The Western Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with clubs on, or west of the river in the Western Conference.
The 2008 Chicago Fire season was the club's 10th year of existence, as well as their 11th season in Major League Soccer and 11th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer. It began with a 3-1 away win over Real Salt Lake on March 29, 2008 and ended with a 2-1 loss to Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Final on November 13, 2008. Denis Hamlett made his debut as the Chicago Fire coach after being promoted.
The 2009 Chicago Fire season was the club's 11th year of existence, as well as their 12th season in Major League Soccer and 12th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer. It began with a 3-1 away win over FC Dallas on March 21, 2009 and ended with a loss on penalties to Real Salt Lake in the Eastern Conference Final on November 14, 2009.
The 2009 D.C. United season was the fourteenth season of the team's existence. It began on March 22, 2009, with a 2–2 draw at the Los Angeles Galaxy and ended on October 22, 2009, at the Kansas City Wizards by the same 2–2 scoreline.
The 2009 New York Red Bulls season was the fourteenth season of the team's existence. It began with a 3–0 loss at expansion Seattle Sounders FC on March 19, and ended on October 24 with a 5–0 win over Toronto FC, the last match ever played by the team in Giants Stadium.
The 2009 Chivas USA season was the fifth season of the team's existence. It began on March 21 with a 2–1 home win over the Colorado Rapids, and ended with a 3-2 aggregate loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the playoffs.
The 2009 Colorado Rapids season was the fourteenth season of the team's existence. It began on March 21 with a 2–1 loss at Chivas USA and ended on October 24 with a 3–0 loss to Real Salt Lake. The result put RSL in the playoffs as the 8th seed and kept Colorado out on goal differential.
The 2009 FC Dallas season was the fourteenth season of the team's existence. It began on March 21 with a 3–1 home loss to the Chicago Fire and ended with a 2–1 away loss to Seattle Sounders FC on October 24. A win in that game would have sent the team to the playoffs.
The 2009 Los Angeles Galaxy season was the 14th season of the team's existence. It began on March 22, 2009, with a 2-2 home draw against D.C. United, and ended on November 22, 2009, with a loss on penalties to Real Salt Lake in the 2009 MLS Cup Final.
The 2009 San Jose Earthquakes season was the twelfth season of the team's existence, and the second since its revival. The season began with a 1-0 home loss to the New England Revolution on March 21, and ended with a 2-0 loss at the Los Angeles Galaxy on October 24.
The 2010 Colorado Rapids season was the fifteenth year and season of the club's existence. It was Colorado's fifteenth year in Major League Soccer, and the fifteenth consecutive year for the club in the top-flight of American soccer.
The 2010 Chicago Fire season was the club's 12th year of existence, their 13th season in Major League Soccer, and 13th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer.
The 2008 Real Salt Lake Season was the fourth season of the team's existence. It was the first season that the team made it to the MLS Cup Playoffs, thanks to some last minute heroics by Yura Movsisyan. After defeating Chivas USA in the first round of the playoffs, Real Salt Lake lost to New York Red Bulls in the Western Conference finals. The 2008 season was also the last season that Real Salt Lake played at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as they moved to the soccer-specific Rio Tinto Stadium on October 9, 2008.
The 2008 Colorado Rapids season was the thirteenth season of the team's existence. Colorado began their season with 4–0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy and ended a 1–1 draw against Real Salt Lake. They finished 4th in the Western Conference and 9th overall, 1 point behind the New York Red Bulls for the final Wild Card Playoff spot. In the U.S. Open Cup Qualifying, Colorado defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 1–0 before losing in Kansas City in a penalty shootout.
The 2006 Real Salt Lake season was the second season of the team's existence. The team has some improvement over the previous season. However, despite mixed results on the field, RSL scored a huge victory off the field in 2006. After much controversy and debate, the franchise finally secured a guarantee for a state-of-the-art, soccer-specific stadium to be built in Sandy – a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team broke ground for the structure on the morning of August 12, with representatives from soccer giant Real Madrid present. That evening, RSL faced its namesake in front of a sellout crowd of 45,511 fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Salt Lake made a good showing, but Real Madrid won the exhibition match, 2–0.
The 2008 San Jose Earthquakes season was the eleventh season of the team's existence, and the first in their return to the league after a two-year hiatus.
The 2013 FC Dallas season was the eighteenth of the team's existence. The team began their preseason by signing three new players to the squad: Stephen Keel, Peter Luccin, and Pipico.
The 2007 Real Salt Lake season was the third season of the team's existence. After seeing slight improvement in 2006, the team struggled again under manager John Ellinger, opening the 2007 campaign with a 0-2-2 record. Ownership made a drastic move on May 3, firing Ellinger, and announcing that team captain, would retire and become the new head coach. RSL tied its next two matches against New York Red Bulls and the Colorado Rapids, but saw limited success the rest of the season. RSL finished the year with the league's second-worst record, ahead of expansion team Toronto FC.
The 2007 Chivas USA season was the club's third season of existence, and their third in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The club competed in the MLS's Western Conference, where they finished in first place, in their Conference, qualifying for the Playoffs for the second time.
