Landon Sessions Popular Books

Landon Sessions Biography & Facts

Los Angeles Galaxy, also known as the LA Galaxy, are an American professional men's soccer club based in Carson, California. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play in 1996 as one of the league's 10 charter members. The Galaxy were founded in 1994 and are owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group (also owners of the Los Angeles Kings, as well as an interest in the Los Angeles Lakers). In their early years, the club played home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Since 2003, they have played at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The team holds a rivalry with the San Jose Earthquakes in the California Clásico and used to play the SuperClasico against city rivals Chivas USA before that team folded in 2014. Following the league's dissolution of Chivas USA, a new expansion team, Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), was formed in 2014 and began play in 2018. The new L.A. rivalry was dubbed "El Tráfico". The franchise is one of Major League Soccer's most successful teams, with a record five MLS Cups and four additional appearances in the final, and won the Western Conference regular-season title eight times, four Supporters' Shields, two U.S. Open Cups, and one CONCACAF Champions' Cup title. In 2017, the club added the dubious MLS Wooden Spoon to its trophy case for finishing at the bottom of the MLS table. In 2007, the club made international headlines with the signing of English player David Beckham from Real Madrid, the most high-profile transaction with Major League Soccer to that point. The club has fielded other high-profile international players including Zlatan Ibrahimović, Steven Gerrard, Nigel de Jong, Robbie Keane, Luis Hernández, Giovani dos Santos, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Carlos Ruiz, Jonathan dos Santos, Jorge Campos, Ashley Cole, Javier Hernández, and American Landon Donovan, who is the all-time leading scorer for the club. In 2019, Forbes estimated the club is the second most valuable in the league, worth about $480 million. History Early years (1996–2000) LA Galaxy is one of the 10 founding clubs in Major League Soccer. The name "Galaxy" was derived from Los Angeles being home to the "stars" of Hollywood. The team began competing in the first season of the then-new league, which took place in 1996. In the inaugural season, the Galaxy finished first in the Western Conference and contested the first MLS Cup final, finishing as runners-up to D.C. United. In 1997, they started 1–7, but went 15–9 for the rest of the season to qualify for the playoffs. The Galaxy ended up second in their conference, losing to the Dallas Burn. In 1998, the Galaxy left off on a streak, eventually finishing 24–8. The Galaxy defeated the Dallas Burn, 9–3 on aggregate. They lost in the semi-final to the Chicago Fire, 5–1 on aggregate. The Galaxy again finished first in the Western Conference in 1999, with a final record of 20–12, with a win in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, but lost to D.C. United again 2–0. The 2000 season had the Galaxy in second in the Western Division, at 14–10–8. Despite this, they lost to the Kansas City Wizards after a tied aggregate and a sudden-death game. Los Angeles won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup that same year, one of two American clubs to win the tournament. 2001 was another successful year for Los Angeles, winning the Open Cup and scoring 1,000 all-time points, and with Cobi Jones scoring the 300th goal, but again they fell short by being defeated by Landon Donovan and the San Jose Earthquakes. Again the club clinched first in the Western Conference with a 16–9–3 record, their fifth time being first. Los Angeles were to take part in FIFA's Club World Cup as Concacaf champions from the previous year, but the tournament was canceled that year. First MLS Cup (2002) In 2002, the Galaxy won their first MLS Cup in the club's fourth appearance by defeating the New England Revolution 1–0. In 2003, the Galaxy finished fourth playing more away games due to stadium construction, with the possible existing obstacles, the team finished 9–12–9. The Galaxy bounced back by gaining second with an 11–9–10 record. They lost to the Wizards in the final, 0–2. In 2005, the Galaxy acquired Landon Donovan from San Jose. The franchise won the Open Cup again ending with a record of 13–13–6. Having qualified for the playoffs for the 2005 season, the Galaxy has been the only team to appear in the playoffs in all of the league's first ten seasons. They won the 2005 MLS Cup, defeating the New England Revolution in extra time, 1–0. The 2006 season began on March 16 with the sudden death of Doug Hamilton, the team's 43-year-old general manager, who suffered a heart attack on board a plane carrying the team back from Costa Rica where they had played Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The team finished fifth in the Western Conference, eliminating them from playoff contention for the first time since the league's inception. Midway through the season, Steve Sampson was sacked as head coach, replaced by Frank Yallop. The team managed to make a deep run to the U.S. Open Cup final, but lost 3–1 against the Chicago Fire. Beckham era (2007–2012) In March 2007, Herbalife signed a five-year deal with the Galaxy, worth between $4–5 million a year, to be the club's primary shirt sponsor. Four months later, the club signed David Beckham from Real Madrid. His debut was made at Home Depot Center before a record crowd of nearly 35,000, including many celebrities, coming on in the 78th minute in a 1–0 loss to Chelsea in a match during the World Series of Football tournament. The match brought unprecedented TV coverage from ESPN, who used 19 cameras to cover it, including one trained only on Beckham, even when he was on the bench. In that season's SuperLiga, LA reached the final but lost to Mexican side Pachuca on penalties after extra time. LA nearly made the end-of-season play-offs, but were eliminated following a 1–0 loss to the Chicago Fire. In the off-season, Cobi Jones retired and, amidst rumors that he was going to be sacked, Yallop resigned as head coach following a friendly match at Home Depot Center. The San Jose Earthquakes bought out his contract and offered a third round draft pick to the Galaxy as compensation to hire Yallop as their new head coach. Yallop was replaced at LA by Ruud Gullit, who signed a three-year contract with the club, making him the highest paid coach in MLS history. Cobi Jones returned as assistant coach. LA went on a promotional tour of Australia and New Zealand, setting attendance records in both countries. 80,295 people showed up at Stadium Australia for the match between Sydney FC and LA Galaxy, which the home side won 5–3. They also played a tour of Asia, and competed in the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship in Honolulu, finishing third after beating Sydney 2–1 in the third-place match. In the 2008 MLS season, LA went on a seven-game winless streak that saw them .... Discover the Landon Sessions popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Landon Sessions books.