USL First Division

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USL First Division
United Soccer Leagues 2008
Founded
1997
Nations
Flag of the United States United States Flag of Canada Canada Flag of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
Higher Division
Major League Soccer
Lower Division
USL Second Division
Number of Teams
11
CONCACAF Qualification
CFU Club Championship*
Cups
US Open Cup
Current Champions
Seattle Sounders
Website
usl1.uslsoccer.com

The United Soccer Leagues First Division (often referred to as simply, USL-1) is a professional men's soccer league in North America. It is the second division of soccer in the United States and Canada league pyramid behind Major League Soccer. It is managed by the United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was known as the A-League until 2004, having formed from teams from the original A-League.

Unlike most other nations, there is currently no system of promotion and relegation in North American soccer.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1996, the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues established the new Select League consisting of its strongest teams from its professional FIFA Division 3 sanctioned Pro League and its amateur Premier League in hopes of gaining FIFA Division 2 sanctioning. The next season, the Select League and the independent Division 2 A-League merged to form a new A-League under the USISL umbrella. In 1999 the umbrella USISL changed its name to the United Soccer Leagues and in 2005 the league took its current name as the USL First Division.

As announced on February 22, 2007, the USL-1 will now be doing live Videocasts through a partnership with Turner Broadcasting. The matches, which cannot be found on traditional broadcast or cable television distribution, will be available on the new broadband channel USL Live at www.USLLive.com, launching early April 2007.

League Tables for Division 1 & Division 2, and PDL for the 2007 season can be viewed at the League Table page. Standings from the 2006 season are also available.

[edit] Expansion and contraction

In 1998, the A-League consisted of 28 teams. By 2006, only 12 remained in the USL First Division. For the most part, the teams that left dropped down to lower classifications, such as the USL Second Division and Premier Development League, to rid themselves of the high costs of travel and player payrolls.

There is some speculation that several First Division clubs are waiting for the top-tier Major League Soccer to expand, in hopes that they will move up. The First Division does not have the promotion/relegation system common in most countries' football pyramids, although teams theoretically could move up if they meet MLS' criteria for expansion franchises. The costs of moving to a higher division are usually not recouped with higher attendance at the First Division level.

On January 26, 2006, the USL announced that it was expanding USL First Division in 2007 to include a new team in Cary, North Carolina. The Cary franchise, since named the Carolina RailHawks, hosted an exhibition schedule in 2006 in advance of its first full league schedule in 2007. On May 16, 2006, it was also announced that the USL would place a team in Northern California under the ownership of Dmitry Piterman, chairman of Spanish team Deportivo Alavés. The Northern Californian team, the California Victory, folded after the end of the 2007 season, playing only one season. Other possible cities mentioned for future campaigns include Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Syracuse, New York. Syracuse had had a highly-attended team from 2002–2004, but it folded due to stadium issues, having ground-shared with the local baseball team. Ft. Lauderdale also has a history of teams from the NASL, ASL, and USL First Division. There is also discussion that Argentinian team River Plate is interested in putting a second USL team in Puerto Rico.

On March 30, 2007 the Virginia Beach Mariners team folded just prior to the start of the 2007 season due to an ownership dispute which left the team without financing.

[edit] 2008 teams

Club Founded Colors Stadium Territory
Flag of the United States Atlanta Silverbacks 1993 Red, Black, White Atlanta Silverbacks Park Atlanta Metropolitan Area, GA
Flag of the United States Carolina RailHawks 2006 Blue, Orange WakeMed Soccer Park Research Triangle, NC
Flag of the United States Charleston Battery 1993 Yellow, Black Blackbaud Stadium Charleston, SC
Flag of the United States Miami FC 2005 Blue, Orange Tropical Park Stadium South Florida
Flag of the United States Minnesota Thunder 1990 Blue, White, Gold National Sports Center Minneapolis-St.Paul
Flag of Canada Montreal Impact 1993 Blue, White, Black Saputo Stadium Quebec (whole)
Flag of the United States Portland Timbers 2001 Green, White, Yellow PGE Park Portland, OR
Flag of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Islanders 2003 Orange, Navy Blue, White Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel Puerto Rico (whole)
Flag of the United States Rochester Rhinos 1996 Green, Black, Gold PAETEC Park Western New York
Flag of the United States Seattle Sounders 1994 Light blue, White, Green Starfire Sports Complex
Qwest Field (home opening game)
Greater Seattle, WA
Flag of Canada Vancouver Whitecaps 1986 White, Blue Swangard Stadium British Columbia (whole)

[edit] 2009 Expansion

Club Founded Colors Stadium Territory
Flag of the United States Austin Aztex 2008 Red, White, Blue Dragon Stadium Greater Austin

[edit] Playoff format

Eight teams qualify for the playoffs, 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc. The first two rounds consist of two-game, total goals series. The highest remaining seed is matched against the lowest remaining seed in the semifinal round. The Championship is a single match played at the home stadium of the higher seed. In previous years, six teams qualified for the playoffs - the top two seeds receiving byes to the second round.

