The United Soccer League was a professional soccer league in the United States in the mid-1980s.

History

As the second incarnation of the American Soccer League was crumbling, five of the eight ASL teams (

Carolina Lightnin' The Carolina Lightnin' was an American soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina that was a member of the American Soccer League. The Lightnin' played home matches at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Attendance at home games averaged 6,000 ...

, renamed the Charlotte Gold,

Dallas Americans Dallas Americans was an American soccer club based in Dallas, Texas that was a member of the American Soccer League. After the ASL folded, the club joined the newly formed United Soccer League, which itself lasted two seasons. It is also the name ...

Jacksonville Tea Men The Jacksonville Tea Men were a soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1980–1982, ...

Oklahoma City Slickers The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Le ...

, renamed Stampede, and

Rochester Flash The Rochester Flash was an American soccer club based in Rochester, New York that was a member of the American Soccer League. History In 1981, the Rochester Flash entered the American Soccer League, playing its home games at Holleder Memorial ...

) left to founded the USL. They also took the ASL's commissioner, William Burfeind, with them as their first commissioner. Fiscal responsibility, regional rivalries and measured expansion were a few of the cornerstones on which the organization was to be structured. A league rule allowed only four of eighteen roster spots be taken by foreign players. In addition a salary cap was imposed on member clubs. Initially, the league was to have both

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and outdoor seasons so that clubs could play year round. In addition to the ASL holdovers were new teams

Buffalo Storm Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the USL, with home games at All-High Stadium. Players * Rudy Pikuzinski 1983-84 * Otto Orf 1984 * Carlos Salguero 1984 * Ernesto Buriano 1984 * Oscar P ...

Fort Lauderdale Sun Fort Lauderdale Sun was a U.S. soccer team which played two seasons in the United Soccer League. In 1984, the team was known as the Fort Lauderdale Sun. Before the 1985 season they changed their name to the South Florida Sun. Origins The United S ...

Houston Dynamos Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were foun ...

, and New York Nationals. Two

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

teams, the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

and

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

, also expressed interest in joining the new league. The USL played its first season in 1984 with nine teams in three divisions. The Fort Lauderdale Sun, whose roster featured former NASL

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

players

Teófilo Cubillas Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. H ...

, Keith Weller,

Jim Tietjens Jim Tietjens is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and United Soccer League. Tietjens graduated from Oakville High School. He then attended St. Loui ...

, and Ernst Jean-Baptiste, won the league title in a three-game series against the Houston Dynamos Despite its conservative fiscal plan, the league found itself in crisis heading into its second season. While attendance was on par with the ASL in its last season, revenues did not keep up with expenses and team owners could not cope with the losses. Houston left the league to be independent and all but two other clubs, Fort Lauderdale (now called South Florida Sun) and Dallas, folded. The evaporation of teams caused the cancellation of the planned indoor season. The

Tulsa Tornados The Tulsa Tornados were a professional soccer team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They played for one season (1985) in the USL. The 1985 season only lasted six games as the league folded halfway through. Established by David Fraser during the spring of 19 ...

and

El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks The El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks were a professional soccer team that played one season in the United Soccer League. They played 6 games in the USL's 1985 League Cup before folding. The entire league collapsed after only one regular season game had ...

were added to bring league membership to a paltry four teams in 1985. A short six-game first half of the season was completed, but before a second half could begin the league's creditors

foreclosed Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

on the organization. The Sun led the league standings with a 4–2 record when the league collapsed. By virtue of their 1–0 win over Tulsa on June 15, the Sun also won the league's new Invitational Cup. As a harbinger of things to come, no actual cup was presented to them, causing Sun player-coach, Keith Weller, to quip, "There ain't no cup." The Sun played Dallas on June 22 at

Lockhart Stadium Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football. Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium' ...

, and the league folded shortly thereafter as league officials were locked out of their offices and the USL never played another game. The collapse of the USL and the end of the NASL a year before meant that for the first time in over fifty years there was no professional outdoor soccer league in the U.S. This was a temporary void, however, as the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

and third incarnation of the American Soccer League would form and grow in the latter half of the 1980s, eventually to merge into the American Professional Soccer League, precursor to the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

Champions

Teams

(1984) * Charlotte Gold (1984) *

(1984–85) *

(1985) *

(1984) → South Florida Sun (1985) *

(1984) *

(1984) * New York Nationals (1984) *

Oklahoma City Stampede The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Lea ...

(1984) *

(1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United Soccer League (1984-85) Sports leagues established in 1984 Sports leagues disestablished in 1985 1985 disestablishments in the United States Defunct soccer leagues in the United States Former summer association football leagues