The Premier League of America (PLA) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league consisting of teams in cities in the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The league was a part of the

United States Adult Soccer Association The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for amateur soccer in the United States. It consists of 55 state organizations as well as national, regional and state leagues. The National Premier Soccer League, NISA ...

. It began its first season of play in 2015 as the Great Lakes Premier League, and at the end of the 2017 season its member clubs moved to form the Midwest Conference of the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was found ...

History

Grand Rapids FC Grand Rapids FC was an American soccer club based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose senior men's team played in USL League Two. The team was founded in 2014 and ceased operations in 2021. Its first season was in 2015. It was initially funded ...

and

AFC Ann Arbor AFC Ann Arbor is an American soccer club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that currently plays in USL League Two. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2016 to 2019. History AFC Ann Arbor was started by a group of Ann Arbor ...

both applied to become members of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

for the start of the 2015 season and they were both denied admission to the league. Instead of waiting a year or finding another league, the teams decided to start a league of their own. AFC Ann Arbor owner Jamey Amrine and Grand Rapids FC president Matt Roberts began discussions with other teams to gauge interest in forming a new league. Their work led to the formation of the Great Lakes Premier League. The new league held its inaugural league meeting on January 17, 2015 in

Grand Rapids, MI Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

. The two clubs were joined as charter members by Oakland United - later Oakland County FC - based in Rochester, Michigan, and two decades-old

Croatian American Croatian Americans or Croat Americans ( hr, Američki Hrvati) are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 Un ...

clubs, Croatian Eagles SC of Milwaukee and RWB Adria of Chicago. Before the inaugural season began,

Milwaukee Bavarians Bavarian United SC is an American soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Bavarian Majors of the Bavarian Soccer Club compete in the United Premier Soccer League. The team plays its home games in the athletic stadium at the Hear ...

was announced as the first expansion franchise, to begin play in 2016. A second expansion team,

Toledo United FC Toledo United was an American soccer team based in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It played in the Premier League of America (PLA). The team's colors were orange and white. History Toledo United was founded in 2016 as an expansion team for the Pr ...

, joined in July 2015. In September 2015, AFC Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids FC left the GLPL for the NPSL. The following November, the

Madison 56ers Madison 56ers is an American soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 2005, the team plays in the United Premier Soccer League. Prior to the 2009 season the team was known as the Princeton 56ers. Since their inception t ...

left the NPSL after eleven seasons to join the Great Lakes Premier League. The league announced on December 8, 2015 that they would be rebranding as Premier League of America, to more accurately reflect the potential growth of the league away from the Great Lakes area. Two days later, Carpathia FC of

Sterling Heights, Michigan Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan, and one of Detroit's core suburbs. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a total population of 134,346. It is the second largest suburb in Metro Detroit, and the fourth la ...

in the Detroit suburbs was added as team number eight. The same month,

Aris SC LC Aris FC is an American soccer team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 2008, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a regional amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The ...

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

and

Aurora Borealis SC The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was foun ...

from

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

were added. Aris has since been removed from PLA announcements. A tenth team was added on January 11, 2016, as

Minnesota United FC Reserves Established in 2013, Minnesota United FC Reserves were an American professional soccer club based in Woodbury, Minnesota who played in the Premier League of America. The team served as a development squad for their parent club, Minnesota United ...

moved over from the NPSL. An eleventh team for 2016 was added on January 13, 2016, as Stegman's Soccer Club joined as

Minneapolis City SC Minneapolis City SC (known informally as Mpls City SC or The Crows) is an American soccer club based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 2016, the team plays in the USL League Two, the top national league at the fourth tier of ...

. After their single season in the PLA, Minneapolis City announced their move to the NPSL. On August 1, 2016 it was announced that Muskegon Risers SC would join the Premier League of America for the 2017 season after a unanimous 12-0 vote by current team owners. On September 6, 2017, the United Premier Soccer League announced that eleven of the twelve PLA clubs (all save Grand Rapids Ole SC) had joined its league and would comprise the UPSL's new Midwest Conference.

Competition format

In 2015 the league had a schedule that featured round robin play, where each team played every other team home and away. The league did not host a post-season tournament in 2015 and determined its champion based on the final season standings. As part of the re-branding announcement for 2016, it was announced there would be a two-division geographical split, with an end-of-season championship playoff. The league will host a championship tournament at a neutral site with the top two teams from each division qualifying.

Teams

*¹ as Oakland United

Expansion

Champions

2015 standings

2016 standings and playoffs

East Division

West Division

Playoffs

The semifinals were played on July 30. The final and third place matches were played on July 31. Bold = winner
* =

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, ( ) = penalty shootout score

2017 standings and playoffs

East Division

West Division

Playoffs

Played at Heartland Value Fund Stadium in Glendale, Wisconsin. Bold = winner
* =

, ( ) = penalty shootout score

References

External links

Premier League of America
{{USSoccer Defunct soccer leagues in the United States Summer association football leagues