[edit] League Derbies

Stars indicate derby titles won


Cascadia Cup


Southern Derby


Voyageurs Cup

(Starting in 2008, the MLS's Toronto FC will also play for the Voyageurs Cup]])

[edit] Former teams

[edit] 1996 USISL Select League

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Past Regular Season Champions (Commissioner’s Cup Winners)

Season Winner Record (W-L-T) Points Playoff Results (W-L-T) Runners-Up
2007 USL D-1 Seattle Sounders 16-6-6 54 Won Championship 4-1-0 Atlanta Silverbacks
2006 USL D-1 Montreal Impact 14-5-9 51 Lost in semifinal series 0-1-1 Rochester Raging Rhinos
2005 USL D-1 Montreal Impact 18-3-7 61 Lost in semifinal series 0-1-1 Rochester Raging Rhinos
2004 A-League Portland Timbers 18-7-3 57 Lost in conference semifinal series overtime 1-1 Montreal Impact
2003 A-League Milwaukee Wave United 18-10-0 54 Lost in division final series overtime 1-1 Montreal Impact
2002 A-League Seattle Sounders 23-4-1 107 Lost in conference semifinal series 0-2 Charleston Battery
2001 A-League Richmond Kickers 16-7-3 76 Lost in quarterfinal series 0-2 Hershey Wildcats
2000 A-League Minnesota Thunder 20-4-4 99 Lost in final 4-2 Milwaukee Rampage
1999 A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 22-6 92 Lost in final 5-3 San Diego Flash
1998 A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 24-4 70 Won Championship 6-0 San Diego Flash
1997 A-League Montreal Impact 21-7 61 Lost in conference final series 3-2-0 Hershey Wildcats
1996 APSL Montreal Impact 21-6 55 Lost in semifinal 0-1 Colorado Foxes
1995 APSL Montreal Impact 17-7 51 Lost in semifinal series 1-2 Seattle Sounders
1994 APSL Seattle Sounders 14-6 121 Lost in semifinal series 1-2 Los Angeles Salsa
1993 APSL Vancouver 86ers 15-9 126 Lost in semifinals in shootout 0-1-0 Colorado Foxes
1992 APSL Colorado Foxes 11-5 89 Won Championship 2-0-0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
1991 APSL Maryland Bays 19-2 158 Lost in semifinal series 1-2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers
1990 APSL Different point systems used in each conference
1985 - 1989  : Two independent leagues

[edit] Past Playoff Champions / Top Goal Scorer

Season Winner Score Runner-up Top Goalscorer Team Goals
2007 USL D-1 Seattle Sounders 4-0 Atlanta Silverbacks Sébastien Le Toux and Charles Gbeke Seattle Sounders and Montreal Impact 10
2006 USL D-1 Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 Rochester Raging Rhinos Romário De Souza-Faria and Cam Weaver Miami FC and Seattle Sounders 18
2005 USL D-1 Seattle Sounders 1-1 (PK) Richmond Kickers Jason Jordan Vancouver Whitecaps 17
2004 A-League Montreal Impact 2-0 Seattle Sounders Alan Gordon and Dante Washington Portland Timbers and Virginia Beach Mariners 17
2003 A-League Charleston Battery 3-0 Minnesota Thunder Thiago Martins Pittsburgh Riverhounds 22
2002 A-League Milwaukee Rampage 2-1 (2OT) Richmond Kickers Fadi Afash, Eduardo Sebrango, and McKinley Tennyson Portland Timbers, Montreal Impact, and Portland Timbers 18
2001 A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-0 Hershey Wildcats Paul Conway Charleston Battery 22
2000 A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 3-1 Minnesota Thunder Paul Conway, Greg Howes, and Johnny Menyongar Charleston Battery, Seattle Sounders, and Minnesota Thunder 17
1999 A-League Minnesota Thunder 2-1 Rochester Raging Rhinos Mark Baena and Niall Thompson Seattle Sounders and Vancouver 86ers 20
1998 A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 3-1 Minnesota Thunder Mark Baena Seattle Sounders 24
1997 A-League Milwaukee Rampage 1-1 (SO) Carolina Dynamo Doug Miller Rochester Raging Rhinos 23
  • Rochester Raging Rhinos (5 app, 3-2);
  • Minnesota Thunder (4 app, 1-3);
  • Milwaukee Rampage (2 app, 2-0);
  • Seattle Sounders (2 app, 1-1);
  • Richmond Kickers (2 app, 0-2);
  • Charleston Battery (1 app, 1-0);
  • Montreal Impact (1 app, 1-0);
  • Vancouver Whitecaps (1 app, 1-0);
  • Carolina Dynamo (1 app, 0-1);
  • Hershey Wildcats (1 app, 0-1)

[edit] 1996 USISL Select League

[edit] League average attendance

  • Regular season / playoffs
  • 2007: 4,420 / 5,741
  • 2006: 4,667 /
  • 2005: 4,527 / 12,498
  • 2004: 3,879 / 9,402
  • 2003: 3,335 / 9,672
  • 2002: 3,034 / 8,902
  • 2001: 2,954 / 9,193
  • 2000: 2,684 / 7,562
  • 1999: 2,374 / 5,309
  • 1998: 2,531 / 6,091
  • 1997: 2,690 / 5,092

[edit] All-Time USL Leaders

All-Time Goal Leaders
Rank Player Goals
1 Flag of the United States Mark Baena 86
2 Flag of the United States Paul Conway 79
3 Flag of the United States Doug Miller 77
4 Flag of Canada Mauro Biello 76
5 Flag of Canada Jason Jordan 70
6 Flag of Cuba Eduardo Sebrango 70
7 Flag of the United States Chance Fry 68
8 Flag of Canada Domenic Mobilio‎ 65
9 Flag of the United States Jamel Mitchell 64
10 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Kevin Jeffrey 61
All-time appearances in the USL
Rank Player Appearances
1 Flag of Canada Mauro Biello 320
2 Flag of Canada Nick DeSantis 245
3 Flag of Jamaica Lloyd Barker 242
4 Flag of Canada Nevio Pizzolito 228
5 Flag of the United States Scott Jenkins 220
6 Flag of the United States Lenin Steenkamp 219
7 Flag of the United States Bill Sedgewick 218
8 Flag of Canada David Diplacido‎ 217
9 Flag of the United States Steve Klein 211

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links