USL Championship














































































USL Championship
USL Championship vert dark logo.svg
Organising body United Soccer League
Founded September 8, 2010 (2010-09-08)
First season 2011
Country United States
Other club(s) from Canada
Confederation
CONCACAF
(North American Football Union)
Conferences
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Number of teams 36
Level on pyramid 2
Domestic cup(s)
U.S. Open Cup
Canadian Championship
Current champions
Louisville City FC (2018)
Current regular
season title

FC Cincinnati (2018)
Most championships
Orlando City
Louisville City FC
(2 titles each)
Most regular
season titles

Orlando City (3 titles)
TV partners
ESPN/ESPN+
YouTube
Website USLChampionship.com

2019 USL Championship season















United Soccer League divisions

USL Championship icon logo.svg

USL League One icon logo.svg

USL League Two icon logo.svg

Championship

League One

League Two



The USL Championship (USLC), formerly known as United Soccer League (USL) and USL Pro, is a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned as a Division II Professional League by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), placing it under Major League Soccer (Division I) in the hierarchy.[1] The USL is headquartered in Tampa.[2]


The league is owned and operated by United Soccer League and was formed as result of the merger of their USL First (USL-1) and Second Divisions (USL-2), following the controversial 2010 season which saw neither the USL-1 nor the North American Soccer League (NASL) receive Division II sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League. United Soccer Leagues stated that the merger would strengthen the league's position within the American professional soccer landscape through stability, commercial growth and the professional development of soccer in four main regions throughout the United States and Canada.[3]


In January 2013, United Soccer Leagues and MLS reached an agreement to integrate the USL league competition with the MLS Reserve League, primarily to improve player development in North America, strengthen league competition and build ties between leagues in the American soccer pyramid. This multi-year deal encourages MLS and USL team affiliations and player loans, aiming to have more games for teams and developing players.[4][5] As of the 2019 season, 17 USL teams are affiliated to MLS teams and every team but Columbus Crew SC, FC Cincinnati, FC Dallas, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United FC, Orlando City SC and Toronto FC has a USL affiliate.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 Founding (2010)


    • 1.2 Play begins (2011–2012)


    • 1.3 Beginnings of MLS partnership (2013–2014)


    • 1.4 Expansion of MLS partnership and first rebranding (2015–2016)


    • 1.5 Surpassing NASL for Division II sanctioning (2016–present)




  • 2 Clubs


    • 2.1 Current clubs


    • 2.2 Expansion clubs


    • 2.3 Former clubs


    • 2.4 Clubs timeline




  • 3 Competition format


  • 4 Media coverage


  • 5 Champions


    • 5.1 USL Cup finals results




  • 6 USL club honors


    • 6.1 Player records




  • 7 Attendance


  • 8 Staff


  • 9 See also


  • 10 References


  • 11 External links





History



Founding (2010)



USL Pro logo

USL Pro logo (2011–2014)


On September 8, 2010, the United Soccer Leagues formally announced the creation of USL Pro in a press release.[3]
Prior to the official announcement of the new league, on August 11, 2010, the Dayton Dutch Lions FC revealed they would be joining the "USL-Pro Championship Division (former USL-2)" at a press conference, revealing the name of the new league before its official announcement.[6] With this disclosure, the Dutch Lions were the first confirmed team in USL Pro for its inaugural 2011 season.
Alongside the announcement of the new league, the Richmond Kickers revealed they would be moving to USL Pro for 2011.[7] With the departure of the Portland Timbers to MLS in 2011 and the defection of the Puerto Rico Islanders to the NASL[8] from USL-1, the Austin Aztex were the only remaining USL-1 team not yet a part of USL Pro.


On September 22, 2010, the "Caribbean Division" of USL Pro was announced, with teams from Puerto Rico and Antigua and Barbuda signing on to compete in the league.[9] With the addition of Puerto Rico United to the league and "Caribbean Division", league representatives expressed their intent to see expansion in the region continue, with an eventual 8-team "Caribbean Conference".[10] With the inclusion of a team from Los Angeles, this division eventually became the International Division.
On September 22, 2010, USL announced that Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and River Plate Puerto Rico would be joining USL Pro in 2011 alongside Antigua Barracuda FC as part of the building blocks of a Caribbean division.[9]
On September 28, 2010, USL announced that one of their flagship clubs and reigning 2010 USL-2 Champions, the Charleston Battery, would be joining USL Pro for its launch in 2011.[11]
On September 30, 2010, nearly two months following the team's own announcement of a "USL Pro Championship Division" move, the USL formally announced Dayton Dutch Lions FC would join USL Pro.[12]
On October 4 and 7, 2010, the USL revealed two USL-2 clubs, the Charlotte Eagles and the Harrisburg City Islanders (the latter now known as Penn FC), would be making the jump to USL Pro for 2011.[13][14]


