
Nashville SC a Member of 18-Team Eastern Conference in 2019 USL Championship Season
December 13, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release
NASHVILLE - The United Soccer League (USL) Championship announced its 2019 conference alignment for the regular season on Thursday afternoon, and Nashville Soccer club will remain in the Eastern Conference. The league's 36 teams will span across two conferences with each club slated to play a 34-game regular season over 33 weeks.
EXPANSION TEAMS
With the addition of seven teams for the 2019 season, each of the Eastern and Western conferences will boast 18 teams. In the West three expansion teams, Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC and New Mexico United will be added to the mix while the other four of Birmingham Legion FC, Hartford Athletic, Loudoun United FC and Memphis 901 FC will be Eastern Conference foes.
EASTERN CONFERENCE ADDITIONS
The addition of seven teams to the USL Championship means that the Eastern Conference will have some changes in the coming year. In order to have 18 teams in each conference, Saint Louis FC and the Swope Park Rangers will move from the West to the East. Both clubs were in the playoffs last season with Saint Louis FC finishing in the eighth spot and Swope Park Rangers finishing just ahead in seventh place.
CLOSE CONFINES
Nashville SC will have a lot of competition in the area next season with several teams playing in cities geographically close to Nashville. Just like last season, Nashville SC will play close to home when it travels to play Indy Eleven, Louisville City FC and Atlanta United 2. Expansion teams Memphis 901 FC and Birmingham Legion FC along with Saint Louis FC will also make for driveable away trips for the club and its fans.
SCHEDULE FORMAT
Last season, Nashville SC played FC Cincinnati, Louisville City FC and Atlanta United 2 three times in the regular season. With the new conference alignment, clubs will no longer have to play each other more than twice in the regular season. With the 34-game regular season, each side will play each other twice in a home-and-away format. The 33-week season will kick off the weekend of March 8-10, 2019. A full 2019 regular season schedule will be announced at a future date.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATL UTD 2
Bethlehem Steel FC
Birmingham Legion FC
Charleston Battery
Charlotte Independence
Hartford Athletic
Indy Eleven
Loudoun United FC
Louisville City FC
Memphis 901 FC
Nashville SC
New York Red Bulls II
North Carolina FC
Ottawa Fury FC
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Saint Louis FC
Swope Park Rangers
Tampa Bay Rowdies
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Austin Bold FC
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
El Paso Locomotive FC
Fresno FC
LA Galaxy II
Las Vegas Lights FC
New Mexico United
OKC Energy FC
Orange County SC
Phoenix Rising FC
Portland Timbers 2
Real Monarchs SLC
Reno 1868 FC
Rio Grande Valley FC
Sacramento Republic FC
San Antonio FC
Seattle Sounders FC 2
Tulsa Roughnecks FC
United Soccer League Championship Stories from December 13, 2018
- Cameroonian Striker Donovan Ewolo Returns to North Carolina FC - North Carolina FC
- Nashville SC a Member of 18-Team Eastern Conference in 2019 USL Championship Season - Nashville SC
- STLFC Joins Eastern Conference for 2019 USL Championship Season - Saint Louis FC
- Independence Announce Initial Roster Moves - Charlotte Independence
- USL Championship Unveils 2019 Conference Alignment - USL
- Nashville SC Strengths Keeper Corps with Signing of Connor Sparrow - Nashville SC
- Indy Eleven Signs Midfielder Neveal Hackshaw - Indy Eleven
- San Antonio FC Adds Defender Pascal Eboussi on Loan from MFK Vyskov - San Antonio FC
- Memphis 901 FC Lands Ben Pirmann as Assistant Coach - Memphis 901 FC
- Nashville SC Adds Another Scoring Threat in Kharlton Belmar - Nashville SC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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