Team Golden Boots

Who's scored the most goals for each team in each season? Includes only regular season matches, using the current method for determing golden boots (tiebreakers in order: assists, then fewest minutes played). CHI CHV 1996 xxx 1996 xxx 1997 xxx 1997 xxx 1998 Razov, Ante 10 1998 xxx 1999 Razov, Ante 14 1999 xxx 2000 Razov, Ante 18 2000 xxx 2001 Wynalda, Eric 10 2001 xxx 2002 Razov, Ante 14 2002 xxx 2003 Razov, Ante 14 2003 xxx 2004 Ralph, Damani 11 2004 xxx 2005 Rolfe, Chris 8 2005 Cuadros, Hector 4 2006 Herron, Andy 9 2006 Razov, Ante 14 2007 Barrett, Chad 7 2007 Galindo, Maykel 12 2008 Rolfe, Chris 9 2008 Kljestan, Sacha 5 2009 McBride, Brian 7 2009 Lillingston, Eduardo 8 2010 Pappa, Marco 7 2010 Braun, Justin 9 CLB COL 1996 McBride, Brian 17 1996 Harbor, Jean 11 1997 Marino, Pete 8 1997 Bravo, Paul 8 1998 John, Stern 26 1998 Harris, Wolde 13 1999 John, Stern 18 1999 Dely Valdes, Jorge 10 2000 Washington, Dante 15 2000 Agogo, Junior 10 2001 Cunningham, Jeff 10 2001 Spencer, John 14 2002 Cunningham, Jeff 16 2002 Chung, Mark 11 2003 McBride, Brian 12 2003 Spencer, John 14 2004 Buddle, Edson 11 2004 Jean Philippe, Peguero 7 2005 Buddle, Edson 9 2005 Cunningham, Jeff 12 2006 Ngwenya, Joseph 6 2006 Hernandez, Nicolas 7 2007 Moreno, Alejandro 7 2007 Kirovski, Jovan 6 2008 Moreno, Alejandro 9 2008 Casey, Conor 11 2009 Barros Schelotto, Guillermo 12 2009 Casey, Conor 16 2010 Barros Schelotto, Guillermo 9 2010 Cummings, Omar 14 DAL DC 1996 Kreis, Jason 13 1996 Diaz Arce, Raul 23 1997 Washington, Dante 12 1997 Moreno, Jaime 16 1998 Kreis, Jason 9 1998 Lassiter, Roy 18 1999 Kreis, Jason 18 1999 Lassiter, Roy 18 2000 Graziani, Ariel 15 2000 Moreno, Jaime 12 2001 Graziani, Ariel 11 2001 Conteh, Abdul Thompson 14 2002 Kreis, Jason 13 2002 Convey, Bobby 5 2003 Kreis, Jason 7 2003 Etcheverry, Marco 6 2004 Johnson, Eddie 12 2004 Eskandarian, Alecko 10 2005 Ruiz, Carlos 11 2005 Moreno, Jaime 16 2006 Ruiz, Carlos 13 2006 Gomez, Christian 14 2007 Ruiz, Carlos 7 2007 Emilio, Luciano 20 2008 Cooper, Kenny 18 2008 Emilio, Luciano 11 2009 Cunningham, Jeff 17 2009 Emilio, Luciano 10 2010 Cunningham, Jeff 11 2010 Najar, Andy 5 HOU KC 1996 xxx 1996 Preki 18 1997 xxx 1997 Preki 12 1998 xxx 1998 Johnston, Mo 11 1999 xxx 1999 Preki 7 2000 xxx 2000 Molnar, Miklos 12 2001 xxx 2001 Lassiter, Roy 7 2002 xxx 2002 Preki 7 2003 xxx 2003 Preki 12 2004 xxx 2004 Wolff, Josh 10 2005 xxx 2005 Wolff, Josh 10 2006 De Rosario, Dwayne 11 2006 Sealy, Scott 10 2007 Ngwenya, Joseph 7 2007 Johnson, Eddie 15 2008 Ching, Brian 13 2008 Arnaud, Davy 7 2009 Ching, Brian 8 2009 Wolff, Josh 11 2010 Ching, Brian 7 2010 Kamara, Kei 10 LA NE 1996 Hurtado, Eduardo 21 1996 Moore, Joe-Max 11 1997 Welton 11 1997 Naveda, Alberto 7 1998 Jones, Cobi 19 1998 Diaz Arce, Raul 18 1999 Jones, Cobi 8 1999 Moore, Joe-Max 15 2000 Jones, Cobi 7 2000 Harris, Wolde 15 2001 Hernandez, Luis 8 2001 Cate 8 2002 Ruiz, Carlos 