The Pittsburgh Riverhounds were added as the 9th official team on October 22, 2010.[15] October 25, 2010 saw the addition of the Rochester Rhinos[16] who had previously committed to the NASL, along with expansion team Orlando City SC (formerly the Austin Aztex FC of USL-1) after new ownership secured and moved the team from Texas to Florida.[17]


On November 9, 2010, former USL-2 side Wilmington Hammerheads officially joined the league as the 12th team,[18] followed on November 17, 2010 by F.C. New York.[19] The expected number of teams to launch league play in 2011 was announced as 18–20, alongside the announcement of the Wilmington Hammerheads joining the league.[18]


The Los Angeles Blues, associated with the successful women's Pali Blues organization, were added on December 7, 2010 with a message of future "Western Conference" growth into 2012.[20]
The "Caribbean Division" of USL Pro grew to four teams on December 9, 2010 with the addition of Puerto Rico United to the league,[10] marking the last of the 15 teams that would compete in USL Pro in its inaugural 2011 season.


On September 14, 2010, United Soccer Leagues President Tim Holt expressed the desired structure for the league to launch with 14–18 teams across four specific geographic areas in 2011, expansion to 22–26 teams by 2013, and 28–32 teams by 2015.[21]


Following USL Pro's first annual general meeting, the league confirmed it would debut with 16 teams playing a 24-game regular season schedule in 2011, with planned growth for 20–24 teams to start the 2012 season.[22]














































Progression of USL Expansion
Season
# Teams

2011
12

2012
11

2013
13

2014
14

2015
24

2016
29

2017
30

2018
33

2019
36


Play begins (2011–2012)



USL Pro debuted in 2011, starting with 15 teams playing a 24-game regular season schedule.
American and National Division teams played a home-and-away series against all opponents from the two divisions (totaling 18 games), 2 additional regional rivalry matches, with each team making an additional trip to either Los Angeles or the Caribbean to play two games while hosting International Division competition for two games.
International Division teams played each team in their division four times (twice home, twice away, totaling 16 games) while traveling to face American or National Division opponents in four games and hosting those opponents for four games.[22][23][24]


The original playoff format saw eight teams compete in a one-game quarterfinal. Both the American and National Divisions saw their top three teams advance for an inter-divisional playoff, while the top two teams in the International Division played-off against each other to reach the semi-finals. The four remaining teams were re-seeded for a single semi-final match, again with the higher seed hosting, leading up to a single match for the USL Cup. In all playoff matches the highest seeded team hosted.[25]


On May 10, 2011, early in the league's inaugural season, the league announced that it was dropping the three Puerto Rican clubs from the USL Pro schedule.[26]
The PRSL clubs were dropped due to economic and ownership issues.[26] The two remaining International Division teams – Antigua Barracuda FC and Los Angeles Blues – were re-aligned into the American and National Divisions.
Due to the removal of the International Division, the revised playoff format featured the top four teams in each of the two divisions. The two division playoff winners met in the USL Pro Championship at the home venue of the team with the better record.


Following the 2011 season, USL Pro announced with the release of the 2012 season schedule that F.C. New York would not be returning to play, with the former National and American Divisions being dissolved to form a single, eleven team league table.[27]



Beginnings of MLS partnership (2013–2014)



Two expansion teams joined for the 2013 season: Phoenix FC[28][29] and the VSI Tampa Bay FC.[30]


On January 23, 2013 United Soccer Leagues and MLS announced a multi-year agreement to integrate MLS Reserve League play with USL Pro teams, first through team affiliations and "interleague" play, but eventually fully merging MLS Reserves into the USL Pro structure. The stated goals[31] of this partnership are to improve North American player development, strengthen league competition, build long-term ties between the leagues and expand the audience for both the leagues and developing players.


While the 2013 season would feature partnered competitions between USL Pro and MLS Reserve teams, four Major League Soccer clubs opted to affiliate with an existing USL Pro team, agreeing to loan at least four MLS players to their affiliate: Sporting Kansas City with Orlando City, the Philadelphia Union with the Harrisburg City Islanders, D.C. United with the Richmond Kickers and the New England Revolution with the Rochester Rhinos. Each MLS club will eventually be expected to either affiliate with a USL Pro team or operate an independent reserve team in the league.[4][5] The Houston Dynamo announced that they would be partnering with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2014.[32] However, this partnership between the Riverhounds and Dynamo was dissolved after just one year.[33] Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, VSI Tampa Bay folded after only one season, along with founding league member Antigua.[34]


