USL Championship final

USL Championship final

Organizing body	USL Championship
Founded	2010
Region	United States (CONCACAF)
Current champion(s)	Phoenix Rising FC (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Louisville City and Orlando City (2 titles each)
Television broadcasters	CBS ESPN+
Website	USLSoccer.com
2024 USL Championship Playoffs

The USL Championship final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports leagues (i.e. via a playoff following a regular season).

Unlike most soccer league, but much like North American sports leagues, the USL champion does not earn promotion into Major League Soccer, due to the fixed membership structure found in the league.

As of 2024, the USL Championship final is typically held in late-November and features the Eastern Conference champion and Western Conference champion. ^[1] The predecessor to the USL Championship final was the A-League Championship and the USL-1 Championship.

Champions

A-League era (1996–2004)

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Box Score
1996	California Jaguars	1–1 ( p )	Richmond Kickers	[2]
1997	Milwaukee Rampage	1–1 ( p )	Carolina Dynamo	[3]
1998	Rochester Raging Rhinos	3–1	Minnesota Thunder	[4]
1999	Minnesota Thunder	2–1	Rochester Raging Rhinos	[5]
2000	Rochester Raging Rhinos	3–1	Minnesota Thunder	[6]
2001	Rochester Raging Rhinos	2–0	Hershey Wildcats	[7]
2002	Milwaukee Rampage	2–1 (2OT)	Richmond Kickers	[8]
2003	Charleston Battery	3–0	Minnesota Thunder	[9]
2004	Montreal Impact	2–0	Seattle Sounders	[ citation needed ]

USL-1 era (2005–2009)

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Box Score
2005	Seattle Sounders	1–1 ( p )	Richmond Kickers	Qwest Field	8,011	[10]
2006	Vancouver Whitecaps	3–0	Rochester Raging Rhinos	PAETEC Park	9,547	[11]
2007	Seattle Sounders	4–0	Atlanta Silverbacks	Starfire Sports Complex	4,893	[12]
2008	Vancouver Whitecaps	2–1	Puerto Rico Islanders	Swangard Stadium [n 1]	5,822	[13]
2009	Montreal Impact	3–2 [n 2] 3–1 [n 2]	Vancouver Whitecaps	Swangard Stadium Saputo Stadium	5,886 13,034	[14] [15]

1. The league granted Vancouver the right to host the 2008 final, despite them being the lower seeded team.
2. Montreal won the two-legged series 6–3 on aggregate.

USL Championship era (2010–present)

Season	Champions	Score	Runners–up	Venue	Attendance	MVP	Box Score
2011	Orlando City	2–2 ( p )	Harrisburg City Islanders	Citrus Bowl	11,220	Sean Kelley (ORL)	[16]
2012	Charleston Battery	1–0	Wilmington Hammerheads	Blackbaud Stadium	4,963	Jose Cuevas (CHB)	[17]
2013	Orlando City	7–4	Charlotte Eagles	Citrus Bowl	20,886	Dom Dwyer (ORL)	[18]
2014	Sacramento Republic	2–0	Harrisburg City Islanders	Bonney Field	8,000	Rodrigo López (SAC)	[19]
2015	Rochester Rhinos	2–1 ( a.e.t. )	LA Galaxy II	Sahlen's Stadium	5,247	Asani Samuels (ROC)	[20]
2016	New York Red Bulls II	5–1	Swope Park Rangers	Red Bull Arena	5,547	Brandon Allen (NYRB)	[21]
2017	Louisville City FC	1–0	Swope Park Rangers	Louisville Slugger Field	14,456	Paolo DelPiccolo (LOU)	[22]
2018	Louisville City FC	1–0	Phoenix Rising FC	Lynn Stadium	7,025	Luke Spencer (LOU)	[23]
2019	Real Monarchs SLC	3–1	Louisville City FC	Lynn Stadium	7,025	Konrad Plewa (SLC)	[24]
2020	No champion due to COVID-19 pandemic						[25]
2021	Orange County SC	3–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Al Lang Stadium	7,521	Ronaldo Damus (OCO)	[26]
2022	San Antonio FC	3–1	Louisville City FC	Toyota Field	8,534	Santiago Patiño (SAFC)	[27]
2023	Phoenix Rising FC	1–1 ( p )	Charleston Battery	Patriots Point	5,094	Rocco Ríos Novo (PHX)	[28]
2024	Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC	3–0	Rhode Island FC	Weidner Field	8,023	Juan Tejada (COS)	[29]

