The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league. The league is officially affiliated to the

United States Adult Soccer Association The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for Amateur sports, amateur Association football, soccer in the United States. It consists of 54 state associations in four regions, as well as national, regional, and ...

(USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. It is the successor of the Men's Premier Soccer League, a regional league originally based in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, which has now expanded nationwide to encompass teams from 29 states. The league's motto is "A National League with a Regional Focus".

Competition format

The National Premier Soccer League is divided into four separate regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West). Each region is divided into conferences with a varying number of teams per conference. The regular season runs from May to July with the exception of the West Region that has historically started in late March or early April. The NPSL currently has automatic berths in the U.S. Open Cup where they gain eligibility towards the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

History

The National Premier Soccer League began in 2003 as the Men's Premier Soccer League (MPSL) initially as an offshoot of the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

, and marked the first instance of a women's soccer league spawning a men's league. The league's first two champions were the

Arizona Sahuaros Sporting Arizona FC is an American developmental soccer team based in Arizona that was founded in 1989. They compete in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) Premier Division. History The club originally started in 1989 as the Phoenix Hearts ...

, who had defected to the MPSL from the

USL D-3 Pro League 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 United States soccer league system, third tier of soccer in the United ...

, and the Utah Salt Ratz. The league expanded into the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

in 2005 with the addition of several new teams and a new conference, and changed its name to National Premier Soccer League to reflect its new national footprint; a team from the expansion conference – Detroit Arsenal – won the league in its first year after its eastward expansion. The NPSL expanded further in 2007 with the addition of a new Northeast Conference and five new teams from the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. The first team from the East to win the national NPSL title was the

Pennsylvania Stoners The Pennsylvania Stoners were an American soccer team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007, the team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, i ...

in 2008. The league has since continued to expand, adding more teams throughout the entirety of the country. Since its inception, the league has managed to place at least one team actively playing under its banner into U.S. Open Cup competition. Though the showing of the NPSL in US Open Cup play was typically only one or two teams in its first six years, the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

cups have seen four and three, respectively, NPSL teams in each tournament. The recent success of the NPSL in USASA qualifying has encouraged a movement by which the league could have automatic berths in the final tournament. The furthest a team from the NPSL has reached in the US Open Cup during the professional era (1997 and onward after the entry of MLS teams) has been the third round. However, the Brooklyn Italians have won the US Open Cup outright before the existence of either MLS or the NPSL. Although no team has ever won the league twice, the Miami FC camp has won the championship twice as a club. Its reserve team (Miami FC 2) won the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

title, and its first team (Miami FC) won the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

championship.

Status

Officially the USSF does not recognize formal levels of the soccer pyramid below the professional 3rd tier. The USSF does not officially recognize distinctions between amateur soccer leagues in the United States. However, the USASA sanctions affiliated, but separately run, national leagues that are recognized in practical terms as playing at a higher level than the USASA state association leagues; for example, they receive automatic berths to the US Open Cup. In November 2022, USASA announced it had established a Tier 1, which would be its top national tier. This designation would be based on financial stability and sustainability. After 20 years of association with USASA, NPSL would become their first Tier 1 league. The National Premier Soccer League attracts top amateur talent from around the United States. NPSL does not have any age limits or restrictions, thus incorporating both college players and former professional players alike.

Regional Conferences

In the fall of 2024, NPSL announced the establishment of regional conference leagues that will provide a path for more teams to reach the Tier 1 status full NPSL teams have with USASA. The first conference will be the Pacific Conference and will exist of the following six teams: JASA Redwood City, Marin County SC, Racing Sacramento City FC, Real San Jose, San Leandro United FC, and Yemen United California. The new conference will start in the fall of 2024.

Organization

The NPSL is organized in a mostly decentralized structure and is managed as a team-run league. Each year the member clubs help elect a chairman, treasurer, and secretary and an eight-member board of directors. Each team is individually owned and operated, and is responsible for maintaining league minimum standards. New teams seeking membership into the NPSL are subject to approval from an executive committee of existing team owners. Member clubs have the right to make localized decisions for their respective markets, conferences, and regions based on what they believe is best for their particular region. Each conference is managed by the individual member clubs and elects a conference commission each year. The current chairman is Kenny Farrell of the

New Orleans Jesters The New Orleans Jesters are an American association football, soccer team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Nicknamed 'Th ...

. The costs to join the league as of 2016 are reported to be a one-time $15,000 franchise fee and a $5,250 annual league fee. The low entry fee compared to USL League Two's of $50,000 has made the league an attractive alternative to teams looking to compete at the highest level of amateur play. The league requires that all teams play in stadiums with at least 500 seats, a scoreboard, and locker rooms with showers for both teams and officials. The home team is also responsible for providing water and food for the visiting team, ensuring there is a trainer or doctor on-site for the match, and paying the referees fees at the end of each game.

