Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Youngest & Oldest MLS Cup Starting Lineups

The Crew's young stars (Eddie Gaven, Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers) may get plenty of attention, but their lineup is basically the same age as the Red Bulls thanks to their three over-30 players. If the Red Bulls are injury free and start their first team lineup (Andrew Boyens and Sinisa Ubiparipovic), then they actually will be younger.

The average age of the Crew's starting lineup next Sunday (assuming it stays the same) is 27.54 years. The NY lineup may vary depending one those two injured players, but assuming the other 9 players start the various combinations give us:

27.07 Boyens, Ubiparipovic
27.32 Mendes, Ubiparipovic
27.67 Boyens, Rojas
27.92 Mendes, Rojas

So if Jorge Rojas doesn't start, then NY will likely have the younger team and Columbus will likely have the older team.

Has that been a factor in MLS Cup history? The older team has won 7 of 12 MLS Cups, so it's basically even.


Interesting Facts

  • The youngest team in MLS Cup history are the very first champions, the 1996 DC United team.
  • The oldest champions are last year's 2007 Houston Dynamo.
  • The oldest lineup belongs to the unsuccessful 1999 Los Angeles Galaxy, with 6 players over the age of 30. The 2006 New England Revolution also had 6 players at 30 or over.
  • No MLS Cup team has ever started zero players who were 30 or older.
  • The oldest age difference occurred in 2003, when the SJ Quakes were 2.27 years older than the Chicago Fire. The closest was in 2005.
  • The oldest player to win or be in an MLS Cup starting lineup is Houston's Pat Onstad in 2007 (39.85).
  • The youngest starter is Landon Donovan in 2001 for the San Jose Earthquakes. At the age of 19.63, he's also the only teenager. Of course, several others have him beat for the youngest MLS Cup player ever, but they came on as subs (Adu, Beasley, Mapp).
  • The oldest youngest starter for any team is 1997 COL's Sean Henderson (25.25).
  • The youngest oldest starter for any team is 1996 LA's Jorge Campos (30.02).

Age of MLS Cup Starting Lineups

(italics = won championship)

1 1996 DC United 26.15
2 2001 San Jose 26.58
3 2005 Los Angeles 26.58
4 2003 Chicago 26.69
5 1996 Los Angeles 26.88
6 2005 New England 26.90
7 2002 New England 27.06
8 2004 Kansas City 27.19
9 1998 DC United 27.23
10 1997 DC United 27.36
11 2000 Chicago 27.41
12 2004 DC United 27.60
13 1999 DC United 27.63
14 2002 Los Angeles 28.05
15 2007 New England 28.38
16 1997 Colorado 28.43
17 2006 New England 28.64
18 2001 Los Angeles 28.75
19 2003 San Jose 28.96
20 1998 Chicago 28.99
21 2006 Houston 29.08
22 2000 Kansas City 29.40
23 2007 Houston 29.64
24 1999 Los Angeles 29.88


Youngest Starters

(italics = won championship)

1 2001 SJ Landon Donovan 19.63
2 2000 CHI Carlos Bocanegra 21.39
3 1998 DC Ben Olsen 21.48
4 2003 CHI DaMarcus Beasley 21.50
5 2000 KC Nick Garcia 21.52
6 2001 LA Danny Califf 21.60
7 2003 SJ Landon Donovan 21.72
8 2005 NE Michael Parkhurst 21.80
9 2004 DC Alecko Eskandarian 22.35
10 1996 LA Greg Vanney 22.36

CLB's Robbie Rogers (21.54) and Eddie Gaven (22.08) will rank 6th and 10th after next weekend if they both start.


Oldest Starters

(italics = won championship)

1 2007 HOU Pat Onstad 39.85
2 2006 HOU Pat Onstad 38.83
3 2000 KC Mo Johnston 37.51
4 2001 LA Paul Caligiuri 37.45
5 2000 KC Preki 37.31
6 2000 CHI Peter Nowak 36.28
7 2003 SJ Pat Onstad 35.86
8 2004 DC Earnie Stewart 35.63
9 2003 SJ Jeff Agoos 35.56
10 1999 LA Paul Caligiuri 35.53

CLB's Guillermo Barros Schelotto is 35.56 years old and would rank ninth if he starts next Sunday. He's one day younger than Agoos.


