USL to undergo top to bottom re-brand

United Soccer League, the home of Real Monarchs, announced today a re-brand of their three tiers of American soccer.

USL currently manages Division 2 (USL-Pro), and 4 (USL-PDL) on the men’s soccer pyramid, and will be starting Division 3 in 2019.

Using the English pyramid as a template the new leagues will be called:

• USL-PRO will now be USL Championship

USL

• The new USL-D3 starting next year will be USL League One

USL

• USL-PDL will be USL League Two

USL

This arrangement of course may lead many to think that the long-awaited Promotion and Relegation is on the way — well, yes and no. That was not included in today’s announcement, however the league has left it open as a possible future once the new USL-League 1 reaches a sustainable number of teams.

The question of where the MLS-owned teams will be in the new system is also not answered. We presume that it will be left to the ownership groups to decide what level they wish to operate on. Toronto FC II has already announced it will be dropping to League 1, Orlando City II will resume after a hiatus also in League 1; while FC Dallas will start their own League 1 team as well, with the team name yet to be announced.

Real Monarchs have already announced their intention to remain in the new USL Championship. We will of course keep tabs on which teams move up or down during the upcoming off-season.