|
Major League Soccer - A poor relation no longer? |
|
|
|
 Football News: As David Beckham embarks on his American journey we introduce the MLS - a structured domestic league in the United States which has lead to a dramatic increase in the sport's popularity.
Football - or 'soccer' - in the United States has always found it hard to compete with the nation's home grown sports.
Professional soccer in the United States dates back to 1968 when the North American Soccer League burst onto the scene.
It's main aim was to attract ageing soccer stars from Europe and South America with massive pay packets - the 1970s saw an influx of foreign superstars, such as Pele and George Best.
The NASL imploded financially in 1984 with the pay masters unable to keep up with the wage demands of the league's star players - although a seperate indoor soccer league which attracted the likes of England's Rodney Marsh continued until 1992.
World Cup 1994
Then something changed the playing field - the United States won the right to host the 1994 World Cup.
It became clear to the governing bodies in the States that this was a wave they could not afford to miss and Major League Soccer was proposed to replace the 'A-League' which had been running since 1990.
The blueprint for MLS included greater structuring and funding, although it still bore all the hallmarks of other American sports.
The league included ten teams with razzmatazz names such as Kansas City Wiz and NY/NJ Metrostars which were split into Eastern and Western conferences.
A 'draft' system was also introduced for the even distribution of promising players around the league.
France 1998
Unfortunately MLS began in 1996, meaning that for many potential fans the memories of the World Cup had faded - the teams would regularly play in empty stadiums and TV viewing figures were poor.
It got worse when the United States crashed out in the first round of France '98, leaving major concerns about the standard of domestic players.
With MLS facing financial collapse the former head of NFL International, Don Garder, was drafted in to turn things round.
It proved a successful move - teams were encouraged to develop home-grown talent rather than sign ageing European or South American players, while custom built soccer stadiums improved the atmosphere at matches.
McBride
This new direction culminated in 2002 when the 'Nats' reached the quarter finals of the World Cup - the team including mostly US-based players.
The achievement signalled a shift in transfer policy for the MLS teams, with European clubs now enquiring about American players - the likes of Brian McBride and DaMarcus Beasley have been relatively successful for Fulham and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
The league expanded to 13 teams with the introduction of Toronto FC in 2006 and it is hoped that further interest in the game can be generated by the arrival of superstar David Beckham at Los Angeles Galaxy.
How will Beckham get on? Let us know. (Sportasylum)
|
