The Supporters' Groups from the three Cascadia MLS clubs have agreed on new rules for the Cascadia Cup after Major League Soccer moved to an unbalanced schedule in 2012.
The Emerald City Supporters, Southsiders and Timbers Army agreed that all matches will count towards the Cascadia Cup, even though the new unbalanced MLS schedule means each team will play a different number of home games against their Cascadia rivals this season.
<i>"We all agreed that this was the simplest format, one that all fans will find easiest to follow"</i> commented Southsiders' spokesperson Brenton Walters.
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Portland Timbers will host both Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps twice, Vancouver will see Portland once and Seattle twice at home, and Seattle will only host each team once.
Despite this imbalance, the three Supporters' Groups agreed to count all matches equally in order to keep the 2012 Cascadia Cup format simple.
<i>"It’s unfortunate that the league didn’t work out a balanced schedule for the Cascadia teams"</i> added Garrett Dittfurth of the Timbers Army. <i>"We think the league should fix this for next season so that no team has an unfair advantage in Cup matches."</i>
The Cascadia Cup will be awarded to the team with the most points after all matches have been played, or when there is a clear winner. In the event of a tie, the Cup will be awarded to the team with the best goal differential.
With the MLS schedule likely to remain unbalanced in 2013, the Emerald City Supporters, Southsiders and Timbers Army are insisting that it should allow for a fair distribution of the home and away matches amongst the Cascadia clubs.
Greg Mockos of Seattle's Emerald City Supporters had a message for the League:
<i>"Cascadia is home to the oldest and strongest rivalry in North American soccer, and the value that the supporters put on the Cascadia Cup reflects that. The league should pay attention."</i>
Once the schedule had been announced, fans of all three sides were wondering what format this year's Cascadia Cup would take.
For us, there was only one reasonable decision, and thankfully all three Supporters' Groups have now made the correct one.
The Cascadia Cup was established in 2004 by supporters of all three sides in the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver and Seattle have lifted the Cup on three occasions, with Portland claiming the silverware twice.
Seattle comfortably won the 2011 version, which saw the trophy return to a three team format for the first time in three years. With Vancouver last winning the Cup in 2008, and Portland never winning it with all teams competing, the 2012 version could be the most competitive one yet.
Let battle commence.
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