National Premier Soccer League

National Premier Soccer League
National Premier Soccer League
Countries  United States
Confederation CONCACAF
US Soccer
Founded 2003
Divisions 6
Number of teams 37
Levels on pyramid 4
Promotion to None
Relegation to None
Domestic cup(s) Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Current champions Jacksonville United
(2011)
Most championships Arizona Sahuaros
Detroit Arsenal
Jacksonville United
Pennsylvania Stoners
Sacramento Gold
Sacramento Knights
Sonoma County Sol
Southern California Fusion
Utah Salt Ratz
(1 title each)
Website Official site
2011 NPSL season

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is a United States soccer league recognized by the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA as a Division IV league. It is the successor of the Men's Premier Soccer League, a regional league originally based out of the Western United States, which has now expanded nationwide to encompass teams from 19 states.

Although the league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), and qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup through USASA channels, the league is generally considered to be at the fourth tier of competition in the United States soccer pyramid, behind Major League Soccer (MLS), the North American Soccer League (NASL) and the United Soccer Leagues Professional Division (USL Pro), and roughly equal with the USL Premier Development League.

The league's motto is "A National League With A Regional Focus". Some of the clubs are former United Soccer Leagues (USL) clubs.

Contents

History

The National Premier Soccer League began in 2003 as the Men's Professional Soccer League (MPSL) initially as an offshoot of the Women's Premier Soccer League, and marked the first instance of a women's soccer league spawning a men's league. The league's first two champions were the Arizona Sahuaros, who had defected to the MPSL from the USL D-3 Pro League, and the Utah Salt Ratz.

The league expanded into the Midwest in 2005 with the addition of several new teams and a new conference, and changed its name to National Premier Soccer League to reflect its new national footprint; a team from the expansion conference - Detroit Arsenal - won the league in its first year after its eastward expansion. The NPSL expanded further in 2007 with the addition of a new Northeast Conference and five new teams from the eastern United States. The first team from the East to win the national NPSL title was the Pennsylvania Stoners in 2008. The league has since continued to expand, adding more teams throughout the entirety of the country.

Since its inception the league has managed to place at least one team actively playing under its banner into U.S. Open Cup competition. Though the showing of the NPSL in US Open Cup play was typically only one or two teams in its first six years, the 2009 and 2010 cups have seen four and three , respectively, NPSL teams in each tournament. The recent success of the NPSL in USASA qualifying has encouraged a movement by which the league could have automatic berths in the final tournament.[1] The furthest a team from the NPSL has reached in the US Open Cup during the professional era (1997 and onward after the entry of MLS teams) has been the third round. However, the Brooklyn Italians have won the US Open Cup outright before the existence of either MLS or the NPSL.

Sponsorship

The Official Ball of the NPSL is Molten. The NPSL currently uses the FX-1000A FIFA Approved ball provided by Molten. They are in the second year of the sponsorship.

2011 Teams

USA States with NPSL teams are highlighted in red.

Northeast Division - Atlantic Conference

Northeast Division - Keystone Conference

  • AC Crusaders  NJ
  • FC Buffalo  NY
  • Buxmont Torch  PA
  • Erie Admirals  PA
  • New Jersey Blaze  NJ
  • Pocono Snow  PA
  • Reading Revolution  PA
  • FC Sonic Lehigh Valley  PA

Southeast Division

*Note: FC Tulsa is not competing in league play in 2011, only the US Open Cup

Midwest Division

West Division - Northwest Conference

West Division - Southwest Conference

Confirmed Expansion Teams for 2012

  • Chicago Inferno SC  IL
  • FC Santa Clarita  CA
  • Fort Smith United  AR
  • Galveston Pirate  TX
  • Mississippi Storm  MS
  • Myrtle Beach FC  SC
  • Rio Grande Valley Ocelots  TX

Champions

Former MPSL/NPSL teams

References

  1. ^ New League Structure Announced at AGM

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • National Premier Soccer League — Vorlage:InfoboxFußballwettbwerb/Wartung/Logoformat Voller Name National Premier Soccer League Abkürzung NPSL Verband United States Soccer Federation …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • National Premier Soccer League (South Africa) — NPSL Countries South Africa Founded 1971 Folded 1995 Most championships Kaizer Chiefs (6 times) The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) was the title of a South African association football league, between …   Wikipedia

  • National Capital Soccer League — Sport Youth Football (soccer) Founded 1965 No. of teams 1200 Country(ies)  United States …   Wikipedia

  • National Star Soccer League — Countries  United States Confederation US Soccer Founded …   Wikipedia

  • Premier Soccer League — (PSL) Countries  South Africa Confederation CAF …   Wikipedia

  • Premier Soccer League — Unter dem Namen Premier Soccer League (abgekürzt PSL) organisiert die National Soccer League den Profifußball in Südafrika. Sie besteht aus der ersten Liga Premier Division und der in zwei regionale Ligen eingeteilten zweiten Spielklasse, der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Premier Soccer League 2008–09 — The 2008–09 Premier Soccer League season (known as the ABSA Premiership for sponsorship reasons) will be the thirteenth since its establishment. Supersport United are the defending champions, having won their first Premier Soccer League title on… …   Wikipedia

  • Premier Soccer League — Championnat d Afrique du Sud de football Pour la compétition à venir, voir : Championnat d Afrique du Sud de football 2008 2009 Le championnat professionnel d Afrique du Sud de football, nommé Premier Soccer League, a été créé en 1996 sous… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League — Infobox sports league sport=Football (soccer) pixels=163px founded=1980 teams=16 country= flagicon|ZIM Zimbabwe champion=Dynamos FC website= [http://www.cbzpremierleague.co.zw www.cbzpremierleague.co.zw] Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League, also known …   Wikipedia

  • Women's Premier Soccer League — Infobox compétition sportive Women s Premier Soccer League Généralités Création 1997 Organisateur(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”