To be fair, D3 teams played interleague games against PDL teams through 2004 because of a lack of adequate regional league opponents, but there were no USSF standards to be met then. I don't know what the record all-time was in those crossover games, but in 2004, the professional teams went 35-27-8 against the amateurs, with the PDL teams getting the bulk of their results at home.
From the way back file...and Colin Jose's book. In 1973, each of the nine NASL teams played a team from Mexico in a match which counted in the league standings. I guess you could do something similar with an NPSL team or two to help fill out the schedule. Detroit and Chattanooga perhaps?
That was not the only year they had international teams come and play games that counted in the league standings. The difference, of course, being Monterrey is Monterrey and Chattanooga is Chattanooga. The international teams had a bit of cachet.
True, I was thinking about clubs in the NPSL that could at least compete with the NASL clubs (so you have a competitive match) and MIGHT have ambitions about moving up (although only Detroit has been mentioned - and only in rumors at that). A thought exercise...you could have multiple clubs playing a couple or three teams apiece. Not too many matches for each NPSL club to minimize travel costs. I don't know about the strength of the western clubs, although I know FC Arizona has the goal of moving up. Let them play San Francisco and Edmonton. Detroit gets Indy XI, and North Carolina while Chattanooga gets Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and Puerto Rico.
Do you REALLY think FC Arizona can afford to go to San Francisco and frigging Edmonton? FC Arizona has not kicked a frigging ball yet. Let us please not start drawing up a schedule that has amateur teams with small budgets traveling to D2 cities (or worse, sending Edmonton to play on some small college field in Mesa). Please. This is such a frigging non-starter. God, stop with the idea of the NPSL as the solution to anyone's problems.
I don't know if FC Arizona can afford to go to San Francisco and Edmonton...all I know about Scott Taylor is he has plans to move his club up, and has said so. And, yes, these would ALL be home game for NASL clubs. For the record, I didn't say I LIKED the idea...just that if you were going to do it this would be the best way (if there is such a thing).
Which is why if this was implemented it would only help the NASL as a stop gap till they have enough D2 teams there is almost nothing viable for the NPSL teams to go with this idea. More then a few would conceivably fold if they went this route and the NASL would have another league fold along with them as well. I really don't think this'll work unless the NASL clubs kick in a crap ton of money for the NPSL clubs and there aren't enough deep pocketed owners currently for that. I'm going to go ahead and say that "you obviously don't know what you're talking about" before @MakingGoals does because its not about what you "know" about soccer its what you "feel and want" reality should have nothing to due with it.
Hint: don't count on it. Well, great. Ambition is good. Just name for me the last NPSL club that actually moved up to the professional ranks, D3 even. You could consider the Red Bulls U23 team that dominated the NPSL in 2014 to be the Red Bulls 2 team that won USL this year if you like. That would be one, and it would be funded by an MLS team. So until an NPSL club actually makes the leap that too many here seem to think is justthisclose to happening, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, then. Ooh, homecoming game opponents. Good.
https://goalwashington.wordpress.co...-to-college-players-ahead-of-january-tryouts/ A Semi-pro PDL team moves to NPSL and becomes completely amateur. I'm a bit surprised since all of this take is that NPSL teams are close enough to play/move to the NASL.