what is supporters shield

The Supporters Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. It has been awarded annually at the MLS Supporters Summit since 1999 (with the winners between 1996 and 1998 awarded retroactively), and has been recognized as a major trophy by the league. The Supporters Shield echoes the practice of the top European leagues in which the team with the best record is the champion. The idea of creating a new Supporters Shield began at the MLS Supporters Summit during the 2010 MLS Cup in Toronto, and it continued to gain traction at the then recently formed Independent Supporters Council (ISC) the following two years in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. The Supporters Shield is important because it commemorates regular season dominance and helps give a club prestige. The initial idea of the Supporters Shield was created by Tampa Bay Mutiny supporter Nick Lawrus in 1997, and by the end of the season in 1998, Sam Pierron led a group to make the idea of Supporters Shield a reality.