The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is 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 that was founded in Santa Ana in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and recently

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and

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. The league was founded in 2011 by

Santa Ana Winds FC Santa Ana Winds FC, also known as Winds FC, is a soccer team founded in Santa Ana, California, and a founding United Premier Soccer League club currently playing at the Lake Forest Sports Park, with occasional matches played at Championship Stad ...

President Leonel López as a regional league for teams in

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Co ...

, but expanded to include 400 teams from 41 states as of the 2022 season. Two seasons are played each year, with regional play culminating in a playoff system that crowns a single national champion each season. The league features internal promotion and relegation with up to three levels in some regions; only clubs in the top tier Premier Division are eligible to compete for the national championship. The league is a National Affiliate member of

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 ...

, and a National League within the larger

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 ...

History

The UPSL was formed in 2011 with 10 teams, and has grown to include over 400 member clubs across the nation. Now featuring numerous MLS U19 teams including LAFC, Philadelphia Union and LA Galaxy, the Premier Division is widely regarded as occupying the unofficial 4th tier of US Soccer. Each UPSL team is independently owned and operated. The league consists of two seasons each calendar year, with the Spring season beginning in March and ending with national playoffs in July, and a Fall season with play beginning in September with national playoffs in December. UPSL announced it would begin promotion/relegation system beginning in 2017. Teams will compete in two divisions: Pro Premier and Division One. In November 2016 the UPSL announced the addition of a Colorado conference set to begin in 2017. In August 2017, the league announced that all eleven clubs of the Premier League of America would be joining the UPSL as a new Midwest Conference. The conference will initiate friendlies during the 2017 Fall Season and begin league play in 2018.

U.S. Open Cup

Former member club PSA Elite is known for reaching the fourth round of the

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and the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by knocking out higher-level professional teams. Three UPSL teams,

La Máquina FC La Máquina is an American amateur football club, based out of the Santa Ana, California area, in central Orange County, competing in the United Premier Soccer League. The club takes its name and identity from Cruz Azul of Liga MX, and was formed ...

L.A. Wolves FC L.A. Wolves FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Torrance, California. They are named after the Los Angeles Wolves who played in the United Soccer Association in 1967 and in the North American Soccer League in 1968. The club features i ...

, and

San Nicolas FC San Nicolás FC is an American soccer club from Pomona, California, competing in the United Premier Soccer League. 2017 UPSL Resurgence San Nicolás FC returned to the UPSL in June 2017, taking the place of Moreno Valley FC, that dropped out of ...

qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open Cup. La Máquina FC advanced to the fourth round (knocking out Portland Timbers U23, Sacramento Gold, and LA Wolves FC) before falling to

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began p ...

. The UPSL's participants in the 2016 US Open Cup altogether defeated teams from the

PDL PDL is an initialism for: Politics * Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania *Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former political party in Italy *Pole of Freedom ...

(Timbers U-23), NPSL (Sacramento Gold), and USL ( Orange County Blues FC).

League structure

The UPSL operates in a geographical conference structure with localized Divisions within each Conference. The number of Divisions within each Conference varies based on various geographical factors including distance and population. There is often more than one team within a specific geographical area. More dense Conferences are divided into a promotion/relegation structure with Division I and Division II.

Teams as of 2018

2021 Season

Premier Division

Champions

References

External links

* {{Soccer in Canada United States Adult Soccer Association leagues Soccer leagues in the United States 2011 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 2011