Heritage Cup (MLS)

The Heritage Cup is an annual cup rivalry between Major League Soccer (MLS) teams San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders FC. Both teams carried their names forward from their North American Soccer League (NASL) predecessors. However, the rivalry is also geographical as the two cities are based on the West Coast.

Heritage Cup

San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders FC
Location	Western United States
First meeting	May 19, 1974 (NASL Seattle 3–1 San Jose
Latest meeting	July 12, 2023 MLS regular season San Jose 2–0 Seattle
Statistics
Meetings total	78
Most wins	Seattle (34)
All-time series	34–28–16 (Seattle)
Largest victory	Seattle 7–1 San Jose (MLS, September 10, 2020)

Club namesakes

Major League Soccer	North American Soccer League
San Jose Earthquakes	San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC	Seattle Sounders

History

Overall stats

As of July 12, 2023

Competition	Matches	Wins		Draws
		San Jose	Seattle
NASL (1974–1983)	24	9	10	5
WACS/WSA/WSL (1985–1988)	8	2	6	0
MLS (2009–present)	38	14	15	9
League totals (regular season)	70	25	31	14
WSA playoffs	2	1	1	0
League totals (playoffs)	2	1	1	0
U.S. Open Cup	6	2	2	2
U.S. Open Cup totals	6	2	2	2
All-time totals	78	28	34	16

Cup history

The Heritage Cup trophy was conceived and designed by San Jose Earthquakes fan Rob Stevenson and was commissioned by San Jose's Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation in collaboration with Seattle Sounders FC supporters.^[1] The competition began in 2009 when the expansion Seattle began play, becoming the second MLS team named after their North American Soccer League counterpart – San Jose having been the first when they inherited the Earthquakes name in time for the 2000 season.^[2]

MLS era

The original Earthquakes and Sounders sides did have a rivalry while playing in the NASL. However, it did not completely resurface during the 2009 season with fans of both teams viewing other clubs as bigger rivals.^[3] That season, the first MLS meeting of the teams was not considered for the competition due to the schedule consisting of two games in Seattle and only one in San Jose. Seattle won the initial meeting at home 2–0 and the second 2–1. The San Jose Earthquakes won the inaugural cup on goals scored after a 4–0 home victory on August 2, 2009.^[4]

Present and future MLS teams that carry on the name of their market's NASL predecessors are eligible to join the competition. However, when the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC became eligible to compete for the cup upon joining the league in 2011, both teams' supporters elected not to participate.^[2][5][6] They left open the possibility of joining if a couple of additional eligible teams join MLS, thereby better differentiating the Heritage Cup from the Cascadia Cup.

The 2012 MLS Season brought an unbalanced schedule for the first time since 2009. The rules to the cup therefore reverted to counting only the last two matches between the teams, the way it will be counted in any season that has an unbalanced schedule.^[7]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 the organizers sent out the following proposal

Gentlemen,

Here is the latest information for you about the 2020 Heritage Cup, the annual competition between San Jose and Seattle. The Quakes have not won the Cup since 2015, while Seattle displayed the Cup and used it in-stadium to promote their anniversary last year. As you know, the Heritage Cup is a joint operation between San Jose fans and some Sounders fans. This year presents a special challenge and we could only come up with one viable option, which is to use the July 10 San Jose vs Seattle game in Orlando as the Heritage Cup game for 2020. We delayed until now to arrange this, hoping to hear about the league schedule, but that didn't happen. So this will be a one-game competition, on neutral ground.

We hope that this might also help the MLS Is Back tournament as well. If you can help us get information about this game and the Heritage Cup to MLS and especially to the ESPN producers and broadcast team as quickly as possible, this might be an additional storyline they can use in their telecast to add a little more drama to the game.

This match ended in a 0-0 draw and the winner of the Group stage (B) at the MLS is Back tournament, San Jose Earthquakes, was awarded the Heritage Cup for 2020.

For 2021 there was an unbalanced three-game regular season schedule between the two competing MLS teams. The Heritage Cup was awarded based on the results of the final two of three matches of each participating team, with each team hosting one match, namely the July 31 match hosted by Seattle Sounders FC and the September 29 match hosted by San Jose Earthquakes. Seattle regained the Cup with their 3-1 victory in San Jose.^[8]

MLS honours

San Jose	Competition	Seattle
Domestic
2	MLS Cup	2
2	Supporters' Shield	1
—	U.S. Open Cup	4
4	Aggregate	7
Continental and Worldwide
—	CONCACAF Champions League	1
—	Leagues Cup	—
—	Campeones Cup	—
0	Aggregate	1
4	Total aggregate	8

Results

Competitive matches only

NASL era

For statistical purposes, matches that went to shootouts are counted as draws. Matches ending with a shootout are denoted with *.

