It’s a surprising move for the league, but maybe one we should’ve seen coming when they launched USLD3 and said the name was “not final.” They’ve teased different potential markets for the D3 league, but no further announcements have been made… and maybe they were just waiting to have some of this structure in place.

A US Soccer structure built on the English model might work. MLS has long positioned itself as the Premier League equivalent in the US and Canada, and if you’re not familiar with the English game, the EFL represents the divisions below the English Premier League.

The USL, in this case, apparently wants to be the North American EFL.

In England, the Premier League sits on top, the EFL Championship is below, followed by EFL League One and EFL League Two. Below that is the National League, levels five and below, commonly referred to as non-League football.

In North America, a structure with MLS on top and the USL Championship below followed by USL League One and USL League Two would make logical sense. The trademark of USL Youth would likely apply to what is now known as PDL and would likely sit outside this ladder.

We haven’t heard any news about a USLD4, but there are so many possible options here, we don’t even know where to start.