Is this a new league? What is their format?

I assume your curiosity was sparked by the Romario rumors with Miami.

I'm not 100% certain of the USL history, but it is definitely older than the MLS. They are completely different leagues. There is no connection between the leagues. The USL level of play is lower than the MLS. You could consider the level of play of the USL to be what you would expect to be the 2nd division of the MLS ..... but the MLS does not have a 2nd divsion.

Ther is no promotion or relegation in the MLS. This is a foreign concept to Americans. Aside from that, it wouldn't really be feasible because the financial structure of the MLS (a long and involved story in and of itself).

On top of that, many of the USL teams play in very amateur looking stadiums. For example, the Minnestoa Thunder (part of the USL) play at a highschool.



The football field markings are there because it is artificial turf so the marks are "permanent."

http://www.soccerpulse.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85725

This is the lusitano stadium. I have played on it before and it is really nice. I actually scored the game I played on it. I was only like 10 or 11 though. This field is really nice and the team actually beat the chicago fire. I think it was 3-1. The pioneers also regularly play the Revs, but when they play them I'm rooting for the revs of course.The only thing the stadium is lacking is that the seats should be built in and there should be more. The town is highly populated with portuguese people so there are a lot of people at the games usually.(not a lot a lot, but maybe 2000, a really rough estimate.) Also I love where the stadium is located, its just like the stadiums are in portugal. And they also have really good food !

Man I feel bad for you. They have to play at a highschool. HAHAHA!

My local team, the Portland Timbers, are part of the USL. Originally the league was called the NASL I believe. Blah...I don't know the history of the leagues and everything.



That's PGE Park, home of the timbers.

Better than all your home pitches!

The USL came on the tail of NASL, but there was no direct relationship between the two leagues:

http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/history/53773.html

We could open it too. My thoughts were that people could just post in the thread in the Brazil forum...but I don't care really.

Oh, I didn't know that. I thought it was actually all one league.

Hmm...interesting.

I've always thought of it like the USL is like the minor leagues of the MLS.

Well, it is much like that. Many players move from up and down between the leagues. I believe some MLS clubs have agreements with USL clubs. But the two leagues are separate.

Indeed.

I believe LA has some sort of agreement with the Timbers.

And actually...interesting, I saw an article in the paper I think it was about Chelsea signing some sort of alliance agreement with LA.

Maybe I was dreaming?..

I read that too. But those alliances like Chelse w/LA usually don't ammount to much in my opinion. Recall that talk of Chelsea & PSV having an agreement? And what became of it? you tell me. Perhaps more happens behind the scenes that we don't realize ....

ooooooo conspiracies = D

Didn't Chelsea take Robben from PSV before Beasley got there. Or was that way before the agreement.
I agree though, Chelsea's agreement with LA is all about selling shirts.

With Robben, I think that Ferguson (Man Utd) jerked him a round a bit and Chelsea offered more money..... I'm pretty sure that Robben was signed by Chelsea before that PSV agreement. I think that Chelsea were involved in signing of Alex (central defender) from Santos to PSV though.

I've merged this with the Romario news.

I couldn't see this happening to the Galaxy though. Their bench is full of superstars, so they are bound to have loads of talent just lying around, but I just don't see any of it being shipped stateside anytime soon.

I just hope they play a few summer games over here like last year. Barca is already rumored to be playing the galaxy in LA this summer, would be nice to get Chelsea too.

I just found this out today! The One and Only Romario Has signed for Miami FC of the USL.

The 40-year-old striker, who claims to have scored 964 goals,The move could help Romario, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and also played for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Valencia, to achieve his target of scoring 1,000 goals.


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=363311&cc=5739

This was annoucned a week or two ago. Topic merged with the USL Discussion topic.