Damn good news: there will be Division 2 soccer in 2010

The 2010 Division 2 season has been saved!

From the United States Soccer Federation’s (USSF) offical website, here is the press release:

CHICAGO (Jan. 7, 2009) – The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.

The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.

In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues.

As part of the agreement, all pending claims between the USL and NASL will be dropped.

So it appears all that was needed (!) was compromise.

We end up, for 2010 only, a league with two divisions. Of course, they call them conferences, just to not sound like we have two divisions. That being said, as far as compromises go, I can’t really complain. Not when, as Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo said today:

“The league team owners have now gained control over their destiny, which is very positive for the future of soccer in North America”.

Say what you will, but teams being able to make (most of) their own decisions and not being run by some third party with only a monetary interest in the league is a great leap. Of course, for Montreal, this newborn freedom will only last until we join MLS, at which point we’ll return to some sort of (yet still different) single-entity organization. Still, I’d rather be in Division 1 than Division 2.

In regards to running two conferences, it won’t be two lonely conferences who never face each other; rather, there will be interplay, however; how much is still up in the air. It’s been said that the league is looking at a schedule of between 28 and 34 matches, though Saputo stated 32 is probably most likely.

On another note, we’ve also been assured (by the Canadian Soccer Association) that both the Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps will participate in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

I suppose as far as compromise goes, I guess I can’t complain. We’re getting D2 Footie in 2010, we’re getting the NCC.

Here’s a look at the league, so far called USSF-D2:

At first glance, here are a few notables:

Portland and Vancouver, who are, in relative terms, a stone’s throw away from each other, just as Tampa and Miami, are in different Conferences! Minnesota needs a team name and logo (posted here is the logo of the National Sports Center in Minnesota). Finally, as announced during today’s USSF’s Conference call (read the transcript here), both FC New York and the Atlanta Silverbacks were said to have asked to delay their entry into the league. Both are expected to join in 2011.

Category: Montreal Impact Team News