USL Pro

The USL Professional Division, commonly known as USL Pro (stylized USL PRO), is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. USL Pro is sanctioned as a Division III Professional League by United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), placing it under Major League Soccer (Division I) and the North American Soccer League (Division II) in the hierarchy.

The league is owned and operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL) and was formed as result of the organization's merger of the old USL First and Second Divisions, following the controversial 2010 season which saw neither the USL First Division nor the North American Soccer League (NASL) receive sanctioning from the USSF, resulting in the temporary USSF Division 2 Pro League. The merger is meant to consolidate USL's position within the American professional soccer landscape and focus on stability, commercial growth and the professional development of soccer in four main regions throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

In January 2013, USL and MLS reached an agreement to integrate USL Pro league competition with the MLS Reserve League, primarily to improve player development in North America, strengthen league competition and build ties between divisions in the American soccer pyramid. This multi-year deal encourages MLS and USL Pro team affiliations and player loans, and it will lead to more games for teams and developing players.

Founding (2010)
On September 8, 2010, USL formally announced the creation of USL Pro in a press release. Prior to the official announcement of the new league, on August 11, 2010, the Dayton Dutch Lions FC revealed they would be joining the "USL-Pro Championship Division (former USL-2)" at a press conference, revealing the name of the new league before its official announcement. With this disclosure, the Dutch Lions were the first confirmed team in USL Pro for its inaugural 2011 season. Alongside the announcement of the new league, the Richmond Kickers revealed they would be moving to USL Pro for 2011. With the departure of the Portland Timbers to MLS in 2011 and the defection of the Puerto Rico Islanders to the NASL from the USL First Division, the Austin Aztex were the lone First Division team left to fold into USL Pro.

On September 22, 2010, the "Caribbean Division" of USL Pro was announced, with teams from Puerto Rico and Antigua and Barbuda signing on to compete in the league. With the addition of Puerto Rico United to the league and "Caribbean Division", league representatives expressed their intent to see expansion in the region continue, with an eventual 8-team "Caribbean Conference". With the inclusion of a team from Los Angeles, this division eventually became the International Division. On September 22, 2010, USL announced that Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and River Plate Puerto Rico would be joining USL Pro in 2011 alongside Antigua Barracuda FC as part of the building blocks of a Caribbean division. On September 28, 2010, USL announced that one of their flagship clubs and reigning 2010 USL Second Division Champions, the Charleston Battery, would be joining USL Pro for its launch in 2011. On September 30, 2010, nearly two months following the team's own announcement of a "USL Pro Championship Division" move, the USL formally announced Dayton Dutch Lions FC would join USL Pro. On October 4 and October 7, 2010, the USL revealed two Second Division clubs, the Charlotte Eagles and the Harrisburg City Islanders, would be making the jump to USL Pro for 2011.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds were added as the 9th official team on October 22, 2010. October 25, 2010 saw the addition of the Rochester Rhinos who had previously committed to the NASL, along with expansion team Orlando City Soccer Club (formerly the Austin Aztex of USL First Division) after new ownership secured and moved the team from Texas to Florida.

On November 9, 2010, former USL-2 Division side Wilmington Hammerheads officially joined the league as the 12th team, followed on November 17, 2010 by F.C. New York. The expected number of teams to launch league play in 2011 was announced as 18–20, alongside the announcement of the Wilmington Hammerheads joining the league.

The Los Angeles Blues, associated with the successful women's Pali Blues organization, were added on December 7, 2010 with a message of future "Western Conference" growth into 2012. The "Caribbean Division" of USL Pro grew to four teams on December 9, 2010 with the addition of Puerto Rico United to the league, marking the last of the 15 teams that would compete in USL Pro in its inaugural 2011 season.

On September 14, 2010, USL President Tim Holt expressed the desired structure for the league to launch with 14–18 teams across 4 specific geographic areas in 2011, expansion to 22–26 teams by 2013, and 28–32 teams by 2015.

Following USL Pro's first annual general meeting, the league confirmed it would debut with 16 teams playing a 24 game regular season schedule in 2011, with planned growth for 20–24 teams to start the 2012 season.

Play begins (2011–2012)
USL Pro debuted in 2011 with 12 teams playing a 24-game regular season schedule. American and National Division teams played a home-and-away series against all opponents from the two divisions (totaling 18 games), 2 additional regional rivalry matches, with each team making an additional trip to either Los Angeles or the Caribbean to play two games while hosting International Division competition for two games. International Division teams played each team in their division four times (twice home, twice away, totaling 16 games) while traveling to face American or National Division opponents in four games and hosting those opponents for four games.

The original playoff format saw eight teams compete in a one-game quarterfinal. Both the American and National Divisions saw their top three teams advance for an inter-divisional playoff, while the top 2 teams in the International Division played-off against each other to reach the semifinals. The four remaining teams were re-seeded for a single semi-final match, again with the higher seed hosting, leading up to a single match for the USL Pro Championship. In all playoff matches the highest seeded team hosted.

