2011 Houston Dynamo season


The 2011 Houston Dynamo season was the club's sixth season of the team's existence, breaking the record for the most seasons played for a Houston soccer team. The club had been tied with Houston Hurricanes of the D3 Pro League.
Most notably, the Dynamo became the runners-up in their third MLS Cup, falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy 1–0 in the final. The team failed to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, losing to Sporting Kansas City in the Qualification Semi-finals. Houston was the champions of the yearly edition in the Texas Derby.
The Dynamo switched from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference for the 2011 season, after teams were added in Vancouver and Portland.

Background

Current roster

As of August 7, 2011.

Player Movement

Transfers

In

Out

Loans

In

Out

Club Staff

Statistics

Standings

Conference Standings

Overall Standings

Match results

Results summary

Results by round

Major League Soccer

Kickoff times are in CDT.

U.S. Open Cup

Kickoff times are in CDT.

MLS Cup

Kickoff times are in CDT.

Dynamo Charities Cup

Kickoff times are in CDT.

Friendlies

Kickoff times are in CDT.

Miscellany

Allocation Ranking

Houston is in the #2 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.

International Roster Spots

It is uncertain how many international roster spots Houston has for the 2011 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots, which can be traded. Houston has previously dealt one spot to New York on 17 March 2009 and dealt another spot to New York on 14 January 2005 while the Houston franchise was still based in San Jose. Press reports did not indicate if or when these roster spots would revert to Houston. On 21 July 2011, Houston traded an international roster spot for the remainder of the 2011 season only to Portland Timbers.
The club also dealt one spot to San Jose on 14 August 2009 but that roster spot was to return to Houston after the 2010 season.
There is no limit on the number of international slots on each club's roster. The remaining roster slots must belong to domestic players. For clubs based in the United States, a domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident or the holder of other special status.

Future Draft Pick Trades

Future picks acquired: 2012 SuperDraft Round 3 pick acquired from D.C. United; 2012 SuperDraft Round 3 pick acquired from New York Red Bulls; 2014 SuperDraft Round 4 pick acquired from Los Angeles Galaxy

Future picks traded: 2012 SuperDraft Round 4 pick traded to C.D. Chivas USA; 2013 SuperDraft Round 4 pick traded to Colorado Rapids; 2014 SuperDraft Round 4 pick traded to Portland Timbers; 2015 SuperDraft Round 4 pick traded to Columbus Crew

MLS Rights to Other Players

Houston holds the MLS rights to Euan Holden through SuperDraft day 2012 due to drafting the player in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft and Holden instead choosing to sign overseas.