1984 United Soccer League Logo

United Soccer League (1984-1985)

Tombstone

Formed: January 19841Lewis, Michael. “Flash in six-team ASl; dispute produces USL”. The Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, NY). January 23, 1984
Disbanded: June 25, 19852LaBelle, Fran. “USL cancels ’85 schedule; Sun in limbo”. The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL). June 26, 1985

First Game: May 12, 1984
Last Game: June 22, 1985

Seasons: 1.5
States: 5
(FL, NC, NY, OK, TX)

Leadership

President & Commissioner:

  • 1984 – April 1985: Dr. William Burfeind
  • April 1985 – June 1985: Kalman Csapo

Attendance

Trophy Case

 

Background

The United Soccer League was a 2nd division outdoor pro league in the United States during the spring/summer of 1984 and the spring of 1985.

The USL rose out of the ashes of the defunct American Soccer League (1933-1983), which collapsed in early 1984.  The Dallas Americans, Jacksonville Tea Men, an Oklahoma City franchise, and the Rochester Flash came over from the ASL and were joined by five new expansion franchises to field a league of nine clubs in 1984.   The USL also announced plans to play an indoor season in the fall/winter of 1984-1985, but the indoor plans never came to fruition.

When the league returned in the spring of 1985, six of the nine franchises had disbanded. The Houston Dynamos, one of the league’s most stable clubs, elected to operate as an independent club playing an exhibition scheduled rather than continue in the USL.  This left the league with only two holdovers – the champion Ft. Lauderdale Sun (now known as the South Florida Sun) and the Dallas Americans.  Oklahoma City moved to Tulsa and a new team was added in the El Paso-Juarez border region.

The league managed only a handful of games in 1985 before chronic financial problems caused the league to disband at the end of June 1985.

 

United Soccer League Franchises

Franchise Years Active USL Champions
Buffalo Storm 1984 None
Charlotte Gold 1984 None
Dallas Americans 1984-1985 None
El Paso-Juarez Gamecocks 1985 None
Fort Lauderdale Sun 1984 1984
Houston Dynamos 1984 None
Jacksonville Tea Men 1984 None
New York Nationals 1984 None
Oklahoma City Stampede 1984 None
Rochester Flash 1984 None
South Florida Sun 1985 None
Tulsa Tornados 1985 None

 

Downloads

1984 United Soccer League Directory

1984 United Soccer League Directory

##

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share