List of Lineups

1996 DC Mark Simpson, Clint Peay, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Mario Gori (Shawn Medved 70), Richie Williams, John Maessner (Tony Sanneh 59), John Harkes, Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Raul Diaz Arce
1996 LA Jorge Campos, Mark Semioli, Robin Fraser, Greg Vanney, Arash Noamouz, Jorge Salcedo (Curt Onalfo 77), Chris Armas, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Cobi Jones, Harut Karapetyan (Ante Razov 76), Eduardo Hurtado
1997 DC Scott Garlick, David Vaudreuil, Eddie Pope, Carlos Llamosa, Jeff Agoos, Richie Williams, Tony Sanneh, John Harkes, Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Raul Diaz Arce
1997 COL Marcus Hahnemann, Chris Martinez (Adrian Paz 59), Steve Trittschuh, Peter Vermes, Matt Kmosko, Marcelo Balboa, Sean Henderson (Ross Paule 81), Chris Henderson, Paul Bravo (Wolde Harris 27), David Patino, Steve Rammel
1998 CHI Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Lubos Kubik, Francis Okaroh, Diego Gutierrez, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, Jerzy Podbrozny, Peter Nowak (Josh Wolff 79), Roman Kosecki (Frank Klopas 56), Ante Razov (Tom Soehn 74)
1998 DC Tom Presthus, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Carlos Llamosa (Mike Slivinski 81), Tony Sanneh (A.J. Wood 70), Marco Etcheverry, John Harkes, Richie Williams, Ben Olsen, Roy Lassiter, Jaime Moreno
1999 DC Tom Presthus, Carey Talley, Eddie Pope, Carlos Llamosa (Diego Sonora 74), Jeff Agoos, Richie Williams, Ben Olsen, John Maessner, Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Roy Lassiter (Geoff Aunger 87)
1999 LA Kevin Hartman, Ezra Hendrickson, Paul Caligiuri, Robin Fraser (Steve Jolley 9, Zak Ibsen 80), Greg Vanney, Danny Pena (Simon Elliott 73), Clint Mathis, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Roy Myers, Cobi Jones, Carlos Hermosillo.
2000 KC Tony Meola, Chris Klein (Francisco Gomez 89), Nick Garcia, Peter Vermes, Brandon Prideaux, Preki (Uche Okafor 74), Matt McKeon, Kerry Zavagnin, Chris Henderson, Mo Johnston, Miklos Molnar
2000 CHI Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Carlos Bocanegra, Tenywa Bonseu, Peter Nowak (Lubos Kubik 83), Diego Gutierrez (DaMarcus Beasley 70), Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch (Josh Wolff 59), Dema Kovalenko, Hristo Stoitchkov, Ante Razov
2001 SJ Joe Cannon, Jimmy Conrad, Troy Dayak, Jeff Agoos, Wade Barrett, Ian Russell (Zak Ibsen 82), Richard Mulrooney, Ronnie Ekelund, Ramiro Corrales, Ronald Cerritos (Dwayne De Rosario 85), Landon Donovan
2001 LA Kevin Hartman, Ezra Hendrickson, Danny Califf, Greg Vanney, Paul Caligiuri (Adam Frye 53), Simon Elliott, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Peter Vagenas, Sasha Victorine (Brian Mullan 75), Luis Hernandez, Cobi Jones
2002 LA Kevin Hartman, Alexi Lalas, Danny Califf, Tyrone Marshall, Ezra Hendrickson, Sasha Victorine, Mauricio Cienfuegos (Peter Vagenas 61), Simon Elliott, Cobi Jones, Alejandro Moreno (Chris Albright 67), Carlos Ruiz
2002 NE Adin Brown, Carlos Llamosa (Rusty Pierce 92+), Joe Franchino, Daouda Kante, Jay Heaps, Leo Cullen, Daniel Hernandez, Steve Ralston, Brian Kamler (Winston Griffiths 90), Taylor Twellman, Wolde Harris (Alex Pineda Chacon 76)
2003 SJ Pat Onstad, Eddie Robinson, Troy Dayak, Craig Waibel (Chris Roner 51), Jeff Agoos, Brian Mullan, Ronnie Ekelund, Richard Mulrooney, Manny Lagos (Ian Russell 70), Landon Donovan, Jamil Walker (Dwayne De Rosario 60).
2003 CHI Zach Thornton, Jim Curtin (Nate Jaqua 81), Evan Whitfield, Carlos Bocanegra, Orlando Perez (Kelly Gray 46), Andy Williams (Justin Mapp 70), Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, DaMarcus Beasley, Ante Razov, Damani Ralph.
2004 DC Nick Rimando, Bryan Namoff, Ryan Nelsen, Mike Petke, Earnie Stewart (Brandon Prideaux 82), Brian Carroll, Christian Gomez (Joshua Gros 59), Ben Olsen, Dema Kovalenko, Jaime Moreno, Alecko Eskandarian (Freddy Adu 65).
2004 KC Bo Oshoniyi, Alex Zotinca (Diego Walsh 82), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr., Khari Stephenson (Igor Simutenkov 46), Diego Gutierrez, Kerry Zavagnin, Jack Jewsbury (Matt Taylor 66), Josh Wolff, Davy Arnaud.
2005 LA Kevin Hartman, Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall, Todd Dunivant, Cobi Jones (Ednaldo da Conceicao 109), Paulo Nagamura, Peter Vagenas, Ned Grabavoy (Guillermo Ramirez 66), Landon Donovan, Herculez Gomez (Alan Gordon 119),
2005 NE Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Joe Franchino, James Riley (Ryan Latham 107+), Clint Dempsey, Daniel Hernandez (Andy Dorman 91+), Shalrie Joseph, Steve Ralston, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan (Jose Cancela 64).
2006 HOU Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane (Kelly Gray 102), Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Dwayne De Rosario, Adrian Serioux (Stuart Holden 114), Brad Davis, Brian Ching, Paul Dalglish (Alejandro Moreno 81)
2006 NE Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Avery John, Andy Dorman (Clint Dempsey 62), Steve Ralston, Daniel Hernandez (Jeff Larentowicz 111), Shalrie Joseph, Joe Franchino (Khano Smith 53), Pat Noonan, Taylor Twellman
2007 HOU Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Dwayne De Rosario, Richard Mulrooney, Brad Davis, Nate Jaqua, Joseph Ngwenya (Stuart Holden 80)
2007 NE Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Avery John, Wells Thompson, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Steve Ralston (Andy Dorman 78), Khano Smith, Pat Noonan, Taylor Twellman

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