 Logo from 2005–2010 | |
| Organising body | United Soccer League |
|---|---|
| First season | 1996 |
| Folded | 2010 |
| Replaced by |
|
| Country | United States |
| Other club(s) from | Canada, Puerto Rico |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Level onpyramid | 2 |
| Domestic cups | |
| Most championships | Rochester Rhinos (3) |
| Most Commissioner's Cups | Montreal Impact (3) |
| Most appearances | Mauro Biello (320) |
| Top scorer | Eduardo Sebrango (100) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Fox Soccer |
TheUSL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men'ssoccer league in the second tier of theUnited States league system. It was organized by theUnited Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above theUSL Second Division. It began in the1996 season as theSelect League – consisting 21 of the league's best third-tier clubs. It soon merged with theAmerican Professional Soccer League to become theA-League in the1997 season. It adopted its final name in the2005 season, following a restructure of the USL.
A controversial sale ofNike's stake in the USL in 2009, along with general animosity between the league and club owners, led to several clubs seceding from the league to form theNorth American Soccer League (NASL). Amid the dispute,U.S. Soccer organized amediatory second-tier league with the two warring groups of clubs in 2010. In the 2011 season, the NASLbegan play as a second-tier league, while the USL merged its First and Second Divisions into a new third-tier league,USL Pro.
Fostering competition between fifty clubs from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico over its fifteen seasons of play, eight clubs won the league's championship, with theRochester Rhinos winning the most (3). Nine clubs won the league'sregular season championship – the winners of which were presented theCommissioner's Cup between 2005 and 2009. TheMontreal Impact won the most regular season championships (3). As members of the league, the Rhinos and Impact also won aU.S. Open Cup andCanadian Championship, respectively.
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The origins of the A-League go back to 1986 and 1987 with the creation of three unrelated semi-professional soccer leagues. On the north-west coast, theWestern Soccer Alliance (WSA), a summer outdoor league, emerged in response to the collapse of theNorth American Soccer League. In the southwest United States, theSouthwest Indoor Soccer League was created in response to the upsurge in popularity of theMajor Indoor Soccer League. Finally, in 1987, theCanadian Soccer League emerged with eight teams across Canada. While the SISL remained virtually unknown to the wider soccer community, the Western Soccer Alliance grew in popularity and inspired the creation of the thirdAmerican Soccer League in 1988.
By the summer of 1989, these two leagues began considering a merger. At the same time, the SISL had grown to seventeen indoor teams and had added a summer outdoor schedule, known as theSouthwest Outdoor Soccer League with included eight teams. In 1990, theWSA and ASL merged to form theAmerican Professional Soccer League with twenty-two teams across the United States. At the same time, the SISL expanded to fourteen outdoor teams. In1992, the SISL renamed itself theUnited States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) and had grown to twenty-one teams. By the1993 season, the number of teams in the USISL had doubled to forty-two.
The mergers between all of these leagues continued in 1993 with the collapse of the Canadian Soccer League. This led to three Canadian teams, theVancouver 86ers,Toronto Blizzard andMontreal Impact joining the American Professional Soccer League for the1993 season. So by the summer of 1993, only two outdoor leagues competed for national attention in North America, the United States Interregional Soccer League and the American Professional Soccer League. However, by this time, the USISL was growing and the APSL was shrinking. In1995, the American Professional Soccer League was down to six teams – two Canadian and four American. It also changed its name to the A-League. At the same time, the rapidly growing USISL had split its teams into two leagues, the fully professionalProfessional League and the semi-professionalPremier League.
In 1996, the USISL launched theSelect League as its highest tier of three leagues. It debuted with 21 of its most successful clubs. With the creation of the Select League, the USISL now competed directly with the A-League for Division II recognition. This led the two leagues, the A-League which was made up the remains of the old Western Soccer Alliance, American Soccer League and Canadian Soccer League, and the USISL to enter merger talks. The creation ofMajor League Soccer in 1996 as an American Division I league also spurred the merger.[1]
In1997, six of the seven remaining A-League teams –Montreal Impact,Colorado Foxes,Seattle Sounders,Rochester Raging Rhinos,Vancouver 86ers andAtlanta Ruckus, plus two planned A-League expansion teams (Toronto Lynx andHershey Wildcats) merged with the USISL Select League to form the USISL A-League, a consolidated American Division II league with twenty-four teams.[2] In 1999, the USISL renamed itself theUnited Soccer Leagues (USL) which meant the league became the USL A-League.
The USL A-League was renamed the USL First Division (USL-1) in 2005, with 12 out of 16 teams returning from the previous season. TheSeattle Sounders won the inaugural USL-1 championship, beating Richard on penalty kicks in the championship game after a 1–1 tie in regulation time. TheVancouver Whitecaps won the first of their two USL-1 titles in 2006 by beating theRochester Raging Rhinos 3–0 in the championship game, while Seattle won their second title in 2007 by overcoming theAtlanta Silverbacks in a one-sided 4–0 final. Vancouver won their second USL1 championship in 2008 by beating thePuerto Rico Islanders 2–1 in the first USL-1 final to feature no American teams; the championship went north of the border again in 2009 whenMontreal Impact won their first USL-1 title, beating Vancouver 6–3 on aggregate over two legs in the first all-Canadian affair.