In December 2012, Sacramento announced it would begin play in 2014 as an expansion team,[35] and in July 2014, USL announced that Oklahoma City would also join USL in 2014.[36]Orlando City announced that it would leave USL after the 2014 season to join MLS as an expansion team for the 2015 season.[37][38][39] The Los Angeles Blues were rebranded as Orange County Blues FC on February 5, 2014.[40] The Phoenix FC franchise was revoked and replaced with Arizona United SC on March 13, 2014.[41]


In what would become a major trend, on January 29, 2014, the LA Galaxy announced the creation of LA Galaxy II, a reserve team within the club's existing development structure. The Galaxy purchased a USL Pro expansion franchise[42] and became the first MLS club to enter its reserve team into the USL Pro.



Expansion of MLS partnership and first rebranding (2015–2016)



USL Pro nearly doubled the number of teams in the league for 2015 in large part due to MLS franchises following the path taken by the LA Galaxy II. Seven MLS clubs announced the purchase of a USL Pro franchise for their reserve team. These MLS franchises joined four independent expansion teams that were previously announced for Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Tulsa and Austin. Additionally, Orlando City sold its franchise rights to Louisville interests, which unveiled Louisville City FC on June 3, 2014 as an affiliate of the new MLS side.[43] The United Soccer Leagues announced that the Charlotte Eagles would drop to its Premier Development League (PDL), now known as USL League Two, while selling their franchise rights to another Charlotte group, which formed Charlotte Independence for play beginning in 2015.[44] Finally, on December 11, 2014, the Dayton Dutch Lions self-relegated to play in the PDL starting in 2015.[45]


During 2014 and early 2015, the various MLS clubs in conjunction with the USL announced seven new franchises that would be owned or controlled by MLS team ownership, and would all begin play in 2015. On September 10, 2014, Real Salt Lake revealed the name of their previously announced USL Pro affiliate team would be Real Monarchs, and confirmed that the team would begin play in 2015.[46][47]
The team played at Rio Tinto Stadium until the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium was built in Herriman, Utah.[48] Both the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC created their own USL Pro squads, Portland Timbers 2 and Seattle Sounders FC 2 on October 14, 2014.[49] The Montreal Impact announced that it would field a USL Pro team in September 2014. On November 18, 2014, FC Montréal officially joined the league.[50][51][52]
On November 20, 2014, Toronto FC announced that it would also field a team, subsequently named Toronto FC II, for the 2015 season.[53]Whitecaps FC 2 joined USL Pro the next day.[54]
After discussing plans for a USL Pro team in 2015,[55]
then postponing those plans in September,[56]
the New York Red Bulls announced that their USL Pro team, New York Red Bulls II would begin play in 2015.[57][58]


MLS affiliations were announced for the remaining MLS teams that did not have an affiliation in 2014 and did not elect to purchase a USL Pro franchise.
On September 18, 2014 the Colorado Rapids announced an affiliation partnership with the Charlotte Independence.[59] On January 16, 2015 New York City FC announced that it would have an affiliate relationship with the Wilmington Hammerheads[60] and the Chicago Fire announced their affiliation with St Louis.[61] On February 9, 2015, FC Dallas announced it would add Arizona United SC as its USL Pro affiliate.[62][63] As a result, all 20 MLS teams for the 2015 season were either fielding their own team in the USL Pro or were affiliated with an independent USL Pro club.


The league also announced in 2015 that the league would be divided into two conferences. Teams would play a 28-game schedule with 22 games against all the teams in their conference, and the teams would be further assigned to four-club subdivisions for the other six games with an eye towards geographic rivalries between clubs.[64]




USL logo used from 2015 until 2018


On February 10, 2015, United Soccer Leagues announced a branding change for the league. It would now be called the "United Soccer League" or "USL" for short. They introduced a new logo and branding, and stated their intention to apply for Division II status within the United States Soccer Federation hierarchy.[65]


During the 2015 season, USL announced several expansion teams for the 2016 season. The 25th franchise was awarded to Lone Star, LLC and the team would be named Rio Grande Valley FC.[66] In a first for the USL, the team has a "hybrid" affiliation with the Houston Dynamo, who are responsible for the tactical part of the club, while the ownership group, Lone Star, is responsible for operations and management.[67][68]FC Cincinnati was added as the 26th franchise[69][70] and Bethlehem Steel FC, in the Lehigh Valley area and owned by the Philadelphia Union, became the 27th,[71][72]Orlando City B (owned by Orlando City SC) as the 29th,[73] the Swope Park Rangers (owned by Sporting Kansas City) as the 30th,[74] and San Antonio FC as the 31st.[75]


