USL First Division

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USL First Division
USL first division.svgTemplate: Infobox football competition / maintenance / logo format
Full name United Soccer Leagues First Division
abbreviation USL-1
Association USSF
First edition 1997
Teams 11
master Montreal Impact (2009)
Record champions Seattle Sounders FC (4)
Record player Mauro Biello (320)
Record scorer Mark Baena (86)
Website usl1.uslsoccer.com

The United Soccer Leagues First Division (often referred to as USL-1 for short ) was a professional soccer league in North America from 1995 to 2009 . Teams from the USA , Canada and Puerto Rico played in it . It was the second division in the US football league system.

history

The old American Professional Soccer League changed its old name to A-League in its last two seasons in 1995 and 1996. In 1996 it was recognized as the second division. In 1997 it was taken over by USISL and renamed USISL A-League. In 1999, the USISL took on the name United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the league was renamed the USL A-League. From 2005 it was called the USL First Division. At the end of 2009, most teams wanted to switch to the new edition of the North American Soccer League after the investment company NuRock Soccer Holdings had taken over the rights to the USL. The league was therefore suspended in 2010. In 2011 it was merged with the USL Second Division to form the USL Professional Division . This is the third division in the hierarchy behind the Major League Soccer and the North American Soccer League .

Changes in composition

In 1998 a total of 28 teams started in the A-League. After several entries and exits, in 2006 only twelve teams remained to take part in the game. The other clubs withdrew mostly for cost reasons and are now playing in the USL Second Division (3rd division) or the USL Premier Development League (4th division).

Since there is no system of promotion or relegation, the teams of the First Division can only move up in Major League Soccer when it expands. To do this, however, they have to meet the financial and organizational requirements of the MLS.

The USL itself announced on January 26, 2006 that it would expand for the 2007 season. The Carolina RailHawks were won for this. California Victory , a newly formed club from San Francisco , has received its second new license. Other candidates for a new soccer team were Fort Lauderdale and Syracuse . In addition, the Argentine club River Plate is interested in founding a second team in Puerto Rico .

On March 30, 2007, the Virginia Beach Mariners announced that they would no longer play in the league due to disputes over the further funding of the club. In September 2007, the Spanish club Deportivo Alavés announced their withdrawal from California Victory. Since then, California Victory has not participated in gaming operations. And so there were only eleven teams left for the 2008 season.

In the 2009 season, the Seattle Sounders stopped playing because a new team from Seattle took part in the MLS. The number of participants in the USL-1 remained the same as a new team from the Texas capital Austin , Austin Aztex , started playing.

Masters / top scorer

season master Result Second Regular Season Winner Top scorer society Gates
2009 USL-1 Montreal Impact 3: 2, 3: 1 Vancouver Whitecaps Portland Timbers Charles Gbeke Vancouver Whitecaps 12
2008 USL-1 Vancouver Whitecaps 2: 1 Puerto Rico Islanders FC Puerto Rico Islanders FC Alex Afonso Miami FC 15th
2007 USL-1 Seattle Sounders 4-0 Atlanta Silverbacks Seattle Sounders Sébastien Le Toux
Charles Gbeke
Seattle Sounders
Montreal Impact
10
2006 USL-1 Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 Rochester Raging Rhinos Montreal Impact Romário
William "Cam" Weaver
Miami FC
Seattle Sounders
18th
2005 USL-1 Seattle Sounders 1: 1 Richmond Kickers Montreal Impact Jason Jordan Vancouver Whitecaps 17th
2004 USL A-League Montreal Impact 2-0 Seattle Sounders Portland Timbers Alan Gordon
Dante Washington
Portland Timbers
Virginia Beach Mariners
17th
2003 USL A-League Charleston Battery 3-0 Minnesota Thunder Milwaukee Wave United Thiago Martins Pittsburgh Riverhounds 22nd
2002 USL A-League Milwaukee Rampage 2: 1 Richmond Kickers Seattle Sounders Fadi Afash
Eduardo Sebrango
McKinley Tennyson
Portland Timbers
Montreal Impact
Portland Timbers
18th
2001 USL A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-0 Hershey Wildcats Richmond Kickers Paul Conway Charleston Battery 22nd
2000 USL A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 3: 1 Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder Paul Conway
Greg Howes
John Menyongar
Charleston Battery
Seattle Sounders
Minnesota Thunder
17th
1999 USL A-League Minnesota Thunder 2: 1 Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester Raging Rhinos Mark Baena
Niall Thompson
Seattle Sounders
Vancouver 86ers
20th
1998 USISL A-League Rochester Raging Rhinos 3: 1 Minnesota Thunder Rochester Raging Rhinos Mark Baena Seattle Sounders 24
1997 USISL A-League Milwaukee Rampage 1: 1 Carolina Dynamo Montreal Impact Doug Miller Rochester Raging Rhinos 23
1996 A-League Seattle Sounders 2-0 Rochester Raging Rhinos Montreal Impact Doug Miller Rochester Raging Rhinos 18th
1995 A-League Seattle Sounders 2: 4, 3: 0, 3: 2 Atlanta Ruckus Montreal Impact Peter Hattrup Seattle Sounders 11

Complete list of franchises

Average attendance per game (season / playoffs)

  • 2008: 5,164 / 7,786
  • 2007: 4,420 / 7,741
  • 2006: 4.667 / 5.998
  • 2005: 4,527 / 12,498
  • 2004: 3.879 / 9.402
  • 2003: 3.335 / 9.672
  • 2002: 3.034 / 8.902
  • 2001: 2,954 / 9,193
  • 2000: 2,684 / 7,562
  • 1999: 2,374 / 5,309
  • 1998: 2,531 / 6,091
  • 1997: 1.690 / 5.092

Individual evidence

  1. The NASL is returning , published November 23, 2009 on thetelegraph.com. ( Memento from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Web links