The 2015 USL Pro league alignment is out. The 24 teams will be divided into two conferences: East and West. The NY Red Bulls Reserves is not official but the league is acting like it. Dayton has went on hiatus for at least a season. The schedule will mostly be within the conference with very little inter-conference play. Teams will play at least 22 0f 28 games intraconference with the remainder local rivalry extras which will also be mostly within the conference. The playoff format has not been revealed yet. http://www.recklesschallenge.net/uslpro-2015-conference-alignment-scheduling-format/ Also, USL Pro is going to apply for D2 status in 2017. Kind of surprising but it appears legit.
Not surprised at USLPro applying for D2. NASL floundering and not expanding has been shocking. Can't have a second division with 10 teams or whatever they'll have in 2015.
NASL is adding at least one team (Jacksonville) in 2015 which would put them at 11 with another rumored to be starting for the 2nd half of the year (Los Angeles) so they could be at 12. I wouldn't hold my breath on Virginia or OK City actually starting in 2016 but they do seem to have some expansion interest. The LA team, if it happens, would mean that the NASL would be in compliance with the USSF requirements.
The 2015 Roundup: NASL (11 teams) Atlanta Silverbacks Carolina RailHawks FC Edmonton Fort Lauderdale Strikers Indy Eleven Jacksonville Armada Minnesota United New York Cosmos Ottawa Fury San Antonio Scorpions Tampa Bay Rowdies The Spring season will start on April 4 and consist of 10 games over 11 weeks. The Fall season will start on July 4 after a two weekend break. Teams will play 20 games over 18 weeks. Same playoffs as last year. USL PRO (24 teams) EAST Charleston Battery (Houston Dynamo) Charlotte Independence (Colorado Rapids FC Montreal Harrisburg City Islanders (Philadelphia Union) Louisville City (Orlando City SC) New York Red Bulls II Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers (DC United) Rochester Rhinos (New England Revolution) St. Louis FC (Chicago Fire) Toronto FC II Wilmington Hammerheads (New York City FC) WEST Arizona United (FC Dallas) Austin Aztex (Columbus Crew) Colorado Springs Switchbacks LA Galaxy II Oklahoma City Energy (Sporting Kansas City) Orange County Blues Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Sacramento Republic (San Jose Earthquakes) Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tulsa Roughnecks Whitecaps FC 2 The season starts on March 21. Teams will play 28 games mostly within the conference. The top 4 teams in each conference make the playoffs. PDL (66 teams) I'm not going to list them all but here is the local division Southern Conference Mid South Division Houston Dutch Lions Laredo Heat Midland/Odessa Sockers Mississippi Brilla The season starts in May. Teams play 14 games mostly within their division. NPSL (65 teams) Again just the local division. South Region South Central Conference Corinthians FC of San Antonio Dallas City FC (Denton) Liverpool Warriors FC Wichita Fort Worth Vaqueros Houston Regals SCA Joplin Demize Tulsa Athletics The season starts in May. Teams will play 14 games. Texas Premier Soccer League (6 teams) Austin Real Cuauhtemoc (Connervale) Rancheros (Diboll) Texas Timbers Galveston Pirate SC Houston Hurricanes FC (Uvalde) Twin Cities FC 2015 Expansion Lockhart Knights Temple United Celtic FC Their 10 game fall-winter regular season has just ended. They also have a Cup competition during the season and playoffs.
Texas Premier Soccer League playoffs: February 28, 2015 #1 Houston Hurricanes v. #4 Texas Timberz @ Sportsplex in League City, TX March 7, 2015 #2 Austin Real Cuauhtemoc v. #3 Twin Cities @ McMaster Athletic Complex in Georgetown, TX The Final will be March 21 or 22. Austin won the Texas State Cup final this year beating Galveston Pirate, 4-2, on February 8.
TPSL Semifinals February 28, 2015 #1 Houston Hurricanes 2-1 #4 Texas Timberz March 7, 2015 #2 Austin Real Cuauhtemoc 1-0 #3 Twin Cities TPSL FINAL Saturday, March 21 Houston Hurricanes v. Austin Real Cuauhtemoc 7:00 pm @ Sportsplex in League City, TX
Thats about a 25 minute drive for me, so I'll go catch it that night. The field is directly off of I45.