The Austin Aztex announced that they would go on hiatus for the 2016 USL season on October 2, 2015. Floods damaging House Park midway through the 2015 season forced the team to relocate to a high school facility. The team was intended to return in 2017, pending construction of a new, soccer-specific stadium.[76] However, stadium and ownership issues continued to plague the franchise, and they did not return.[77]



Surpassing NASL for Division II sanctioning (2016–present)



Expansion continued for the 2017 season with Reno 1868 FC, which had been announced during the 2015 season as the 28th franchise, starting play.[78] On October 25, 2016, the USL added two teams from the North American Soccer League (NASL): the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury FC. This was the first time a club moved from the NASL to the USL.[79] The Montreal Impact also announced that it would fold its USL team, FC Montreal, in favor of affiliating with Ottawa Fury FC.[80]


On August 31, 2016, Kyle Eng sold his majority share of Arizona United SC to an investment group led by Berke Bakay and was rebranded as Phoenix Rising FC with plans to build their own stadium.[81][82][83]


On January 6, 2017, the U.S. Soccer board of directors voted to grant provisional Division II status to the USL for the 2017 season,[1] placing the league on the same tier as the North American Soccer League. The NASL was also downgraded from Division II sanctioning to a provisional status due to its membership decreasing below the 12 team minimum. Following the 2017 season, the USL gained two more NASL teams: Indy Eleven[84] and North Carolina FC.[85] For the 2018 season, the NASL's provisional sanctioning was not renewed by U.S. Soccer, while the USL was granted full sanctioning under Division II on a year-to-year basis.[86] The NASL attempted to sue U.S. Soccer for colluding with Major League Soccer to protect what it deemed to be a monopolization of top-flight soccer in the United States, but was denied by an appeals court.[87]


The USL's expansion efforts continued in the 2018 season with the additions of Nashville SC,[88][89]Las Vegas Lights FC,[90][91][92]Fresno FC (affiliated with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC)[93] and Atlanta United 2 (owned by Atlanta United FC).[94][95] The league also lost Orlando City B and the Rochester Rhinos, which each announced a hiatus,[96][97] while the Whitecaps FC 2 were folded after its parent team in Vancouver decided to no longer run its own development team and affiliated with the new Fresno expansion.


Four teams will leave the USL top flight after the 2018 season. The ownership group of FC Cincinnati was awarded an MLS franchise that will start play under the FC Cincinnati name in 2019.[98]Penn FC,[99] the Richmond Kickers,[100] and Toronto FC II will voluntarily drop to USL League One, a new third-level league that United Soccer Leagues plans to launch in 2019.[101] The Kickers and Toronto FC II will begin League One play in 2019, while Penn FC will suspend professional operations for 2019 and resume play in League One in 2020. In addition, the announced hiatuses for both the Rhinos and Orlando City B became permanent departures. The Rhinos announced they would extend their hiatus through 2019 before resuming play in League One in 2020,[102] while Orlando City B will resume play in 2019 in League One.[103]


The league has also approved several other expansion locations for future seasons in Austin,[104]Birmingham,[105]Memphis,[106][107]Chicago,[108][109]Oakland East Bay, Hartford,[110]Albuquerque,[111]El Paso,[112] and Loudoun County, Virginia. [113]



Clubs


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USL Championship is located in the US

Atlanta

Atlanta



Bethlehem

Bethlehem



Charleston

Charleston



Charlotte

Charlotte



Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs



Fresno

Fresno



Indy

Indy



Los Angeles

Los Angeles



Las Vegas

Las Vegas



Louisville

Louisville



Nashville

Nashville



New York

New York



North Carolina

North Carolina



Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City



Orange County

Orange County



Ottawa

Ottawa



Phoenix

Phoenix



Portland

Portland



Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh



Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City



Reno

Reno



Rio Grande Valley

Rio Grande Valley



Sacramento

Sacramento



St. Louis

St. Louis



San Antonio

San Antonio



Seattle

Seattle



Swope Park

Swope Park



Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay



Tulsa

Tulsa



Austin

Austin



Birmingham

Birmingham



Chicago

Chicago



East Bay

East Bay



El Paso

El Paso



Hartford

Hartford



Loudoun

Loudoun



Memphis

Memphis



New Mexico

New Mexico




Locations of announced teams for the 2019 USL Championship season


  • Blue pog.svg MLS-owned club


  • Red pog.svg MLS-affiliated club


  • Green pog.svg no MLS affiliation


  • Yellow pog.svgfuture club






Current clubs


The following teams are anticipated to play in the USL Championship during the 2019 season. The 2019 conference alignment was announced on December 13, 2018.[114]



















































































































































































































































































































































































