List of San Jose Earthquakes seasons explained

The San Jose Earthquakes are a soccer team based in San Jose, California, that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the most senior soccer league in the United States. San Jose Earthquakes was established as the San Jose Clash in 1994 becoming a founding member of MLS where they competed starting in 1996. The team rebranded and changed their name in 2000 to San Jose Earthquakes, connecting them with the former professional team that played in San Jose from 1974 to 1988. The franchise was moved at the conclusion of the 2005 MLS season to Houston to become the Houston Dynamo, thus putting the team and its records on hiatus. The team was revived two years later as an MLS expansion franchise, beginning play in 2008.

In addition to the MLS season, San Jose also competes in the annual U.S. Open Cup tournament. Depending on the team's performance in these two competitions, they may also qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs in the same year and the CONCACAF Champions League the following year. The CONCACAF Champions League winner qualifies for the next FIFA Club World Cup. The Earthquakes have won two MLS Cups and Supporters Shields apiece, but they have yet to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.^[1] Having won 4 trophies, San Jose is the eighth most successful MLS club and one of only three clubs to win the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield multiple times. The following list summarizes the Earthquakes' yearly performance in all competitive competitions.^[2]

Key

Key to competitions

• Major League Soccer (MLS) – The top-flight of soccer in the United States, established in 1996.
• U.S. Open Cup (USOC) – The premier knockout cup competition in U.S. soccer, first contested in 1914.
• CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) – The premier competition in North American soccer since 1962. It went by the name of Champions' Cup until 2008.

Key to colors and symbols:

style=background:gold	1st or W	Winners
style=background:silver	2nd or RU	Runners-up
style=background:#CFAA88	3rd	Third place
style=background:#FFCCCC	Last	Wooden Spoon
style=background:#FAECC8;"	♦	MLS Golden Boot
	Highest average attendance
Italics	Ongoing competition

Key to league record

• Season = The year and article of the season
• Div = Division/level on pyramid
• League = League name
• Pld = Games played
• W = Games won
• L = Games lost
• D = Games drawn
• GF = Goals for
• GA = Goals against
• GD = Goal difference
• Pts = Points
• PPG = Points per game
• Conf. = Conference position
• Overall = League position

Key to cup record

• DNE = Did not enter
• DNQ = Did not qualify
• NH = Competition not held or canceled
• QR = Qualifying round
• PR = Preliminary round
• GS = Group stage
• R1 = First round
• R2 = Second round
• R3 = Third round
• R4 = Fourth round
• R5 = Fifth round
• Ro16 = Round of 16
• QF = Quarterfinals
• SF = Semifinals
• F = Final
• RU = Runners-up
• W = Winners

