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LA Galaxy

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Template:MLS team alt The Los Angeles Galaxy is a professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that participates in the American first division soccer league (MLS), and in 1996 was one of the original ten founding teams of, Major League Soccer. The name "Galaxy" refers to Los Angeles being the home of many Hollywood "stars".[1] The team's original colors were teal and gold; with the teal changed to green in 2003. In July 2007, to coincide with the arrival of David Beckham, a new "rebranded" logo and a new color scheme was unveiled. The new home strip is all-white with yellow and navy accents. The away strip is all-navy with yellow accents.

The club played their home games at the Rose Bowl from 1996–2002 until they moved into their own soccer-specific stadium, The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, in 2003. Since the 2005 season, The Home Depot Center has been shared with Chivas USA.

The Galaxy has three main supporters clubs known as The Galaxians in section 118, Angel City Brigade in section 121 and The Los Angeles Riot Squadin section 138. Their mascot is known as "Cozmo", a frog-like extraterrestrial.

The Galaxy were the first MLS team to take advantage of the Designated Player Rule, also known as the "Beckham Rule," by signing the rule's namesake David Beckham to a contract worth $50 million over five years.

History

Further information: Los Angeles Soccer History

1996-2005: Decade of Success

The Los Angeles Galaxy were an inaugural team of the MLS. They appeared in the first MLS Cup in 1996 losing to D.C. United. They appeared in it 2 more times in 1999 and 2001 before finally winning it in 2002. They were regular season champions of the Western Conference in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002, winning the league's Supporters' Shield for best record in 1998 and 2002. They won the U.S. Open Cup in 2001 and 2005 and won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 2000. After losing to Landon Donovan and the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2001 and 2003 MLS Cup playoffs, AEG orchestrated the transfer of Donovan to the Galaxy in 2005, and the Galaxy won the MLS Cup a second time in 2005 to cap off their first decade. They made the playoffs all ten seasons, the only team to make this claim.

2006- Present: Struggling

2006: First Taste of Failure

The 2006 season began tragically on March 16 with the sudden death of Doug Hamilton, the team's 43-year-old general manager, who suffered a heart attack on board a plane carrying the team back from Costa Rica after where they were playing Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The season is considered the worst in the Galaxy's history, as the team finished fifth in the Western Conference, eliminating them from playoff contention for the first time since the league's inception. Midway through the season, Steve Sampson was sacked as head coach, replaced by Frank Yallop. The team managed to make a run to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final, but lost 1-0 against the Chicago Fire.

2007: Arrival of Beckham and More Struggles

On 11 January, 2007, Reuters reported that former England captain David Beckham would leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and enter into a five-year deal with the Galaxy.

In March 2007 it was announced that Herbalife would be the primary shirt sponsor of the Galaxy in a five-year deal worth between $4-5 million a year until 2011.[2]

On 21 July, David Beckham made his long-awaited debut before a record crowd of nearly 30,000 at the Home Depot Center, coming on in the 78th minute in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea in a match during the World Series of Football tournament. The match brought unprecedented TV coverage from ESPN, who used 19 cameras to cover it, including one trained only on Beckham, even when he was on the bench. The match set an all-time record high for TV ratings for MLS on ESPN.

The Galaxy played to good results in the Superliga competion, which featured four MLS teams and four Mexican league teams. The Galaxy advanced to the Superliga finals, facing Pachuca, which the Galaxy had defeated in the first round. The Galaxy lost after extra-time on penalty kicks.

In the SuperLiga match versus F.C. Dallas on 31 July, a total of 11 goals were scored, with the final 6-5 in favor of Galaxy. This match tied the all-time record for number of goals scored in a match between two MLS sides, and the win guaranteed the Galaxy a spot in the tournament's semifinals.[3]

In August, following five successive league defeats, pressure mounted on the club, especially head coach, Frank Yallop, and there were widespread rumors that he would be sacked. However, their fortunes turned around and after five straight league victories, the Galaxy's post-season hopes were surprisingly still alive toward the end of the season.

