The 1998
Premier Development Soccer League season was the 4th PDSL season. The season began in April 1998 and ended in August 1998.
San Gabriel Valley Highlanders
Los Angeles Highlanders FC are an American soccer team. They play their home games at Moyse Stadium on the grounds of Glendale High School in the city of Glendale, California.
History
The Highlanders were founded in 1997 by a group of Armeni ...
won the championship, defeating the
Jackson Chargers
The Jackson Chargers were an American soccer team based in Jackson, Mississippi that played in the PDL (formerly the ''USISL Premier League'') from 1995 to 1999. The team had very successful consecutive seasons in 1998 and 1999, becoming regul ...
3–2. Jackson won the regular season title, winning all 16 games and posting a whopping +84 goal difference. Four teams from the
Pacific Coast Soccer League
The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past clubs from Washington and Oregon have competed.
PCSL is considered to be British Columbia's premier summer league. The ...
joined as associate members this season, with two (Abbotsford and Seattle) going on to become full members in 1999.
Changes from the 1997 season
Name changes
* Puget Sound BigFoot changed name to
Seattle BigFoot.
New teams
13 teams were added for the season, 9 expansion teams and four associates from the
Pacific Coast Soccer League
The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past clubs from Washington and Oregon have competed.
PCSL is considered to be British Columbia's premier summer league. The ...
.
Teams leaving
The
Cincinnati Riverhawks
The Cincinnati Riverhawks were a professional soccer team that debuted in the USISL Premier Development League in 1997 and joined the A-League from 1998 to 2003. They played their games at Galbreath Field in Kings Mills, Ohio and later at the Ha ...
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 competiti ...
and the
Miami Breakers were promoted to the
D3 Pro League following the 1997 season.
7 teams folded after the 1997 season:
*
Bellingham Orcas
*
Chattanooga Express
Chattanooga Express were a soccer club that competed in the USISL
from 1992 to 1997. The club originally started in 1992 as the Chattanooga Railroaders in the USISL. They became the Chattanooga Express in 1993. The club played in both the indoor a ...
*
Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internation ...
*
Michigan Madness
Michigan Madness were a USISL soccer club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that played for two seasons. They began operations in 1995 as the Ann Arbor Elite and prior to the 1996 season, became the Madness. Before the 1997 season, the club folded.
No ...
*
Omaha Flames
The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Omaha, Nebraska, United States at the Omaha Civic Auditorium from 2005–07. Following the 2006–07 season, the Calgary Flames announ ...
(team folded early in 1998 season, division games were rescheduled)
*
Southwest Florida Manatees The Southwest Florida Manatees were an American soccer team that played in Cape Coral, Florida.
In the 1997 season they played in the United States Interregional Soccer League Premier Development Soccer League. In the 1998 season, they played i ...
*
West Florida Fury
The
Lexington Bluegrass Bandits
The Lexington Bluegrass Bandits were an American soccer team that played in Lexington, Kentucky.
They joined the USISL in 1994, and moved to the USISL Pro League in 1995. They were relegated to the USISL Premier League
USL League Two (USL ...
and
Tucson Amigos went on hiatus for this year.
Standings
Central Division
Great Lakes Division
Northwest Division
Southeast Division
Southwest Division
Playoffs
Format
''Kalamazoo hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals.''
''The top four teams from the Central, Great Lakes, Southeast, and Southwest divisions, however, if Kalamazoo places in the top four in the Central Division, the fifth place team will take their spot. The top two teams in the Northwest Division will play the top two associate teams from the
PCSL. The team with the most points to lose in the Divisional rounds will play in the Regional round as a wild card against the Divisional champion with the most points. The remaining four teams will play each other based on geography.''
Divisional brackets
Regional finals
PDSL finals bracket
Honors
* Organization of the Year:
Jackson Chargers
The Jackson Chargers were an American soccer team based in Jackson, Mississippi that played in the PDL (formerly the ''USISL Premier League'') from 1995 to 1999. The team had very successful consecutive seasons in 1998 and 1999, becoming regul ...
* Executive of the Year: Dave Nesbit,
Des Moines Menace
Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The Menace have had sustained success in USL League Two duri ...
* Fair Play Award:
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, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pdsl 1998 Season
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
4
1998 in Canadian soccer