The Southern Premier Soccer League (SPSL) was an amateur

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league featuring teams from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and recognized by the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

and

United States Adult Soccer Association The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for Amateur sports, amateur Association football, soccer in the United States. It consists of 54 state associations in four regions, as well as national, regional, and ...

. The league existed from September 2010 to June 2011, and ran two seasons during this brief but unsteady existencea six-team 2010-2011 winter season that saw two teams depart or fold mid-season, and a six-team 2011 spring season that saw one team fold mid-season.

Origin

The

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

(NPSL) had intended to introduce a NPSL Winter League, with initial operation in the 2010–2011 winter season. However the

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

folded at the end of the normal NPSL 2010 season, leaving the NPSL's South Central division with three teams, less than the minimum four required for a division. The remaining NPSL South Central teams Galveston Pirate SC, Houston-based

Regals FC The Southern Premier Soccer League (SPSL) was an amateur soccer league featuring teams from Texas and Oklahoma and recognized by the United States Soccer Federation and United States Adult Soccer Association. The league existed from September 201 ...

, Corpus Christi Fuelfounded the SPSL in September 2010, reaching out to a number of potential new teams to join the newly formed league. By month's end, the SPSL finalized a slate of six teams to start the season; the original survivors of the NPSL South Central division, plus Club América Soccer Academy Houston, Texas Lonestrikers from

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...

, and a new Tulsa-based team, Tulsa Lobos FC.

SPSL 2010–2011 winter season

The inaugural 2010–11 SPSL season ran from October 2 through March 26. Each team was to play 20 games during the regular season. Before the season ended, Texas Lonestrikers folded and Galveston Pirate SC, having reached a new agreement with the NPSL, withdrew from play. Regals FC won the inaugural season, with five of the six top goal scorers in the SPSL playing for that club.

SPSL 2011 spring season

Having ended its first season with just four teams, the SPSL continued to recruit new clubs for the 2011 spring season. Two additional teams were added in time for the season: the Rio Grande Valley Ocelots FC (continuing on from their summer 2010 season in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

) and the Houston Hurricane (revival of a name last used in 1980 by a team playing in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

). Club América folded before the season finished. The Ocelots won the short 2011 Spring season, with a 9–1 record and a championship game victory over Regals FC.

SPSL folds

The SPSL folded after completing a shortened 2011 Spring season.Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
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Teams

References

{{USSoccer Defunct soccer leagues in the United States Soccer in Texas Soccer in Oklahoma Sports leagues established in 2010 Sports leagues disestablished in 2011 2010 establishments in Texas 2011 disestablishments in Texas 2010 establishments in Oklahoma 2011 disestablishments in Oklahoma