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Attendance	Series	Ref
1974	May 19	NASL	Memorial Stadium	Seattle Sounders	3–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 1–0–0
	June 30		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–2*	Seattle Sounders		SEA 1–0–1
1975	June 21	NASL	Memorial Stadium	Seattle Sounders	5–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 2–0–1
	July 12		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–2*	Seattle Sounders		SEA 2–0–2
	August 9		Memorial Stadium	Seattle Sounders	1–2	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 2–1–2
1976	June 4	NASL	Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	1–2	San Jose Earthquakes		Tied 2–2–2
	June 20		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–1	Seattle Sounders		SJ 3–2–2
1977	April 23	NASL	Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–0	Seattle Sounders		SJ 4–2–2
	May 21		Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	0–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SJ 5–2–2
1978	April 30	NASL	Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–0	Seattle Sounders		SJ 6–2–2
	May 13		Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	3–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SJ 6–3–2
1979	May 12	NASL	Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	2–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SJ 6–4–2
	May 19		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders		SJ 6–5–2
1980	April 19	NASL	Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders		Tied 6–6–2
	May 3		Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	4–0	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 7–6–2
1981	June 20	NASL	Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	1–0	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 8–6–2
	August 8		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	3–0	Seattle Sounders		SEA 8–7–2
1982	April 11	NASL	Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	0–0*	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 8–7–3
	July 3		Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	5–4	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 9–7–3
	August 7		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–2	Seattle Sounders		SEA 10–7–3
1983	June 15	NASL	Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	1–1*	Golden Bay Earthquakes		SEA 10–7–4
	July 6		Spartan Stadium	Golden Bay Earthquakes	2–2*	Seattle Sounders		SEA 10–7–5
	July 13		Kingdome	Seattle Sounders	2–5	Golden Bay Earthquakes		SEA 10–8–5
	September 3		Spartan Stadium	Golden Bay Earthquakes	2–1	Seattle Sounders		SEA 10–9–5

Alliance era

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Attendance	Series	Ref
1985	July 7	WACS	Memorial Stadium	F.C. Seattle	3–1	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 1–0–0
	August 2		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–0	F.C. Seattle		Tied 1–1–0
1986	June 27	WSA	Memorial Stadium	F.C. Seattle	1–0	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 2–1–0
	August 15		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–3	F.C. Seattle		SEA 3–1–0
1987	March 21	WSA	Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	3–1	F.C. Seattle Storm		SEA 3–2–0
	May 17		Memorial Stadium	F.C. Seattle Storm	3–0	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 4–2–0
	June 7	WSA Playoffs	Memorial Stadium	F.C. Seattle Storm	0–3	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 4–3–0
1988	July 1	WSA	Memorial Stadium	Seattle Storm	3–0	San Jose Earthquakes		SEA 5–3–0
	July 17		Spartan Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–3	Seattle Sounders		SEA 6–3–0
	July 30	WSA Championship	Memorial Stadium	Seattle Storm	5–0	San Jose Earthquakes	5,600	SEA 7–3–0

1996–2008

Results from when the two teams played each other between 1996 and 2008.

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Attendance	Series	Ref
2002	July 17	U.S. Open Cup	Interbay Stadium	Seattle Sounders	3–4	San Jose Earthquakes	1,275
2003	August 5	U.S. Open Cup	Husky Soccer Stadium	Seattle Sounders	1–0	San Jose Earthquakes	2,510