The Galaxy were officially eliminated from the playoffs on October 21, in a 1-0 loss to the Chicago Fire. With a final season record of 9-14-7, both unpopular general manager Alexi Lalas and head coach Frank Yallop were rumored to be in danger of being sacked by owner Philip Anschutz, after a second consecutive season in which the club failed to reach the post-season.

Departures and New Arrivals

After the 2007 season Cobi Jones retired. In addition, several players were expected to leave the club in the offseason. Former Germany manager and Orange County, California resident, Jürgen Klinsmann, was rumored to be the favorite to replace Yallop as head coach.[4]

Amidst rumors that he was going to be sacked, Yallop resigned as head coach on November 4, 2007, following a friendly postseason match at the HDC. MLS expansion club, the San Jose Earthquakes, bought out his contract and offered a 3rd round draft pick to the Galaxy to make Yallop their new head coach.[5]

On November 7, rumors spread that former Chelsea F.C. and Newcastle United F.C. manager, Ruud Gullit, had accepted an offer to be the Galaxy's new head coach.[6] On November 9, Gullit was officially unveiled as the Galaxy's head coach, signing a three-year contract with the club which made him the highest paid coach in MLS history.[7] Newly-retired Galaxy and international star Cobi Jones was brought on as assistant coach.

On November 19, 2007, the Galaxy acquired U.S. international Clint Mathis from New York for a third round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.[8] He made his debut for the Galaxy in a friendly at Telstra Stadium against Sydney F.C. and scored the first goal in the Galaxy's match versus Wellington Phoenix. In a strange move which led to more criticism of under-fire club G.M. Alexi Lalas, less than two months after acquiring Mathis, he was sold to Greek club Ergotelis F.C.. It is believed that coach Ruud Gullit did not want Mathis on his squad. On November 21, in the 2007 MLS Expansion Draft, the Galaxy lost forward Gavin Glinton with the ninth pick to stock expansion club, the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Galaxy went on a promotional tour (primarily because of Beckham) of Australia and New Zealand and played two friendlies with teams of the new Australian A-League. In a match against Sydney F.C. on November 27, captain David Beckham scored via a trademark free kick, but the Galaxy lost, 5-3. The Galaxy recorded a 4-1 win over Wellington Phoenix on December 1. Beckham again scored, this time from the penalty spot, during the second half. The attendance of 31,853 was a record for a football match in New Zealand.

On January 10, 2008, goalkeeper Joe Cannon was sold to the San Jose Earthquakes, where he will be reunited with Frank Yallop, for an undisclosed allocation fee (and possibly San Jose's designated player slot). While Cannon was very popular with Galaxy supporters and his performances were one of the few positives last season, salary cap space was required for new striker Carlos Ruiz. Steve Cronin, who recently signed a multi-year contract extension with L.A., is expected to be the starting goalkeeper for the club next season.[9]

On January 15, 2008, the Galaxy reacquired 28-year-old striker Carlos Ruiz from F.C. Dallas to replace the ineffective Carlos Pavon, who had been recently released by the club, for a second-round draft pick in 2009 and an undisclosed amount of allocation money. This is Ruiz' second stint with the Galaxy, where from 2002-04, he was the club's leading scorer in each season, garnering MLS MVP honors and scoring a league-best 24 goals enroute to leading the club to its first MLS Cup championship in 2002. In 2005, he was dealt to F.C. Dallas to make way for Landon Donovan. Ruiz is the leading scorer in MLS postseason history and is the 8th leading scorer in league history. In Ruiz, L.A. has secured a proven goal-scorer, something they seriously lacked last season, and supporters will eagerly await how he partners with captain David Beckham and strike partner, Landon Donovan.[10]

In January, rumors began to circulate that the Galaxy was interested in acquiring Inter Milan midfielder Luis Figo and that a deal may have already been signed. The purchase of Carlos Ruiz rather than an established striker from Europe (such as Andrey Shevchenko), who would take up the club's second designated player slot (which the Galaxy would need to acquire from another club), increased the speculation that Figo would be reunited with former Real Madrid teammate, David Beckham, in L.A.[11] On January 18, 2008, the speculation intensified when the Galaxy sold defender Chris Albright to the New England Revolution for an undisclosed allocation fee. Rumor sites had been claiming for weeks that if Albright was sold to clear up salary space, Figo would be on his way to L.A. after his contract expires with Inter Milan in June.[12]

