The League for Clubs announced today (see tweet below) that FC Dallas will be entering a U23 team in the new league’s inaugural season in 2025. “The League” is an amateur league (aka college kids) that will play in the spring/summer and is thus a direct competitor to NPSL and USL-2.
Already named as taking part at the launch were Tulsa Athletic, Kingston Stockade, Atlantic City FC, Napa Valley 1839, and FC Davis. Since then Houston Regals and FC Dallas have been named for the Central Region with Tulsa.
FC Monmouth, First State FC, and NY Braveheart SC have joined the East Region. Albion Silicon Valley, Sonoma County Sol FC, San Ramon FC, Oakland FC, Rush Silicon Valley, and Bay Valley joined the West Region.
As you can clearly see, regional play matters quite a bit at this level due to travel costs. Historically, most of the teams in DFW have been in NPSL while the Houston area has been a bit more USL-2. The lone USL-2 team here in DFW, Texas United, was always forward to traveling longer distances. Those costs are a heavy burden for teams like this and might have been a factor in Texas United shutting down.
Thus the presence of a Micheal Hitchcock team, Napa Valley 1839, in “The League” raises an interesting question. Maybe that’s just about local sides… but might we see Hitch-owned or connected teams like Denton Diablos, Ft Worth Vaqueros, West Texas FC, and Lubbock Matadors, perhaps even the just-announced team in McKinney, join “The League?”
Stay tuned.
3rd Degree’s Take
This is a great development for FC Dallas. To be able to bring back their own Academy players who are in college for direct coaching in their system rather than seeing them scatter all over NPSL or USL-2 is a positive development. Even bringing in kids you are interested in for an unofficial closer look is a terrific idea.
P.S.
FC Dallas is also keeping their UPSL side. That’s a place they use to get games for Academy keeps that need the competition.
I may start calling this thing TLFC.