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Central Valley Fuego FC

USL League One Introduces Exciting New Cup Competition in 2024

December 12, 2023 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Central Valley Fuego FC News Release


FRESNO, CA - Central Valley Fuego FC proudly announces its participation in the upcoming USL League One in-season cup competition set to redefine soccer enthusiasm and fan engagement for the 2024 season. This newly introduced cup competition promises to revolutionize the league's landscape, fostering exhilarating regional rivalries and introducing thrilling match formats.

The yet-to-be-named cup competition will integrate with a newly developed balanced schedule for the USL League One regular season that aligns with leagues around the world.

Coach Jermaine Jones expressed his excitement: "I'm excited for the team's involvement in this new cup competition. This cup signifies an exhilarating chapter in the league's growth."

Built for fun

Similar to a traditional World Cup-style format, the cup competition includes a group stage and a knockout round that creates additional matches of consequence in the annual calendar.

It also includes non-traditional modifications that encourage attacking soccer and provide entertaining moments for fans. These include:

An emphasis on goals: Goals scored will be the first tiebreaker in group standings and will determine one of the four spots in the knockout round. The three group winners will advance to the knockout rounds, and the fourth playoff spot will be awarded to the non-group winners with the most goals scored in group play.

Shootout drama: Matches that finish tied at the end of regulation time will go directly to a penalty-kick shootout, with the shootout winners earning an extra point. Shootout losers will still earn one point for the draw in regulation time.

The three groups consist of four clubs each and are built to emphasize regional rivalries. The schedule includes:

In group play, each club will play eight matches - four home and four away.

Each club will play twice against every other club in the group plus two matches against clubs from another group, based on geographic proximity, to complete the eight-game group play.

West Group Central Group East Group

Central Valley Fuego FC

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Union Omaha

Spokane Velocity Chattanooga Red Wolves SC

One Knoxville SC

Lexington SC

Forward Madison FC Charlotte Independence

Greenville Triumph SC

Richmond Kickers

South Georgia Tormenta FC

The cup-winning club will earn prize money and a new trophy to be unveiled ahead of the cup's first matchday.

Dedicated cup matchdays will be integrated throughout the USL League One schedule. In 2024, the group stage will kick off the weekend of April 27 and finish the weekend of Aug. 31. The cup final will be held on Sept. 28 or 29, with no other USL League One matches taking place that weekend.

Built for the Future

In year one, the cup competition will establish a new, unique platform for USL League One clubs to compete for multiple trophies. But it is designed to quickly evolve.

Over the next few years, the USL aims to evolve the cup competition, including integrating other leagues and exploring additional innovations geared toward the fan experience.

More information about the cup competition, including the official name and logo, will be shared in the coming weeks.

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