Utah Royals FC have announced they will add a reserve team, named Utah Royals FC Reserves, to begin play in Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) this year.

The new reserve team will an asset in developing players and even coaches here in Utah. The WPSL is designed to be a development league and is the second tier in women’s soccer in the US, just below the NWSL. Women’s Premier Soccer League was founded in 1997 and has the most teams of any professional women’s soccer league in the world. 2019 will be the league’s 22nd season of operation.

Utah already has two WPSL teams with Utah Red Devils and Utah Arrows SC. Both teams are located in the Salt Lake area.

The press release through WPSL’s site makes it sound as though RSL Women will be joining the WPSL, having been rebranded as Utah Royals FC Reserves, however the club’s press release implies that RSL Women will simply cease to exist as this new team is started.

As the NWSL head into a busy season that includes the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup, there were many questions around how teams would manage losing players during the World Cup. It’s very possible that US players could be out for six weeks or so, depending on how far the number 1 ranked nation in the world do in that tournament. A reserve team based in Utah will be a huge asset to help fill some of those holes. In many ways, it’s a similar set up to what we see between Real Salt Lake and Real Monarchs.

Owner Dell Loy Hansen has stated many times that his vision is to make Utah a soccer state; this latest addition to the RSL family is yet another step towards that vision.

The new logo for Utah Royals FC Reserves, per wpslsoccer.com