Club
City
Stadium
Capacity
Founded
Joined
Head coach
MLS affiliate

Eastern Conference

Atlanta United 2

Kennesaw, Georgia

Fifth Third Bank Stadium[i]
8,318
2017
2018

United States Scott Donnelly

Atlanta United FC

Bethlehem Steel FC

Chester, Pennsylvania

Talen Energy Stadium[i]
18,500
2015
2016

United States Brendan Burke

Philadelphia Union

Birmingham Legion FC

Birmingham, Alabama

BBVA Compass Field[i]
5,000
2017
2019

United States Tom Soehn


Charleston Battery

Charleston, South Carolina

MUSC Health Stadium[i]
5,100
1993
2011

United States Mike Anhaeuser


Charlotte Independence

Matthews, North Carolina

Sportsplex at Matthews[i]
5,000
2014
2015

Republic of Ireland Jim McGuinness


Hartford Athletic

Hartford, Connecticut

Dillon Stadium[i]
5,500
2018
2019

Denmark Jimmy Nielsen

New England Revolution[115]

Indy Eleven

Indianapolis, Indiana

Lucas Oil Stadium[ii]
62,421
2013
2018

Scotland Martin Rennie


Loudoun United FC

Washington, D.C.

Audi Field[i]
20,000
2018
2019
TBD

D.C. United

Louisville City FC

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville Slugger Field[iii][iv]
8,000
2014
2015

United States John Hackworth


Memphis 901 FC

Memphis, Tennessee

AutoZone Park[iii]
10,000
2018
2019

United States Tim Mulqueen


Nashville SC

Nashville, Tennessee

First Tennessee Park[iii]
10,000
2016
2018

England Gary Smith


New York Red Bulls II

Montclair, New Jersey

MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field[i]
5,000
2015

United States John Wolyniec

New York Red Bulls

North Carolina FC

Cary, North Carolina

WakeMed Soccer Park[i]
10,000
2006
2018

United States Dave Sarachan


Ottawa Fury FC

Ottawa, Ontario

TD Place Stadium[ii]
24,000
2011
2017

Serbia Nikola Popovic

Montreal Impact

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Highmark Stadium[i]
5,000
1998
2011

United States Bob Lilley


Saint Louis FC

Fenton, Missouri

Toyota Stadium[i]
5,500
2014
2015

Wales Anthony Pulis


Swope Park Rangers

Kansas City, Kansas

Children's Mercy Park[i]
18,467
2015
2016

Brazil Paulo Nagamura

Sporting Kansas City

Tampa Bay Rowdies

St. Petersburg, Florida

Al Lang Stadium[iii]
7,227
2008
2017

Scotland Neill Collins


Western Conference

Austin Bold FC

Elroy, Texas

Bold Stadium
5,000
2017
2019

Brazil Marcelo Serrano


Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Weidner Field[i]
5,000
2013
2015

United States Steve Trittschuh

Colorado Rapids

El Paso Locomotive FC

El Paso, Texas

Southwest University Park[iii]
9,500
2018
2019

England Mark Lowry


Fresno FC

Fresno, California

Chukchansi Park[iii]
12,500
2017
2018

England Adam Smith

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

LA Galaxy II

Carson, California

StubHub Center Track Stadium[ii]
5,000
2014

United States Mike Muñoz

LA Galaxy

Las Vegas Lights FC

Las Vegas, Nevada

Cashman Field[iii]
9,334
2017
2018

United States Eric Wynalda


New Mexico United

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Isotopes Park[iii]
13,500
2018
2019

United States Troy Lesesne


OKC Energy FC

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Taft Stadium[i]
7,500
2013
2014

England Steve Cooke


Orange County SC

Irvine, California

Champion Stadium[i]
5,000
2010
2011

United States Braeden Cloutier


Phoenix Rising FC

Tempe, Arizona

Phoenix Rising FC Soccer Complex[i]
6,200
2014

United States Rick Schantz


Portland Timbers 2

Portland, Oregon

Providence Park[i]
21,144
2014
2015

New Zealand Cameron Knowles

Portland Timbers

Real Monarchs

Herriman, Utah

Zions Bank Stadium[i]
5,000
2014
2015

Colombia Jámison Olave (interim)

