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United Soccer League

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The Official USL logo.

The United Soccer Leagues (USL) is the parent organization for the men's lower division leagues of U.S. and Canadian soccer: USL First Division (second tier), USL Second Division (third tier), and Premier Development League (PDL) (fourth tier). The top tier for U.S. and Canadian men's soccer is Major League Soccer (MLS), with Women's Professional Soccer being the top tier U.S. women's league. The USL also includes the second-highest women's league, the W-League, and youth league the Super Y-League. It is directly affiliated with U.S. Soccer, the United States Adult Soccer Association and the Canadian Soccer Association.

The USL structure allows for the Second Division champion to be promoted to the First Division, provided that the team to be promoted meets criteria set by USL and U.S. Soccer, and space exists. A formal relegation process may also be added at a future date. There is no promotion or relegation between MLS and USL.

USL rosters may consist of a maximum of 26 players, with 18 designated for each game. Each team is permitted a maximum of five foreign players on its active game-day roster and a maximum of seven foreign players on its master roster. In the PDL and W-League, at least three players in a full 26-player roster must be under 19, in accordance with guidelines set by the USASA and U.S. Soccer. In the PDL, a maximum of eight players may be over the age of 23, and can retain their NCAA eligibility.

The organization was sold by Nike on August 27, 2009 to NuRock Soccer Holdings of Atlanta, Georgia.[1]

USL First Division

A premier soccer league for men over eighteen years old, the USL First Division stretches from the U.S. to Canada to the Caribbean. In 2008, each team had a schedule of thirty regular season games: fifteen home and fifteen away. Players have come from more than thirty-five countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Panama and New Zealand. The league has around one million fans viewing matches each season.[2]


First Division Teams:

Club Founded Colors Stadium Territory
Texas Austin Aztex FC 2008 Red, White, Blue Nelson Field Austin, Texas
North Carolina Carolina RailHawks FC 2006 Blue, Orange WakeMed Soccer Park The Triangle, North Carolina
South Carolina Charleston Battery 1993 Yellow, Black Blackbaud Stadium Charleston, South Carolina
Ohio Cleveland City Stars 2007 Green, White, Black Krenzler Field Cleveland, Ohio
Florida Miami FC 2005 Blue, Orange Lockhart Stadium South Florida
Minnesota Minnesota Thunder 1990 Navy Blue, Light Blue, Silver, White National Sports Center Minneapolis-St. Paul
Quebec Montreal Impact 1993 Blue, White, Black Saputo Stadium Quebec (whole)
Oregon Portland Timbers 2001 Green, White, Yellow PGE Park Oregon (whole)
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Islanders 2003 Orange, White, Green Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel Puerto Rico (whole)
New York (state) Rochester Rhinos 1996 Green, Black, Gold Marina Auto Stadium Western New York
British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1986 White, Blue Swangard Stadium British Columbia (whole)

Future Expansion:

Club Begins Play Colors Stadium Territory
Florida Tampa Bay Rowdies 2010 Green, Gold Rowdies Stadium Tampa Bay Area
New York (state) F.C. New York 2010 black, blue, yellow Hofstra University, Columbia University New York Metropolitan Area [3]

Note: The Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers will leave USL in 2011 due to replacement by the MLS expansion franchises.

USL Second Division

Club Founded Colors Stadium Territory
Bermuda Bermuda Hogges 2007 Green, Red Bermuda National Stadium Bermuda (whole)
North Carolina Charlotte Eagles 1993 Orange, Blue, White Restart Field Charlotte, North Carolina
Maryland Crystal Palace Baltimore 2007 Red, Blue UMBC Stadium Baltimore, Maryland
Pennsylvania Harrisburg City Islanders 2004 Navy, Sky Skyline Sports Complex Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1999 Black, Blue, White Chartiers Valley High School Stadium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Maryland Real Maryland Monarchs 2008 White, Gold Maryland SoccerPlex Rockville, Maryland
Virginia Richmond Kickers 1993 Red, White University of Richmond Stadium Richmond, Virginia
Massachusetts Western Mass Pioneers 1998 Red, Black, White Lusitano Stadium Ludlow, Massachusetts
North Carolina Wilmington Hammerheads 1996 Sky Blue, White, Black Legion Stadium Wilmington, North Carolina

History

  • 1986 Established as Southwest Indoor Soccer League
  • 1989 Added an outdoor league known as the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League. This was soon changed to Southwest Independent Soccer League which included both the indoor and outdoor leagues.
  • 1990 Renamed Sunbelt Independent Soccer League
  • 1991 Renamed United States Interregional Soccer League
  • 1995 Renamed United States International Soccer League
  • 1995 Renamed United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues and formally established professional Pro League and amateur Amateur Premier League
  • 1996 Established Select League consisting of strongest teams from Division 3 Pro League and Amateur Premier League in hopes of gaining Division 2 sanctioning.
  • 1997 Select League and the independent Division 2 A-League merged to form a new A-League under the USISL umbrella.
  • 1999 Umbrella USISL changed its name to the modern United Soccer Leagues.

Complete historical team list

SISL

USISL

Champions

SISL

- Champions determined by best-of-five-game series, except for 1986/87, 1989 & 1991 seasons which were determined by one-game final.

USISL

- Champions determined by one-game final, except for 1996/97 which was determined by best-of-three game series.

References

  1. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/359940.html
  2. ^ USL Soccer
  3. ^ USL-1 club coming to NYC in 2010


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