The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's

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 in 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 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the

United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

behind

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. It was operated by

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

s (USL) and was known as 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 ...

, from 1997 until 2004. Several teams left the league in 2009 to form the new

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, with the intent of running their own second-tier league. Following a brief legal dispute, the two leagues operated in tandem under

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

(USSF) mediation as the

USSF Division 2 Professional League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

in 2010 before the split became final. The teams that remained in the First Division were merged with the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

in 2011 to form

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

History

When the A-League became the USL First Division in 2005, the league comprised 12 teams: Atlanta Silverbacks,

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professional soccer clubs in th ...

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its home ...

, Montreal Impact, Portland Timbers,

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

, Richmond Kickers,

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

, and

Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American soccer club, who formerly played in the USL First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, the second division in the US Soccer hierarchy behind Major League Soccer. On March 30, 2007 the team folded due ...

. The Calgary Mustangs,

Edmonton Aviators The Edmonton Aviators were a soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The club was founded in 2003 as a member of the United Soccer League's A-League and folded after playing only one season in 2004. Midway through the season, with the clu ...

, and Syracuse Salty Dogs, all of whom competed in the final A-League season in 2004, folded during the offseason, and did not take up their places in the new league. The

won the inaugural USL1 championship, beating Richard on penalty kicks in the championship game after a 1–1 tie in regulation time. The

won the first of their two USL1 titles in 2006 by beating the

3–0 in the championship game, while Seattle won their second title in 2007 by overcoming the Atlanta Silverbacks in a one-sided 4–0 final. Vancouver won their second USL1 championship in 2008 by beating the

2–1 in the first USL1 final to feature no American teams; the championship went north of the border again in 2009 when Montreal Impact won their first USL1 title, beating Vancouver 6–3 on aggregate over two legs in the first all-Canadian affair. On August 27, 2009,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

agreed to sell its stake in the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(USL) to

Rob Hoskins Rob Hoskins (born May 18, 1965) is a global development leader and president of OneHope. Rob has overseen startups, spearheaded sustainable local & global transformation initiatives, and advised NGOs and higher education institutions. He also c ...

and Alec Papadakis of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

-based NuRock Soccer Holdings, instead of to the USL Team Owner's Association (TOA), a group comprising the owners of several USL First Division clubs. In the months that followed, several prominent TOA members began to voice their concerns about the state of the league in general, its management structure and ownership model, the leadership of USL president Francisco Marcos, and about the sale of the league to NuRock, which the TOA felt was counter-productive and detrimental to the development of the league. Within several weeks, a number of TOA member clubs threatened to break away from USL and start their own league; this break away became official on November 10, 2009, when the majority of USL-1 clubs, as well as one of the expected 2010 expansion franchises, applied to the

, the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

, and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

for approval to create a new

, reducing the league's membership to just three teams. After lawsuits were filed and heated press statements exchanged, the

(USSF) declared they would sanction neither the NASL nor the USL First Division in 2010, and ordered both "camps" to work together on a plan to temporarily allow their teams to play a 2010 season. The interim solution was announced on January 7, 2010, with the USSF running the new

USSF D2 Pro League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

comprising clubs from both USL-1 and NASL. All 12 teams from the USL First Division and the NASL competed in the USSF D2 Pro League in 2010, which was won by the

. On September 8, 2010, the USL announced the formation of

which would merge the USL First Division and

to begin play in 2011. The merger is meant to consolidate USL's position within the American professional soccer landscape and focus on commercial growth and professional development of soccer in 4 main regions throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. The First Division was formally dissolved following the completion of the temporary season to make way for

Expansion and contraction

Prior to 2010, the league had a steady rate of expansion and contraction. Richmond was voluntarily relegated to the

in 2006 to cut costs, Toronto was voluntarily relegated to the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

in 2007 because of

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

expansion, and on March 30, 2007, the

folded just prior to the start of the 2007 season due to an ownership dispute which left the team without financing. These teams were replaced by two new teams: the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games ...

from the

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

region of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, playing out of

Cary Cary may refer to: Places ;United States * Cary, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolitan area * Cary, Indiana, part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area * Cary, Miami County, Indiana * Cary, Maine * Cary, Mississippi * Cary, North Carolina ...

, and

California Victory The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but ceased operation in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdre ...