2016 Roundup: Lots of changes this year. NASL (11/12 teams) Carolina RailHawks FC Edmonton Fort Lauderdale Strikers Indy Eleven Jacksonville Armada Miami FC Minnesota United New York Cosmos Ottawa Fury Rayo OKC Tampa Bay Rowdies *Puerto Rico FC (starting play in the Fall season) The Spring season will start on April 2 and consist of 10 games over 11 weeks. The Fall season will start on July 2 after a two weekend break. Teams will play 22 games over 18 weeks. Same playoffs as last year. USL PRO (29 teams) EAST Bethlehem Steel (Philadelphia Union) Charleston Battery (Atlanta United) Charlotte Independence (Colorado Rapids) FC Cincinnati FC Montreal Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City New York Red Bulls II Orlando City B Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Columbus Crew) Richmond Kickers (DC United) Rochester Rhinos (New England Revolution) Toronto FC II Wilmington Hammerheads (New York City FC) WEST Arizona United Colorado Springs Switchbacks LA Galaxy II Oklahoma City Energy (FC Dallas) Orange County Blues Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Rio Grand Valley FC (Houston Dynamo) Sacramento Republic (San Jose Earthquakes) San Antonio St. Louis FC (Chicago Fire) Seattle Sounders FC 2 Swope Park Rangers (Sporting Kansas City) Tulsa Roughnecks Whitecaps FC 2 The season starts on March 26. Teams will play 30 games mostly within the conference. The top 8 teams in each conference make the playoffs. PDL (63 teams) I'm not going to list them all but here is the local division Southern Conference Mid South Division Albuquerque Sol Midland/Odessa Sockers Mississippi Brilla Oklahoma City Energy U23 Springfield (MO) Synergy The season starts in May. Teams play 14 games mostly within their division. NPSL (80 teams) Again just the local division. South Region South Central Conference Corinthians FC of San Antonio Dallas City FC (Denton) Liverpool Warriors FC Wichita Fort Worth Vaqueros Houston Regals SCA Joplin Demize Little Rock Rangers Shreveport Rafters Tulsa Athletics The season starts in May. Teams will play 14 games. Texas Premier Soccer League (8 teams) Austin Lonestrikers Austin Real Cuauhtemoc Brownsville Bravos Dallas Clash Houston Hurricanes FC San Antonio Generals Temple United (Uvalde) Twin Cities FC Their 2015-16 season is almost over with just 7 games left. The playoffs will be in February.
It has been rumored for a while but it looks likely that Canada will gets its own national pro league (minus the current MLS teams) in a year or two. Previous information was that this league would have teams in the CFL cities. There are some reports that Ottawa Fury since they share ownership with the Otttawa CFL ownership might jump ship from the NASL to this league. FC Edmonton is supposed against joining. http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6261090-canadian-pro-soccer-league-to-call-hamilton-home/
If the Canadian FA was to get the MLS teams to switch over, then their league would get a tremendous shot in the arm. Talk about the rivalry cross over from all the hockey lore. Us in MLS would still see these teams in CCL play over the years and I really wouldn't miss any of them. I guess the 3 Pac NW teams could still compete for their Cascadia Cup over the long season even though it would not be via MLS regular season play. If Montreal, TFC and Vancouver stay in MLS then the CPL will probably grow and sustain it's fan base but it will be like the Wales PL to the EPL.
So the state's other hopeful MLS candidate unveiled the brand & badge tonight. Spurs Sports & Entertainment totally mailed it in with a generic name while forcing in a Spur on the badge, because it's their "heart" (aka moneymaker) If San Antonio FC make it to MLS, they'll fit in perfectly with FC Frisco lol.
