Pounder
01-04-2005, 06:12 PM
Time for an update, since it isn't easy to distill everything that's happened since the seasons ended.
The A-League is now USL Division 1. The Pro Soccer League is now USL Division 2.
USL-1 loses Calgary, Edmonton, Milwaukee, and Syracuse. With 12 teams remaining, the league is going to a single table, everyone visits everyone else once, and 6 games against regional rivals fill out the league schedule.
USL-2 loses California, San Diego, Utah, and Westchester, and gains an expansion in Cincinnati. Without the western teams, each team will play home and home against each other with four added regional games, and no games will be scheduled against PDL teams (save for the Open Cup, of course).
USL announced that future expansion in USL-1 will be capped at 16, and when USL-1 reaches 16 (or thereabouts), USL will institute promotion and relegation between 1 and 2.
As for pro/rel, I'm not holding my breath. The league's expansion rate seems to have slowed greatly, and the foldings are obvious. I have reservations about whether all this might eventually fold into the PDL. Still, I'd LOVE to see the USL get that far, though I also have reservations about any USL-1 teams actually voting for relegation if they actually get to that point.
The A-League is now USL Division 1. The Pro Soccer League is now USL Division 2.
USL-1 loses Calgary, Edmonton, Milwaukee, and Syracuse. With 12 teams remaining, the league is going to a single table, everyone visits everyone else once, and 6 games against regional rivals fill out the league schedule.
USL-2 loses California, San Diego, Utah, and Westchester, and gains an expansion in Cincinnati. Without the western teams, each team will play home and home against each other with four added regional games, and no games will be scheduled against PDL teams (save for the Open Cup, of course).
USL announced that future expansion in USL-1 will be capped at 16, and when USL-1 reaches 16 (or thereabouts), USL will institute promotion and relegation between 1 and 2.
As for pro/rel, I'm not holding my breath. The league's expansion rate seems to have slowed greatly, and the foldings are obvious. I have reservations about whether all this might eventually fold into the PDL. Still, I'd LOVE to see the USL get that far, though I also have reservations about any USL-1 teams actually voting for relegation if they actually get to that point.