Revs to Open in San Jose

Home Opener Against FC Dallas Set for April 4

January 29, 2009 - The New England Revolution announced its 2009 regular-season schedule, a 30-game slate that begins March 21 and ends on Oct. 25.

Matt Reis and the New England Revolution will kick off the 2009 season against the Earthquakes in San Jose. (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

Included in the schedule is a three-week break (June 14 to July 3) from Major League Soccer action so that the Revolution can defend its SuperLiga title, beginning in mid-June. The full SuperLiga 2009 schedule and international participants will be released at a later date.

Following road trips to San Jose (March 21) and MLS Cup runner-up New York (March 28) to open the season, the Revolution kicks off the 2009 home schedule at Gillette Stadium against FC Dallas on Saturday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. The Revs have defeated Dallas in each of the last seven meetings overall, including in the championship match of the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, giving New England its first-ever trophy.

Eight of the Revs’ matches will be nationally televised on one of Major League Soccer’s three broadcast partners – ESPN2/ABC, Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Soccer en Español and Telefutura – while TV38 (WSBK-TV), the team’s exclusive regional broadcast partner, will carry 24 matches.

ESPN2 will televise the Revs’ road match at rival D.C. United on Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m., before the Revs return home on Sunday, May 3, to host the Houston Dynamo at 3 p.m. The Revs are undefeated in six regular-season meetings against Houston since the team entered the league in 2006, and the teams have met in three championship matches in the last three years, including MLS Cup 2006, MLS Cup 2007 and SuperLiga 2008.

The LA - with or without David Beckham - will come to Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 8, in a nationally-televised match on Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Soccer en Español. First-year club Seattle Sounders FC makes its first-ever appearance in Foxborough on Saturday, Sept. 26, followed by a match against the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew on Saturday, Oct. 10.

The Revolution then closes its 2009 regular-season home schedule against a bitter rival, the Chicago Fire, on Saturday, Oct. 17. The teams have met each of the last four years – and six of the last eight years overall – in the MLS Cup Playoffs. New England’s final game of the 2009 season will be at Columbus on Sunday, Oct. 25.