If I'm not mistaken, someone within the Rapids franchise leadership is from Charlotte. There's also a Rapids club affiliate in Charlotte. It all comes from that leadership connection.
North Carolina is one of the few "hot spots" for youth soccer talent that isn't in a MLS team's "footprint" when it comes to having "rights" to players in that area. SKC's last 2 Homegrown players have been from North Carolina. It's possible they think/thought a professional connection in NC would help them access that talent.
We are now just over one quarter of the way through the 2018 regular season so it's time for an update of how the various types of teams are doing. The standings: New Teams (I included the teams that moved from other leagues) MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte) *Unaffiliated I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams. STANDINGS EAST 1. Louisville* 2.00 2. Pittsburgh* 2.00 3. Charleston* 1.89 4. Cincinnati* 1.89 5. Indy* 1.75 6. NY RB II 1.56 7. Nashville* 1.50 8. Charlotte 1.38 -------------------------- 9. Tampa Bay* 1.33 10. Richmond 1.25 11. Penn* 1.11 12. Ottawa 1.00 13. Bethlehem 1.00 14. North Carolina* 0.88 15. Atlanta 2 0.75 16. Toronto II 0.25 WEST 1. Real Monarchs 2.44 2. Phoenix* 2.10 3. Sacramento* 1.80 4. Orange Cty 1.70 5. Portland 2 1.70 6. Swope Park 1.67 7. San Antonio 1.44 8. St. Louis 1.40 ---------------------------------- 9. Reno 1.30 10. Co. Springs* 1.27 11. Las Vegas* 1.25 12. Fresno 1.09 13. RGVFC 0.88 14. Seattle 2 0.78 15. LAG II 0.67 16. Tulsa 0.55 17. OKC 0.33 There is quite a difference between East and West. For one thing, there are now 9 unaffiliated teams in the East with only 4 in the West. 6 of those in the East are in the top 8 while only 2 are in the top in the West. As far as MLS2 teams, the opposite is true. 3 of them are in top in the West while only 1 is in the East. New teams tend toward the bottom of each conference although the two in the West are completely new while the East is more divided both in placement and in how long the organizations have been around. That doesn't seem to be a key factor with the completely new team in Nashville in 7th place. OVERALL STANDINGS 1. Real Monarchs 2.44 2. Phoenix* 2.10 3. Louisville* 2.00 4. Pittsburgh* 2.00 5. Charleston* 1.89 6. Cincinnati* 1.89 7. Sacramento* 1.80 8. Indy* 1.75 9. Orange Cty 1.70 10. Portland 2 1.70 11. Swope Park 1.67 12. NY RB II 1.56 13. Nashville* 1.50 14. San Antonio 1.44 15. St. Louis 1.40 16. Charlotte 1.38 --------------------------- 17. Tampa Bay* 1.33 18. Reno 1.30 19. Co. Springs* 1.27 20. Las Vegas* 1.25 21. Richmond 1.25 22. Penn* 1.11 23. Fresno 1.09 24. Ottawa 1.00 25. Bethlehem 1.00 26. RGVFC 0.88 27. North Carolina* 0.88 28. Seattle 2 0.78 29. Atlanta 2 0.75 30. LAG II 0.67 31. Tulsa 0.55 32. OKC 0.33 33. Toronto II 0.25 The top of the table is a MLS2 team but then there are 7 unaffiliated teams in a row right behind them. While there is a good mix of teams in the top 16 the MLS2 teams tend toward the bottom overall. There is only 1 unaffiliated team in the bottom 11 teams. I often argue that there isn't much difference between an unaffiliated team and an independent team that takes in a couple of players on loan but the results seem to be showing something different. I can think of a couple reasons why that might be the case. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper 8m8 minutes ago Toronto FC II becomes the first MLS-run USL team to move to the USL’s third division for next year.
USL on Reddit @USLonReddit 1h1 hour ago https://ift.tt/2Nnd3ts #USL Orlando City SC is “in the final phases” of relaunching OCB as a USL Division III club in 2019.
