YA Premiership Appearances (1992/93 - 2010/11)

Updated to include this past season's numbers. Thanks to Numerista on Bigsoccer for originally compiling the list through 2005/6, to which I've been adding to it since (so if anything's wrong, take it up with him :P). This does not include data for any seasons before the formation of the Premiership. I've also decided to leave out the non-USMNT Americans like Giuseppe Rossi. Ten Americans saw action in the EPL this past season, one more than in 2009/10. Clint Dempsey finished with 12 goals, and is now only three away from tying McBride for the most by an American. He's also one appearance away from matching McBride for the most by a field player. Brad Friedel has now played 400 games exactly, more than anyone in the MLS regular season (Ralston-378). Stuart Holden and Tim Howard also were full time starters, while Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, and Eric Lichaj played for the first time in England's highest level. Marcus Hahnemann, Eddie Johnson, and Jonathan Spector played on occasion, completing the list of ten. That's everyone, right? Games Goals Clubs 1 Brad Friedel 400 1 Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa 2 Tim Howard 231 0 Manchester Utd, Everton 3 Kasey Keller 201 0 Leicester, Tottenham, Southampton, Fulham 4 Brian McBride 148 36 Everton, Fulham 5 Clint Dempsey 147 33 Fulham 6 Jonathan Spector 124 2 Manchester Utd, Charlton, West Ham 7 Carlos Bocanegra 116 8 Fulham 8 Marcus Hahnemann 115 0 Reading, Wolves 9 Claudio Reyna 104 7 Sunderland, Manchester City 10 Roy Wegerle 75 13 Blackburn, Coventry 11 Joe-Max Moore 52 8 Everton 12 Preki 46 4 Everton 13 John Harkes 43 2 Sheff Wed, West Ham, Nottingham 14 Jay DeMerit 33 2 Watford 14 Juergen Sommer 33 0 QPR 16 Bobby Convey 29 0 Reading 17 Jozy Altidore 28 1 Hull 17 Stuart Holden 28 2 Bolton 19 Eddie Lewis 25 0 Fulham, Derby 20 Jovan Kirovski 23 2 Birmingham 21 Cobi Jones 21 2 Coventry 22 Eddie Johnson 19 0 Fulham 23 DaMarcus Beasley 18 3 Manchester City 24 Jermaine Jones 15 0 Blackburn 25 Oguchi Onyewu 12 0 Newcastle 26 Landon Donovan 10 2 Everton 26 Benny Feilhaber 10 0 Derby 28 Ian Feuer 5 0 West Ham, Derby 28 Jemal Johnson 5 0 Blackburn 28 Eric Lichaj 5 0 Aston Villa 31 Michael Bradley 3 0 Aston Villa 32 Brad Guzan 1 0 Aston Villa 32 Johann Smith 1 0 Bolton