On May 10, 2011, early in the league's inaugural season, the USL announced that it was dropping the three Puerto Rican clubs from the USL PRO schedule. The PRSL clubs were dropped due to economic and ownership issues. The two remaining International Division teams – Antigua Barracuda FC and Los Angeles Blues – were re-aligned into the American and National Divisions. Due to the removal of the International Division, the revised playoff format featured the top four teams in each of the two divisions. The two division playoff winners met in the USL Pro Championship at the home venue of the team with the better record. On May 10, 2011, the USL announced it formally removed the three Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL) teams from the 2011 USL PRO schedule due to severe economic difficulties and serious unforeseen medical situations involving owners from two of the three PRSL teams. The USL announced a revised schedule for USL PRO, with the Antigua Barracuda FC joining the American Division and the Los Angeles Blues joining the National Division as part of the adjusted divisional alignment resulting in two, six-team divisions.

Following the 2011 season, USL Pro announced with the release of the 2012 season schedule that F.C. New York would not be returning to play, with the former National and American Divisions being dissolved to form a single, eleven team league table. With F.C. New York withdrawing in January 2012, the league announced an eleven team single-table schedule for the 2012 season.

MLS partnership (2013-present)
Two expansion teams joined for the 2013 season: Phoenix FC and the VSI Tampa Bay FC.

On January 23, 2013 USL Pro and MLS announced a multi-year agreement to integrate MLS Reserve League play with USL Pro teams, first through team affiliations and "interleague" play, but eventually fully merging MLS Reserves into the USL Pro structure. The stated goals of this partnership are to improve North American player development, strengthen league competition, build long-term ties between the leagues and expand the audience for both the leagues and developing players.

While the 2013 season would feature partnered competitions between USL Pro and MLS Reserve teams, four Major League Soccer clubs opted to affiliate with an existing USL Pro team, agreeing to loan at least four MLS players to their affiliate: Sporting Kansas City with Orlando City, the Philadelphia Union with the Harrisburg City Islanders, D.C. United with the Richmond Kickers and the New England Revolution with the Rochester Rhinos. Each MLS club will eventually be expected to either affiliate with a USL Pro team or operate an independent reserve team in the league. The Houston Dynamo announced that they will be partnering with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2014.

Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, VSI Tampa Bay folded after only one season, along with founding league member Antigua.

Sacramento was announced in December 2012 as an expansion team for 2014, and USL announced in July 2013 that Oklahoma City would also join USL in 2014. Orlando City Soccer Club will leave USL after the 2014 season to join MLS as an expansion team for the 2015 season. On January 29, 2014, the LA Galaxy announced the creation of LA Galaxy II, a reserve team within the club's existing development structure, that will join in the USL Pro as an expansion team. This is the first MLS club to enter its reserve team into the USL Pro. The Los Angeles Blues were rebranded as Orange County Blues FC on February 5, 2014. The Phoenix FC franchise was revoked and replaced with Arizona United SC on March 13, 2014. Orlando City's USL Pro license was purchased by Louisville interests, which unveiled Louisville City FC on June 3, 2014 as an affiliate of the new MLS side. On September 10, 2014 Real Salt Lake revealed the name of their new USL Pro affiliate team to be called Real Monarchs. The team has a license and is expected to begin play in 2015. Games are to be played at Rio Tinto Stadium until a new stadium can be built. On September 17, 2014 USL Pro announced the Charlotte Eagles will transfer their USL Pro rights to the Charlotte Independence who will begin play in 2015 and the Eagles will move down to U23 PDL. On September 18, 2014 the Colorado Rapids announced an affiliation partnership with the Charlotte Independence Both the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC created their own USL Pro squads, Portland Timbers 2 and Seattle Sounders FC 2 on October 14, 2014. As a result, 17 out of the 22 teams will have MLS affiliation in the 2015 season.

Planned teams
The Whitecaps FC Reserves plan to join in 2015 but location and other details are yet to be finalized. Additionally, FC Dallas appears poised to sign an affiliate agreement with an existing USL Pro team. For 2016, the Houston Dynamo have announced their intentions to have a USL Pro team for that season. Finally, the New York Red Bulls had discussed a 2015 team but those plans were postponed to 2016 with the Red Bulls planning to enter into affiliate relationship(s) with USL Pro teams in 2015.

Competition format
With the release of the 2014 season schedule, the league stated that teams play 28 games with a maximum of four games played against any single opponent. Each team will also play two games against MLS reserve teams; the games will count equally in the standings with those played against league competition. The 2014 USL PRO Playoffs include the top eight finishers in the table. The semifinals featuring the four remaining teams are played the following weekend, followed by the USL PRO Championship. All playoff rounds feature a single-game knockout format.

Media coverage
The league featured national broadcast coverage on Fox Soccer Channel in 2011. In 2014, the league will broadcast all matches on YouTube.

Current clubs
The following teams are currently playing in the USL Pro division.

Former clubs
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‡Puerto Rico Clubs Puerto Rico United, River Plate Puerto Rico, and Sevilla Puerto Rico began play in the league, but in May 2011 United Soccer Leagues announced that the teams would not finish the season due to financial difficulties.

Results

 * Key

USL Pro Club Honors
Current through 2014 season; Order based on major honors (championships).

Attendance
The Sacramento Republic played before a record crowd of 20,231 in its home debut on April 26, 2014 at Hughes Stadium. This broke the USL Pro's previous record for attendance at a regular-season match of 10,687, set by Orlando City at the Citrus Bowl on August 11, 2013.