Last week we went past the half-way point of the 2018 USL regular season. Here is the latest comparison of the different types of teams. The standings: New Teams (I included the teams that moved from other leagues) MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count but not Charlotte) *Unaffiliated I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams. STANDINGS EAST 1. Pittsburgh* 2.00 2. Cincinnati* 1.94 3. Louisville* 1.81 4. Nashville* 1.69 5. Indy* 1.65 6. Charleston* 1.53 7. NY RB II 1.39 8. Penn* 1.39 -------------------------- 9. Bethlehem 1.35 10. Charlotte 1.33 11. Tampa Bay* 1.29 12. Ottawa 1.23 13. North Carolina* 1.18 14. Richmond 1.06 15. Atlanta 2 0.69 16. Toronto II 0.18 WEST 1. Real Monarchs 2.11 2. Phoenix* 1.94 3. Swope Park 1.82 4. Reno 1.79 5. Orange Cty 1.67 6. Sacramento* 1.58 7. Portland 2 1.44 8. San Antonio 1.38 ---------------------------------- 9. Co. Springs* 1.25 10. Las Vegas* 1.25 11. Fresno 1.25 12. St. Louis 1.22 13. LAG II 1.05 14. OKC 1.00 15. RGVFC 0.76 16. Seattle 2 0.69 17. Tulsa 0.67 Unaffiliated teams in the East continue to dominate with 7 in the top 8. There are still only 2 in the top 8 in the West. MLS2 teams in the East are almost all in the lower half while 4 are in the top 8 in the West. There are also 3 MLS2 teams in the bottom 5 in the West. New teams are mostly in the lower half of each conference but Nashville and Indy continue to perform well. OVERALL STANDINGS 1. Real Monarchs 2.11 2. Pittsburgh* 2.00 3. Phoenix* 1.94 4. Cincinnati* 1.94 5. Swope Park 1.82 6. Louisville* 1.81 7. Reno 1.79 8. Nashville* 1.69 9. Orange Cty 1.67 10. Indy* 1.65 11. Sacramento* 1.58 12. Charleston* 1.53 13. Portland 2 1.44 14. NY RB II 1.39 15. Penn* 1.39 16. San Antonio 1.38 -------------------------- 17. Bethlehem 1.35 18. Charlotte 1.33 19. Tampa Bay* 1.29 20. Co. Springs* 1.25 21. Las Vegas* 1.25 22. Fresno 1.25 23. Ottawa 1.23 24. St. Louis 1.22 25. North Carolina* 1.18 26. Richmond 1.06 27. LAG II 1.05 28. OKC 1.00 29. RGVFC 0.76 30. Seattle 2 0.69 31. Atlanta 2 0.69 32. Tulsa 0.67 33. Toronto II 0.18 MLS2 teams have moved up the overall table so that there are now 3 in the top 7 but 5 of them are still at or near the bottom. Unaffiliated teams continue to perform very well with none of them in the bottom 8 and and only 1 in the bottom 12. That seems to be the main takeaway. MLS2 teams are distributed across the table but unaffiliated teams clearly are doing the best on average. Not really the point of this exercise but it was very interesting to me to see that the point distribution is very even between the conferences. The top 16 almost exactly go West-East-West-East, every other one down the list. They really are two separate leagues but it is still pretty amazing to see that kind of balance.
minor league soccer in VA is back in the news... https://www.theburn.com/2018/05/07/major-league-soccer-applies-loudoun-united-trademark/ deal also calls for a 5,000-seat stadium and training facilities to be built at Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park in Leesburg off Sycolin Road. Rezoning for the stadium is already underway with a target of 2019 for Loudoun United games to start.
Time for the annual update. Please let me know if I missed anything. MLS-USL affiliation/owned history: Atlanta United: Charleston Battery (2016-17), Atlanta United 2 (2018-19) Chicago Fire: Saint Louis FC (2015-16), Tulsa Roughnecks (2017-19) Colorado Rapids: Charlotte Independence (2015-18), Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2019) Columbus Crew: Dayton Dutch Lions (2014), Austin Aztex (2015), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2016-17), None (2018-19) DC United: Richmond Kickers (2013-18), Loudoun United (2019) FC Cincinnati: None (2019) FC Dallas: Arizona United (2015), OKC Energy (2016-18), North Texas FC USL-1 (2019) Houston Dynamo: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2014), Charleston Battery (2015), Rio Grande Valley (2016-19) LA Galaxy: LA Galaxy II (2014-2019) Los Angeles FC: Orange County SC (2017-19) Minnesota United: None (2017), Saint Louis FC (2018-19) Montreal Impact: FC Montreal (2015-16), Ottawa Fury (2017-19) New England Revolution: Rochester Rhinos (2013-17), None (2018-19) NY City FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2015-16), San Antonio FC (2017-2018) NY Red Bulls: NY Red Bulls II (2015-19) Orlando City: Louisville City (2015), Orlando City B (2016-17), None (2018), Orlando City B USL-1 (2019) Philadelphia Union: Harrisburg City Islanders (2013-15), Bethlehem Steel (2016-19) Portland Timbers: Sacramento Republic (2014), Portland Timbers 2 (2015-19) Real Salt Lake: Real Monarchs SLC (2015-19) San Jose Earthquakes: Sacramento Republic (2014-16), Reno 1868 (2017-18) Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders 2 (2015-19) Sporting Kansas City: Orlando City (21013-14), OKC Energy (2014-15), Swope Park Rangers (2016-19) Toronto FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2014), Toronto FC II (2015-18), Toronto FC II USL-1 (2019) Vancouver Whitecaps: Charleston Battery (2014), Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (2015-17), Fresno FC (2018-19) I used the years that the teams played rather than from the date of the affiliation/ownership announcements. Obviously most of these will be ongoing but we can update this as it goes.