Records and statistics

USL Championship titles

Club	Winner	Runner-up	Years won	Years runner-up
Louisville City FC	2	2	2017, 2018	2019, 2022
Orlando City SC	2	0	2011 , 2013
Charleston Battery	1	1	2012	2023
Phoenix Rising FC	1	1	2023	2018
Sacramento Republic FC	1	0	2014
Rochester Rhinos	1	0	2015
New York Red Bulls II	1	0	2016
Real Monarchs SLC	1	0	2019
Orange County SC	1	0	2021
San Antonio FC	1	0	2022
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC	1	0	2024
Harrisburg City Islanders	0	2		2011, 2014
Swope Park Rangers	0	2		2016, 2017
Wilmington Hammerheads FC	0	1		2012
Charlotte Eagles	0	1		2013
LA Galaxy II	0	1		2015
Tampa Bay Rowdies	0	1		2021
Rhode Island FC	0	1		2024

Winner	USL Cup champions
Bold	Players' Shield champions
Italics	No longer plays in the USL Championship

See also

• MLS Cup

References

1. USLChampionship Staff (December 18, 2023). "USL Championship Unveils 2024 Regular Season Schedule". USL Championship. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
2. "The Year in American Soccer, 1996". Soccer History USA – Audio Essays on the Beautiful Game. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
3. "A-League 1997 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
4. "A-League 1998 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
5. "A-League 1999 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
6. "A-League 2000 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
7. "2001 A-League Final". OurSports Central. October 16, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
8. "A-League 2002 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
9. "A-League 2003 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
10. "Seattle Sounders (USL) vs. Richmond Kickers - 1 October 2005 - Soccerway". ke.soccerway.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
11. "Rochester New York vs. Whitecaps (USSF) - 30 September 2006 - Soccerway". gh.soccerway.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
12. "Seattle Sounders (USL) vs. Atlanta Silverbacks - 29 September 2007 - Soccerway". ng.soccerway.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
13. "Vancouver Whitecaps vs Puerto Rico Islanders: live 12 october 2008. Team News, Preview, Lineups, Streaming | Soccer365". soccer365.me. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
14. "Montreal at Vancouver Whitecaps 3:2". October 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
15. "Impact defeat Whitecaps, win USL-1 title". www.sportsnet.ca. October 17, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
16. "Harrisburg City Islanders at Orlando City". archive.ph. September 3, 2011. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
17. USL PRO News Release (September 8, 2012). "Charleston Claims USL PRO Title". USL. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
18. USL PRO News Release (September 7, 2013). "Orlando City Claims Championship". USL Pro. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
19. USL PRO Game Report (September 27, 2014). "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". USL Pro. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
20. LA Galaxy Communications (October 16, 2015). "Match Report: LA Galaxy II fall in USL Championship match against the Rochester Rhinos, 2-1 | LA Galaxy". lagalaxy. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
21. "2016 USL Cup Final". www.uslchampionship.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
22. "Louisville 1-0 SPKC II (Nov 13, 2017) Game Analysis". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
23. "Louisville 1-0 Phoenix (Nov 8, 2018) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
24. "Real Monarchs 3-1 Louisville (Nov 17, 2019) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
25. Carlisle, Jeff (October 31, 2020). "USL final canceled after positive COVID-19 tests". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
26. "Orange County 3-1 Tampa Bay (Nov 28, 2021) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
27. "San Antonio 3-1 Louisville (Nov 13, 2022) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
28. "Phoenix 1-1 Charleston (Nov 12, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
29. "Colorado 3-0 Rhode Island (Nov 23, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved November 24, 2024.