USL Championship

USL Championship
Country	United States Canada
Confederation	CONCACAF
Founded	2010 (2011 first season)
Divisions	Eastern Conference Western Conference
Number of teams	27
Promotion to	None
Relegation to	None
Levels on pyramid	2
Domestic cup(s)	U.S. Open Cup Canadian Championship
Current champions	Orange County SC (2021)
Most successful club	Orlando City Louisville City FC (2 titles)
TV	ESPN+ YouTube TUDN OneFootball
Website	Official website
2022

The USL Championship (formerly United Soccer League or USL Pro), is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. USL 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 and Canada.

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.

2019 season clubs

The following teams are playing in the USL Championship during the 2019 season, with the conference alignment announced on December 13, 2018.

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity	Founded	Joined	Head coach	MLS affiliate
Eastern Conference
Atlanta United 2	Kennesaw, Georgia	Fifth Third Bank Stadium	8,318	2017	2018	Stephen Glass	Atlanta United FC
Bethlehem Steel FC	Chester, Pennsylvania	Talen Energy Stadium	18,500	2015	2016	Brendan Burke	Philadelphia Union
Birmingham Legion FC	Birmingham, Alabama	BBVA Field	5,000	2017	2019	Tom Soehn
Charleston Battery	Charleston, South Carolina	MUSC Health Stadium	5,100	1993	2011	Mike Anhaeuser
Charlotte Independence	Matthews, North Carolina	Sportsplex at Matthews	5,000	2014	2015	Mike Jeffries
Hartford Athletic	Hartford, Connecticut	Dillon Stadium	5,500	2018	2019	Jimmy Nielsen
Indy Eleven	Indianapolis, Indiana	Lucas Oil Stadium	62,421	2013	2018	Martin Rennie	Chicago Fire
Loudoun United FC	Leesburg, Virginia	Segra Field	5,000	2018	2019	Ryan Martin	D.C. United
Louisville City FC	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Slugger Field	8,000	2014	2015	John Hackworth
Memphis 901 FC	Memphis, Tennessee	AutoZone Park	10,000	2018	2019	Tim Mulqueen
Nashville SC	Nashville, Tennessee	First Tennessee Park	10,000	2016	2018	Gary Smith
New York Red Bulls II	Montclair, New Jersey	MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field	5,000	2015		John Wolyniec	New York Red Bulls
North Carolina FC	Cary, North Carolina	WakeMed Soccer Park	10,000	2006	2018	Dave Sarachan
Ottawa Fury FC	Ottawa, Ontario	TD Place Stadium	24,000	2011	2017	Nikola Popovic	Montreal Impact
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Highmark Stadium	5,000	1998	2011	Bob Lilley
Saint Louis FC	Fenton, Missouri	West Community Stadium	5,500	2014	2015	Anthony Pulis
Swope Park Rangers	Kansas City, Kansas	Children's Mercy Park	18,467	2015	2016	Paulo Nagamura	Sporting Kansas City
Tampa Bay Rowdies	St. Petersburg, Florida	Al Lang Stadium	7,227	2008	2017	Neill Collins
Western Conference
Austin Bold FC	Austin, Texas	Bold Stadium	5,000	2017	2019	Marcelo Serrano
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Weidner Field	5,000	2013	2015	Alan Koch	Colorado Rapids
El Paso Locomotive FC	El Paso, Texas	Southwest University Park	9,500	2018	2019	Mark Lowry
Fresno FC	Fresno, California	Chukchansi Park	12,500	2017	2018	Adam Smith
LA Galaxy II	Carson, California	Dignity Health Track Stadium	5,000	2014		Junior Gonzalez (Interim)	LA Galaxy
Las Vegas Lights FC	Las Vegas, Nevada	Cashman Field	9,334	2017	2018	Eric Wynalda
New Mexico United	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Isotopes Park	13,500	2018	2019	Troy Lesesne
Oklahoma City Energy FC	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Taft Stadium	7,500	2013	2014	Steve Cooke
Orange County SC	Irvine, California	Championship Soccer Stadium	5,000	2010	2011	Braeden Cloutier
Phoenix Rising FC	Tempe, Arizona	Casino Arizona Field	6,200	2014		Rick Schantz
Portland Timbers 2	Portland, Oregon	Providence Park	25,218	2014	2015	Cameron Knowles	Portland Timbers
Real Monarchs	Herriman, Utah	Zions Bank Stadium	5,000	2014	2015	Jámison Olave (interim)	Real Salt Lake
Reno 1868 FC	Reno, Nevada	Greater Nevada Field	9,013	2015	2017	Ian Russell	San Jose Earthquakes
Rio Grande Valley FC	Edinburg, Texas	H-E-B Park	9,400	2015	2016	Gerson Echeverry	Houston Dynamo
Sacramento Republic FC	Sacramento, California	Papa Murphy's Park	11,569	2012	2014	Simon Elliott
San Antonio FC	San Antonio, Texas	Toyota Field	8,296	2016		Darren Powell	New York City FC
Tacoma Defiance	Tacoma, Washington	Cheney Stadium	6,500	2014	2015	Chris Little	Seattle Sounders FC
Tulsa Roughnecks FC	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Oneok Field	7,833	2013	2015	Michael Nsien

  Affiliate

  Partnership

External links

• Official USL site

USL Stadiums 2017

Eastern Conference

Al Lang Stadium · Capelli Sport Stadium · City Stadium · FNB Field · Goodman Stadium · Highmark Stadium · Louisville Slugger Field · Mecklenburg County Sportsplex · MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field · MUSC Health Stadium · Nippert Stadium · Ontario Soccer Centre · Orlando City Stadium · TD Place Stadium · Toyota Stadium

Western Conference

H-E-B Park · Children's Mercy Victory Field · Greater Nevada Field · ONEOK Field · Orange County Great Park · Papa Murphy's Park · Phoenix Rising FC Soccer Complex · Providence Park · Rio Tinto Stadium · Starfire Sports · StubHub Center Track and Field Stadium · Taft Stadium · Thunderbird Stadium · Toyota Field · Weidner Field

Football in the United States

League competitions The USSF Cup competitions Major League Soccer United States Open Cup North American Soccer League (U-23) (U-20) (U-17) MLS Cup United Soccer League List of clubs Southwest Cup List of stadiums George F. Donnelly Cup List of leagues

Second level association football leagues of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)

North America

Mexico · United States & Canada1 (NASL, USL)

Central America

Belize Costa Rica · El Salvador · Guatemala · Honduras · Nicaragua · Panama ·

Caribbean

Anguilla · Antigua and Barbuda · Aruba Bahamas Grand Bahama · New Providence · Barbados · Bermuda2 · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Cuba · Curaçao Dominica · Dominican Republic · French Guiana3 4 · Grenada · Guadeloupe4 · Guyana3 · Haiti · Jamaica Eastern · Kingston–St. Andrews · South Central · Western · Martinique4 · Montserrat · Puerto Rico · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Martin4 · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Sint Maarten4 · Suriname3 · Trinidad and Tobago · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States Virgin Islands St Croix · St Thomas