CORRECTION: It doesn't look to me like Minnesota United is affiliated with Saint Louis this year. They have an affiliation with Madison in USL-1. Time for the annual update. Please let me know if I missed anything. MLS-USL affiliation/owned history: Atlanta United: Charleston Battery (2016-17), Atlanta United 2 (2018-19) Chicago Fire: Saint Louis FC (2015-16), Tulsa Roughnecks (2017-19) Colorado Rapids: Charlotte Independence (2015-18), Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2019) Columbus Crew: Dayton Dutch Lions (2014), Austin Aztex (2015), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2016-17), None (2018-19) DC United: Richmond Kickers (2013-18), Loudoun United (2019) FC Cincinnati: None (2019) FC Dallas: Arizona United (2015), OKC Energy (2016-18), North Texas FC USL-1 (2019) Houston Dynamo: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2014), Charleston Battery (2015), Rio Grande Valley (2016-19) LA Galaxy: LA Galaxy II (2014-2019) Los Angeles FC: Orange County SC (2017-19) Minnesota United: None (2017), Saint Louis FC (2018), Forward Madison USL-1 (2019) Montreal Impact: FC Montreal (2015-16), Ottawa Fury (2017-19) New England Revolution: Rochester Rhinos (2013-17), None (2018-19) NY City FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2015-16), San Antonio FC (2017-2018) NY Red Bulls: NY Red Bulls II (2015-19) Orlando City: Louisville City (2015), Orlando City B (2016-17), None (2018), Orlando City B USL-1 (2019) Philadelphia Union: Harrisburg City Islanders (2013-15), Bethlehem Steel (2016-19) Portland Timbers: Sacramento Republic (2014), Portland Timbers 2 (2015-19) Real Salt Lake: Real Monarchs SLC (2015-19) San Jose Earthquakes: Sacramento Republic (2014-16), Reno 1868 (2017-18) Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders 2 (2015-19) Sporting Kansas City: Orlando City (21013-14), OKC Energy (2014-15), Swope Park Rangers (2016-19) Toronto FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2014), Toronto FC II (2015-18), Toronto FC II USL-1 (2019) Vancouver Whitecaps: Charleston Battery (2014), Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (2015-17), Fresno FC (2018-19) I used the years that the teams played rather than from the date of the affiliation/ownership announcements. Obviously most of these will be ongoing but we can update this as it goes.
With the Seattle Sounders 2 re-branding as Tacoma Defiance and the Tacoma Rainiers baseball team heavily involved in the operation of that team they seem to be moving closer to the hybrid category. Or at least the line is definitely blurring. For now I'll just change the team name and leave them in the "owned" category.