, a team in Northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

under the ownership of

Dmitry Piterman Dmitry Piterman ( ua, Дмитро Пітерман; born 18 December 1963) is a Ukrainian-American businessman. He owned Spanish La Liga football clubs Racing de Santander and Deportivo Alavés in the 2000s. Early years Piterman was born to a Jew ...

(chairman of Spanish team

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

) which folded after the end of the 2007 season, having played only one season. In November 2008, the Atlanta Silverbacks announced that they would sit out the 2009 season to "reassess the landscape," and would possibly return at a future date. Similarly, the

left prior to the 2009 season due to the imminent entrance of Seattle Sounders FC into

. Their spot in the league was taken by the

Cleveland City Stars The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club folde ...

, who won the

title in 2008, and voluntarily moved up to USL-1 for the 2009 season, folded at the end of the year. On December 2, 2009, Inside Minnesota Soccer reported that the USL had asked the City Stars to terminate the contracts of all the players, as the franchise was to be dissolved. Posting an email addressed to all players under contract with the Cleveland City Stars and written by team president Jonathan Ortlip and executive director Aaron Tredway, the club executives went on to accept the decision to terminate the franchise. On June 19, 2008, an announcement was made that an expansion slot had been awarded to a

Tampa Bay, Florida Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

-based franchise led by main investors

Andrew Nestor Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

(CEO) and

Hinds Howard Hinds may refer to: Deer, especially does *Deer People with the surname Hinds: * Hinds (surname) In places: *Hinds, New Zealand, a small town *Hinds County, Mississippi, a US county * Hinds Lake, a lake in Minnesota * Hinds River, a river that fl ...

(chairman) of

Citrus Ventures ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

. The plan was for the club to join the league in 2010 and be named the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

Expansion rumors

Possible cities mentioned for future campaigns included

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

and

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. Syracuse had had a highly attended team in the A-League from 2002 to 2004, but it folded due to stadium issues, having ground-shared with the local baseball team. Fort Lauderdale also had a history of teams from the NASL, American Soccer League, and USL First Division. There was also discussion that Argentinian team River Plate is interested in putting a second USL team in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, as well as discussion that recent start-up team, the

San Diego Flash San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National ...

may also join either the USL or NASL. Prior to the 2009 NASL split several other cities had been mentioned as being locations where future USL-1 franchises might launch, including

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

(led by the current

(PDL) franchise

St. Louis Lions St. Louis Lions was an American soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team played its home games at the Tony Glavin Socc ...

);

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

(with Mexican side

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

being rumored as connected to it);

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

;

Detroit, Michigan 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 ...

;

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

;

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

; and

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. On September 1, 2009, a group from Ottawa formally applied for USL-1 team, contingent on the approval of updates to

Lansdowne Park Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Ot ...

. The team would share a field with the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...

football team. The Ottawa group subsequently committed to the NASL.

Structure

Unlike most other nations, there is no system of merit-based

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and Canadian pyramids, meaning that the champions of USL-1 could not move up to

and, similarly, the worst teams in MLS were not in danger of being demoted to USL-1. However, some USL-1 teams had in the past chosen to take voluntary relegation to a lower level of the USL system, often to reduce operating costs, while teams had also decided to move up to USL-1 after finding success at the lower levels.

Playoff format

The top seven teams advanced to the playoff tournament, with the Commissioner's Cup winner (regular season champion) receiving a bye into the semi-finals. Each round consisted of two legs, the lower seeded team hosting the first leg, and the higher seed hosting the second. Prior to 2009, the final was played as a single leg at the higher seed's stadium. After the first legs were completed, the lowest remaining seed played the Commissioner's Cup winner, and the higher seeds played each other. The highest remaining seed hosted the penultimate game of the Finals. The playoffs started the week after the completion of the regular season, and typically ended in mid-October.

Teams

* Atlanta Silverbacks (2005–08) * Austin Aztex (2008–09) (2010 season played in

) *

(2007) *

(2007–09) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League for NASL Conference) *

(2005–09) *

(2009) *

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second ti ...