MLS Home Field Advantage - Updated

Updated through the 2009 season. To make this more interesting, I've compiled the data for the English Premiership over the same years so we have something to compare the MLS data with. Below, you'll see how many points on average home and away teams receive in both leagues, as well as the number of goals. Performance of Home Teams in Major League Soccer Year Games W L D H-PPG A-PPG Diff 1996 160 84 42 34 1.79 1.00 0.79 1997 160 81 46 33 1.73 1.07 0.66 1998 192 101 58 33 1.75 1.08 0.67 1999 192 80 55 57 1.55 1.16 0.39 2000 192 105 53 34 1.82 1.01 0.81 2001 158 83 47 28 1.75 1.07 0.68 2002 140 77 41 22 1.81 1.04 0.77 2003 150 71 38 41 1.69 1.03 0.66 2004 150 72 32 46 1.75 0.95 0.80 2005 192 92 56 44 1.67 1.10 0.56 2006 192 92 44 56 1.73 0.98 0.75 2007 195 91 54 50 1.66 1.09 0.57 2008 210 106 47 57 1.79 0.94 0.84 2009 225 107 49 69 1.73 0.96 0.77 Total 2508 1242 662 604 1.73 1.03 0.69 The column furthest to the right is the key here, that's the home field advantage. Over 14 seasons and 2,508 games, home teams on average gain 0.69 more points than away teams. With the current 30 game season, that means that a team that played all its games at home would expect to gain an average of 21 points over a team that played an even schedule. So far in 2010, the advantage has been 1.20 PPG, which is sure to come down. Performance of Home Teams in the English Premier League Year Games W L D H-PPG A-PPG Diff 1995/6 380 186 96 98 1.73 1.02 0.71 1996/7 380 162 99 119 1.59 1.09 0.50 1997/8 380 184 101 95 1.70 1.05 0.66 1998/9 380 169 96 115 1.64 1.06 0.58 1999/0 380 187 101 92 1.72 1.04 0.68 2000/1 380 184 95 101 1.72 1.02 0.70 2001/2 380 165 114 101 1.57 1.17 0.40 2002/3 380 187 103 90 1.71 1.05 0.66 2003/4 380 167 105 108 1.60 1.11 0.49 2004/5 380 173 97 110 1.66 1.06 0.60 2005/6 380 192 111 77 1.72 1.08 0.64 2006/7 380 182 100 98 1.69 1.05 0.65 2007/8 380 176 104 100 1.65 1.08 0.57 2008/9 380 173 110 97 1.62 1.12 0.50 Total 5320 2487 1432 1401 1.67 1.07 0.59 The EPL ends up with a slightly different number: a 0.59 PPG home field advantage. It makes sense for MLS to have a higher HFA due to having a more balanced league. Comparing the two leagues percentage wise, the home teams' W-L-D results are 50-26-24 for MLS and 47-27-26 for the EPL. Home teams win 62% of the points in MLS vs 58% in the EPL. Number of Home & Away Goals in Major League Soccer Year Games Gol GPG HG AG HGPG AGPG Diff 1996 160 539 3.37 321 218 2.01 1.36 0.64 1997 160 522 3.26 302 220 1.89 1.38 0.51 1998 192 685 3.57 391 294 2.04 1.53 0.51 1999 192 549 2.86 305 244 1.59 1.27 0.32 2000 192 612 3.19 351 261 1.83 1.36 0.47 2001 158 519 3.28 297 222 1.88 1.41 0.47 2002 140 421 3.01 246 175 1.76 1.25 0.51 2003 150 433 2.89 248 185 1.65 1.23 0.42 2004 150 392 2.61 234 158 1.56 1.05 0.51 2005 192 551 2.87 306 245 1.59 1.28 0.32 2006 192 503 2.62 293 210 1.53 1.09 0.43 2007 195 518 2.66 297 221 1.52 1.13 0.39 2008 210 591 2.81 355 236 1.69 1.12 0.57 2009 225 571 2.54 340 231 1.51 1.03 0.48 Total 2508 7406 2.95 4286 3120 1.71 1.24 0.46 Again, the far right number is the most important one. So in MLS, the home teams score an average of 0.46 more goals per game than the away teams. Number of Home & Away Goals in the English Premier League Year Games Gol GPG HG AG HGPG AGPG Diff 1995/6 380 988 2.60 580 408 1.53 1.07 0.45 1996/7 380 970 2.55 559 411 1.47 1.08 0.39 1997/8 380 1019 2.68 592 427 1.56 1.12 0.43 1998/9 380 959 2.52 553 406 1.46 1.07 0.39 1999/0 380 1060 2.79 635 425 1.67 1.12 0.55 2000/1 380 992 2.61 587 405 1.54 1.07 0.48 2001/2 380 1001 2.63 557 444 1.47 1.17 0.30 2002/3 380 1000 2.63 570 430 1.50 1.13 0.37 2003/4 380 1012 2.66 572 440 1.51 1.16 0.35 2004/5 380 975 2.57 570 405 1.50 1.07 0.43 2005/6 380 944 2.48 555 389 1.46 1.02 0.44 2006/7 380 931 2.45 552 379 1.45 1.00 0.46 2007/8 380 1002 2.64 581 421 1.53 1.11 0.42 2008/9 380 942 2.48 532 410 1.40 1.08 0.32 Total 5320 13795 2.59 7995 5800 1.50 1.09 0.41 A similar difference in the EPL at 0.41, despite a much lower goals per game average. Home teams have scored 57.9% of the goals in MLS vs 58.0% in the EPL.