On January 21, 2008, The Times reported that 29-year-old former Chelsea and Newcastle United defender, Celestine Babayaro, had signed a 3-year-deal with the Galaxy after being released by Newcastle. Babayaro is expected to partner fellow former Premier League defender Abel Xavier in the heart of the L.A. defense next season and will also be reunited with his former manager at Chelsea, Ruud Gullit.[13]

The original Galaxy logo reflected a gold galaxy and the words "GALAXY" written horizontally. After rebranding themselves in 2007, the logo changed to a crest with a star and the words "LA GALAXY". Additionally, after each MLS Cup the club added a star for each championship.

Rivalries

The Galaxy's traditional rival was the San Jose Earthquakes, with whom they battled in the California Clasico until the Earthquakes players and head coach Dominic Kinnear were relocated to Houston, Texas following the 2005 season, becoming the Houston Dynamo. The Galaxy, the Earthquakes and the Dynamo combined to win six of the last seven MLS Cup titles (2001-2007), although just two of those titles were won by the Galaxy. San Jose's victory over the Galaxy for the title in 2001 was carried out under the leadership of Frank Yallop, with Joe Cannon in goal and Landon Donovan scoring for the Quakes in a 2-1 victory. The two clubs also had epic playoff battles in 2003 and 2005. Following the former Earthquakes players' and head coach's departure to Houston, the Galaxy failed to make the playoffs for the first time in club history in 2006 and repeated the feat in 2007. Fortunately, the San Jose Earthquakes has been revived under new ownership as an MLS team for the 2008 season. The revived Earthquakes will return to the Galaxy's list of closest rivals, resuming the California Clasico.[14]

The Galaxy's biggest rival in the 1990s was D.C. United, where the two squads met in MLS Cup 1996 and MLS Cup 1999. The Galaxy lost 3-2, in overtime, and 2-0, respectively. This rivalry remains strong.

The Galaxy's chief rival for the past two years has been Chivas USA, with whom they share a home stadium. The Galaxy–Chivas USA game is the league's first and (thus far) only derby, known as the Honda SuperClassico. Although the Galaxy won all four games the first year of the rivalry, in 2006 a more competitive Chivas side increased the popularity of the SuperClassico, which features sell-out crowds and great atmosphere. The Galaxy won 3 of 4 Classico games in 2006. In the 2007 inaugural tournament Superliga, a new much-anticipated rivalry was formed. The Galaxy took on Chivas USA's parent team Club Deportivo Guadalajara at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and lost 2-1, however they still advanced to the next round leaving their rivals behind.

The rivalry between the Galaxy and Chivas USA heated up during a match on August 23, 2007 when Chivas USA player Jesse Marsch applied a high kick from behind to Galaxy captain David Beckham's upper right hip (some believe he was attempting to kick Beckham in the groin), at the end of the first half. This led to a tense confrontation between Beckham and Marsch, during which Beckham was restrained by teammate Edson Buddle. A shoving match occurred, and Galaxy's midfielder Kevin Harmse threw a punch towards Chivas USA player Alex Zotinca who retaliated by headbutting Harmse. Both players received red cards, and Chivas USA went on to win the match 3-0. However, Marsch surprisingly only received a yellow card, when the recommended punishment for a tackle from behind is actually a red card.

Spokesmodel

Miss LA Galaxy 2008 is Julie Bornemann, a student at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and a native of St. Louis, Missouri. The Miss LA Galaxy court consists of the three runners-up to the annual contest and those girls are: Audrey Ronquillo (1st runner-up), Caitlin O'Connor (2nd runner-up), and Lindsay Pratt (3rd runner-up). Julie, Audrey, Caitlin, and Lindsay are the official club representatives to the Southern California community and along with Galaxy players, regularly participate in various charitable work along with appearing at every home match at the Home Depot Center.