It looks like the USL team from Reno, Nevada want to capitalize on the town's birth year just like what the Dynamo attempted to do with the 1836 name. Reno USL Officially Named "Reno 1868 FC" http://www.ktvn.com/story/31319845/reno-usl-officially-named-reno-1868-fc
Lots of turmoil in NASL coming out this week. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/201...tawa-fury-tampa-bay-rowdies-usl-bill-peterson http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/news/teams-leaving-nasl-ottawa-tampa-bay-usl It doesn't look like the NASL will be moving up to Div. 1 as requested but the USL could be moving on up to Div. 2. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if the USSF delays any decision until the NASL situation shakes out.
Announcements coming on new USL teams soon. It appears that the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury will be officially announcing switches to the USL away from the NASL. There are twitter reports that a couple of other NASL teams are also considering it.
http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/713356?referrer_id=2424366 Tampa Bay and Ottawa make 31 teams for the USL in 2017. Reno was already in as an expansion team but Wilmington is going on hiatus. We'll see if the USL adds any more teams before next spring. The NASL is down to 10 teams at most with San Francisco joining next year. The dominoes are still falling so we'll have to wait and see where they wind up.
I think USL maybe needs to split into two separate leagues. One league with teams that have affiliation with MLS clubs and the other league with teams that are not affiliated with MLS clubs.
1. The USL would lose a lot of the advantages it has if it splits. Having all the teams in one league means they can split things up geographically and reduce costs. There are already two almost completely separate conferences of 15 or 16 teams each. They have said that once they get to 36 teams they will split into three conferences. 2. MLS teams said that they wanted to go this route so the reserve players would get meaningful games against independent teams and players. That's why they gave up on the Reserve League. 3. The league standings don't show any particular advantage for affiliates vs. non-affiliates v. MLS2 teams. Two of the MLS2 teams made the final but there was a good mix of all three types of teams in the top 10 of the regular season standings: 3 MLS2 teams (counting RGVFC), 3 un-affiliated, and 4 affiliates. 4. The affiliated teams really run the gamut of how many players they get from their MLS partner. When the Dynamo were affiliated with Charleston we only sent them 1 or 2 players. We loaned more players to NASL teams than that. Wilmington was the affiliate of New York City FC. The last player they sent to Wilmington was in July of 2015. None at all this year. Why should mere affiliation get teams separated out from non-affiliates? 5. Right now this is the USL breakdown: Affiliates (6) Charleston Battery - Atlanta United OKC Energy - FC Dallas Pittsburgh Riverhounds - Columbus Crew Richmond Kickers - DC United Rochester Rhinos - New England Revolution Saint Louis FC - Chicago Fire Affiliates w/ Roster Managed (more or less) (3) Charlotte Independence - Colorado Rapids Reno 1868 - San Jose Earthquakes Rio Grande Valley - Houston Dynamo MLS Owned (11) Bethlehem Steel - Philadelphia Union FC Montreal - Montreal Impact LA Galaxy II - LA Galaxy NY Red Bulls II - NY Red Bulls Orlando City B - Orlando City Portland Timbers 2 - Portland Timbers Real Monarchs SLC - Real Salt Lake Seattle Sounders 2 - Seattle Sounders Swope Park Rangers - Sporting Kansas City Toronto FC II - Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps 2 - Vancouver Whitecaps Non-affiliated USL (11) Arizona United Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Cincinnati Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City Orange County Blues Ottawa Fury Sacramento Republic San Antonio FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Tulsa Roughnecks Two of those Non-affiliated will probably move into the first category since NYCFC and Minnesota do not have affiliates right now. There are also rumors that Harrisburg is on their way out of the league. That would make a very odd league with 8 of those last 11. That league would have many of the same problems as the NASL with teams spread out all over the place.
Now word of trouble with the NY Cosmos. http://www.empireofsoccer.com/cosmos-in-crisis-late-pay-furloughs-cast-teams-future-in-doubt-55932/ The article says that the NASL is having a Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday. The very future of the league is looking increasingly shaky.