24 2002 Twellman, Taylor 23 2003 Ruiz, Carlos 15 2003 Twellman, Taylor 15 2004 Ruiz, Carlos 11 2004 Noonan, Pat 11 2005 Donovan, Landon 12 2005 Twellman, Taylor 17 2006 Donovan, Landon 12 2006 Twellman, Taylor 11 2007 Donovan, Landon 8 2007 Twellman, Taylor 16 2008 Donovan, Landon 20 2008 Ralston, Steve 8 2009 Donovan, Landon 12 2009 Joseph, Shalrie 8 2010 Buddle, Edson 17 2010 Perovic, Marko 6 NY PHI 1996 Savarese, Giovanni 13 1996 xxx 1997 Savarese, Giovanni 14 1997 xxx 1998 Savarese, Giovanni 14 1998 xxx 1999 Hurtado, Eduardo 7 1999 xxx 2000 Valencia, Adolfo 16 2000 xxx 2001 Faria, Rodrigo 8 2001 xxx 2002 Faria, Rodrigo 12 2002 xxx 2003 Mathis, Clint 9 2003 xxx 2004 Guevara, Amado 10 2004 xxx 2005 Guevara, Amado 11 2005 xxx 2006 Guevara, Amado 8 2006 xxx 2007 Angel, Juan Pablo 19 2007 xxx 2008 Angel, Juan Pablo 14 2008 xxx 2009 Angel, Juan Pablo 12 2009 xxx 2010 Angel, Juan Pablo 13 2010 Le Toux, Sebastien 14 RSL SEA 1996 xxx 1996 xxx 1997 xxx 1997 xxx 1998 xxx 1998 xxx 1999 xxx 1999 xxx 2000 xxx 2000 xxx 2001 xxx 2001 xxx 2002 xxx 2002 xxx 2003 xxx 2003 xxx 2004 xxx 2004 xxx 2005 Kreis, Jason 9 2005 xxx 2006 Cunningham, Jeff 16 2006 xxx 2007 Findley, Robbie 6 2007 xxx 2008 Movsisyan, Yura 7 2008 xxx 2009 Findley, Robbie 12 2009 Montero, Fredy 12 2010 Saborio, Alvaro 12 2010 Montero, Fredy 10 SJ TOR 1996 Bravo, Paul 13 1996 xxx 1997 Cerritos, Ronald 12 1997 xxx 1998 Cerritos, Ronald 13 1998 xxx 1999 Cerritos, Ronald 15 1999 xxx 2000 Conteh, Abdul Thompson 8 2000 xxx 2001 Cerritos, Ronald 11 2001 xxx 2002 Graziani, Ariel 14 2002 xxx 2003 Donovan, Landon 12 2003 xxx 2004 Ching, Brian 12 2004 xxx 2005 De Rosario, Dwayne 9 2005 xxx 2006 xxx 2006 xxx 2007 xxx 2007 Dichio, Danny 6 2008 Huckerby, Darren 6 2008 Dichio, Danny 5 2009 Johnson, Ryan 11 2009 De Rosario, Dwayne 11 2010 Wondolowski, Chris 18 2010 De Rosario, Dwayne 15 MIA TB 1996 xxx 1996 Lassiter, Roy 27 1997 xxx 1997 Lassiter, Roy 10 1998 Serna, Diego 11 1998 Ramos, Mauricio 9 1999 Serna, Diego 10 1999 Shannon, Musa 12 2000 Serna, Diego 16 2000 Diallo, Mamadou 26 2001 Pineda Chacon, Alex 19 2001 Diallo, Mamadou 9 Most team boots: 6 - Cunningham, Donovan, Kreis, Razov, Ruiz. 5 - Lassiter, Preki, Twellman. 4 - Angel, Cerritos, Ching, De Rosario. Boots with multiple teams: 4 - Cunningham. 3 - De Rosario, Lassiter. 2 - Bravo, Buddle, Ching, Conteh, Diaz Arce, Donovan, Graziani, Harris, Hurtado, Johnson, Kreis, McBride, Ngwenya, Razov, Ruiz, Washington. Most boots in a row with same team: 5 - Donovan (LA 2005-09). 4 - Angel (NY 2007-10). Most boots in a row, total: 6 - Ruiz (2002-07). Fewest goals to win a boot: 4 - Cuadros. 5 - Convey, Dichio, Kljestan, Najar. Most goals scored without winning a team boot: 51 - Chris Henderson, 49 - Chris Klein, 41 - Nate Jaqua, 38 - Dema Kovalenko, 37 - Eddie Gaven, 35 - Mauricio Cienfuegos, 33 - John Wolyniec, 32 - Sasha Victorine, 31 - Jesse Marsch, 31 - Ross Paule.