Mascot

The Los Angeles Galaxy's mascot is "Cozmo", a frog-like extraterrestrial. It is said that Cozmo was beamed down to The Home Depot Center from his intergalactic spaceship on June 7, 2003. He is known for entertaining fans and teaching kids in the Los Angeles area the basics of football. Cozmo mainly wows spectators with his goalkeeping prowess, but claims he is able to play forward for any team on the planet.

Song

The team anthem is called “We Are The Galaxy” and is performed by electronica group Kinky. [15]

Television and radio

Galaxy matches are televised locally by FSN West. Jim Watson and Mark Rogondino are the English language announcers, while Elmer Polanco announces in Spanish.

Matches are broadcast on radio by "San Diego 1700 AM" in English and in Spanish on "AM 830." Joe Tutino does the English play-by-play while Pepe Mantilla and Francisco X. Rivera handle the Spanish broadcasts. Sometimes, the games are broadcast in English on 1700 AM's sister station "XX Sports Radio 1090 AM / 105.7 FM" when 1700 AM doesn't air a game.

Sister team

It is rumored that one of two expansion teams in Australia's A-League will be named the Gold Coast Galaxy, and will be a formal sister-team to the LA Galaxy. [16]

Team honors

  • MLS Cup:
    • Winner (2): 2002, 2005
    • Runner-up (3): 1996, 1999, 2001
  • US Open Cup:
    • Winner (2): 2001, 2005
    • Runner-up (2): 2002, 2006

Current squad

As of 2 February, 2008.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United States USA Steve Cronin
2 DF United States USA Mike Randolph
3 DF United States USA Ty Harden
4 DF Canada CAN Ante Jazic
5 DF Nigeria NGA Celestine Babayaro
6 MF Canada CAN Kevin Harmse
7 MF United States USA Chris Klein
8 MF United States USA Peter Vagenas
10 FW United States USA Landon Donovan
11 FW United States USA Israel Sesay
12 DF United States USA Troy Roberts
14 FW United States USA Edson Buddle
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF United States USA Quavas Kirk
17 DF Portugal POR Abel Xavier
18 MF United States USA Kyle Martino
19 MF United States USA Josh Tudela
20 FW Guatemala GUA Carlos Ruiz
21 FW United States USA Alan Gordon
22 DF United States USA Kelly Gray
23 MF England ENG David Beckham (C)
- FW United States USA Ely Allen
- DF United States USA Sean Franklin
- DF United States USA Julian Valentin

Changes for the 2008 MLS Season

In

  • United States Ely Allen Drafted 21st overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
  • United States Matt Allen Drafted 34th overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft
  • United States Matt Hatzke Drafted 51st overall in 2008 MLS Superdraft

Out

Retired numbers

13 – United States Cobi Jones (1996–2007)

Notable Players

Austria:

Brazil:

Ecuador:

England:

El Salvador:

Guatemala:

Mexico:

Nigeria:

Portugal:

South Korea:

Turks and Caicos Islands:

United States:

Most Valuable Players

Year Name Country
2007 Chris Klein  United States
2006 Landon Donovan  United States
2005 Herculez Gomez  United States
2004 Kevin Hartman  United States
2003 Kevin Hartman  United States
2002 Carlos Ruiz  Guatemala
2001 Ezra Hendrickson  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
2000 Simon Elliott  New Zealand
1999 Kevin Hartman  United States
1998 Cobi Jones  United States
1997 Mauricio Cienfuegos  El Salvador
1996 Eduardo Hurtado  Ecuador

Golden Boot Winners

The Golden Boot Winner is the leading goal scorer at the end of the season (only goals in MLS count).