MLS era

Heritage Cup Match‡

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home team	Result	Away team	Attendance	Series	Ref
2009	April 25	MLS	Qwest Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	San Jose Earthquakes	28,838	SEA 1–0–0	^[9]
	June 13‡		Qwest Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	San Jose Earthquakes	28,999	SEA 2–0–0	^[10]
	August 2‡		Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	4–0	Seattle Sounders FC	9,919	SEA 2–1–0	^[11]
2010	May 22‡	MLS	Qwest Field	Seattle Sounders FC	0–1	San Jose Earthquakes	35,953	Tied 2–2–0	^[12]
	July 31‡		Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders FC	10,351	SEA 3–2–0	^[13]
2011	April 2‡	MLS	Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–2	Seattle Sounders FC	10,276	SEA 3–2–1	^[14]
	October 15‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	San Jose Earthquakes	64,140	SEA 4–2–1	^[15]
2012	March 31	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	0–1	San Jose Earthquakes	38,458	SEA 4–3–1
	June 26	U.S. Open Cup	Kezar Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders FC	7,219	SEA 5–3–1
	August 11‡	MLS	Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–1	Seattle Sounders FC	10,744	SEA 5–4–1
	September 22‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	1–2	San Jose Earthquakes	38,948	Tied 5–5–1
2013	March 23	MLS	Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC	10,525	SJ 6–5–1
	May 11‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	4–0	San Jose Earthquakes	38,880	Tied 6–6–1
	July 13‡		Buck Shaw Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC	10,525	SJ 7–6–1
2014	May 17	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	1–0	San Jose Earthquakes	49,746	Tied 7–7–1
	June 24	U.S. Open Cup	Starfire Sports	Seattle Sounders FC	1–1*	San Jose Earthquakes	4,023	Tied 7–7–2
	August 2‡	MLS	Levi's Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC	48,765	SJ 8–7–2
	August 20‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	1–1	San Jose Earthquakes	38,509	SJ 8–7–3
2015	March 14	MLS	CenturyLinkField	Seattle Sounders FC	2–3	San Jose Earthquakes	39,175	SJ 9–7–3
	June 20‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	0–2	San Jose Earthquakes	39,971	SJ 10–7–3
	September 12‡		Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–1	Seattle Sounders FC	18,000	SJ 10–7–4
2016	May 7‡	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	San Jose Earthquakes	39,570	SJ 10–8–4
	September 10‡		Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–1	Seattle Sounders FC	18,000	SJ 10–8–5
2017	April 8‡	MLS	Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	1–1	Seattle Sounders FC	18,000	SJ 10–8–6
	June 28	U.S. Open Cup	Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	2–1	Seattle Sounders FC	13,442	SJ 11–8–6
	July 23‡	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	3–0	San Jose Earthquakes	43,528	SJ 11–9–6
2018	July 25‡	MLS	Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders FC	16,478	SJ 11–10–6
	October 28‡		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	San Jose Earthquakes	42,617	Tied 11–11–6
2019	April 24‡	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	2–2	San Jose Earthquakes	37,722	Tied 11–11–7
	September 29‡		Avaya Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders FC	18,000	SEA 12–11–7
2020	July 10‡	MLS is Back	ESPN Sports Complex	Seattle Sounders FC	0–0	San Jose Earthquakes	0^[a]	SEA 12–11–8
	September 10‡	MLS	CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	7–1	San Jose Earthquakes	0^[a]	SEA 13–11–8
	October 18		Earthquakes Stadium	San Jose Earthquakes	0–0	Seattle Sounders FC	0^[a]	SEA 13–11–9
	November 8		CenturyLink Field	Seattle Sounders FC	4–1	San Jose Earthquakes	0^[a]	SEA 14–11–9
2021	May 12	MLS	PayPal Park	San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Seattle Sounders FC	5,000^[b]	SEA 15–11–9
	July 31‡		Lumen Field	Seattle Sounders FC	0–1	San Jose Earthquakes	32,704	SEA 15–12–9
	September 29‡		PayPal Park	San Jose Earthquakes	1–3	Seattle Sounders FC	11,361	SEA 16–12–9
2022	April 23‡	MLS	PayPal Park	San Jose Earthquakes	4–3	Seattle Sounders FC	12,467	SEA 16–13–9	^[16]
	May 11	U.S. Open Cup	Starfire Sports	Seattle Sounders	2–2*	San Jose Earthquakes	3,773	SEA 16–13–10	^[17]
	October 9‡	MLS	Lumen Field	Seattle Sounders	2–2	San Jose Earthquakes	33,910	SEA 16–13–11
2023	May 31‡	MLS	Lumen Field	Seattle Sounders	0–1	San Jose Earthquakes	30,013	SEA 16–14–11
	July 12‡		PayPal Park	San Jose Earthquakes	2–0	Seattle Sounders FC	13,577	SEA 16–15–11
2024	March 24‡	MLS	PayPal Park	San Jose Earthquakes		Seattle Sounders FC
	September 18‡		Lumen Field	Seattle Sounders		San Jose Earthquakes

1. No spectators due to COVID-19 pandemic
2. Limited capacity due to social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic

