Well USL has mentioned that they could go pro/rel well down the road once they have reached whatever it is that equals stability for them.
Let the rebrand hype begin!! Welcome to a new generation.#UnitedForSoccer | #BeChampions pic.twitter.com/TVcz43pBjz— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 25, 2018 Oh.. and f**k you Canadian teams, apparently. Lol.
I really like this reorganization and tightening of the brand. I didn't like how the upcoming uSL D3 League was kind of on its own namingwise (without a USL D2 League above it). This USL move makes things neater. I'll go look this up, but I didn't see anything on he PDL. I'm assuming that's going to be rebranded as well?
Give us time. The CSA is progressively pulling away from USSF leagues. It started with all Ontario teams in PDL except one. There's a plan for the rest. As for USL, Ottawa's days are numbered and the CSA imposed a moratorium on new US sanction. Nice rebrand... to think people were mocking the CPL for using the name "Premier League" (which most countries attached to the commonwealth use "premiership or premier league). This is rather amusing
Probably not. USL is still referring to League 2 as "the Path to Pro". The USSF only has divisions for pro leagues. Frankly, I don't see how or why the USSF would have lower standards for a professional league than what they have right now for the 3rd division.
The USSF has Professional League Standards for Division 1, 2, and 3. That's it. Each of those divisions have increasing standards that have to be met. There can be multiple leagues within each division as long as they meet the standards. That's what the division labels mean here since there is no promotion/relegation system. Anything that doesn't fall into the category of a pro league is sanctioned through the United States Adult Soccer Association. Whether they pay their players or not the USSF considers those "amateur" teams. Some people refer to leagues like the PDL and NPSL as 4th division but they are not. There is no 4th division according to the USSF. For a league to officially be 4th division the USSF would have to create standards for a 4th professional division presumably with lower standards than what exists for D3 right now. Here are the D3 standards. I guess they could reduce or remove the net worth standard for a D4 owner but what else would they lower?
Good on the USL for the rebrand / restructure. It was needed to tie up the loose ends and really have more of tiered structure under one umbrella to further legitimize itself in the pyramid of US Soccer. I’ll be honest I am way more excited about the expansion and development of the USL than MLS. I think MLS will take care of itself and eventually become a true top division that can compete globally. I believe once the USL has all its ducks in a row - starting with the restructure - it will become the real developer of talent in this country. It will become a major and needed pipeline that can feed players to MLS or just in general become a respectable destination to have a professional career. I love that fact promotion and relegation seems to be in play down the road. I would assume that timetable is within 3-5 years and only between USL Championship and USL League One. I’m curious to see how this all shapes up. With 35 USL Championship clubs there will be some movement like the Richmond Kickers down a division. There is a map on the video that pinpoints the cities and the appropriate league if you’re good at geography.
They could but they would have to change the whole structure of the PLS. The particular division standards are only part of it. The whole thing is built around professional leagues. I'm skeptical that the USSF would want to start sanctioning amateur leagues. Why would they want to do that? Just to have a "4th Division"? The thing that would really drive a 4th division would be if the USL actually starts doing promotion/relegation AND they want to have smaller leagues at each level as part of that. If not then they can just keep creating conferences at each division level that act like separate leagues. Right now the USL East and West are pretty much two different leagues, both D2, that have a championship game. There may be three conferences like that next year. League One (formerly USL D3) is supposed to be set up the same way. They don't need to have different divisions for them if they run side-by-side.
As of right now it appears there will be at least 36 for 2019. Penn FC is rumored to be moving down to League One after this season and Ottawa has supposedly decided to stay in Championship through 2019. It will be interesting to see if more teams move down after the season ends and what new teams will join in 2020.
By my count last week, which included expansion USL clubs and the already announced departures (MLS / League One), the league stood at 37 clubs for 2019. So that leaves 2 clubs to announce departures to League One if the press release is indeed correct about 35 clubs. Penn FC is one I’ve heard, too. It wouldn’t surprise me to see another MLS club’s second team move down a la TFC II. It’s also rumored that the Championship witll move to a more regionalized 3-Conference (East, Central, West) setup. I hope so because that makes sense, too.
Should / Could using college players stop USL Legaue Two from being the recognized 4th division if USL Clubs (under current rules) can sign a player under the “USL Academy Contract” and play them in league matches whiile still maintaining their collegiate eligibility?
I would like to see the 3 conference alignment also. We had a road trip earlier this season that covered over 5,000 miles in 2 weeks. Cost savings and wear and tear from travel would be good. I have to agree I would not be surprised to see other teams drop. The announcement did say 35+. That may mean they know of another team looking to drop or Ottawa is going to move to the CPL after this season.
Yes. A 4th (5th, 6th, etc) only makes sense to accommodate an overwhelming number of professional teams that cannot be fit into existing leagues and sort them by level-of-play. And that is fantasy right now. Cool fantasy, but fantasy.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-s...league-confirms-new-branding-league-structure President Edwards addresses pro/rel: Additionally, a “League Cup” will be added in 2020 between Championship and League One Cubs:
I’m assuming due to their short season that may not be possible. Also the quotes from Edwards lays it out and says it’s a Cup that will play a role in determining if League One sides can hang with Championship sides. In turn it will be a better gage if pro/rel can work.