UPDATE: The Sounders 2 have changed their name. I'm going to make that a new entry even though it is the same team. MLS-USL affiliation/owned history: Atlanta United: Charleston Battery (2016-17), Atlanta United 2 (2018-19) Chicago Fire: Saint Louis FC (2015-16), Tulsa Roughnecks (2017-19) Colorado Rapids: Charlotte Independence (2015-18), Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2019) Columbus Crew: Dayton Dutch Lions (2014), Austin Aztex (2015), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2016-17), None (2018-19) DC United: Richmond Kickers (2013-18), Loudoun United (2019) FC Cincinnati: None (2019) FC Dallas: Arizona United (2015), OKC Energy (2016-18), North Texas FC USL-1 (2019) Houston Dynamo: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2014), Charleston Battery (2015), Rio Grande Valley (2016-19) LA Galaxy: LA Galaxy II (2014-2019) Los Angeles FC: Orange County SC (2017-19) Minnesota United: None (2017), Saint Louis FC (2018), Forward Madison USL-1 (2019) Montreal Impact: FC Montreal (2015-16), Ottawa Fury (2017-19) New England Revolution: Rochester Rhinos (2013-17), None (2018-19) NY City FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2015-16), San Antonio FC (2017-2018) NY Red Bulls: NY Red Bulls II (2015-19) Orlando City: Louisville City (2015), Orlando City B (2016-17), None (2018), Orlando City B USL-1 (2019) Philadelphia Union: Harrisburg City Islanders (2013-15), Bethlehem Steel (2016-19) Portland Timbers: Sacramento Republic (2014), Portland Timbers 2 (2015-19) Real Salt Lake: Real Monarchs SLC (2015-19) San Jose Earthquakes: Sacramento Republic (2014-16), Reno 1868 (2017-18) Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders 2 (2015-18), Tacoma Defiance (2019) Sporting Kansas City: Orlando City (21013-14), OKC Energy (2014-15), Swope Park Rangers (2016-19) Toronto FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2014), Toronto FC II (2015-18), Toronto FC II USL-1 (2019) Vancouver Whitecaps: Charleston Battery (2014), Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (2015-17), Fresno FC (2018-19) I used the years that the teams played rather than from the date of the affiliation/ownership announcements. Obviously most of these will be ongoing but we can update this as it goes.
I let the midpoint of the 2019 season go right by but we aren't too far gone. Here is the latest comparison of the different types of teams. The standings: New Teams (I included the teams that moved from other leagues) MLS2 Teams ( RGVFC and Reno count) *Unaffiliated I split the colors on the new MLS2 teams. STANDINGS EAST 1. Tampa Bay* 2.10 2. Indy 2.00 3. NY RB II 1.95 4. N. Carolina* 1.72 5. Nashville* 1.61 6. Ottawa 1.61 7. Louisville* 1.58 8. Pittsburgh* 1.53 9. Charleston* 1.35 10. St. Louis* 1.31 -------------------------- 11. Charlotte* 1.15 12. Loudoun 1.14 13. Bethlehem 1.00 14. Birmingham* 0.89 15. Memphis* 0.88 16. Atlanta 2 0.76 17. Swope Park 0.70 18. Hartford* 0.68 WEST 1. Phoenix* 2.11 2. Fresno* 1.89 3. Reno 1.78 4. Real Monarchs 1.59 5. El Paso* 1.56 6. Sacramento* 1.53 7. Austin* 1.53 8. Portland 2 1.47 9. N. Mexico* 1.37 10. OKC* 1.37 ---------------------------------- 11. Las Vegas* 1.28 12. LAG II 1.21 13. Orange Cty* 1.16 14. San Antonio 1.11 15. RGVFC 1.05 16. Tulsa* 0.95 17. Co. Springs 0.89 18. Tacoma 0.58 The East has a clear separation. There is one MLS2 team in the top 10 and only two other affiliates. No new teams have broken through in the conference so far. The West also has 7 unaffiliated teams in the top 10 but has three MLS2 teams and three new teams up there at this point. It is pretty amazing that New Mexico has the worst PPG so far of the West expansion teams. The unaffiliated ratio between the two conferences has almost completely evened up. It used to be that there many more of them in the East but the West has consistently added them lately while some affiliations have also changed. OVERALL STANDINGS 1. Phoenix* 2.11 2. Tampa Bay* 2.10 3. Indy 2.00 4. NY RB II 1.95 5. Fresno* 1.89 6. Reno 1.78 7. N. Carolina* 1.72 8. Nashville* 1.61 9. Ottawa 1.61 10. Real Monarchs 1.59 11. Louisville* 1.58 12. El Paso* 1.56 13. Pittsburgh* 1.53 14. Sacramento* 1.53 15. Austin* 1.53 16. Portland 2 1.47 17. N. Mexico* 1.37 18. OKC* 1.37 19. Charleston* 1.35 20. St. Louis* 1.31 21. Las Vegas* 1.28 22. LAG II 1.21 23. Orange Cty* 1.16 -------------------------- 24. Charlotte* 1.15 25. Loudoun 1.14 26. San Antonio 1.11 27. RGVFC 1.05 28. Bethlehem 1.00 29. Tulsa* 0.95 30. Birmingham* 0.89 31. Co. Springs 0.89 32. Memphis* 0.88 33. Atlanta 2 0.76 34. Swope Park 0.70 35. Hartford* 0.68 36. Tacoma 0.58 MLS2 teams are all over the table but mostly in the bottom half. Three of them are in the very bottom down there with some of the East expansion teams. It is still hard to draw too many conclusions about MLS2 teams overall.
