United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a

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 and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the USL Championship, USL League One, USL League Two, and the youth

Super Y League The Super Y League is a youth soccer league with teams from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1999, the Super Y League is dedicated to the progression of future professional players and has steered the course for development of elite c ...

. A new women's league, the USL W League, began play in 2022. It is directly affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation and the United States Adult Soccer Association. The USL is headquartered in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

History

Year by year

* 1986 - The original USL is established as the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. * 1989 - An outdoor league, known as the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League is added. * 1990 - The indoor and outdoor leagues merge, becoming the Sunbelt Independent Soccer League. * 1991 - The SISL is renamed the United States Interregional Soccer League. * 1995 - The USISL is renamed the United States International Soccer League. Later that year, the USISL is renamed United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues and formally establishes professional Pro League and amateur

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 syst ...

. The USL W-League women's semi-pro league is also launched. * 1996 - Select League is established consisting of strongest teams from Division 3 Pro League and Amateur Premier League in hopes of gaining Division 2 sanctioning. * 1997 - Select League and the former

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

merge to form

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 ...

under the USISL umbrella. * 1999 - Umbrella USISL changes its name to the United Soccer Leagues. * 2009 - Nike sells organization to NuRock Soccer Holdings, LLC. As a result, nine clubs left the First Division to form the

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 ba ...

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, Carolina RailHawks FC, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, Rochester Rhinos, Tampa Bay Rowdies,

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 March ...

, and the AC St. Louis expansion group. The United Soccer League becomes a division in the temporary USSF Division 2 league, due to a dispute between the NASL and the USL over Division 2 status. * 2010 - The USL announce the formation of USL Pro, which merged the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

and USL Second Division. * 2011 - The Inaugural season of USL Pro is held. The USL takes over operation of the Major Indoor Soccer League. * 2013 - USL Pro and

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 Cana ...

announce a multi-year agreement, beginning that season, to integrate MLS Reserve League play with USL Pro teams, first through team affiliations and "interleague" play, eventually fully merging MLS Reserves into the USL Pro structure. The W-20 League is launched, a youth league that is operationally aligned with the USL W-League. * 2015 - USL Pro is renamed the United Soccer League. The USL W-League and W-20 League cease operations. * 2017 - The USL is granted Provisional Division II status by

U.S. Soccer 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 ...

. The USL also creates the USL Division III league, filing for Division III status with U.S. Soccer. * 2018 - The USL announces re-branding of its top league to the USL Championship, USL Division III to USL League One, and the Premier Development League to USL League Two beginning with the 2019 season. * 2021 - The USL announces two new women's competitions, the amateur W League launching in the 2022 season and the professional Super League launching in 2023.

Narrative

Founded in 1985 by Francisco Marcos, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League was first intended as a minor indoor league associated with Major Indoor Soccer League. The league began with five teams, all owned by individuals who owned or operated indoor soccer arenas in the Southwest United States. League headquarters was in Austin, Texas. In 1986, Marcos' team, the

Austin Sockadillos Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...

, entered the league giving it six teams. By 1989, the league had set its sights on greater prospects than remaining a small, semi-professional indoor league. A 1989 press release stated, "It is envisioned the league will be part of the USSF's plan to professionalize soccer in the USA prior to the 1994 World Cup, and the league plans to push its teams to be considered for the "three-tiered first, second and third divisions" plan the USSF envisions for soccer."

Complete historical team list

UISL/USISL

Champions

Indoor seasons

The USL began operations in 1986 as the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, a semi-professional indoor league. The league quickly expanded and added an outdoor season in 1989. In 1991, the league renamed itself the United States Interregional Soccer League. By then, the outdoor league overshadowed the indoor league which continued to slowly dwindle in importance. By the 1997–98 season, only five teams remained indoors while the outdoor season had over a hundred teams divided into a three-division structure. This led the league to stop running an indoor league. In 2010, the USL began to consider relaunching an indoor season. However, it decided instead to take over operations of the Major Indoor Soccer League; beginning indoor operations in 2011. The champions were determined by a single games in 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998. The champions were determined by a best of three series in 1998 and a best of five series in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and a home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013.

Outdoor seasons 1989–2010

In 1989, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League added a summer, outdoor season known as the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League. In 1990, the league dropped both "indoor" and "outdoor" from its name as it ran both a semi-professional indoor and outdoor season. By 1995, the outdoor season had grown to such a size that the USISL, as it was known at the time, split the league into two levels, the aptly named, fully professional Professional League and the semi-professional Premier League. In 1996, the USISL added a third, higher, Select League. This was formed from the strongest teams from both the Professional and Premier League. The Select League, along with the competing

, both received official Division II status from FIFA. However, the A-League was in decline while the USISL was expanding. In 1997, the A-League ceased operations and merged into the USISL Select League which was renamed the USISL A-League. From that point, the USL's three-level structure remained stable until 2010. Some teams left to start the

and the First and Second Divisions were merged to become USL Pro.

Outdoor seasons 2011–2018

United Soccer League 2019–present

W-League seasons 1995–2015

W League seasons 2022–present

Staff

* Alec Papadakis – Chief executive officer * Jake Edwards – President * Justin Papadakis – Chief operating officer and chief real estate officer

References

External links

* {{Soccer in Canada Companies based in Tampa, Florida American companies established in 1986 Entertainment companies established in 1986 Soccer governing bodies in the United States Soccer governing bodies in Canada