2004 A-League Schedule Released
Season opens April 17 with champion Battery at Richmond
Thursday, January 8, 2004
TAMPA, FL - United Soccer Leagues released today the A-League 2004 schedule, which kicks off with two matches on April 17. The 224-game schedule opens with the defending champion Charleston Battery travel to Richmond to take on the Kickers while the Puerto Rico Islanders, one of two expansion clubs, hosts the Toronto Lynx. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup A-League qualification process was also announced.
League finalist Minnesota Thunder opens their season for the second straight year at the Metrodome in Minneapolis against Calgary the following weekend Sunday, April 25 before playing in their new home in St Paul, James Griffin Stadium, May 15.
The other expansion club Edmonton Aviators opens its inaugural season on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps Friday, April 30. The club's season opener will be a month later against Minnesota Sunday, May 30 at Commonwealth Stadium.
The regular season comes to a close Sunday, August 29 with four matches. The playoffs begin the following week with the Conference Semifinals series September 3 and 5 and the Conference Final series September 10 and 12. The A-League Championship will be held the weekend of September 18 and will be broadcast on Fox Sports World.
Links to the league and team schedules below.
United Soccer Leagues also announced the A-League qualification process for the 2004 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament, which US Soccer will announce the official format of in the coming weeks. Eight clubs will represent the A-League in the tournament. The 10 US clubs will play five two-leg, aggregate score series for entry with three additional clubs determined from the series losers. The five pairings (listed below) were determined by geography. The remaining berths will go in order to 2003 league champion Charleston, 2003 league runners-up Minnesota and the club with the highest point percentage through matches on May 23, which will also be used for the other two berths should Charleston and Minnesota win their respective series.
2004 Team Home Openers (home listed first)
Atlanta v Syracuse - Sat, April 24
Calgary v Minnesota - Sun, May 9
Charleston v Richmond - Sat, April 24
Edmonton v Minnesota - Sun, May 30
Milwaukee v Edmonton - Fri, May 14
Minnesota v Calgary - Sun, April 25
Montreal v Virginia Beach - Sun, May 16
Portland v Seattle - Sat, May 1
Puerto Rico v Toronto - Sat, April 17
Richmond v Charleston - Sat, April 17
Rochester v Toronto - Sat, May 1
Seattle v Edmonton - Sat, May 8
Syracuse v Puerto Rico - Sat, May 8
Toronto v Rochester - Sun, May 16
Vancouver v Edmonton - Fri, April 30
Virginia Beach v Richmond - Sat, May 1
Games by Day of Week Breakdown
Monday: 6
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 21
Thursday: 21
Friday: 52
Saturday 67
Sunday: 51
Mon-Thur: 54
Fri-Sun: 170
2004 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Qualification Pairings/Schedule
Richmond v Virginia Beach
Fri, April 30 @ Richmond; Sat, May 1 @ Virginia Beach
Portland v Seattle
Sat, May 1 @ Portland; Sat, May 15 @ Seattle
Atlanta v Charleston
Sat, May 8 @ Atlanta; Sat, May 15 @ Charleston
Rochester v Syracuse
Fri, May 14 @ Syracuse; Sat, May 22 @ Rochester
Milwaukee v Minnesota
Fri, May 21 @ Minnesota; Sat, May 22 @ Milwaukee
SCHEDULE LINKS (Microsoft Word files)
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