US Open Cup Map 2009
| US Open Cup Map 2009 |
| Written by Jeremy Rueter |
| Tuesday, 09 June 2009 18:26 |
|
The 96th edition of the US Open Cup formally kicks off today June 9th with a host of first round games. To commemorate the occasion Bill Turianski and I have put together a map of the 32 teams entering at the first round stage and will be updating it as we go along. Bill has done the map work and the the emblems and the layouts and I've put together many of the profiles that run along the right-hand side of the map. It's been great digging into some of the teams in this proud old tournament and some of the lower-division entrants have actually been kicking around for quite a little while longer than I realized.
The US Open Cup was launched in 1914 and is the oldest knockout competition in the United States and surprisingly one of the oldest in the world. For many years it was fiercely contested to surprisingly large crowds along the Eastern seaboard and a handful of Midwestern enclaves, St Louis in particular. From the 1960s to 1980s the makeup of the champions spread in both ethnicity and geography, with teams such as Los Angeles Maccabi and San Francisco Greek-Americans taking the titles.
Semi-pro USL teams entered the fray in 1995, followed a year later by the newly-launched Major League Soccer. Since that day the title has remained in MLS hands, with Chicago taking the title more times (four) than any other. The one exception to MLS dominance came in 1999, when the second-division Rochester Rhinos took the crown. Another second-division club reached the final last season, the Charleston Battery, but they came up short against reigning champions DC United.
2009 US Open Cup 1st Round
2009 US Open Cup 2nd Round
2009 US Open Cup 3rd Round
The tournament format is quite convoluted and one of those things that drives us slowly, subtly insane here at Albion Road HQ.
The US Open Cup proper consists of 40 teams - 8 each from MLS, USL-1, USL-2, PDL and the USASA. The first four of those could be considered divisions one through four of the American soccer pyramid (though there is no formal promotion and relegation). The USASA includes amateur qualifiers from state and regional tournaments (some that started way back in October 2008) in addition to teams from the NPSL, confusingly also a national 4th division league. Several MLS teams played a qualifying tournament earlier in the year and two of them will join the top 6 teams in last season's MLS final table. These 8 MLS teams go in at the third round. The remaining 32 teams play a first and second round to produce 8 opponents for the MLS clubs and from there it's winner take all.
Despite all the confusion and its relative anonymity I'm a huge fan of the US Open Cup and believe it's a very important link to the history of the sport in the United States and also between the professional level and the enormous and thriving amateur game. With a bit of format tweaking (OK, a lot) and maybe some financial backing I think the tournament could really thrive and prosper.
This US Open Cup map also appears on Bill's Sports Map's and will be updated as the tournament goes.
Another great place for keeping up with the tournament is the USOpenCup.com site where they're covering much of the action live. US Open Cup 2009 Results:First Round Harrisburg City Islanders 4-1 Reading Rage
Second Round Ocean City Barons 1-0 Real Maryland
Third Round New England Revolution 1-2 Harrisburg City Islanders
Quarterfinals DC United 2-1 Harrisburg City Islanders
Semifinals
Final DC United 1-2 Seattle Sounders |