Jeff Cunningham's Quest for the MLS Golden Boot

Jeff Cunningham scored two more goals for Dallas to tie Colorado's Conor Casey for the league lead with 15. Actually, he now leads in the race for the golden boot due to the first tiebreaker, assists. He has 7 to Casey's 1, so he'll win any tie between the two men. Not only that, he has an extra game remaining and FCD has been assaulting the nets recently. He has to be the favorite to take home the award. It's amazing how he's come on so strong in the second half of the season. I know he wasn't starting full time, and he was even playing on the wing for a little while. But still, I don't think anyone expected this type of production. That brings us to the next point: Would Cunningham be the worst Golden Boot winner ever? It's hard not to immediately jump to that conclusion. Now, several players have won the award for middling teams (like Jeff Cunningham, 2006). However, I don't recall seeing any of them finish with such a flurry of goals for a team so clearly out of contention. At the halfway point of the season, Dallas was 3-7-5 (14 points) and their season was already over. Cunningham had scored only once. He'd fire in a brace in the 16th game, the 2-1 home victory over New York, and since then he's been on fire. Obviously he plays better without Kenny Cooper (the team was only 3-8-8 when both started over this year and last). So how exactly does Cunningham's stellar second half compare to previous boot winners? 1st 2nd total 1st 2nd 1996 TB Lassiter, Roy 11 16 27 41% 59% 1997 DC Moreno, Jaime 10 6 16 63% 38% 1998 CLB John, Stern 9 17 26 35% 65% 1999 DAL Kreis, Jason 11 7 18 61% 39% 2000 TB Diallo, Mamadou 13 13 26 50% 50% 2001 MIA Pineda Chacon, Alex 8 11 19 42% 58% 2002 LA Ruiz, Carlos 10 14 24 42% 58% 2003 LA Ruiz, Carlos 8 7 15 53% 47% 2004 SJ Ching, Brian 7 5 12 58% 42% 2005 NE Twellman, Taylor 6 11 17 35% 65% 2006 RSL Cunningham, Jeff 7 9 16 44% 56% 2007 DC Emilio, Luciano 10 10 20 50% 50% 2008 LA Donovan, Landon 11 9 20 55% 45% 2009 COL Casey, Conor 8 7 15 53% 47% 2009 DAL Cunningham, Jeff 1 14 15 7% 93% Jeff's current season certainly stands out. I'm a bit surprised at how even most of the previous seasons have been, actually. I also looked at all the 15 goal scorers in league history, and there really isn't a comparable situation to this one. A lot of that is because not every team is going to remain in playoff contention (thank god) as the league expands, whereas previous players didn't have the opportunities to score tons of less meaningful goals. So we can say that: 1) It's not normal for a golden boot winner to have one amazing half where they score the vast majority of their goals. 2) No player has scored this many goals for a team out of playoff contention. Let's talk more about the comparison between Casey and Cunningham. It doesn't take any research to know that Casey's goals have been more important than Cunningham's. Of course, I did it anyway. So let's see how many times each player has tied the game or given their team the lead when scoring: Casey Cunningham tie 5 0 lead 7 8 neither 3 7 Not only have Casey's goals been more important in the context of the entire season, but also in the games themselves. And the number of games scored in is similar: Casey 10, Cunningham 9 (so it's not like there was a disparity in that category). I'd also argue that Casey's goals have been a bit higher quality as well, although that can be subjective. Now, I don't mind if either player wins (even if Casey deserves it more). I don't hate Cunningham, I'm actually enjoying his scoring run. I just find it interesting, especially as he's seemingly become proficient at scoring lots of goals for mediocre teams.

Age of MLS Golden Boot Winners

Seven years later, the starters up top for the USA vs Mexico 2002 World Cup game are still going strong. Brian McBride & Josh Wolff are currently tied for the MLS golden boot lead with 6 goals each. A lot of people seem to be surprised at Wolff playing so well, but he's always been a top MLS player. Maybe all the injuries and playing in Kansas City have caused people to underrate him. Or maybe it's just the lack of goalscoring with the national team, as few would say he's underrated there. I don't think he should be called back up; he's had many chances and he's not going to get better, but it's nice to see him and McBride still playing well. Can they keep it up? If either player ends up leading the league in goals, they'll set a new record for the oldest MLS Golden Boot winner. Only one player has captured the honor in his 30s; that would be Honduran import Alex Pineda Chacon in 2001. One note: the actual golden boot award has only existed since 2005. I'm going back and retroactively figuring out who it would've been (assists are the first tiebreaker). Age of MLS Golden Boot Winners (age as of July 1 that season) 1996 Lassiter, Roy TB 27.31 1997 Moreno, Jaime DC 23.45 1998 John, Stern CLB 21.67 1999 Kreis, Jason DAL 26.50 2000 Diallo, Mamadou TB 28.86 2001 Pineda Chacon, Alex MIA 31.53 2002 Ruiz, Carlos LA 22.79 2003 Ruiz, Carlos LA 23.79 2004 Ching, Brian SJ 26.11 2005 Twellman, Taylor NE 25.34 2006 Cunningham, Jeff RSL 29.86 2007 Emilio, Luciano DC 28.55 2008 Donovan, Landon LA 26.33 Which ages have scored the most goals in MLS? Through 2008, 23 year olds lead the list by almost 2% over their nearest competitor. The years 22-28 are very productive and then it starts to dip a bit. The average age of every goal scored in league history (1996-2008) is 25.93. If you're interested in the top single season goalscorers for each age, click here.