Seasons

Season	League										Position		Playoffs	USOC	Continental / Other	Average attendance	Top goalscorer(s)
	League	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Conf.	Overall			Name(s)		Goals
1974	NASL	20	9	8	3	43	38	15	21	1.05	2nd West	4th	QF	DNE	DNE	DNE	16,584	Paul Child	15
1975	NASL	22	8	14	0	37	48	−11	16	0.72	5th West	17th	did not qualify		DNE	DNE	17,927	llija Mitic	14
1976	NASL	24	14	10	0	47	30	17	28	1.16	1st South	6th	SF		DNE	DNE	19,826	llija Mitic	14
1977	NASL	26	14	12	0	37	44	−13	28	1.07	2nd South	9th	R1				17,739	Paul Child	13
1978	NASL	30	8	22	0	36	81	−45	16	0.53	4th American West	23rd	did not qualify				14,281	Paul Child / Peter Ressel	8
1979	NASL	30	8	22	0	41	74	−33	16	0.53	4th American West	23rd	did not qualify				15,092	Bernie Gersdorff	10
1980	NASL	32	9	23	0	45	68	−23	18	0.56	4th American West	23rd	did not qualify				13,169	Steve David	14
1981	NASL	32	11	21	0	44	78	34	22	0.69	4th West	19th	did not qualify				12,400	George Best	13
1982	NASL	32	13	19	0	47	62	−45	26	0.81	5th West	11th	did not qualify				11,012	Godfrey Ingram	17
1983	NASL	30	20	10	0	71	54	17	40	1.33	2nd West	3rd	SF				11,933	Steve Zungul	16
1984	NASL	24	8	16	0	61	62	−1	16	0.67	5th West	8th	did not qualify				10,676	Steve Zungul	20
1985	WACS	7	4	2	1	10	9	1	9	1.29	N/A	1st	N/A					Chris Dengerfield	2
1986	WSA	14	3	4	7	13	23	−10	13	0.93	N/A	6th	N/A					Chris Fry	8
1987	WSA	13	6	7	0	21	13					3rd	Runners-up
1988	WSA	12	7	5	0	20	19					3rd	Runners-up
1989– 1995	No club existed
1996	MLS	32	15	17	0	50	50	0	39	1.22	4th	6th	QF	DNE	DNE		17,232	Paul Bravo	13
1997	MLS	32	12	20	0	50	59	−9	30	1.07	style=background:#FFCCCC	5th	style=background:#FFCCCC	10th	DNQ	QF	DNQ		13,597	Ronald Cerritos	12
1998	MLS	32	13	19	0	48	60	−12	33	1.03	5th	10th	QF	13,653		Ronald Cerritos	13
1999	MLS	32	19	13	0	48	49	−1	37	1.16	5th	7th	DNQ	14,959		Ronald Cerritos	15
2000	MLS	32	7	17	8	35	50	−15	29	0.91	style=background:#FFCCCC	4th	style=background:#FFCCCC	12th		QF	12,460	Abdul Conteh	8
2001	MLS	26	13	7	6	47	29	18	45	1.73	2nd	5th	W	QF	9,635	Ronald Cerritos	11
2002	MLS	28	14	11	3	45	35	10	45	1.61	2nd	2nd	QF	QF	CONCACAF Champions' Cup	QF	11,150	Ariel Graziani	14
2003	MLS	30	14	7	9	45	35	10	51	1.70	1st	2nd	W	Ro16	CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Ro16	10,465	Landon Donovan	12
2004	MLS	30	9	10	11	41	35	6	38	1.27	4th	7th	QF	SF	CONCACAF Champions' Cup	QF	13,001	Brian Ching	12
2005	MLS	32	18	4	10	53	31	22	64	2.00	1st	1st	QF	QF	DNQ		13,037	Dwayne De Rosario	9
2006	On Hiatus
2007
2008	MLS	30	8	13	9	32	38	−6	33	1.10	style=background:#FFCCCC	7th	style=background:#FFCCCC	14th	DNQ	QR1	DNE		13,713	Darren Huckerby	6
2009	MLS	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14	30	1.00	style=background:#FFCCCC	8th	14th	QR1		DNQ		14,114	Ryan Johnson	11
2010	MLS	30	13	10	7	34	33	1	46	1.53	6th	8th	SF	QR2	9,659	Chris Wondolowski	style=background:#FAECC8;"	19♦
2011	MLS	34	8	12	14	40	45	−5	38	1.12	7th	14th	DNQ	QR3	11,857	Chris Wondolowski	16
2012	MLS	34	19	6	9	72	43	29	66	1.94	1st	1st	QF	QF	13,293	Chris Wondolowski	style=background:#FAECC8;"	27♦
2013	MLS	34	14	11	9	35	42	−7	51	1.50	6th	10th	DNQ	R3	CONCACAF Champions League	QF	12,765	Chris Wondolowski	13
2014	MLS	34	6	16	12	35	50	−15	30	0.88	style=background:#FFCCCC	9th		18th	Ro16	DNQ		14,947	Chris Wondolowski	14
2015	MLS	34	13	13	8	41	39	2	47	1.38	7th	13th		Ro16	20,979	Chris Wondolowski	18
2016	MLS	34	8	12	14	32	40	−8	38	1.12	9th	17th		R4	19,930	Chris Wondolowski	12
2017	MLS	34	13	14	7	39	60	−21	46	1.35	6th	12th	R1	SF	19,875	Chris Wondolowski	15
2018	MLS	34	4	21	9	49	71	−22	21	0.62	style=background:#FFCCCC	12th	style=background:#FFCCCC	23rd	DNQ	R4	19,032	Danny Hoesen	12
2019	MLS	34	13	16	5	52	55	−3	44	1.29	8th	15th	Ro16	18,781		Chris Wondolowski	15
2020	MLS	23	8	9	6	35	51	−16	30	1.30	8th	16th	R1	NH	MLS is Back Tournament	QF	15,112	Chris Wondolowski	9
2021	MLS	34	10	13	11	46	54	−8	41	1.21	10th	21st	DNQ	NH	DNQ		12,101	Javier Eduardo López	12
2022	MLS	34	8	15	11	52	69	−17	35	1.03	14th	26th		RD16			12,911	Jeremy Ebobisse	17
2023	MLS	34	10	14	10	39	43	−4	44	1.29	9th	16th	WC	R3	2023 Leagues Cup	GS	18,041	Cristian Espinoza	13
Total	—	759	278	294	187	1,040	1,104	−64	972	1.29	—	—	—	—	—		—	Chris Wondolowski<	-- As of the end of the 2020 season -->	171

1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, MLS Cup Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, MLS is Back Tournament, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

Notes and References

1. Web site: San Jose Earthquakes.
2. Web site: San Jose Earthquakes Stats and History.