That owner resurrected the Cosmos logo, green n white colors and looked to show MLS how to run a professional association football club in the United States. Years on and look at how their club is doing. For us kids of the 70's and early 80's youth soccer boom, I recall the Cosmos brand and certainly Pele with great fondness. I do not witnessing this tarnishing of the Cosmos heritage if the team crashes n burns because the latest owner ran out of ideas, money or both.
http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...rovisional-division-ii-status-to-nasl-and-usl The NASL will apparently run with 8 teams to start: Indy Eleven North Carolina FC Puerto Rico FC Miami FC FC Edmonton San Francisco Deltas NY Cosmos (who seem to have new ownership contingent on the NASL staying D2) Jacksonville Armada (run by the league until they get new owners) The USL will have these teams in 2017. The alignment has not been officially announced: East (14 teams) Bethlehem Steel Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City NY Red Bull II Orlando City B Ottawa Fury (switched from NASL) Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Rochester Rhinos Tampa Bay Rowdies (switched from NASL) Toronto FC II West (16 teams) Colorado Springs Switchbacks LA Galaxy II OKC Energy Orange County Blues Phoenix Rising (formerly Arizona United) Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 (expansion) Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic Saint Louis FC San Antonio FC Seattle Sounders 2 Swope Park Rangers Tulsa Roughnecks Vancouver Whitecaps 2 *FC Montreal has been disbanded *Wilmington Hammerheads have dropped down to PDL
http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/742742?referrer_id=2333971 The 2017 USL alignment is out. They went with 15 teams in each conference. 16/14 would have made more sense to me. The season will start on March 24 and run 32 games in 30 weeks. No change in the playoffs. East (15 teams) Bethlehem Steel Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City NY Red Bull II Orlando City B Ottawa Fury (switched from NASL) Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Rochester Rhinos Saint Louis FC Tampa Bay Rowdies (switched from NASL) Toronto FC II West (15 teams) Colorado Springs Switchbacks LA Galaxy II OKC Energy Orange County Blues Phoenix Rising (formerly Arizona United) Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 (expansion) Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic San Antonio FC Seattle Sounders 2 Swope Park Rangers Tulsa Roughnecks Vancouver Whitecaps 2
2018 Roundup: NASL Looks dead. They are still claiming that they will have a 2018-2019 season starting in late summer but that seems unlikely. Canadian Premier League The start of this new league has been pushed back to 2019. They say they will have 8-10 teams to start but only two cities have been announced: Hamilton Winnipeg USL (33 teams) EAST Atlanta United 2 Bethlehem Steel (Philadelphia Union) Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence (Colorado Rapids) FC Cincinnati Indy Eleven Louisville City Nashville SC New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC Ottawa Fury (Montreal Impact) Penn FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers (DC United) Tampa Bay Rowdies Toronto FC II WEST Colorado Springs Switchbacks Fresno FC (Vancouver Whitecaps) LA Galaxy II Las Vegas Lights Oklahoma City Energy (FC Dallas) Orange County Blues (LAFC) Phoenix Rising Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 (San Jose Earthquakes) Rio Grand Valley FC (Houston Dynamo) Sacramento Republic San Antonio (NYCFC) St. Louis FC (Chicago Fire) Seattle Sounders FC 2 Swope Park Rangers (Sporting Kansas City) Tulsa Roughnecks (Chicago Fire) The season starts on March 16. Teams will play 34 games mostly within the conference. The top 8 teams in each conference make the playoffs. PDL (78 teams) I'm not going to list them all but here is the local division Southern Conference Mid South Division Brazos Valley Cavalry FC Cleburne Houston FC Mississippi Brilla Oklahoma City Energy U23 Texas United The season starts in May. Teams play about 14 games mostly within their division. NPSL (95 teams) Again just the local division. South Region Lone Star Conference Fort Worth Vaqueros Houston Dutch Lions Katy 1895 Laredo Heat Houston Regals Midland-Odessa FC Shreveport Rafters Tyler FC The season starts in May. Teams will play about 14 games. Texas Premier Soccer League (6 teams) Austin Real Cuauhtemoc FC Knights (Killeen, TX) Galveston Hurricanes Genova FC (San Antonio) Twin Cities FC (Eagle Pass, TX) Houston Fury I believe their 2017-18 season just ended. They may be in the playoffs. It is hard to tell from their website.