| Season | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 4 |
| Champions | San Jose Earthquakes (1st title) |
1986 → | |
The inaugural edition of theWestern Alliance Challenge Series, asoccer competition between teams in the United States and Canada, took place in 1985. The four participating teams wereF.C. Seattle, theVictoria Riptide,F.C. Portland, and theSan Jose Earthquakes; these teams later joined theWestern Soccer Alliance, which later merged with theAmerican Soccer League to form theAmerican Professional Soccer League, the forerunner of theUSL First Division.
In 1984, the independentF.C. Seattle hosted theF.C. Seattle Challenge which included severalNorth American Soccer League teams. The success of the tournament led league officials to offer an NASL franchise to the F.C. Seattle ownership.[1] The team declined the offer and instead decided to build on the success of the tournament by creating an ad hoc league with several other independent soccer teams in the Pacific Northwest.[2] Three teams joined F.C. Seattle, theVictoria Riptide,F.C. Portland and theSan Jose Earthquakes which had played in the NASL before its demise in the spring of 1985. These four teams played each other and the non-leagueEdmonton Brick Men andCanada national soccer team. The games against the Brick Men and Canada national team were included in the final league standings. The series proved financially successful and led to the formal establishment of theWestern Soccer Alliance.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes(C) | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 13 |
| 2 | F.C. Seattle | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 10 |
| 3 | Victoria Riptide | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | F.C. Portland | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 5 |