Misplaced Pages

United Premier Soccer League

Founded	2011
Country	United States
Confederation	CONCACAF US Soccer
Divisions	30
Number of clubs	400+
Promotion to	Premier Division (Internal)
Relegation to	Division I (Internal)
Domestic cup(s)	U.S. Open Cup
Current champions	Soda City FC (1st title) (2024 Spring)
Most championships	California United FC II OC Crew (2 titles each)
TV partners	Eleven Sports
Website	www.upslsoccer.com
Current: 2024 Spring

The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was founded in 2011 by Santa Ana Winds President Leonel López as a regional league for teams in Greater Los Angeles, but expanded to include 400 teams from 41 states as of the 2022 season.

Two seasons are played each year, with regional play culminating in a playoff system that crowns a single national champion each season. The league features internal promotion and relegation with up to three levels in some regions; only clubs in the top tier Premier Division are eligible to compete for the national championship.

The league is a National Affiliate member of United States Soccer Federation, and a National League within the larger United States soccer league system.

History

The UPSL was formed in 2011 with 10 teams, and has grown to include over 400 member clubs across the nation. Now featuring numerous MLS U19 teams including LAFC, Philadelphia Union and LA Galaxy, the Premier Division is widely regarded as occupying the unofficial 4th tier of US Soccer. Each UPSL team is independently owned and operated. The league consists of two seasons each calendar year, with the Spring season beginning in March and ending with national playoffs in July, and a Fall season with play beginning in September with national playoffs in December.

UPSL announced it would begin promotion/relegation system beginning in 2017. Teams will compete in two divisions: Pro Premier and Division One.

In November 2016 the UPSL announced the addition of a Colorado conference set to begin in 2017.

In August 2017, the league announced that all eleven clubs of the Premier League of America would be joining the UPSL as a new Midwest Conference. The conference will initiate friendlies during the 2017 Fall Season and begin league play in 2018.

U.S. Open Cup

Former member club PSA Elite is known for reaching the fourth round of the 2014 and the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by knocking out higher-level professional teams. Three UPSL teams, La Máquina FC, L.A. Wolves FC, and San Nicolas FC qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open Cup. La Máquina FC advanced to the fourth round (knocking out Portland Timbers U23, Sacramento Gold, and LA Wolves FC) before falling to LA Galaxy. The UPSL's participants in the 2016 US Open Cup altogether defeated teams from the PDL (Timbers U-23), NPSL (Sacramento Gold), and USL (Orange County Blues FC). The UPSL had five teams qualify for the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, with the L.A. Wolves FC advancing the furthest, making it to the third round before being knocked out by USL team Orange County SC. 2018 saw five more UPSL teams qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, with Sporting Arizona FC before falling to USL team Fresno FC. Only one team, Florida Soccer Soldiers qualified from UPSL for the 2019 U.S. Open Cup, advancing to the third round prior to losing to USL Championship team North Carolina FC. The U.S. Open cup was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19. UPSL had four teams qualify for the 2022 U.S. Open Cup with two teams advancing to the second round of the competition. In 2023, UPSL only had two teams qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, with UDA Soccer advancing to the second round before falling to USL Championship team New Mexico United. With more slots being taken in the tournament proper by USL League 2 and National Premier Soccer League teams, the UPSL had seen a decrease in the number of teams to make it through the qualifying rounds. Starting in 2024, UPSL is guaranteed a slot in the first round of the Open Cup. This slot is given to the UPSL Spring Champions, and in 2024 was earned by AS Frenzi. For the 2025 U.S. Open Cup, Soda City FC earned the automatic first round slot by winning the 2024 UPSL Spring season.

2023 season

Premier Division

Division 1

Women

Champions

References

1. "United States Adult Soccer Association National Affiliates". USASA.com. USASA.
2. "About the National Independent Soccer Association". NISAOfficial.com. National Independent Soccer Association.
3. "Interview with Yan Skwara, UPSL Commissioner". Goal Nation. March 3, 2015.
4. "An American amateur fifth-tier league is about to introduce a pro/rel system". Top Drawer Soccer. November 1, 2016.
5. "United Premier Soccer League Brings Promotion And Relegation to the USA". Midfield Press. November 3, 2016.
6. "UPSL Expands To Colorado". Goal Nation. November 17, 2016.
7. "UPSL expands to Colorado, vows to bring pro/rel to American soccer". Burgundy Wave. November 19, 2016.
8. "Three SoCal Teams Involved in U.S. Open Cup Second Round Action Wednesday". Soccer Nation. May 18, 2016.
9. "HIGHLIGHTS: LA Galaxy vs. La Maquina". LA Galaxy. June 15, 2016.
10. Wolf, Liam (August 7, 2023). "AS Frenzi wins 2023 UPSL title, secures 2024 US Open Cup berth". www.TheCup.us. theCup.us. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
11. Battista, Michael (August 12, 2024). "2025 US Open Cup Qualifying: Soda City FC punches ticket with wild UPSL championship win". theCup.us. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
12. "Teams". United Premier Soccer League. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
13. "Teams". Premier. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
14. "Strikers FC Score 3-1 Victory Over San Pedro Monsters to Capture 2016 UPSL Championship". PR Log. June 28, 2016.

External links

• Official website

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