Year Name Country Goals
2007 Landon Donovan  United States 8
2006 Landon Donovan  United States 12
2005 Landon Donovan  United States 12
2004 Carlos Ruiz  Guatemala 11
2003 Carlos Ruiz  Guatemala 15
2002 Carlos Ruiz  Guatemala 24
2001 Luis Hernandez  Mexico 8
2000 Cobi Jones  United States 7
1999 Cobi Jones  United States 8
1998 Cobi Jones  United States 19
1997 Welton  Brazil 11
1996 Eduardo Hurtado  Ecuador 21

Defensive Player of the Year

Year Name Country
2007 Ty Harden  United States
2006 Chris Albright  United States
2005 Tyrone Marshall  Jamaica
2004 Tyrone Marshall  Jamaica
2003 Danny Califf  United States
2002 Alexi Lalas  United States
2001 Greg Vanney  United States
2000 Danny Califf  United States
1999 Robin Fraser  United States
1998 Robin Fraser  United States
1997 Robin Fraser  United States
1996 Jorge Campos  Mexico

Head coaches

Team records

MLS regular season only, through 2006 season

Home stadiums

Year-by-year

Year Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup CONCACAF
Champions' Cup 		SuperLiga
1996 1st, West Finals Did not enter Did not enter Started in 2007
1997 2nd, West Quarterfinals Did not enter Final
1998 1st, West* Semifinals Did not enter Did not qualify
1999 1st, West Finals Quarterfinal Did not qualify
2000 2nd, West Semifinals Semifinals Champions
2001 1st, West Finals Champions Not held
2002 1st, West* Champions Finals Did not qualify
2003 4th, West Quarterfinals Semifinals Quarterfinal
2004 2nd, West Semifinals Fourth Round Did not qualify
2005 4th, West Champions Champions Did not qualify
2006 5th, West Did not qualify Final Quarterfinal
2007 5th, West Did not qualify Third Round Did not qualify Final

* Won MLS Supporters' Shield

Year-by-year stats

Season League Record Top Scorer
P W L D F A Pts Name G
1996 32 19 13 0 59 49 49 Eduardo Hurtado 21
1997 32 16 16 0 55 44 44 Welton 11
1998 32 24 8 0 85 44 68 Cobi Jones 19
1999 32 20 12 0 49 29 54 Cobi Jones/Carlos Hermosillo 8
2000 32 14 10 8 47 37 50 Cobi Jones 7
2001 26 14 7 5 52 36 47 Luis Hernandez 8
2002 28 16 9 3 44 33 51 Carlos Ruiz 24
2003 30 9 12 9 35 35 36 Carlos Ruiz 15
2004 30 11 9 10 42 40 43 Carlos Ruiz 11
2005 32 13 13 6 44 45 45 Landon Donovan 12
2006 32 11 15 6 37 37 39 Landon Donovan 12
2007 30 9 14 7 38 48 34 Landon Donovan 8
Total 368 176 138 54 587 476 560 Cobi Jones 70

International competition

Average attendance

regular season/playoffs

  • 1996: 30,129/29,883
  • 1997: 23,626/26,703
  • 1998: 21,784/13,175
  • 1999: 17,632/21,039
  • 2000: 20,400/25,033
  • 2001: 17,387/28,462
  • 2002: 19,047/24,596
  • 2003: 21,983/20,201
  • 2004: 23,809/20,206
  • 2005: 24,204/17,466
  • 2006: 20,814/ Missed Playoffs
  • 2007: 24,252/ Missed Playoffs
  • All-Time: 21,892/22,676
  • In a 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, during the Weekend Update segment, Amy Poehler commented that David Beckham would be joining "the Los Angeles Galaxy which, apparently, exists".

References

  1. ^ "Meaning of the Galaxy name". Sports Ecyclopedia. Retrieved April 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "L.A. 'Galaxy' Gets Herbalife Lift". Media Buyer Planner. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.superliga2007.com/headlines/index.html?article_id=120
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ [4]
  8. ^ [5]
  9. ^ [6]
  10. ^ [7]
  11. ^ [8]
  12. ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=499623&cc=5901
  13. ^ Celestine Babayaro reunited with Ruud Gullit after Galaxy move, The Times, January 21, 2008
  14. ^ [9]
  15. ^ http://www.adidas.com/us/campaigns/mls/content/site.asp
  16. ^ "Gold Coast Galaxy? - Australian A-League side to be branded after Beckham Boys". MLS Rumors. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  17. ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=480317&cc=5901


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