Inside MLS 2015 Season Preview: FC Dallas, Houston finally reunited out West
Realignment emerged as one of the more consistent and pervasive influences in the first 20 years of MLS. The contraction and the expansion of the league over the past two decades altered its geographic footprint substantially and required drastic remedial actions to accommodate the alterations along the way.
If nothing else, the Board of Governors grew familiar with tweaking the composition of the league. Conferences came and went. Teams shifted to match those changes. New cities and new teams prompted more reshuffling. Playoff structures evolved frequently to reflect the changes.
All of the tumult naturally exacted a toll. Some teams benefited disproportionately. Other sides coped with negative repercussions. The rivalry between FC Dallas and Houston ultimately fell into the second category.
The two Texas teams cultivated their natural enmity from the moment the old Earthquakes transformed into the new Dynamo for the start of the 2006 season. In that first year, the two teams played five times in all competitions and the Lone Star State eventually peered down upon the rest of the Western Conference. Houston claimed the first of two consecutive MLS Cups and set the bar high for their brethren located just a few hours away.
FCD nearly met the standard a year later, but Houston emerged victorious in the sixth meeting in 152 days (four regular season games, two playoff clashes) to knock their increasingly bitter rivals out of the postseason. It marked the closest point between the two teams for the next three years with the meetings dwindling from four per season to two by the end of the 2010 campaign.
TEXAS DERBY IN 2015
| DATE | FIXTURE | LOCATION |
| May 1 | Houston -- FC Dallas | BBVA Compass Stadium |
| June 26 | FC Dallas -- Houston |
Toyota Stadium |
| Oct. 4 | FC Dallas -- Houston |
Toyota Stadium |
Expansion eventually dealt the derby a significant blow in time for the 2011 season. The arrival of Portland and Vancouver disrupted the precious balance between East and West. Location left the league with little choice. Houston switched to the East to create two even conferences of nine teams. The introduction of imbalanced, conference-based scheduling in the following year reduced the teams to just one match per season.
The predicament created an undesirable peculiarity for the past three years: In a league increasingly focused on derby matches, two teams from the same state played in different conferences and tangled just one per season.
It proved a frustrating way to decide El Capitan and sustain the rancor between the clubs. A pair of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup meetings boosted the numbers over the past two years and injected the drama of knockout play into the confrontations. Those modest aids did not change the untenable nature of the situation and the unwavering desire to rectify it at the first possible opportunity.
Another expansion wave and the untimely demise of Chivas USA provided an opening to rectify matters at the end of last season. The addition of New York City FC and Orlando City and the subtraction of the Red-and-White left the league with a two-team deficit between East and West. Houston and Sporting Kansas City filled the two vacancies to create two 10-team conferences heading into 2015 and inject more familiarity into those cross-state meetings.
There is no time like the present to triple the number of league meetings between the two teams. FCD enjoyed its most successful campaign since the shocking run to MLS Cup back in 2010 with a blend of application, experience and skill. Houston drew the Dominic Kinnear era to a close, hired former Bolton Wanderers, Burnley and Wigan Athletic manager Owen Coyle to replacement and spent big money to sign Erick Torres from Chivas Guadalajara.
Torres’ arrival crystallizes the different philosophies between the two clubs. The relentless application and drive stretches across both camps, but the principles used to compile the teams diverge. Houston operates in a different financial bracket now with Designated Players everywhere, several experienced figures in the squad and a former Premier League manager in the dugout. The increased expenditures lead to an amplified focus on metrics and other ways to quantify progress. FCD prefers to identify undervalued talent and nurture it as a means of compensating for its relatively modest spending habits. Success or failure stems from the ability to cultivate talent in its youth system and spot it in Central and South America.
The ideological gap bodes well for the continued disagreement between the clubs. Many of the best rivalries -- particularly the derbies outside MLS -- pit two parties at opposite ends of the spectrum. Those divides create a sharp contrast between the combatants along philosophical, religious or socioeconomic lines. Those differences often foster the sort of intrigue and investment necessary to allow the discord to fester.
As for their own story, FCD and Houston must make up for lost time. The two clubs cannot replace the matches missed through conference tinkering and corresponding scheduling limitations. There are chapters missing from the annals for reasons beyond their control.
For now, those issues pale in importance to the promising road ahead. This reunion finally brings them together to tussle more comprehensively over their territory and their placement within the cripplingly competitive Western Conference. It is now exactly as it should be once again: a lengthy and thorough battle to the bitter end for a cannon and those precious bragging rights.
