NEW YORK, NY - MAY 19: A view of the MLS cup on display at the MLS Heineken Rivalry Week Human Foosball Soccer event on May 19, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Heineken)

Many would expect for the best team in the regular season of MLS play to also have success in the postseason, but by taking a closer look, we found something interesting.

Unlike most soccer leagues around the world that determine their champion as the one with the most points among all teams during the regular season, Major League Soccer employs a system that is similar to the ones used by it’s counterparts in the North American Sports Leagues (namely MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL).

Teams that finish in the top six spots of the Eastern and Western Conferences have to navigate through a play-off tournament to eventually be crowned the MLS Cup Champion, which is the highest honour bestowed upon an MLS club.

But teams that finish top of the pile in the regular season irrespective of the conference are not simply ignored unlike in the past. They are awarded a Supporters’ Shield award for having the best regular season record in the league.

They are also granted automatic qualification to the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League alongside the MLS Cup winners, ultimately giving them something to look forward for their consistency throughout the calendar-year.

This brings out a question: Could winning the Supporters’ Shield accurately predict future MLS Cup success?

Year Supporters’ Shield Winner MLS Cup Champion MLS Cup runner-up 1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny D.C. United Los Angeles Galaxy 1997 D.C. United D.C. United Colorado Rapids 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy Chicago Fire D.C. United 1999 D.C. United D.C. United Los Angeles Galaxy 2000 Kansas City Wizards Kansas City Wizards Chicago Fire 2001 Miami Fusion San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy 2002 Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution 2003 Chicago Fire San Jose Earthquakes Chicago Fire 2004 Columbus Crew D.C. United Kansas City Wizards 2005 San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution 2006 D.C. United Houston Dynamo New England Revolution 2007 D.C. United Houston Dynamo New England Revolution 2008 Columbus Crew Columbus Crew New York Red Bulls 2009 Columbus Crew Real Salt Lake Los Angeles Galaxy 2010 Los Angeles Galaxy Colorado Rapids FC Dallas 2011 Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Galaxy Houston Dynamo 2012 San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy Houston Dynamo 2013 New York Redbulls Sporting Kansas City Real Salt Lake 2014 Seattle Sounders Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution 2015 New York Redbulls Portland Timbers Columbus Crew SC

The answer is a big firm ‘NO‘.

While the winner of the Supporters’ Shield is an obvious favourite going into the MLS Cup, the double has been won only six times in the past 20 seasons of MLS soccer – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2011. D.C United, LA Galaxy, Sporting Kansas City (previously Kansas City Wizards) and Columbus Crew SC are the only teams to have earned this achievement.

In many cases, the Supporters’ Shield holder doesn’t even make it to the final, despite being provided with a much easier draw than the other teams (an MLS Cup quarterfinal berth against the lowest seeded team remaining in the competition). Since LA Galaxy’s double in 2011, no winner of the Shield has managed to get past the Conference finals of the MLS Cup.

This is mainly because as a cup competition, there are fewer fixtures in the run-up to the final, which means that the teams are required to show a lot more urgency if they want to get through to the latter stages and win it. Compare this to a regular league season where MLS teams have 34 games to improve their standings in the table, and it’s a totally different ball game.

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