Timbers 2 and LA Galaxy II get it on at Providence Park. Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

Three MLS 2 and one independent team will join league in 2020

USL League One — the United Soccer Leagues’ third-division competition — is set to add three Western Conference members and one Eastern Conference member for the league’s sophomore season in 2020.

According to sources, three MLS 2 teams and one independent will join the fledgling competition and help fill out the league’s Western profile. The three MLS 2 clubs set to move join are Portland Timbers 2, LA Galaxy II — both dropping from the USL Championship — and a newly-formed, unnamed New England Revolution reserve team. The three reserve sides will be joined by a Riverside, Calif.-based club backed by Serie A side AS Roma.

The United Soccer Leagues have long been rumored to be seeking a way to move MLS reserve sides down to its newly established third-division league — both to solidify the status of the new league as well as create more room for independent clubs in the USL Championship in Division II.

While a definite blight on the USL Championship’s attendance, MLS reserve sides have been hit or miss in terms of on-field competitiveness. Among the three teams rumored to be moving down, Los Dos have been the most successful, reaching the playoffs in three of their five seasons and sitting above the playoff line currently in 2019. Timbers 2 reached the playoffs for the first time in 2018, but currently sit out of the playoff picture.

Image credit: USL League One

The AS Roma Riverside project, reported to have been included in USL League One’s inaugural season plans before not showing up for unknown reasons, will seemingly finally get off the ground and begin play in 2020.

The strengthening of the Western Conference was a major point of focus for the young league entering 2020, as current member FC Tucson was highly isolated in the first campaign. The addition of four new clubs should help establish a firm Western Conference and allow the league to split its schedule in a more cost-effective manner.

The four new additions are expected to enter the league alongside already announced USL Omaha, though which conference that club will enter is unknown at this point. Sources confirmed that there are not expected to be any additional entries for 2020 — and that includes continued absences from both the Rochester Rhinos and Penn FC.

Both of those former USL Championship clubs went on hiatus in recent years and were supposedly set to enter the league in 2020, but it now appears that neither will do so until 2021 at the earliest.

Update: This story has been updated to reflect new information from the source. Previously, the article indicated the Tacoma Defiance as one of the reserve teams joining USL League One, but it will instead be a newly-formed New England Revolution reserve side.

Update (9/11/19): USL spokesperson Ryan Madden informs Soc Takes that the three MLS 2 teams will not be dropping to USL League One for 2020.

Follow Colton on Twitter: @cjcoreschi.

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