico Islanders       28   5   6 17   22 48   21

WESTERN CONFERENCE          GP   W   T   L   GF GA Pts
Portland Timbers            28 18   3   7   58 30   57
Vancouver Whitecaps         28 14   5   9   38 29   47
Minnesota Thunder           28 13   6   9   33 23   45
Seattle Sounders            28 13   4 11   40 34   43
Milwaukee Wave United       28 12   4 12   44 48   40
Edmonton Aviators/FC        28   4   6 18   19 56   18
Calgary Mustangs            28   4   6 18   30 51   18

Overview of the 2004 A-League Season - From the American Soccer History Archives

The A-League consolidated to sixteen teams in two divisions. Pittsburgh and Charlotte were demoted to the PSL, and El Paso and Indiana were demoted to the PDL, and Cincinnati folded. The league took on more of an international flavor as teams were added in Edmonton and Puerto Rico. With five Canadian Teams, the A-League effectively served as Canada's top professional league. The league also proved to be a place where MLS veterans could extend their careers. New to the A-League were Alex Pineda Chacon, who joined the Atlanta Silverbacks, and Johnny Torres with Milwaukee Wave United. Also making their playing debuts were Chris Carrieri, MLS's 2001 top draft pick, Ivan McKinley, who sat out injured last season with Charleston, Dante Washington, with Virginia Beach after 7 seasons in MLS, and Richie Williams with Richmond.

Milwaukee signed Johnny Torres from Minnesota as they looked to continue their Midwest dominance. Seattle was celebrating the 30th anniversary of pro soccer in that city, and hoping to win their third title. To that end, they signed the Brazilian Welton, who had several successful years in MLS. Syracuse had a very successful first year at the gate, but struggled on the field, so they acquired Scott Schweitzer and Temoc Suarez to shore up their defense. Vancouver were very aggressive in acquiring players, signing midfielder Andrew Gregor from Seattle as well as a pair of Canadian internationals, David Xausa and Martin Nash. Portland, now being operated by the Pacific Coast Baseball League until a new owner could be found, looked to maintain their strong on-field performance. Atlanta and Rochester broke grown on their new soccer-specific stadiums, set for opening in 2005. The Islanders represented the A-League's first successful foray into Puerto Rico, and their roster had a Latin flair, boasting five Argentines and two Brazilians.

Despite the many player signings by last year's successful clubs, there were some surprises in the season. Montreal and Richmond finished atop the Eastern Conference, and Portland won the west. Vancouver could only maintain their 2nd place finish. But that counted for a lot in an 8-team division. Montreal easily dispatched Rochester in the first round of playoffs, but Portland was upset by Seattle on goals aggregate, and Syracuse upset Richmond. Vancouver had an easy time eliminating Minnesota courtesy of two shutouts. In the semi-finals, Montreal and Seattle prevailed in close series, and finally Montreal Impact won their first championship since 1994 as they shut out Seattle 2-0 before a record home crowd of 13,648.

Total attendance fell slightly this year, due to the loss of franchises, falling to 864,966, but average attendance rose substantially to 3,879, the league's best average ever. Unfortunately, franchise instability was a continuing problem. Syracuse, Milwaukee, Calgary and Edmonton folded, leaving the league smaller, but with a strong core of remaining teams.

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