There's a new youngest team in MLS and it's not who you think.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC enter the 2020 season with the youngest average age among rostered players, with the number sitting at just over 24.1 years old. The ages of each rostered player was calculated as of Feb. 27.
This is a little bit of a surprise considering who sits at No. 2, FC Dallas. FCD have 11 players under the age of 22, but are hurt by the fact that five players are over 30. Vancouver have 10 players under 22 and just six players over 27.
The New York Red Bulls, Colorado Rapids and New York City FC round out the top five in terms of youngest teams. The oldest team are the Portland Timbers, but that might not be such a bad thing considering the oldest team heading into last season were the Seattle Sounders. Of course the Sounders walked away with the Philip F. Anschutz trophy at the end of the season.
Removing the outliers by taking a look at the median of the ages instead of the average shakes up the order a bit — with Vancouver, Dallas and the Red Bulls holding onto the top three spots. But they are joined in the top five by LAFC and Atlanta United instead of Colorado and NYCFC. LAFC are hurt when looking at the average, as they have five players over the age of 33 despite the majority of their roster being under 25. Atlanta have two players who are over the age of 35. The oldest team when looking at the median are Columbus Crew SC, as Portland jump to the sixth-oldest team.