Real Salt Lake

Reno 1868 FC

Reno, Nevada

Greater Nevada Field[iii]
9,013
2015
2017

United States Ian Russell

San Jose Earthquakes

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros

Edinburg, Texas

H-E-B Park[i]
9,400
2015
2016

United States Gerson Echeverry

Houston Dynamo

Sacramento Republic FC

Sacramento, California

Papa Murphy's Park[i]
11,569
2012
2014

New Zealand Simon Elliott


San Antonio FC

San Antonio, Texas

Toyota Field[i]
8,296
2016

England Darren Powell

New York City FC

Seattle Sounders FC 2

Tacoma, Washington

Cheney Stadium[iii][iv]
6,500
2014
2015

Malta John Hutchinson

Seattle Sounders FC

Tulsa Roughnecks FC

Tulsa, Oklahoma

ONEOK Field[iii]
7,833
2013
2015

United States Michael Nsien

Chicago Fire


Expansion clubs


































Club
City
Stadium
Capacity
Founded
Joining
Head coach
MLS affiliate

Planned Expansion Clubs

Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Lincoln Yards Stadium[i]
20,000
2017
2021
TBD
TBD

Oakland East Bay

Concord, California

East Bay Stadium[i]
15,000
2017
2021
TBD
TBD

Notes





  1. ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw Soccer specific stadium


  2. ^ abc Shared facility; not a soccer-specific stadium


  3. ^ abcdefghijk Baseball park


  4. ^ ab Team has announced plans to move into a soccer-specific stadium




Former clubs















































































































































































































Club
City
Stadium
Capacity
Joined
Final season
MLS affiliation
Fate

Antigua Barracuda FC

St. John's, Antigua

Stanford Cricket Ground
5,000
2011
2013
None
Folded

Austin Aztex

Austin, Texas

House Park
6,500
2015

Columbus Crew SC
Folded

Charlotte Eagles

Charlotte, North Carolina

Dickson Field
5,006
2011
2014
None
Moved to PDL

FC Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Nippert Stadium
33,800
2015
2018
None
Moved to MLS

Dayton Dutch Lions

West Carrollton, Ohio

DOC Stadium
3,000
2011
2014

Columbus Crew SC
Moved to PDL

FC Montreal

Montreal, Quebec

Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard
3,500
2015
2016

Montreal Impact
Folded by MLS parent club

F.C. New York

Queens, New York

Belson Stadium
2,168
2011
None
Moved to NPSL, then folded

Orlando City B

Orlando, Florida

Orlando City Stadium
3,500
2016
2017

Orlando City SC
Moved to USL League One (2019)[116]

Orlando City SC

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
5,500
2011
2014

Sporting Kansas City
Moved to MLS; USL rights transferred to Louisville

Penn FC

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

FNB Field
6,187
2011
2018
None
Will join USL League One in 2020[117]

Phoenix FC

Tempe, Arizona

Sun Devil Soccer Stadium
3,400
2013
None
Folded; replaced by Arizona United SC

Puerto Rico United[i]

Aguada, Puerto Rico

Aguada Stadium
4,000
2011
None
Moved to Liga Nacional (PR)

River Plate Puerto Rico[i]

Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Roberto Clemente Stadium
12,500
2011
None
Moved to PRSL

Richmond Kickers

Richmond, Virginia

City Stadium
22,000
2011
2018

D.C. United
Moved to USL League One

Rochester Rhinos

Rochester, New York

Marina Auto Stadium
13,768
2011
2017

New England Revolution
Will join USL League One in 2020[118][102]

Sevilla Puerto Rico[i]

Juncos, Puerto Rico
Josué Elevadito González Stadium
2,500
2011
None
Moved to Liga Nacional (PR)

Toronto FC II

Toronto, Ontario

Lamport Stadium
9,600
2014
2018

Toronto FC
Moved to USL League One

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2

Vancouver, British Columbia

Thunderbird Stadium
3,500
2015
2017

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Folded by MLS parent club

VSI Tampa Bay FC

Plant City, Florida

Plant City Stadium
6,700
2013
2013
None
Folded

Wilmington Hammerheads FC

Wilmington, North Carolina

Legion Stadium
6,000
2011
2016

Toronto FC & New York City FC
Moved to PDL




  1. ^ abc Puerto Rico United, River Plate Puerto Rico, and Sevilla Puerto Rico tried to participate in the USL's first season but had financial difficulties almost immediately and the league had to cancel all games after May and make significant changes to the remaining schedule




