Southern Premier Soccer League

Southern Premier Soccer League

Founded	2010
Folded	2011
Country	United States
Confederation	CONCACAF
Level on pyramid	5
Promotion to	None
Relegation to	None
Domestic cup(s)	U.S. Open Cup
Last champions	Rio Grande Valley Ocelots (2011 SPSL Summer Cup)

The Southern Premier Soccer League (SPSL) was an amateur soccer league featuring teams from Texas and Oklahoma and recognized by the United States Soccer Federation and United States Adult Soccer Association. The league existed from September 2010 to June 2011, and ran two seasons during this brief but unsteady existence –a six-team 2010-2011 winter season that saw two teams depart or fold mid-season, and a six-team 2011 spring season that saw one team fold mid-season.

Origin

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) had intended to introduce a NPSL Winter League, with initial operation in the 2010–2011 winter season. However the FC Tulsa folded at the end of the normal NPSL 2010 season, leaving the NPSL's South Central division with three teams, less than the minimum four required for a division.

The remaining NPSL South Central teams – Galveston Pirate SC, Houston-based Regals FC, Corpus Christi Fuel  –founded the SPSL in September 2010, reaching out to a number of potential new teams to join the newly formed league. By month's end, the SPSL finalized a slate of six teams to start the season; the original survivors of the NPSL South Central division, plus Club América Soccer Academy Houston, Texas Lonestrikers from Nacogdoches, Texas, and a new Tulsa-based team, Tulsa Lobos FC.

SPSL 2010–2011 winter season

The inaugural 2010–11 SPSL season ran from October 2 through March 26. Each team was to play 20 games during the regular season. Before the season ended, Texas Lonestrikers folded and Galveston Pirate SC, having reached a new agreement with the NPSL, withdrew from play. Regals FC won the inaugural season, with five of the six top goal scorers in the SPSL playing for that club.

SPSL 2011 spring season

Having ended its first season with just four teams, the SPSL continued to recruit new clubs for the 2011 spring season. Two additional teams were added in time for the season: the Rio Grande Valley Ocelots FC (continuing on from their summer 2010 season in the USL Premier Development League) and the Houston Hurricane (revival of a name last used in 1980 by a team playing in the North American Soccer League). Club América folded before the season finished. The Ocelots won the short 2011 Spring season, with a 9–1 record and a championship game victory over Regals FC.

SPSL folds

The SPSL folded after completing a shortened 2011 Spring season. ^[1]

Teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Founded	Seasons	Color	Head Coach
Club América Soccer Academy Houston	Houston, TX	USA Soccer Park		2010–2011, partial Spring 2011	Yellow and blue	Thaigo Costa Reis
Corpus Christi Fuel	Corpus Christi, TX	Fairgrounds Field	2010	2010–2011, Spring 2011	Red, gray, and black	Patrick Escueda
Galveston Pirate SC	Galveston, TX	Kermit Courville Stadium	2010	partial 2010–2011	Blue, white, and yellow	Brendan Keyes
Regals FC	Houston, TX	Maya Park	2009	2010–2011, Spring 2011	Black, silver, and white	Miguel Landaverde
Texas Lonestrikers	Nacogdoches, TX	Expo Soccer Complex	2010	partial 2010–2011	Red, white, and blue	Gerrardo Romero
Tulsa Lobos FC	Tulsa, OK	Booker T. Washington High School	2010	2010–2011, Spring 2011	Red and blue	José Carlos Godoy
Rio Grande Valley Ocelots FC	Brownsville, TX	Brownsville Sports Park	2008	Spring 2011	Orange, white, silver, and black	Juan de Dios Garcia
Houston Hurricane FC	Houston, TX	North Channel Park	2011	Spring 2011	Red and black	Eric Martinez

References

1. Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report