MLS in the 90s was wild.
Who remembers the loud obnoxious jerseys? What about the bizarre, over the top, almost comic book style team names (a few of which still exist). Or the way the keepers used to stand with their arms in an X across their chests for team photos – what was that all about?
Arguably the most defining feature of early Major League Soccer, though, was the shootout.
So unique was this method of deciding games, that the 1996-1999 seasons when the rule was in place are now know as the ‘shootout era’. It was the most American approach to soccer that anyone could imagine, and the world looked on, baffled.
This is a nostalgic look back at the shootout era, in all its bizarre glory.
No Draws Allowed
Back when MLS launched, the people at the top were concerned that a draw would be seen as anticlimactic by American fans. For a brand new league in a sport that wasn’t traditionally very popular in the US, this was understandably worrying. They needed to build and retain an audience.
So they came up with the shootout system to maximise fan engagement.
This would ensure that any game that was tied after 90 minutes would see a winner. In other words, there were no draws allowed. Plus, doing it this way without extra time would settle the match more quickly, and help with scheduling. It had the added benefit of increasing the number of goals scored, too, and goals are what fans want to see.
A team winning a match in regulation time would get the full 3 points, but a team winning via a shootout would only get 1 point.
This was to encourage offensive play and to discourage heavily defensive tactics which are not exciting for spectators to watch. If a game was tied, it was worth both teams really pushing for the win to get the extra 2 points, and the thinking was that this would create more action and more drama.
It would still go down as a win in the standings, but the points reward was lower.
No Ordinary Shootout
These days, the word shootout has come to mean the same thing as penalties. A penalty shootout.
However, the shootout era was not about penalties as we understand them. Instead of a spot kick, this was more of a one on one challenge with the keeper.
The ball was placed on the 35 yard line (another Americanism), and the keeper had to start on his goal line. This mimicked a one on one through ball situation, and gave the player with the ball just enough time to get a run up and make decisions.
Here is a great compilation video of how it worked:
When the referee blew the whistle, the player had 5 seconds to get the ball in the back of the net however they saw fit. However, the keeper was allowed to come off their line to meet them and close them down. So it was basically a manufactured scenario you might see in open play.
The player could try to chip the keeper, shoot under or around him, or take him on, and the keeper had to deal with whatever was thrown at him.
And here’s the really mental part: if a player was fouled by the keeper during the 5 second shootout, they got… a penalty! A traditional spot kick type penalty. So it got a bit meta sometimes.
If the score was still tied after 5 attempts on goal from each team, the shootout went to sudden death just like a traditional penalty shootout.
Why it Was Scrapped
The shootout era only lasted 4 seasons, and you can understand why. It was a bit mad, wasn’t it?
This was a case of Americanizing something so much that it alienated core fans, set the league apart from the global game (and not in a good way), and even annoyed players and coaches. The shootout result didn’t always reflect how the game had played out. One team could have dominated but only scored once, and conceded an unlucky own goal to create a 1-1 draw that was then lost during the shootout. This scenario was much more disappointing than a traditional draw would have been.
While some people still talk about the shootout era fondly, most people agree that it was a step too far.
It was an attempt to set MLS apart from other soccer leagues, but with a global football community that is more connected than ever before this was a short sighted move. Attracting players and soccer fans from bigger leagues proved more difficult because MLS had messed around with the game too much, and international pressure from the likes of FIFA was also mounting.
If MLS wanted to compete on the global stage and be taken seriously by the rest of the footballing world, they needed to fall in line.
The last ever MLS shootout took place on October 21, 1999, in a game between the Dallas Burn and Kansas City Wizards. Two clubs who exemplified the over the top team names of the 1990s but have since rebranded to sound more mature and globally legitimate.
MLS has changed a lot since the shootout era.