Clubs timeline



USL East Bay
USL Chicago
New Mexico United
Memphis 901 FC
Loudoun United FC
Hartford Athletic
El Paso Locomotive FC
Birmingham Legion FC
Austin Bold FC
North Carolina FC
Nashville SC
Las Vegas Lights FC
Indy Eleven
Fresno FC
Atlanta United 2
Tampa Bay Rowdies
Reno 1868 FC
Ottawa Fury FC
Swope Park Rangers
San Antonio FC
Rio Grande Valley FC
Orlando City B
FC Cincinnati (2016–18)
Bethlehem Steel FC
Whitecaps FC 2
Tulsa Roughnecks FC
Toronto FC II
Seattle Sounders FC 2
Saint Louis FC
Real Monarchs
Portland Timbers 2
New York Red Bulls II
Louisville City FC
FC Montreal
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Charlotte Independence
Austin Aztex
Sacramento Republic FC
Oklahoma City Energy FC
LA Galaxy II
Phoenix Rising FC
Arizona United SC
VSI Tampa Bay FC
Phoenix FC
Wilmington Hammerheads FC
Rochester Rhinos
Richmond Kickers
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Orlando City SC (2010–14)
Orange County SC
Orange County SC
Orange County SC
Penn FC
Harrisburg City Islanders
F.C. New York
Dayton Dutch Lions
Charlotte Eagles
Charleston Battery
Antigua Barracuda FC


‡ Puerto Rico clubs Puerto Rico United, River Plate Puerto Rico, and Sevilla Puerto Rico began play in the league, but in May 2011 United Soccer Leagues announced that the teams would not finish the season due to financial difficulties.[119]



Competition format


USL Pro's scheduling format changed for the 2015 season to accommodate the expansion that took place during the 2014–2015 off-season, and the league's resulting need to divide teams into conferences – which eliminated the single table.[120][121]


All teams played 28 regular-season matches stretching from March to September. This included a 22-game, double-round-robin schedule that pitted each team against all its conference opponents at home and on the road. The remaining six fixtures were played against regional rivals, which lead to some inter-conference regular season matches. The top six finishers in each conference went through to the October playoffs, which continued as a series of single-game knockout rounds. After three rounds of intra-conference play, the two conference champions met in the championship match, to be hosted by the team with the better regular-season record.[122] For 2016 season the season was extended to 30 games.[123]



Media coverage


The league featured national broadcast coverage on Fox Soccer Channel in 2011.[18] In 2014 and 2015, the league broadcast all matches on YouTube.[124]
On April 22, 2016, the USL announced a partnership with ESPN, bringing 20 matches to ESPN 3 and the championship match to an ESPN network[125] The remainder of matches will continue to be broadcast on YouTube. Beginning with the launch of ESPN+ on April 12, 2018, all USL matches will either be on ESPN networks, ESPN3 or ESPN+.[126]



Champions


Teams that no longer participate in the USL Championship are in italics.



















































































Team
USL Cup
Year(s) won
Regular season
title
Year(s) won
USL
seasons
Orlando City 2
2011, 2013
3
2011, 2012, 2014
4
Louisville City FC 2
2017, 2018
4
Rochester Rhinos 1 2015 1 2015 7
New York Red Bulls II 1 2016 1 2016 4
Charleston Battery 1 2012 8
Sacramento Republic 1 2014 5
Richmond Kickers 1 2013 8
Real Monarchs 1 2017 4
FC Cincinnati 1 2018 3


USL Cup finals results




















































































Season
Champions
Score
Runners–up
Venue
Attendance
MVP

2011

Orlando City
2–2 (p)

Harrisburg City Islanders

Citrus Bowl
11,220

Sean Kelley (ORL)

2012

Charleston Battery
1–0

Wilmington Hammerheads

Blackbaud Stadium
4,963

Jose Cuevas (CHB)

2013

Orlando City
7–4

Charlotte Eagles

Citrus Bowl

20,886

Dom Dwyer (ORL)

2014

Sacramento Republic
2–0

Harrisburg City Islanders

Bonney Field
8,000

Rodrigo López (SAC)

2015

Rochester Rhinos
2–1 (a.e.t.)

LA Galaxy II

Sahlen's Stadium
5,247

Asani Samuels (ROC)

2016

New York Red Bulls II
5–1

Swope Park Rangers

Red Bull Arena
5,547

Brandon Allen (NYRB)

2017

Louisville City FC
1–0

Swope Park Rangers

Louisville Slugger Field
14,456

Paolo DelPiccolo (LOU)

2018

Louisville City FC
1–0

Phoenix Rising FC

Lynn Stadium
7,025

Luke Spencer (LOU)


USL club honors


Current through completed 2018 USL Regular Season; Order based on major honors (championships).








































































































































































































