The Houston Dynamo will move to the Eastern Conference beginning with the 2011 season, Major League Soccer announced today. The move keeps the league’s conferences balanced at nine teams apiece following the addition of expansion clubs Portland and Vancouver to the Western Conference. The Dynamo’s schedule – two games against each MLS opponent – will remain unchanged.
“This change is something we are comfortable with,” Dynamo president Chris Canetti said. “As the league grows, these changes are sometimes necessary, and we accept that. With a balanced schedule, we don’t believe this will have a significant impact on our season.”
Houston’s average distance from its Eastern Conference foes is 194.6 miles shorter than its average distance to the nine Western Conference clubs. Last year, six teams from the Western Conference and two teams from the Eastern Conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
“This is a new challenge, but we have the same goals and expectations,” Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “Making the playoffs is always still the goal, no matter what conference we play in. We play every team twice, so the schedule doesn’t change.”
The clubs in each conference for 2011 are as follows, in alphabetical order:
EASTERN CONFERENCEWESTERN
CONFERENCE
Chicago
Fire Chivas
USA
Columbus
Crew Colorado Rapids
D.C. United FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo LA Galaxy
Sporting Kansas
City Portland Timbers
New England Revolution Real Salt
Lake
New York
Red Bulls San Jose Earthquakes
Philadelphia
Union Seattle Sounders FC
Toronto
FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC
The Dynamo’s 2011 MLS regular season opener is set for Saturday, March 19, against the Philadelphia Union at Robertson Stadium. Tickets are available at HoustonDynamo.com.
The Houston Dynamo are a Major League Soccer club that has won two MLS Cup championships in its first five seasons and represented the United States in international competition four consecutive years from 2007-10. For more information, log on to www.HoustonDynamo.com or call (713) 276-7500.