Cup winners by season

Year	Winner	SJ points	SEA points	Notes
2009	San Jose Earthquakes	3	3	San Jose Earthquakes won 5–2 on aggregate.
2010	Seattle Sounders FC	3	3	Seattle Sounders FC won based on MLS standings position after 1–1 tie on aggregate.
2011	Seattle Sounders FC	1	4	Seattle Sounders FC won on points.
2012	San Jose Earthquakes	6	0	San Jose Earthquakes won on points.
2013	Seattle Sounders FC	3	3	Seattle Sounders FC won 4–1 on aggregate.
2014	San Jose Earthquakes	4	1	San Jose Earthquakes won on points.
2015	San Jose Earthquakes	4	1	San Jose Earthquakes won on points.
2016	Seattle Sounders FC	1	4	Seattle Sounders FC won on points.
2017	Seattle Sounders FC	1	4	Seattle Sounders FC won on points.
2018	Seattle Sounders FC	0	6	Seattle Sounders FC won on points.
2019	Seattle Sounders FC	1	4	Seattle Sounders FC won on points.
2020	San Jose Earthquakes	1	4	San Jose Earthquakes won based on the tiebreaker rule at MLS is Back.
2021	Seattle Sounders FC	3	3	Seattle Sounders FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
2022	San Jose Earthquakes	4	1	San Jose Earthquakes won on points.
2023	San Jose Earthquakes	6	0	San Jose Earthquakes won on points.

Western Conference standings finishes

  Sounders   Earthquakes

P.	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
1				1		1
2			2						2	2	2	2	2		2
3	3			3
4		4			4		4	4
5
6		6			6				6
7			7				7
8	8										8	8
9						9		9							9
10													10
11														11
12										12
13
14														14

• Total: Seattle with 13 higher finishes, San Jose with 1.

Statistical leaders

Bold denotes player is still able to play in competition. Updated through game played on November 8, 2020

Top goalscorers

As of September 29, 2021, at least two goals included in table

 

San Jose's Chris Wondolowski is the Heritage Cup's top goalscorer, with eight goals.

Scorer	Club	G
Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders FC	8
Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	8
Jordan Morris	Seattle Sounders FC	4
Cristian Roldan	Seattle Sounders FC	4
Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	4
Simon Dawkins	San Jose Earthquakes	3
Nicolas Lodeiro	Seattle Sounders FC	3
Joevin Jones	Seattle Sounders FC	2
Kelvin Leerdam	Seattle Sounders FC	2
Obafemi Martins	Seattle Sounders FC	2
Lamar Neagle	Seattle Sounders FC	2
Shea Salinas	San Jose Earthquakes	2

Top assists

As of May 12, 2021, at least two goals included in table

 

 

Sounders' Nicolás Lodeiro and the Quakes' Shea Salinas are each team's respective leaders on assists.

Assists	Club	A
Nicolas Lodeiro	Seattle Sounders FC	5
Cristian Roldan	Seattle Sounders FC	4
Shea Salinas	San Jose Earthquakes	4
Cordell Cato	San Jose Earthquakes	3
Jordan Morris	Seattle Sounders FC	3
Mauro Rosales	Seattle Sounders FC	3
Pérez García	San Jose Earthquakes	2
Ryan Johnson	San Jose Earthquakes	2
Joevin Jones	Seattle Sounders FC	2
Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders FC	2

Notes

1. These matches were the determined matches to be specifically for the Heritage Cup cup competition between 2009 and 2011.
2. These matches were the determined matches to be specifically for the Heritage Cup cup competition between 2012 and 2014.

See also

• 49ers–Seahawks rivalry

References

1. Hipps, Jay. "SSVCF unveils Heritage Cup trophy". Center Line Soccer. Retrieved June 10, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. Romero, Jose (June 10, 2009). . Soccer Silicon Valley. The Seattle Times Company. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
3. Ruiz, Don (May 22, 2010). . The News Tribune. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
4. Gashk, Matt. "Seattle Falls To San Jose". Seattle Sounders FC. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
5. Dittfurth, Garrett. . Timbers Army Blogs. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
6. http://forum.vancouversouthsiders.ca/index.php?p=/discussion/243/heritage-cup-our-position^{[user-generated source]}
7. . Archived from the original on October 29, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
8. "2021 Heritage Cup Rules – Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation".
9. "Sounders FC gets back on the winning track". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. April 25, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
10. "Sounders get back on the winning track". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. June 13, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
11. "Seattle falls to San Jose". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. August 2, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
12. "Wondo strikes early, Quakes defense does the rest". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. May 22, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
13. "Sounders FC Stays Hot With Win Over Earthquakes". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. July 31, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
14. Gaschk, Matt (April 2, 2011). "Sounders Draw In San Jose". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
15. . MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. October 15, 2011. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
16. "Espinoza hat trick rallies San Jose past Seattle 4-3". San Jose Mercury News. April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
17. "SEAvsSJ 05-11-2022 | 2022 MLS Match Recap".

External links

• MLS Heritage Cup official website