The Midwest Premier League (MWPL) is an American

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

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. The league spans primarily the eastern and central portions of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

History

The league was founded by four clubs which were all previously members of the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The leagu ...

Midwest Conference. Following the 2019 UPSL season, the clubs decided that they could create a stable league that would focus on sustainability of the member clubs by sharing ideas, keeping league costs to a minimum, and maximizing the opportunities for all clubs to compete by limiting end-of-season playoffs that often shorten the season for many teams. The league announced Union Dubuque F.C. as its first member on September 18, 2019, with the other three founding members being announced in the subsequent weeks. RWB Adria joins the MPWL on September 25, 2019. DeKalb County United joins the MWPL on October 2, 2019. Cedar Rapids Inferno join the MWPL on October 9, 2019 making it the fourth member team. And concludes the joining of the founders. Cliff Conrad has been elected as the league's first president. Conrad is the co-founder and president of Union Dubuque F.C., one of the league's charter members. After a period with no expansion news, FC Diablos of

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is I ...

, was announced on January 10, 2020, and an expansion continues into March. With expansion side Rockford FC being unveiled shortly thereafter on January 30, 2020. Livonia City FC joins the MWPL on Feb. 29th 2020. Lake St.Clair joins the MWPL on March 2, 2020. BiH Grand Rapids joins the MWPL on March 6, 2020. The league was set to kick off in spring 2020; however, the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

. The Midwest Premier League appoints Andy Hayes as the league's first commissioner. On July 27, 2020, the league announced Lansing Common FC from

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, as a new member club. On September 3, 2020, the MWPL entered a partnership agreement with the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is previously in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season for ...

, a USSF Division 3 professional league, which includes pathways for both players and clubs to go fully pro. November 2020 kicked off another round of expansions for the league. Starting with Edgewater Castle FC on Nov. 27th 2020. In the spring of 2021 MWPL launched its inaugural season with 20 teams in two divisions. 12 teams in the West Division and 8 teams in the East Division. It was announced on March 21, 2022 that the MWPL would have 3 Divisions within it. The schedule for the second season of the league was announced on April 6, 2022, nearly a month ahead of the first game. With Detroit City U23 gone, there would be a new champion in the East Division. And with a finalized Southern Division, 3 champions were to be crowned at the end of the 2022 season. A new conference alignment was announced by the league on February 6, 2023. The MWPL confirmed that for the 2023 season, the South Conference would now be known as the Gateway Conference, the West Conference would now be the Heartland Conference and the East Conference would be the Great Lakes Conference, with an East and West Division. On October 27, 2023 MWPL announced plans to implement promotion and regulation within the league starting with the Heartland Conference. MWPL announced a strategic partnership with The League for Clubs (TLFC) on May 19, 2025. The partnership is intended to create a new TLFC Midwest conference that will sit on top of the MWPL to facilitate promotion and relegation between the leagues.

Teams

Location map

Former teams

Seasons

2021 Fall Season

The first season for the MWPL ended on August 1, 2021 The Eastern division contained 8 teams for the 2021 season. This Western division contained 12 teams for the 2021 season. Rules for classification: P) points; (GP) games played; (GD) goal differential; (C) Champion

2022 season

The first season with 3 divisions in it. The Eastern division contained 11 teams for the 2022 season. The Western division contained 12 teams for the 2022 season The Southern division contained 4 teams for the 2022 season. Rules for classification: P) points; (GP) games played; (GD) goal differential; (C) Champion

2023 Season

The first season with 4 divisions. Rules for classification: P) points; (GP) games played; (GD) goal differential; (C) Champion

2024 Season

The first season with 5 divisions in it. The Gateway division contained 8 teams for the 2024 season. The Great Lakes East division contained 10 teams for the 2024 season The Great Lakes West division contained 6 teams for the 2024 season. The Heartland Division was split up into two division for the 2024 season. Withe promotion and relegation between the two. The Heartland division 1 contained 6 teams for the 2024 season. The Heartland division 2 contained 7 teams for the 2024 season. Rules for classification: P) points; (GP) games played; (GD) goal differential; (C) Champion (P) Promoted (R) Regulated

Division Winners

Great Lakes Conference Winner ''Note: Formerly the East Division'' Heartland Conference Winner ''Note: Formerly the West Division'' Heartland Conference Division 2 Winner Gateway Conference Winner ''Note: Formerly the South Division''

Golden Boot winner

The golden boot winners were announced on September 15, 2021.

Notable players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for a Midwest Premier League team: * Shady Omar, Lansing Common FC - 2021, played professionally at Ittihad El-Shorta (Egypt) 2015-2017 and Al Hilal Matruah (Egypt) in 202

* Damon Almazan, Steel City FC - 2020, played professionally at Chicago House AC for a season (2021). * Derek Huffman,

RWB Adria RWB Adria (full name: ''Red White and Blue Adria'', Croatian: ''Crven, bijeli, plavi Jadran'') is an American soccer club from Chicago, Illinois. The club currently competes in the Midwest Premier League as well as the National Soccer League o ...

- 2020, played professionally at Chicago House AC for a season (2021). Currently at

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional indoor footbal ...

of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

* Stefan Mijatovic,

- 2020, played professionally at Chicago House AC for a season (2021). Currently at

Utica City FC Utica City FC is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Utica, New York, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). History The team formed in 2011 as the Syracuse Silver Knights with the intention of playing in the n ...

of the

* George Chomakov, Liquid Football - 2023, played professionally at

Detroit City FC Detroit City FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independen ...

for three seasons (2019–2021) * Benedek Tanyi, Liquid Football - 2023, played professionally at

for two seasons (2021–2022). * Albaraa Alsoufi, Liquid Football - 2023, played professionally at Gold Star FC for a season (2023).Albaraa Alsoufi is Finding Meaning in Heritag

''NISA Network'', April 18, 2022

References

External links

* {{National Independent Soccer Association Soccer leagues in the United States 2019 establishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 2019 Soccer in Iowa Soccer in Wisconsin Soccer in Illinois Soccer in Michigan