USL through the years: U.S. counties and southern Canada

A summer club a few towns away can change the soccer map just as much as a new professional team. Our USL history map puts Championship, League One and League Two on one map of U.S. counties and part of southern Canada, then lets you separate the leagues. Choose a season from 2011 through 2026, find your county or Canadian census division, and see which participating club was closest.

This is the companion to our MLS timeline. The geography works the same way, but USL tells a different story: independent clubs, reserve teams, summer leagues, changes of name and clubs moving between competitions. The crests make those changes visible.

Three leagues, with different beginnings

The timeline starts in 2011. USL Pro was the professional competition; the Premier Development League, usually called the PDL, offered a summer development season. USL Pro became USL in 2015 and the Championship in 2019. In that same 2019 season, League One began and the PDL took the League Two name. The USL's 2018 brand announcement set out the new names.

League Two is a seasonal development league, with many college players using the summer to develop. The combined map asks which USL club is closest regardless of league; the individual views answer the question at one level. Our U.S. soccer pyramid guide explains where the competitions fit, and the interactive pyramid gives you another way to explore the professional game.

The scope begins in 2011 rather than combining every earlier USL, A-League and predecessor competition into one continuous league. Canadian clubs and other non-mainland participants count when they played in an included competition. The shaded geography covers all fifty states and Washington, DC, plus census divisions in the displayed part of southern Canada.

A club can change leagues without leaving its community

Watch Richmond Kickers move into League One in 2019, then follow Charlotte Independence into League One in 2022. In a single-league view those changes redraw the map. In the combined view, the club can remain a nearby option.

The playing season matters more than a founding date or an expansion announcement. A club does not appear in the Championship simply because it existed in another league. Reserve teams also stay distinct from their parent club and independent clubs in the same city. The League One notes record its membership changes and pauses.

League Two adds a much denser layer. Its official 2026 alignment contains 158 clubs. Choose the League Two view to see how the summer game reaches communities beyond the professional map; use the club search when a small crest is hard to pick out.

What happened to 2020?

The 2020 League Two season was canceled. It therefore has no geographic assignments in this tool. A list of clubs that intended to play would answer a different question. The Championship and League One did play shortened seasons, so their participating clubs remain in the combined 2020 map.

There are other unusual seasons. In 2011, three Puerto Rican USL Pro clubs played matches before their midseason removal; they appear in that season's field. The timeline follows participation and records pauses rather than assuming a club played continuously between its first and last appearance.

Looking ahead to 2027 and 2028

The last two years are labeled projections. They carry the 2026 field forward, apply documented league moves, and add clubs from their announced target year. A dotted ring identifies a planned club, and its entry links to the announcement. Inspect the 2027 projection or jump to 2028.

A planned team is not a confirmed final roster. Stadium agreements, ownership, league approval and launch dates can change. The expansion source notes distinguish dated plans from delayed or undated projects that stay off the map, and explain the known moves used in the projection. Fort Lauderdale United appears once in League One from 2027; a continuing separate League Two team has not been assumed.

USL Premier is scheduled to begin in 2028, but its inaugural membership has not been assigned here. We do not predict promotions or move existing clubs into Premier without an announced destination.

How the regions get their colors

Each U.S. county or Canadian census division goes to the eligible club with the shortest great-circle distance from its geographic centroid to the club's approximate home municipality center. Every season uses the same 3,142 U.S. Census 2017 counties and equivalents, plus Statistics Canada's 2021 census divisions within the displayed part of southern Canada. The centers are geographic, not population weighted, and the mileage is not a driving estimate.

The Canadian portion is deliberately cropped to keep the map compact while retaining the full U.S. coverage. It shows part of southern Canada, not the whole country. A division crossing the edge keeps its full geographic centroid in the nearest-club calculation; only its drawing is clipped. U.S. county counts and Canadian division counts stay separate, and Canadian totals refer only to divisions included in this view.

Alaska and Hawaii are insets on the page, but retain their real locations in the calculation. Clubs sharing a home-city anchor share striped regions. Crests label regions and are spaced for readability; they are not stadium pins. Historical names follow recorded eras. Suitable sourced crests identify those names, while neutral text labels fill artwork gaps. Some League Two artwork is a current crest used for the same club name rather than a verified season-specific edition; the crest notes preserve those limitations.

The colors describe proximity, not supporter allegiance or official territories. League Two colors are sampled from available crests, with an editorial palette filling gaps; they are display colors rather than official brand specifications. A large colored region does not imply more fans: western counties cover much more land than many densely populated eastern counties.

Turn the map into a matchday

When a club has a SoccerMapd team page, the map links to it. Those links lead to current information even when you are exploring an older season. For example, continue from Forward Madison to Breese Stevens Field, then record your visit in My Map.

For your next trip, check the Championship schedule, the League One schedule, or pro games near you. Historical geography is a starting point; the current club page and venue details tell you where to go now.