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Despite each receiving FIFA-affiliated status in 1913, both the United States and Canada have lacked a consistent, multi-division soccer system until recently. Consequently, the determination of champions has been problematic at times. The United States did not have a truly national league until the North American Soccer League in the late 1960s. Before that, there were several regional and city leagues of various levels of quality. For example, the first and second American Soccer Leagues constituted the premier level of professional soccer in the Northeastern United States, but they and teams from the St. Louis Soccer League would regularly defeat the best the other had to offer. These are only two of the most notable leagues of the regional era, as there were professional and amateur competitions in Chicago, California, the greater Western United States, Ontario, and Western Canada, among several other areas. While the creation of the North American Soccer League in 1968 brought a bona fide, national Division 1 league to the U.S. and Canada, its collapse in 1984 saw a temporary return to the fragmented regional structure. The merger of the Western Soccer League and third American Soccer League created a Division 2-level national league in the U.S. (the American Professional Soccer League), which later absorbed the Division 2-level Canadian Soccer League, which was at the time an attempt at a wholly domestic Division 1 within Canada. But it was until not until the establishment of Major League Soccer in 1996 as part of FIFA's agreement to award the United States the 1994 World Cup that there was again a truly national, sanctioned first division in either country (Canada would not see an MLS team until 2007; until then the top Canadian teams resided in Division 2-level leagues). Given all of this, there is a broad history of champions of various kinds in the history of both countries, both in leagues that comprised both nations and cups that were held in only one. This article takes into account all these competitions to compile an accurate listing of American and Canadian soccer champions with an eye towards maintaining continuity. == Background == For teams in the United States and Canada, there are three "major" domestic trophies.〔(Marketing the US Soccer Majors )〕〔(MLS Trophy Case )〕 The primary focus is the league championship, a postseason knockout tournament held between the best teams from the regular season. This is presently determined via the MLS Cup. American and Canadian sports leagues typically have such "playoff" systems. These have their roots in long travel distances common in US and Canadian sports; to cut down on travel, leagues are typically aligned in geographic divisions and feature unbalanced schedules with teams playing more matches against opponents in the same division. Due to the unbalanced schedule typical in US and Canadian leagues, not all teams face the same opponents, and some teams may not meet an even amount of times during a regular season, if at all. This results in teams with identical records that have faced different opponents differing numbers of times, making team records alone an imperfect measure of league supremacy. The playoffs allow for head-to-head elimination-style competition between teams to counterbalance this. Secondary (due to the unbalanced schedule) is the recognition of the best regular season record,〔 an accomplishment known as the league premiership in Australia and New Zealand, countries with similar league structure to the US and Canada. The holders are awarded the Supporters' Shield. Then, there are the two countries' respective national championships: the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup or the Canadian Championship, cup competitions that are independent of league play. These are features unique to soccer in the US and Canada, as no other major team sport has such independent tournaments, and they are typically lesser-known than league play. Internationally, available to US and Canadian clubs is the continental championship as determined by the CONCACAF Champions League, to which the United States is allocated four qualifiers and Canada one. For American clubs, the winners of the MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield, and US Open Cup all qualify, along with the regular season conference champion that does not win the Shield; for Canadian clubs, their single berth is determined by the Canadian Championship. Finally, there is the world championship as determined by the FIFA Club World Cup, a berth to which is earned by winning the Champions League. American and Canadian soccer clubs exist in a franchise system, rather than a promotion and relegation system. As a result, Division 2 and Division 3 champions do not change levels the next season. This is standard among American and Canadian major and minor sports leagues, and is part of the franchise rights granted by the leagues. If a team was to be relegated from MLS, it would in part breach the contract between the club owner and the league. Recently, a trend has developed where a club from the lower divisions may be "promoted" via an expansion franchise awarded by Major League Soccer if they were to display a solid fanbase and secure a proper stadium, but a team winning a Division 2 or Division 3 title has no effect on their place in the soccer pyramid. Rather, the divisions are financial classifications based on requirements placed upon club ownership groups. The results in this article come from the United States Soccer Federation,〔(United States Soccer Federation - Open Cup )〕 the Canadian Soccer Association,〔(Canadian Soccer Association - Competitions )〕 the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation,〔(RSSSF - United States/Canada )〕 and the American Soccer History Archives.〔(American Soccer History Archives )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of American and Canadian soccer champions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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