While we await the final release of the MLS schedule, third-division USL Pro announced their schedule and division alignments on Friday, emphasizing the league’s accessibility and stability. The press release from USL Pro emphasizes that six of their franchises have more than ten years of operational experience.

The league will feature 15 teams in three divisions: American, National, and International.  The National Division will include the Dayton Dutch Lions, Harrisburg City Islanders, FC New York, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and the Rochester Rhinos.  The American will include the Charleston Battery, the Charlotte Eagles, Orlando City, the Richmond Kickers, and the Wilmington Hammerheads.  The International is comprised of Barracuda FC, the Los Angeles Blues, Puerto Rico United, River Plate of Puerto Rico, and Sevilla FC Puerto Rico.

Each team will play 24 games with a home-and-away with every team in their division.  The games kick-off April 2nd with a Puerto Rico derby when River Plate and Sevilla FC face-off, followed by Orlando City visiting the Richmond Kickers.  The four clubs in their first year of competitive play include the relocated Orlando City at Richmond April 2, Los Angeles at Sevilla FC on April 15, FC New York at Orlando City April 9, and Barracuda hosting LA on April 17.  The schedule runs April through August, and the league will announce the playoff format at a later date.  You can see the entire schedule here.

My first thought seeing the announcement was good luck to poor LA, who we knew would struggle with travel but will definitely rack up the frequent flier miles.  At least their players can enjoy the beach four times this season.  Otherwise the divisions make sense.  It will be tough to do a playoff with three divisions, but if my suggestion would be take the three division winners and have two “wild cards”.  The wild cards would be the two best non-division winners who would have a “play-in” match, where the winner advances to the USL Pro final four playoff.

What are your thoughts on how USL Pro is developing, and is their structure so far sustainable?

The West Coast is getting USL PRO representation next year with the announcement of the new LA Blues franchise, set to begin play in 2011.  The club, which had been rumored for about a month to be the newest franchise for U.S. soccer’s new third division, will play in Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium and be coached by Charlie Naimo, the former head coach of the Pali Blues (a professional women’s soccer club) and team general manager.

The club becomes the third division’s fourteenth team and moves USL PRO two teams away from its stated goal of having sixteen for the 2011 season.  Being able to field a stable and competitive league for the upcoming year would be a major accomplishment for U.S. soccer, considering that last season there was so much turmoil in the second and third levels.  For 2011, the USSF Division 2 Professional League (composed of the USL and NASL) will be replaced with the NASL, while the third division USL-2 will be replaced with USL PRO.

LA will join Barracuda FC (Antigua), Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Dayton Dutch Lions, FC New York, Harrisburg City Islanders, Orlando City FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Richmond Kickers, River Plate Puerto Rico, Rochester Rhinos, Sevilla FC Puerto Rico, and Wilmington Hammerheads in USL PRO.

Notice one thing about the Blues, however, compared to the rest of this list.  Los Angeles is the only team on the West Coast.  In fact, it is the only U.S. club not on the East Coast, which could cause some major headaches and travel costs for the small start-up.  But USL PRO CEO Alec Papadakis promised further West Coast expansion as soon as 2012 and stated LA would be the building block of that effort.  Hopefully the team can remain financially competitive until then.

Additionally, the team is located in a city with two other major soccer franchises.  Despite the promised Fox Soccer Channel coverage of the league, it will be hard to garner attention in a market already saturated with a product that does not receive enough attention.  The club is playing it smart by playing in a small stadium but I wonder where the club’s fan base will come from.

However, I think this is major progress for U.S. soccer.  If the Blues can survive and thrive as a west coast division is built, it will help USL PRO reach into new markets and further stabilize the USSF structure.  As soccer fans know, a stable soccer pyramid will help this country begin to solidify its hierarchy and regularly produce national team and international club talent in this country.  Until that happens, MLS and the rest of American soccer will be a step behind, so welcome to the league LA Blues!

In the wake of the on-going USL soap opera that has been unfolding since summer, the Charleston Battery announced their intentions to relegate themselves to the USL Second Division for the upcoming 2010 season.

The Battery was never a member of the Team Owners Association, and in fact at one point was the only member of the USL First Division that wasn’t, and apparently no longer saw playing in what is shaping up to be a fractured First Division as a financially viable option. The TOA recently added the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore to its ranks, as Kartik reports here.

This move sees Charleston follow the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and local rivals the Charlotte Eagles and Richmond Kickers in decided to move down to the Second Division selectively. Meanwhile the other potential local rival, Wilmington, continues to search for a new owner after being kicked-out of the USL last month.

Charleston is an interesting case, they can claim to be the first professional club in the modern era to have a soccer-specific stadium, the 5,100-seat Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. But they also appear to be the first victim of the schism between the USL and the TOA, it would be a great shame for American soccer to lose one of it’s cornerstone clubs because of this bickering.