Bascome’s team to join US league

Top coach Andrew Bascome



Bermuda will be represented in the United Soccer League for the first time in nearly a decade during the upcoming season.

Sources have confirmed that Bascome FC have joined the USL League Two and will compete in the Mid-Atlantic Division, which includes seven teams.

The local franchise is headed up by Andrew Bascome, the former Bermuda coach, who was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Bascome FC are among a group of league expansion teams listed that also includes AFC Ann Arbor, Asheville City SC, Philadelphia Lone Star FC and Southern Soccer Academy.

Evergreen FC, Lehigh Valley United, Ocean City Noreasters, Philadelphia Lone Stars FC, Reading United AC and West Chester United SC are the remaining teams in the USL League Two Mid-Atlantic Division.

The USL League Two, formerly the Premier Development League, provides a pathway for players to progress to the professional ranks and boasts member clubs that are owned and operated by a professional club or in partnership with a professional club.

The league has proven to be a vital stepping stone for top professionals now playing throughout the world, with more than 70 per cent of all selections in the MLS SuperDraft since 2010 having PDL experience, including 66 selections in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.

The league enables elite collegiate players with the opportunity to compete at a higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility.

The regular season takes place during the summer from early May to mid-July with each team playing a 14-match schedule against their respective divisional opponents on a home and away basis.

In conferences with three divisions, each division winner, plus the highest-finishing second-place team in the conference, advances to the play-offs in the conference semi-finals. In conferences with two divisions, the top two teams from each division advance to the conference semi-finals.

The play-offs are held in late July, with each conference champion advancing to the national semi-finals and the winners of those matches advancing to the USL League Two Championship in early August.

In addition to league play, League Two teams compete in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup as well as various exhibitions.

This year, 72 teams divided into 11 regional divisions, within four conferences competed in the league, which is regarded as the fourth tier of the United States football pyramid behind Major League Soccer, USL Championship and USL League One.

Flint City Bucks are the reigning champions.

The Bermuda Hogges were the last local team to compete in the USL.

The Hogges pulled out of the PDL a week before the start of the 2013 season due to financial difficulties, bringing the shutters down on their six years as a USL franchise.

The Hogges were owned by local businessman Paul Scope who formed the franchise with the help of former professional players Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne in 2006.