Richmond was voluntarily relegated to theUSL Second Division in 2006 to cut costs, Toronto was voluntarily relegated to theUSL Premier Development League in 2007 because ofMLS expansion, and on March 30, 2007, theVirginia Beach Mariners 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: theCarolina RailHawks from theTriangle region ofNorth Carolina, playing out ofCary, andCalifornia Victory, a team in NorthernCalifornia under the ownership ofDmitry Piterman (chairman of Spanish teamDeportivo Alavés) which folded after the end of the 2007 season, having played only one season. On June 19, 2008, an announcement was made that an expansion slot had been awarded to aTampa Bay, Florida-based franchise led by main investorsAndrew Nestor (CEO) andHinds Howard (chairman) ofCitrus Ventures.[3] The plan was for the club to join the league in 2010 and be named theTampa Bay Rowdies.
In November 2008, theAtlanta Silverbacks announced that they would sit out the 2009 season to "reassess the landscape," and would possibly return at a future date.[4]Similarly, theSeattle Sounders left prior to the 2009 season due to the imminent entrance ofSeattle Sounders FC intoMajor League Soccer. Their spot in the league was taken by theCleveland City Stars, who won theUSL Second Division title in 2008, and voluntarily moved up to USL-1 for the 2009 season,[5] folded at the end of the year.
Several cities had been mentioned as being locations where future USL-1 franchises might launch, includingSt. Louis, Missouri (led by the currentUSL Premier Development League (PDL) franchiseSt. Louis Lions);[6]Orlando, Florida (with Mexican sidePachuca being rumored as connected to it);[7]Milwaukee, Wisconsin;Detroit, Michigan;Hamilton, Ontario;[8]San Antonio, Texas; andOttawa, Ontario. On September 1, 2009, a group from Ottawa formally applied for USL-1 team, contingent on the approval of updates toLansdowne Park. The team would share a field with theOttawa Redblacks football team.[9] The Ottawa group subsequently committed to the NASL.[10]
On August 27, 2009,Nike agreed to sell its stake in theUnited Soccer Leagues (USL) toRob Hoskins and Alec Papadakis ofAtlanta-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 theUnited States Soccer Federation, theCanadian Soccer Association, andFIFA for approval to create a newNorth American Soccer League,[11] reducing the league's membership to just three teams.
After lawsuits were filed and heated press statements exchanged, theUnited States Soccer Federation (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 newUSSF D2 Pro League comprising clubs from both USL-1 and NASL.[12] 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.[13]
All 12 teams from the USL First Division and the NASL competed in the USSF D2 Pro League in 2010, which was won by thePuerto Rico Islanders. On September 8, 2010, the USL announced the formation ofUSL Pro which would merge the USL First Division andUSL Second Division 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.[14] The First Division was formally dissolved following the completion of the temporary season to make way forUSL Pro.[15]
Unlike most other nations, there is no system of merit-basedpromotion and relegation in theAmerican andCanadian pyramids, meaning that the champions of USL-1 could not move up toMajor League Soccer 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.
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.
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Active clubs Former Club USSF D2 Season (2010) Club moved to MLS Club moved to NASL Club moved to USL Club moved to USL 2nd Div or PDL Club on hiatus
| † | Won adouble |
| Yr. | T | MP | Champion | Runners-up | Commissioner's Cup[d] | Att. | Top goalscorer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 21 | 18 | California Jaguars | Richmond Kickers | Carolina Dynamo | — |  Stebbins (21) | [16] |
| 1997 | 24 | 28 | Milwaukee Rampage | Carolina Dynamo | Montreal Impact | — | Miller (23) | |
| 1998 | 28 | 28 | Rochester Raging Rhinos † | Minnesota Thunder | Rochester Raging Rhinos † | — | Baena (24) | |
| 1999 | 30 | 28 | Minnesota Thunder | Rochester Raging Rhinos | Rochester Raging Rhinos (2) | — | Baena (20) Thompson (20) | |
| 2000 | 25 | 28 | Rochester Raging Rhinos (2) | Minnesota Thunder | Minnesota Thunder | — | Conway (17)Howes (17) Menyongar (17) | |
| 2001 | 21 | 26 | Rochester Raging Rhinos (3) | Hershey Wildcats | Richmond Kickers | — | Conway (22) | |
| 2002 | 18 | 28 | Milwaukee Rampage (2) | Richmond Kickers | Seattle Sounders | — |  Afash (18)Tennyson (18) | |
| 2003 | 19 | 28 | Charleston Battery | Minnesota Thunder | Milwaukee Wave United | — |  Martins (22) | |
| 2004 | 16 | 28 | Montreal Impact | Seattle Sounders | Portland Timbers | — | Gordon (17)Washington (17) | |
| 2005 | 12 | 28 | Seattle Sounders | Richmond Kickers | Montreal Impact (2) | 4,527 | Jordan (17) | |
| 2006 | 12 | 28 | Vancouver Whitecaps | Rochester Raging Rhinos | Montreal Impact (3) | 4,667 | Romário (18)Weaver (18) | |
| 2007 | 12 | 28 | Seattle Sounders (2) † | Atlanta Silverbacks FC | Seattle Sounders (2) † | 4,420 | Gbeke (10) Le Toux (10) | |
| 2008 | 11 | 30 | Vancouver Whitecaps (2) | Puerto Rico Islanders | Puerto Rico Islanders | 5,164 | Afonso (15) | |
| 2009 | 11 | 30 | Montreal Impact (2) | Vancouver Whitecaps | Portland Timbers (2) | 4,720 | Gbeke (12) |
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