The 1997 Premier Development Soccer League season was its 3rd. The season began in April 1997 and ended in August 1997.

Central Coast Roadrunners Central Coast Roadrunners were an American soccer team, founded in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2002, after which the team left th ...

successfully defended the championship, defeating the

Cocoa Expos Cocoa Expos was an American soccer team, founded in 1993. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2007, when the team left the league and the fran ...

3-2.

Spokane Shadow Spokane Shadow is an American soccer team, founded in 1996. The team competes in the National Premier Soccer League as well as the Evergreen Premier League, one of United States Adult Soccer Association's elite amateur leagues. From 1996 to 2005, ...

won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.

Changes from 1996 season

Name changes

* Miami Tango changed their name to Miami Breakers. * Puget Sound Hammerheads merged with the D-3 Pro's Everett BigFoot to become Puget Sound BigFoot. * Southern California Gunners changed their name to Southern California Chivas.

New teams

6 teams were added for the season.

Teams Leaving

The

Nashville Metros The Nashville Metros were an American soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1989, the team most recently played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South ...

were promoted to the

A League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

. The

Arizona Sahuaros Sporting Arizona FC is an American soccer team based in Arizona. Founded in 1989, Sporting Arizona FC is Arizona's professional development club. The foundation of Sporting's development model is to bring international talent to play in Arizona, ...

(formerly the Arizona Phoenix),

Austin Lone Stars The Austin Lone Stars were a soccer club that competed in the SISL, USISL and United Soccer Leagues from 1987 to 2000. The club originally started in 1987/88 as the Austin Sockadillos in the original indoor SISL league. They became the Austin Lone S ...

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

(formerly Florida Strikers), and San Francisco Bay Seals were promoted to the D-3 Pro League. 6 teams folded after the 1996 season: * Birmingham Grasshoppers * Fontana Falcons * Oklahoma City Heat *

Orlando Lions The Orlando Lions were an American soccer team from Orlando, Florida which existed from 1985 to 1996. Over the years, the Lions competed at both the amateur and professional levels including some seasons as an independent team. The Lions is a ni ...

* Roanoke River Dawgs * San Diego Top Guns The Wichita Blue went on hiatus for this year, and the

Willamette Valley Firebirds Willamette Valley Firebirds were an American soccer team that played in Corvallis, Oregon. They began as the Palo Alto Firebirds based in Palo Alto, California. They moved to San Jose, California in 1994 and became the Silicon Valley Firebirds. Th ...

went on hiatus for the next two years.

Standings

Central Conference

Central Division

North Central Division

Eastern Conference

Mid-South Division

Southeast Division

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Southwest Division

Playoffs

Format

''Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion.''
''The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.''

Divisional brackets

PDSL Finals Brackets

United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
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Honors

* Organization of the Year:

Kalamazoo Kingdom Kalamazoo Kingdom were an American soccer team, founded in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2006, when the team left the league and th ...

* Executive of the Year: Jeff Robbins,

* Fair Play Award:

Detroit Dynamite Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pdsl 1997 Season

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...