Sponsorship and partnerships

Mitre Sports International Mitre Sports International Ltd., mostly known as Mitre, is an England, English sports equipment manufacturer based in Wakefield. Mitre is mainly focused on association football but also providing equipment (mostly balls) for other sports. Having ...

provided the official ball for the NPSL starting in 2014. Global Scarves began providing custom soccer scarves throughout the league, and worked with the NPSL on various events and contests to increase awareness and fervor throughout the 2014 NPSL season. Renegade GK, hummel, MyCujoo, Passage, Carbon Athletics, GCG Sports, Activate Canopy, and HomeLight are all listed as current business partners (2021).

Teams

Current teams

Future Teams

Expansion

Rivalries

Many NPSL teams have rivalries given the close geography of the teams throughout the league. The most notable rivalry was the

Rust Belt Derby The Rust Belt Derby was a soccer derby played between Detroit City FC, FC Buffalo, and AFC Cleveland in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of American soccer. The derby was named for the Rust Belt region of the United State ...

contested between

Detroit City FC Detroit City FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independen ...

AFC Cleveland AFC Cleveland was an Soccer in the United States, American semi-professional association football, soccer club based in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, Ohio. Founded in 2011 and playing its first season in 2012, the team spent six years in ...

, and

FC Buffalo FC Buffalo is an American soccer club based in Buffalo, New York, United States, with teams in men's and women's soccer. Founded in 2009, the men's team plays in the USL League Two, a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the Americ ...

. The name refers to the teams' shared region, the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

. Another intense rivalry existed between the San Diego Flash and San Diego Boca/Force FC, which were crosstown rivals in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Until the 2013 sale and rebranding of Force FC from Boca FC, the ownership groups of the two clubs were previously partners in the original San Diego Flash club of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

that competed from 1998 to 2001.

NPSL Members Cup

The NPSL Members Cup, originally called the NPSL Founders Cup, was a competition that ran from August to October 2019. It was initially intended to lead to a new professional league beginning play in the spring of 2020. However, following the departure of numerous previously announced teams and issues in launching the professional league the tournament was altered.

won the cup on October 16, 2019, when the team defeated

Michigan Stars FC Michigan Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Metro Detroit area. The team currently competes in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The Michigan Stars play their home games at the 5,000-capacity ...

, 1–0, in the penultimate game of the tournament.

Records and champions

Awards

NPSL Golden Boot

NPSL Golden Ball

NPSL Golden Glove

NPSL Young Player of the Year

NPSL Coach of the Year

Back-office

Executive committee * Kenny Farrell –

– chairman * John Nunan – Sacramento Gold FC – corporate secretary * Steven Wagoner –

Virginia Beach City FC Virginia Beach City Football Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Norfolk, Virginia playing in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the Northeast Region. The club was ...

– corporate treasurer * Cindy Spera - managing director (non-voting) NPSL board of directors * Michael Hitchcock - East - Appalachian FC * Nathan Walter - South - Jacksonville Armada U-23 * Andreas Davi - Midwest - FC Milwaukee Torrent * Nick Ballestieri - East - Hartford City FC * Juan J Vela - South -

Laredo Heat Laredo Heat Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in Laredo, Texas. The team competes in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as a member of the Lone Star Division. The team plays its home games at the PEG Energ ...

* John Melody - Midwest - Erie Commodores FC * William Forte - West - East Bay FC Stompers NPSL leadership staff * Cindy Spera – managing director * Gary Moody – media relations * Paul Scott – director of officials * Dina Case – director of membership development * Robin Shacket – director of operations and club services * Jeff Pejsa – brand manager

eSports

In April 2020, the NPSL launched a competitive gaming competition to promote the growth of the league in new areas. The league hopes to "bring its community members together for friendly competition on a virtual pitch". The first nine clubs to formally join the new eSports league were Atlantic City FC, Central Florida Panthers SC, Denton Diablos FC,

Duluth FC Duluth FC is an amateur men's soccer club based in Duluth, Minnesota. The club currently competes in the NPSL Midwest Region’s North Conference. The club's colors are green and blue, and plays its home matches at Duluth Public Schools Stadiu ...

, Fort Worth Vaqueros, FC Milwaukee Torrent, Muskegon Risers, Gate City FC, and Ozark FC. The league partnered with Virtual Pro Gaming to assist in operations of the league. Clubs will play full 11 v 11 in pro clubs mode, on FIFA,

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

video game.

References

External links

* {{Soccer in the United States 4 United States Adult Soccer Association leagues 2003 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 2003