(2010) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League) *

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

(2006–09) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League for NASL Conference) *

(2005–09) * Montreal Impact (2005–09) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League for NASL Conference) * Portland Timbers (2005–10) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League) *

(2005–10) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League) * Richmond Kickers (2005) *

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

(2005–10) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League) *

(2005–08) *

(2005–06) *

(2005–09) (2010 season played in USSF D2 Pro League for NASL Conference) *

(2005–06) DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Define $now = 09/01/2014 ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:22 Period = from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2014 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:lightline value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a current club id:Former value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a former club id:USSFD2 value:rgb(0.000,0.996,0.996) # Use this color to denote a USSF D2 season id:MLS value:rgb(0.996,0.598,0.996) # Use this color to denote a club that moved on to MLS id:NASL value:rgb(0.398,0.699,0.996) # Use this color to denote a club that went to NASL id:USL value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a club that went to USL league id:PDL-D2 value:rgb(0.897,0.698,0.698) # Use this color to denote a club that went to PDL id:Hiatus value:rgb(0.996,0.797,0.598) # Use this color to denote a club that was on hiatus for a period but returned PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2008 text: Atlanta Silverbacks (2005–08) bar:1 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2009 till:12/31/2010 bar:1 color:NASL from:01/01/2011 till:end text: NASL (2011-2015) bar:2 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2005–2009) bar:2 color:PDL-D2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text: USL 2nd Div bar:2 color:USL from:01/01/2011 till:end text:

(2011-present) bar:3 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2005–2009) bar:4 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text: Montreal Impact (2005–2009) bar:4 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text: USSF D2 bar:4 color:NASL from:01/01/2011 till:12/31/2012 text:NASL (2011) bar:4 color:MLS from:01/01/2012 till:end text: Montreal Impact in MLS (2012-present) bar:5 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text: Portland Timbers (2005–2009) bar:5 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:5 color:MLS from:01/01/2011 till:end text: Portland Timbers in MLS (2011-present) bar:15 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2005–2009) bar:15 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:15 color:NASL from:01/01/2011 till:12/31/2012 text:NASL (2011-2012) bar:6 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2005 text: Richmond Kickers (2005) bar:6 color:PDL-D2 from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2010 shift:(50,-5) text:

(2006-2010) bar:6 color:USL from:01/01/2011 till:end text:USL Pro (2011-present) bar:7 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2005–2009) bar:7 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:7 color:USL from:01/01/2011 till:end text:USL Pro (2011-present) bar:8 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2008 text:

(2005–2008) bar:8 color:MLS from:01/01/2009 till:end text:

in MLS (2009-present) bar:9 color:Former from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2006 text:

(2005–2006) bar:9 color:PDL-D2 from:01/01/2007 till:12/31/2014 text:

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

(2008-2014) bar:10 color:Full from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2005–2009) bar:10 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:10 color:MLS from:01/01/2011 till:end text:

in MLS (2011-present) bar:11 color:Former from:01/01/2005 till:12/31/2006 text:

(2005–2006) bar:12 color:Full from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2006–2009) bar:12 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:12 color:NASL from:01/01/2011 till:end text:

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 ...

in NASL (2011-present) bar:13 color:Former from:01/01/2007 till:12/31/2007 text:

(2007) bar:14 color:Full from:01/01/2007 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2007–2009) bar:14 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:14 color:NASL from:01/01/2011 till:end text:NASL (2011-2017); USL (2018–) bar:20 color:Full from:01/01/2008 till:12/31/2009 text: Austin Aztex (2008–09) bar:20 color:USSFD2 from:01/01/2010 till:12/31/2010 text:USSF D2 bar:20 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2011 till:12/31/2011 bar:20 color:PDL-D2 from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2014 text:USL PDL (2012-14)† bar:20 color:USL from:01/01/2014 till:end text:USL Pro (2015-) bar:21 color:Former from:01/01/2009 till:12/31/2009 text:

(2009) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2005 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:month increment:6 start:01/01/2005 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text: #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <# †The Austin Aztex have been awarded a

franchise and will begin play in 2015 in that league. * ''See also

League champions / top goal scorer

Regular season champions (Commissioner’s Cup winners)

Most successful clubs

League average attendance

All-time USL leaders

*Note: includes stats from the old A-League

Notes

* (*) Puerto Rico can qualify for the CFU Club Championship via a domestic cup competition.

References

External links

Official site
(archived)
Unofficial fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usl First Division Fir Defunct soccer leagues in the United States Defunct soccer leagues in Canada