In 2009, MLS announced that the MLS Reserve Division would no longer exist, and Reserve Teams around the league were disbanded.  Team rosters were reduced this year, and no MLS Reserve Division matches will be played this season.

 

The Colorado Rapids Reserves are two-time winners of the MLS Reserve Division (2006 & 2007).

 

In 2008, the Rapids Reserve team finished the season with a record of 4-6-2 after their final match of the year on Sunday, Oct. 26 vs. the RSL Reserves.  For the match recap of this game, click here.

 

Prior to 2009, the MLS Reserve Division was a key component of Major League Soccer’s drive to develop the stars of tomorrow in a professional, competitive atmosphere.

 

The MLS Reserve Division allowed teams to provide meaningful competitive matches to players who are outside of the starting 11 players, giving them important in-game experience.

 

The Colorado Rapids Reserves became the first team to win back-to-back titles in the Reserve Division after capturing the title in 2007 for the second straight season. Defender Stephen Keel was named the Rapids Reserve Team's MVP for the season for his outstanding play all year, the same honor he earned in 2006.

 

All existing MLS teams fielded a squad to compete in a single table with a $20,000 team bonus awarded to the team that finishes the season at number one. Each team played 12 Reserve Division games throughout the course of the season. No team played any other team more than twice.

 

2008 was the fourth year of the Reserve Division, developed by Major League Soccer in partnership with adidas as a key component of the Generation adidas program.

 

MLS RESERVE DIVISION FORMAT:

-A total of 20 eligible players for the home team and 20 players for the visiting team may be placed on a club’s game roster for any Reserve Division game with each team permitted to make up to six (6) substitutions.

-Suspensions attributable to yellow and red cards issued in Reserve Division games shall only be imposed for future Reserve Division matches and not for games during the MLS regular season. Conversely, suspensions attributable to yellow and red cards issued during MLS regular season games shall not apply to Reserve Division matches.

-Any player who receives four yellow cards during the Reserve Division season shall be suspended from the next Reserve Division game in which he may appear.

-No player shall play more than 120 minutes in a Reserve Team match and any preceding match(es) that occur within a 60 hour period. Injury time is not considered a part of a player’s maximum number of minutes played (e.g., if a player enters a game at halftime and the referee adds two minutes of stoppage time to the end of the second half, the player will be considered to have played 45 minutes since the two minutes of stoppage time is essentially added to make up for 'lost' time).