By Rob McLaughlin
A question on the minds of many Portland soccer fans is what exactly is the USL? Many of us are familiar with the soccer pyramids of other nations. While here in the USA we don’t have promotion and relegation between our leagues, the US Soccer landscape is rich with lower-division leagues and teams. Below the MLS at the top of the US Soccer Pyramid falls the USL Championship and League One, divisions II and III of the US Soccer Pyramid and comprising 36 men’s professional teams with 9 new expansion teams joining their ranks next year, including our very own Hearts of Pine.
The United Soccer League (USL) was founded in 1986 as a regional league and grew through the 1990s to become a professional league occupying division III of the soccer pyramid. After the North American Soccer League folded for good in 2017 the USL was promoted to D2 status. Because of this growth the league split, adding a second lower league, USL League One which began play in 2019. This season 12 teams compete in the league including The Richmond Kickers, One Knoxville, Greenville Triumph, Forward Madison, Charlotte Independence, South Georgia Tormenta, Central Valley Fuego, Chattanooga Red Wolves, Lexington SC, Northern Colorado Hailstorm, Union Omaha, and Spokane Velocity. Aside from League One, the USL turns out an impressive 24 other professional men’s teams in the USLC, 8 professional women’s teams in the USL Super League, and 209 teams playing in the pre-professional League 2 (men’s) and W league (women’s).
The competitive format of the league is very similar to other US soccer leagues. Currently, teams play 22 regular matches, 1 home and 1 away against all other opponents followed by playoffs of the top 8 teams from the regular completion. All matches are traditionally played between early March and the end of October. Beginning this season, the USL also introduced an in-season cup competition sponsored by Jägermeister which includes group stage matches before moving to a knockout bracket. This increased the overall number of games a team played by 8. It has been suggested by league officials that they are exploring expanding this competition to potentially include other USL entities, presumably the USL Championship and possibly their pre-professional division, USL League 2.
A list of teams and players to watch in USL1. All League Matches are carried on either ESPN+ or CBS/Paramount+.
Teams from USL League One also compete in the US Soccer Federation’s US Open Cup, the oldest competitive soccer cup in the United States. Unlike the rest of American soccer, in the US Open Cup teams often go head-to-head with teams from other leagues including amateur, semi-pro, and MLS sides from outside the USL system. While the format for the competition is somewhat murky for next year given Major League Soccer’s decision to restrict participation from their teams, traditionally League One sides enter in the first round of the competition and teams have been known to make deep runs. In 2022, USL League One side Union Omaha survived 4 rounds of the competition. They made it to the quarter finals having eliminated MLS side Minnesota United before falling to the MLS’s Sporting Kansas City. If MLS teams continue to participate there is a chance, we could see an MLS team playing Hearts at Fitzpatrick Stadium as soon as next year.
A topic well discussed in the USL world is how its structure could support promotion and relegation. Last summer the USL was very close to voting on instituting a form of pro/rel between USLC and USL1 but pulled back at the last minute after ownership groups failed to develop a consensus. According to reporting from The Athletic the league is in continuing talks with clubs on the subject and USL President Paul McDonough stated he would like to see USL take a vote on pro/rel within 2 years. That said, at least one League One team has promoted themselves by paying expansion fees and meeting additional requirements to join the USLC instead of playing in USL1. Brooklyn FC was supposed to be joining the USL1 in 2025 but will now be joining the USLC instead. In the absence of true, pro/rel this path is plausible for teams with engaged fan bases with ambitious plans to move up the pyramid. All indications seem to show Portland Hearts of Pine will have both of those lined up on Day 1.
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