Clint Peay named head coach of Revolution II for inaugural season https://www.nesoccerjournal.com/cli...vC4LPAaqPr7xcCrkWKtDrAmC3zVcV8KmmVZtK9yiyNJEA
2020 update MLS-USL affiliation/owned history: Atlanta United: Charleston Battery (2016-17), Atlanta United 2 (2018-20) Chicago Fire: Saint Louis FC (2015-16), Tulsa Roughnecks (2017-19), Indy Eleven (2020) Colorado Rapids: Charlotte Independence (2015-18), Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2019-20) Columbus Crew: Dayton Dutch Lions (2014), Austin Aztex (2015), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2016-17), None (2018-20) DC United: Richmond Kickers (2013-18), Loudoun United (2019-2020) FC Cincinnati: None (2019-20) FC Dallas: Arizona United (2015), OKC Energy (2016-18), North Texas FC USL-1 (2019-20) Houston Dynamo: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2014), Charleston Battery (2015), Rio Grande Valley (2016-20) Inter Miami: Fort Lauderdale CF USL-1 (2020) LA Galaxy: LA Galaxy II (2014-2020) Los Angeles FC: Orange County SC (2017-19), None (2020) Minnesota United: None (2017), Saint Louis FC (2018), Forward Madison USL-1 (2019) Montreal Impact: FC Montreal (2015-16), Ottawa Fury (2017-19), None (2020) Nashville SC: None (2020) New England Revolution: Rochester Rhinos (2013-17), None (2018-19), New England Revolution II (2020) NY City FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2015-16), San Antonio FC (2017-2020) NY Red Bulls: NY Red Bulls II (2015-20) Orlando City: Louisville City (2015), Orlando City B (2016-17), None (2018), Orlando City B USL-1 (2019-20) Philadelphia Union: Harrisburg City Islanders (2013-15), Bethlehem Steel (2016-19), Philadelphia Union II (2020) Portland Timbers: Sacramento Republic (2014), Portland Timbers 2 (2015-20) Real Salt Lake: Real Monarchs SLC (2015-20) San Jose Earthquakes: Sacramento Republic (2014-16), Reno 1868 (2017-20) Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders 2 (2015-18), Tacoma Defiance (2019-20) Sporting Kansas City: Orlando City (21013-14), OKC Energy (2014-15), Swope Park Rangers (2016-19), Sporting Kansas City II (2020) Toronto FC: Wilmington Hammerheads (2014), Toronto FC II (2015-18), Toronto FC II USL-1 (20120) Vancouver Whitecaps: Charleston Battery (2014), Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (2015-17), Fresno FC (2018-19), None (2020) I used the years that the teams played rather than from the date of the affiliation/ownership announcements. Obviously most of these will be ongoing but we can update this as it goes.
Soccer America Daily TFC II pulls out of 2020 USL League One Toronto FC's second team withdrew due to what was described as the "current public health restrictions"
14-day quarantine to return to Canada, so they would have needed to find a site in the US to play home games and pay for room and board for the entire time. The expense(cost and time) was likely way too much to justify playing in a US league.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC @WhitecapsFC 42m On April 2, 2016 @AlphonsoDavies made his professional debut for Whitecaps FC 2 in USL. WFC2 won 3-1 versus Timbers FC 2. Attendance that night in Portland was 1,625. Tonight, 4 years later, he'll start for @FCBayern in the @ChampionsLeague Final against Paris Saint-Germain
Phillip Grooms @phillgrooms 8h Sources tell @thebgnfm that the Philadelphia Union 2, Portland Timbers 2, and Orlando City B will not play in the USL in 2021.
The Athletic is reporting that MLS will be starting a reserve league next year.. Not sure what that means exactly, but it may mean more MLS teams pulling out of USL.
Timbers 2 announce hiatus for 2021... https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2020/10/16/on-hold-portland-timbers-2-on-hiatus-for-2021/