2018 North American Soccer League season

The 2018 North American Soccer League season would have been the eighth season of the modern North American Soccer League (NASL), but was canceled after the league was denied a preliminary injunction to prevent the loss of their Division II status.[1]

League news

The previous season's champion was the San Francisco Deltas who defeated the New York Cosmos in Soccer Bowl 2017. The Deltas folded after the 2017 season, citing financial difficulty and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the league.

Prior to the 2017 season, the league's Division II status was downgraded by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to a provisional sanctioning after league membership decreased to less than the 12 required by the Federation. At the same time, the USSF also promoted the former Division III league, the United Soccer League (USL), to a provisional Division II sanctioning.

During the 2017 season, the NASL announced two more expansion teams in California: San Diego 1904 FC in San Diego[2][3] and California United FC[4] in Orange County. The additions would have brought the 2018 league members only up to 10, still short of the 12 required for Division II.

On September 5, 2017, the USSF announced the NASL would not be granted Division II sanctioning for the upcoming 2018 season.[5] Two weeks later on September 19, the NASL announced it was filing an antitrust lawsuit against the USSF over the sanctioning.[6] A federal judge denied the league's request for a mandatory injunction against the USSF to regain its Division II designation in November 2017.[7]

Two weeks later on November 16, North Carolina FC left the league to join the USL. FC Edmonton and the San Francisco Deltas then announced they would cease professional operations citing the uncertainty about the divisional status of the league. Indy Eleven would also join the USL in January 2018.[8]

Due to the continuing litigation in regards to its status with the USSF, the league announced a move to an international season in January 2018. The new schedule postponed the start of the season until August 2018.[9] Following the postponement of the 2018 season, Jacksonville Armada FC and Miami FC announced they would launch teams in the lower division National Premier Soccer League for at least the spring portion of the 2018 season, but had not ruled out continuing in the NASL once the season begins.[10]

On February 23, 2018, the appeals court denied that NASL a preliminary injunction to prevent the loss of their Division II sanctioning.[11] Four days later, the NASL announced that it had canceled the 2018 season entirely and hoped to return for a 2019 season.[1] Following that announcement, San Diego 1904 FC announced that it had withdrawn from the NASL the previous month and was looking to move to the USL for 2019 instead.[12]

Proposed 2018 clubs
Club City Stadium Capacity Founded Joined
California United FC Fullerton, California Titan Stadium 10,000 2017 2018
Jacksonville Armada FC Jacksonville, Florida Hodges Stadium 9,400 2013 2015
Miami FC Miami, Florida Riccardo Silva Stadium 20,000 2015 2016
New York Cosmos Brooklyn, New York MCU Park 7,000 2010 Fall 2013
Puerto Rico FC Bayamón, Puerto Rico Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium 22,000 2015 Fall 2016
San Diego 1904 FC San Diego, California Torero Stadium 6,000 2017 2018

See also

References
  1. "North American Soccer League Announces Cancellation of 2018 Season". nasl.com. North American Soccer League. February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  2. "NASL ANNOUNCES EXPANSION CLUB IN SAN DIEGO FOR 2018 SEASON". NASL. June 26, 2017.
  3. "San Diego's NASL soccer team unveils name". The San Diego Union-Tribune. October 18, 2017.
  4. "Inverted Triangle: Michael Collins previews Orange County NASL". WRAL-TV. July 13, 2017.
  5. "U.S. Soccer denies NASL Division 2 status for 2018". ESPN. September 5, 2017.
  6. "NASL Files Antitrust Lawsuit vs. U.S. Soccer Over Division Sanctioning". Sports Illustrated. September 19, 2017.
  7. "Judge denies NASL's request for injunction to regain Division II status". ESPN. November 4, 2017.
  8. Tricia Whitaker (January 10, 2018). "Indy Eleven announces it will join USL for 2018 season". WXIN.
  9. "North American Soccer League Announces Move To International Calendar". NASL.com. NASL. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  10. "In wake of NASL turmoil, Armada to join NPSL for spring of 2018". The Florida Times-Union. January 30, 2018.
  11. Carlisle, Jeff (February 23, 2018). "Court denies NASL appeal for injunction to reinstate Division II status". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  12. Zeigler, Mark (February 27, 2018). "San Diego's 1904 FC soccer team to join USL after NASL cancels season". sandiegouniontribune.com. San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
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