YOUR HOMETOWN’S SOCCER STORY
Soccer teams near you,
through the years.
Find the clubs that played closest to home. Follow men's and women's soccer, from the first professional leagues in 1894 to today.
The year you were born, moved here, or started following soccer.
EXAMPLE · ENTER YOUR HOMETOWN ABOVE
New York, NY1996–2026
Men’s + women’s · All levels · Grounds + city estimates
Filter teams, leagues & levels13 leagues selected
Professional includes USL League One and higher, women's pro leagues, and historical pro clubs. USL League Two is development / pre-pro. Your league selections still apply.
MetroStars
Manhattan SC
Recorded clubs in your selected leagues
THE OPTIONS AROUND YOU
Nearest clubs in 2026
17 recorded within 50 miles
THE CLOSEST CLUBS THROUGH YOUR YEARS
Every era has a home.
Select a chapter to explore its first season.
Men’s soccer
Names, leagues and ground changes within these chapters
- NY/NJ MetroStars becomes MetroStars.
- MetroStars becomes New York Red Bulls.
- Home ground changes to Red Bull Arena / Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Women’s soccer
Names, leagues and ground changes within these chapters
- Home ground changes to MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field.
- Sky Blue FC becomes NJ/NY Gotham FC. Home ground changes to Red Bull Arena / Sports Illustrated Stadium.
- Recorded in Gainbridge Super League.
A chapter follows the same closest club. Names, leagues, and grounds can change within it. Blank years mean missing coverage or no eligible records, not necessarily no soccer.
WITHIN 50 MILES
How your options changed
NY/NJ MetroStars becomes MetroStars
A new name for the same recorded sporting team.
New York Power appears in your nearby history
WUSA · about 22 straight-line miles away. This is an appearance in the selected archive, not necessarily the club's founding or first local season.
New York Power is no longer in your recorded nearby options
This can reflect a home move, a competition change, an inactive season, or missing venue/history coverage. It does not establish that the club closed.
MetroStars becomes New York Red Bulls
A new name for the same recorded sporting team.
Sky Blue FC appears in your nearby history
WPS · about 28 straight-line miles away. This is an appearance in the selected archive, not necessarily the club's founding or first local season.
New York Red Bulls has a different home ground
Giants Stadium to Red Bull Arena / Sports Illustrated Stadium. Its straight-line distance changes from about 8 to 8 miles.
F.C. New York appears in your nearby history
USL Pro · about 0 straight-line miles away. This is an appearance in the selected archive, not necessarily the club's founding or first local season.
Brooklyn Knights appears in your nearby history
Premier Development League · about 0 straight-line miles away. This is an appearance in the selected archive, not necessarily the club's founding or first local season.
THE NEXT CHAPTER IS YOURS
Make it a matchday.
Explore today's clubs and grounds, then find a game to go to.
WHAT’S IN THE ARCHIVE
A long history. An honest map.
For the national picture, explore how pro soccer's population reach changed through the years. It compares each season's recorded clubs against the same 2020 Census population. Our story behind the growth map explains what the comparison can tell us.
This calculator combines the club histories behind our MLS map, USL map, and women's soccer map with records from the first professional leagues in 1894, the 1967 leagues, and the original NASL. It is a growing archive, not a complete record of every professional, amateur, college, or local soccer team in the United States.
| Competition | Seasons | Coverage notes |
|---|---|---|
| MLS | 1996–2026 | MLS membership from its first season in 1996, including Canadian participants. |
| USL Championship / USL Pro | 2011–2026 | USL Pro from 2011, USL from 2015, Championship from 2019. Division 3 through 2016; Division 2 from 2017. |
| USL League One | 2019–2026 | Participating teams from the inaugural 2019 season, after withdrawals. |
| USL League Two / PDL | 2011–2026 | This development-league archive begins in 2011, not at the league's founding. The 2020 season was canceled. |
| NWSL | 2013–2026 | Participating clubs from 2013. The 2020 snapshot uses the regional Fall Series, not the neutral-site Challenge Cup bubble. |
| WUSA | 2001–2003 | All three played WUSA seasons, 2001–2003. |
| WPS | 2009–2011 | Played seasons 2009–2011, including clubs that closed during a season. |
| USL / Gainbridge Super League | 2024–2026 | Seasons are indexed by start year: 2024–25, 2025–26, and the standalone 2026 Fall season. |
| American Association of Professional Football | 1894–1894 | All four clubs that entered play. Proposed New York and Brooklyn entrants are excluded. City locations are approximate; players also held other jobs. |
| American League of Professional Football | 1894–1894 | All six clubs in the brief October 1894 league. Ground sites are mapped; post-league exhibitions and tours are excluded. |
| United Soccer Association | 1967–1967 | All 12 outdoor league identities, represented by visiting overseas clubs. City locations are approximate. |
| National Professional Soccer League (1967) | 1967–1967 | All 10 clubs in the unsanctioned professional rival league. City locations are approximate. |
| North American Soccer League (1968–1984) | 1968–1984 | Every outdoor season, including Canadian clubs and name changes. City locations are approximate. Indoor seasons and clubs in other leagues are excluded. |
How is the closest soccer team calculated?
We compare straight-line distances from your chosen reference point to each eligible club and season. We use documented historical grounds wherever available and label approximate home-city points where stadium research is incomplete. You can filter to verified grounds only. Shared grounds can produce equally close teams; city estimates can change the ranking.
Can I use my exact location?
Yes. Select “Use my exact location” and grant your browser permission. It stays in this calculator unless you choose to remember it on this device or explicitly include it in a shared link. Hometown and ZIP searches use approximate area centers.
How far back does U.S. professional soccer go?
Our earliest league records are from 1894, when two rival professional competitions played: the American Association of Professional Football and the American League of Professional Football. The Association started first. Many later early leagues remain outside this archive, so the intervening gaps do not mean there was no professional soccer.
Are the stadiums correct for each year?
Ground records are matched to documented playing seasons. We do not put a club's present-day stadium into earlier years without evidence. Some seasons used multiple venues; source notes explain the primary-ground approximation. Coverage counts show how much venue research is available for the selected year.
What do the timeline and nearby counts mean?
Each timeline follows the closest recorded club in your filters. Nearby counts use your selected radius and count each sporting team once. A rename or league switch is not automatically a new local club. Missing data is shown as a gap rather than a zero.
What about seasons spanning two years?
The annual comparison groups seasons by their starting year and retains competition-specific labels, such as 2024–25. It is a season comparison rather than a claim that every team played on the same date. Announced future clubs are excluded.
Historical archive reviewed September 12, 2026. Club marks belong to their respective owners. Proximity describes geography, not fan allegiance.