1999 PDL season

The 1999 USL Premier Development League season was the 5th PDL season. The season began in April 1999 and ended in August 1999.

Chicago Sockers finished the season as national champions, beating Spokane Shadow 3-1 in the PDL Championship game. Jackson Chargers had finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 14 out of their 16 games, suffering just two losses, and finishing with a +55 goal difference.

Contents

Changes from 1998 Season

Name changes

New teams

18 teams were added for the season, including 7 expansion teams and four who had returned from hiatus.

Team Area Location Previous affiliation
Brooklyn Knights Brooklyn (NYC) area Brooklyn, NY expansion
Capital District Shockers New York Capital District area Albany, NY from D-3 Pro League
Central Jersey Riptide Central Jersey area Trenton, NJ from D-3 Pro League
Chicago Sockers Chicago area Chicago, IL from D-3 Pro League
Clarksville Gunners Clarksville area Clarksville, TN expansion
Lexington Bluegrass Bandits Lexington area Lexington, KY returned from hiatus
Miami Breakers Miami area Miami, FL from D-3 Pro League
Nevada Zephyrs Las Vegas area Las Vegas, NV expansion
New York Freedom New York City area New York, NY expansion
Orlando Nighthawks Central Florida area Orlando, FL from D-3 Pro League
Rockford Raptors Rockford area Rockford, IL from D-3 Pro League
San Fernando Valley Heroes Los Angeles area Los Angeles, CA from D-3 Pro League
Team St. Louis St. Louis area St. Louis, MO expansion
Tucson Amigos Tucson area Tucson, AZ returned from hiatus
Vermont Voltage Vermont area St. Albans, VT from D-3 Pro League
Westchester Flames Suburban Mainland New York area New Rochelle, NY expansion
Wichita Blue Wichita area Wichita, KS returned from hiatus
Willamette Valley Firebirds Portland area Portland, OR returned from hiatus

Teams Leaving

5 teams folded after the 1998 Season:

Alabama Saints and South Florida Future went on hiatus for this season.

Okanagan Valley Challenge and Victoria Umbro Select returned to the PCSL, ending their associate membership. Abbotsford Athletes In Action and Seattle Hibernian retained their membership.

Standings

Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as host.
* denotes team is a provisional team and does not play a full schedule.

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 Mid-Michigan Bucks 16 14 2 1 0 62 11 +51 11 65
2 Chicago Sockers 16 12 4 1 1 41 14 +27 7 53
4 Wisconsin Rebels 16 11 5 1 0 45 37 +8 9 51
4 Indiana Invaders 16 7 9 0 0 34 44 -10 7 35
5 Kalamazoo Kingdom 16 6 10 1 1 28 45 -17 5 28
6 Rockford Raptors 16 2 14 0 2 23 61 -38 3 13
7 West Michigan Explosion 16 2 14 0 0 17 49 -32 2 5

Heartland Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 Twin Cities Tornado 16 14 2 0 0 55 18 +37 9 65
2 Sioux City Breeze 16 13 3 0 0 52 25 +27 9 61
3 Colorado Comets 15 8 7 0 1 48 33 +15 9 42
4 Des Moines Menace 16 7 9 0 1 33 36 -3 5 34
5 Kansas City Brass 16 6 10 2 0 23 38 -15 4 24
6 Team St. Louis* 6 5 1 0 0 28 8 +20 4 24
7 Wichita Blue** 11 3 8 0 2 13 43 -30 2 16
8 Colorado Springs Stampede 16 3 12 2 0 21 52 -31 2 10

** Wichita Blue folded during the season.

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 New York Freedom 16 11 5 1 1 45 24 +21 8 49
2 Central Jersey Riptide 16 8 8 0 1 40 28 +12 9 36
3 Brooklyn Knights 16 7 9 2 0 29 42 -13 5 29
4 Westchester Flames 16 7 9 1 0 19 32 -13 3 29
5 Vermont Voltage 16 4 12 0 1 26 42 -16 4 21
6 Capital District Shockers 16 2 14 0 0 18 65 -47 1 9

Southeast Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 Jackson Generals 16 14 2 0 0 67 12 +55 11 67
2 Cocoa Expos 16 12 4 2 0 58 24 +34 10 54
3 Central Florida Kraze 16 10 6 0 1 47 23 +24 8 49
4 Miami Breakers 16 9 7 1 0 29 32 -3 6 40
5 Bradenton Academics 16 8 8 0 1 28 32 -4 5 38
5 Clarksville Gunners 16 6 10 1 1 28 37 -9 3 26
7 Miami Tango 16 5 11 1 0 25 61 -36 5 23
8 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 6 3 3 0 0 17 14 +3 4 16
9 Orlando Nighthawks 16 1 15 0 1 13 63 -40 0 5

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 Willamette Valley Firebirds 16 14 2 0 0 54 20 +34 10 56
2 Spokane Shadow 16 10 6 0 0 36 21 +15 8 48
3 Abbotsford 86ers Select 16 8 8 0 1 36 32 +4 7 40
4 Seattle Sounders Select 16 8 8 2 0 19 32 -13 1 29
5 Yakima Reds 16 6 10 1 1 31 43 -12 6 29
6 Cascade Surge 16 2 14 0 1 19 47 -28 3 12

Southwest Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Bonus Points
1 San Fernando Valley Heroes 16 13 3 4 0 53 21 +32 8 52
2 Central Coast Roadrunners 16 8 8 1 1 32 24 +12 7 38
3 Nevada Zephyrs 16 7 9 0 0 26 31 -5 4 32
4 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 16 6 10 0 0 33 51 -18 6 27
5 Silicon Valley Ambassadors 16 5 11 0 2 23 44 -21 2 24
6 Tucson Amigos 16 3 13 0 2 23 41 -18 1 15

Playoffs

Spokane hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals.

  Central Semifinals Central Finals
                 
GL1   Mid-Michigan Bucks 1  
HL2   Sioux City Breeze 2  
    HL2   Sioux City Breeze 1
  GL2   Chicago Sockers 3
HL1   Twin Cities Tornado 0
GL2   Chicago Sockers 2  
  Eastern Semifinals Eastern Finals
                 
SE1   Jackson Chargers 9  
NE2   Brooklyn Knights 1  
    HL2   Jackson Chargers 0
  GL2   New York Freedom 1
NE1   New York Freedom 3
SE2   Cocoa Expos 1  
  Western Semifinals Western Finals
                 
NW1   Willamette Valley Firebirds 1  
SW2   Central Coast Roadrunners 0  
    NW1   Willamette Valley Firebirds 5
  NW2   Abbotsford 86ers Select 1
SW1   San Fernando Valley Heroes 1
NW2   Abbotsford 86ers Select 2  
  PDL Semifinals                    
  NW1   Willamette Valley Firebirds 1  
  H   Spokane Shadow 2   PDL Finals
      H   Spokane Shadow 1
  PDL Semifinals   GL2   Chicago Sockers 3
  NE1   New York Freedom 0
  GL2   Chicago Sockers 1   PDL Third Place
    NW1   Willamette Valley Firebirds 2
    NE1   New York Freedom 5

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References