Team
Seasons

USL Playoffs
USL Regular Season
Domestic
(USOC, CC, CFUCC)
Total honors
Major honors / Champion­ships
Winner
Runner-up
Winner
Runner-up
Winner
Furthest USL Entry
Orlando City SC 4 2 - 3 1 - 1 7 5
Rochester Rhinos 7 1 - 1 1 1 (pre-USL) 1 5 3
Richmond Kickers 8 - - 1 - 1 (pre-USL) 1 3 2
New York Red Bulls II 4 1 - 1 - - - 2 2
Louisville City FC 4 2 - - 3 - 1 6 2
Sacramento Republic 5 1 - - 1 - - 2 1
Charleston Battery 8 1 - - - - - 1 1
Real Monarchs 4 - - 1 - - - 1 1
FC Cincinnati 3 - - 1 - - 1 2 1
Penn FC 8 - 2 - - - 1 3 0
Wilmington Hammerheads 6 - 1 - 1 - 1 3 0
LA Galaxy II 5 - 1 - - - - 1 0
Charlotte Eagles 4 - 1 - - - - 1 0
Swope Park Rangers 3 - 2 - - - - 2 0
Charlotte Independence 4 - - - - - 1 1 0


Player records
































































All-time top scorers in USL
Rank Player Goals
1

Dane Kelly
68
2

Jose Angulo
60
3

Chandler Hoffman
54
4

George Davis IV
50
5

Matthew Delicate
39
6

Danni König
38

Enzo Martinez
38
8

Cameron Lancaster
36
9

Jack McBean
28
10

Nicki Paterson
25

Rob Vincent
25























































Most appearances
Rank Player Apps
1

Luke Vercollone
202
2

William Yomby
176
3

Sascha Goerres
152
4

Tyler Rosenlund
122
5

Sterling Flunder
122
6

Corben Bone
100
7

Kenardo Forbes
99
8

Long Tan
95
9

Carlos Alvarez
90


Attendance




















































































Season
Teams
League avg.
Playoff avg.
Highest teams
Lowest teams
Ref
2011 12 2,274 5,555 5,330 (Orlando City)
4,927 (Rochester)
410 (Los Angeles Blues)
542 (Dayton)
[127]
2012 11 2,777 4,252 6,606 (Orlando City)
6,265 (Rochester)
666 (Los Angeles Blues)
722 (Dayton)
[128]
2013 13 2,611 6,989 8,056 (Orlando City)
5,898 (Rochester)
378 (VSI Tampa Bay)
718 (Los Angeles Blues)
[129]
2014 14 3,114 5,397 11,293 (Sacramento)
5,329 (Rochester)
533 (Dayton)
597 (LA Galaxy II)
[130]
2015 24 3,369 5,463 11,313 (Sacramento)
6,765 (Louisville City)
313 (FC Montréal)
479 (Toronto FC ll)
[131]
2016 29 3,439 5,281 17,296 (FC Cincinnati)
11,514 (Sacramento)
243 (FC Montréal)
589 (New York Red Bulls II)
[132]
2017 30 4,302 5,339 21,198 (FC Cincinnati)
11,569 (Sacramento)
632 (New York Red Bulls II)
869 (Vancouver Whitecaps 2)

2018 33 4,923 7,786 25,717 (FC Cincinnati)
11,311 (Sacramento)
810 (Toronto FC II)
812 (New York Red Bulls II)
[133]

FC Cincinnati played before a record crowd of 20,497 at Nippert Stadium on April 16, 2016 in a rivalry match against neighboring Louisville City FC.[134] This broke the USL Pro's previous record for attendance at a regular-season match of 20,231 set by Sacramento Republic in its home debut on April 26, 2014 at Hughes Stadium.[135] Cincinnati broke the record again on May 14, 2016, with a new all-time high of 23,375.[136] Cincinnati broke the single game attendance record again on October 2, 2016 in their first ever playoff match against the Charleston Battery, losing 2–1 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 USL playoffs. The attendance of 30,187 also set the USL playoff record.[137] Cincinnati broke the all time regular season record again on August 5, 2017 at Nippert Stadium, drawing 25,308 versus Orlando City B. They broke their own record again about six weeks later drawing 30,417 to a 4-2 win over the New York Red Bulls II[138] Cincinnati broke the record once more in their final home regular season game as a USL team on September 29, 2018, drawing 31,478 versus Indy Eleven[139]



Staff



  • Rob Hoskins – chairman[140][141]

  • Alec Papadakis – chief executive officer, managing partner

  • Jake Edwards – president

  • Justin Papadakis – chief operating officer

  • Garrison Mason – vice president, general counsel

  • Lizzie Seedhouse – vice president, digital

  • Brad Baker – vice president of broadcasting

  • Steven Short – vice president, division III

  • John Cochol – vice president, club services

  • Brett Luy – vice president, league operations

  • Gordon Bengtson – vice president, competition and technical development

  • Josh Keller – vice president, business development

  • Will Gillette – manager, finance & accounting



See also




  • Soccer in the United States

  • Soccer in Canada

  • Professional sports leagues in the United States



References





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