USL Pro

The USL Professional Division, commonly known as USL Pro (stylized USL PRO), is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011.

The league is owned and operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL) and was formed as result of the organization's merger of the old USL First and Second Divisions, following the controversial 2010 season which saw neither the USL First Division or the North American Soccer League (NASL) receive sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League. The merger is meant to consolidate USL's position within the American professional soccer landscape and focus on stability, commercial growth and the professional development of soccer in four main regions throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.^[1]

USL Pro is sanctioned as the third tier of soccer in the American Soccer Pyramid, behind Major League Soccer (first tier) and the North American Soccer League (second tier) in the hierarchy.

History

On September 8, 2010, USL formally announced the creation of USL Pro in a press release.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] With the departure of the Portland Timbers to MLS in 2011 and the defection of the Puerto Rico Islanders to the NASL^[4] from the USL First Division, the Austin Aztex were the lone First Division team left to fold into USL Pro.

On September 22, 2010 at a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, USL formally announced that Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and Club Atletico 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.^[5]

On September 28, 2010 USL announced that one of their flagship clubs and reigning 2010 USL Second Division Champions, the Charleston Battery, would be joining USL Pro for its launch in 2011.^[6] Two days later, 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.^[7] The following week, on October 4 and October 7, 2010, the USL revealed two Second Division clubs, the Charlotte Eagles and the Harrisburg City Islanders, would be making the jump to USL Pro for 2011.^{[8] [9]} The Pittsburgh Riverhounds were added as the 9th official team on October 22, 2010. ^[10] October 25, 2010 saw the addition of the Rochester Rhinos^[11] who had previously committed to the NASL, along with expansion side Orlando City Soccer Club (formerly the Austin Aztex of USL First Division) after new ownership secured and moved the team from Texas to Florida.^[12]

On November 9, 2010, former USL-2 Division side Wilmington Hammerheads officially joined the league as the 12th team.^[13] They were followed by FC New York on November 17, 2010.^[13] The Los Angeles Blues, associated with the successful women's Pali Blues organization, were added with a message of future "Western Conference" growth into 2012, on December 7, 2010.^[14]

The "Caribbean Division" of USL Pro grew to four teams with the addition of Puerto Rico United to the league on December 9, 2010,^[15] rounding out the 15 teams that would compete in USL Pro for its inaugural season.

International Division reformed

On May 10, 2011, the USL announced that it was "reforming" its agreement with the Puerto Rican Soccer League and dropping the three Puerto Rican clubs from the USL PRO schedule.^[16] The PRSL clubs were dropped due to economic and ownership issues, and the two remaining International Division teams - Antigua Barracuda FC and Los Angeles Blues - were re-aligned into the American and National Divisions.

Competition format

USL Pro will debut in 2011 with 15 teams playing a 24-game regular season schedule.

American and National Division teams play 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 play 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.^[17][18][19]

The original playoff format saw eight teams compete in a one-game quarterfinal. Both the American and National Divisions will see their top three teams advance for an inter-divisional playoff, while the top 2 teams in the International Division will play-off against each other to reach the semifinals. The four remaining teams will be re-seeded for a single semi-final match, again with the higher seed hosting, leading up to a single match for the USL Pro Championship. In all playoff matches the highest seeded team hosts.^[20] Due to the removal of the International Division, the revised playoff format features the top four teams in each of the two divisions. The two eventual division playoff winners will meet in the USL Pro Championship, at the home venue of the team with the better record.

Organization

On September 14, 2010, USL President Tim Holt expressed the desired structure for the league to launch with 14-18 teams across 4 specific geographic areas in 2011, expansion to 22-26 teams by 2013, and 28-32 teams by 2015.^[21] 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,^[13] however 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.^[17]

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.^[5] 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".^[15] With the inclusion of a team from Los Angeles, this division eventually became the International Division.

On May 10, 2011, the USL announced it formally removed the three Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL) teams from the 2011 USL PRO schedule due to severe economic difficulties and serious unforeseen medical situations involving owners from two of the three PRSL teams. The USL announced a revised schedule for USL PRO, with the Antigua Barracuda FC joining the American Division and the Los Angeles Blues joining the National Division as part of the adjusted divisional alignment resulting in two, six-team divisions.

Media coverage

The league will feature national broadcast coverage on Fox Soccer Channel.^[13]

Clubs

Expansion Clubs

On November 16, 2011, USL announced that VisionPro Sports Institute (VSI) will be creating an academy, PDL team, W-League team, and a USL Pro team in Tampa, Florida. The USL Pro team is set to begin play in 2013. ^[22]

Former Clubs

• Puerto Rico United
• River Plate Puerto Rico
• Sevilla Puerto Rico

Championships

See also

• United States Soccer Federation
• Major League Soccer
• North American Soccer League
• United Soccer Leagues
• USL Premier Development League

References

External Links

• Official USL Pro site