The USL 2017 schedule will be expanded to 32 games from the existing 30, giving squads an extra home match and allow each team to play its conference opponents at least twice, one home and one away.
The USL Board of Governors approved the measure at its Thursday league meetings. The USL 2017 schedule will begin the weekend of March 24-26 and run no longer than 30 weeks. That’s also a change from 2016, where the league schedule ran 27 weeks.
“After evaluating a number of proposals the League and its Competition Committee agreed on several changes that we felt would deliver value to our clubs through the extra home match,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “Also, lengthening the season gives us greater flexibility to create a more balanced schedule with less midweek matches. We will continue to build our national footprint with a focus on regional rivalries and a roadmap to a three-conference alignment in the very near future.”
At the present Reno 1868 FC is currently set as 2017’s only expansion team. (Nashville FC will enter USL in 2018.) But there may never be a season like 2016, with six USL expansion teams on the pitch.
Image courtesy FC Cincinnati.
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