1999 PDL season

The 1999 USL Premier Development League season was the 5th PDL season. The season began in April 1999 and ended in August 1999.

Chicago Sockers finished the season as national champions, beating Spokane Shadow 3-1 in the PDL Championship game. Jackson Chargers had finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 14 out of their 16 games, suffering just two losses, and finishing with a +55 goal difference.

Changes from 1998 Season

Name changes

• Abbotsford Athletes In Action changed their name to the Abbotsford 86ers Select.
• Central Florida Lionhearts changed their name to the Central Florida Kraze.
• Fox River Rebels changed their name to the Wisconsin Rebels.
• Grand Rapids Explosion changed their name to West Michigan Explosion.
• Seattle Hibernians changed their name to Seattle Sounders Select.

New teams

18 teams were added for the season, including 7 expansion teams and four who had returned from hiatus.

Team	Area	Location	Previous affiliation
Brooklyn Knights	Brooklyn (NYC) area	Brooklyn, NY	expansion
Capital District Shockers	New York Capital District area	Albany, NY	from D-3 Pro League
Central Jersey Riptide	Central Jersey area	Trenton, NJ	from D-3 Pro League
Chicago Sockers	Chicago area	Chicago, IL	from D-3 Pro League
Clarksville Gunners	Clarksville area	Clarksville, TN	expansion
Lexington Bluegrass Bandits	Lexington area	Lexington, KY	returned from hiatus
Miami Breakers	Miami area	Miami, FL	from D-3 Pro League
Nevada Zephyrs	Las Vegas area	Las Vegas, NV	expansion
New York Freedom	New York City area	New York, NY	expansion
Orlando Nighthawks	Central Florida area	Orlando, FL	from D-3 Pro League
Rockford Raptors	Rockford area	Rockford, IL	from D-3 Pro League
San Fernando Valley Heroes	Los Angeles area	Los Angeles, CA	from D-3 Pro League
Team St. Louis	St. Louis area	St. Louis, MO	expansion
Tucson Amigos	Tucson area	Tucson, AZ	returned from hiatus
Vermont Voltage	Vermont area	St. Albans, VT	from D-3 Pro League
Westchester Flames	Suburban Mainland New York area	New Rochelle, NY	expansion
Wichita Blue	Wichita area	Wichita, KS	returned from hiatus
Willamette Valley Firebirds	Portland area	Portland, OR	returned from hiatus

Teams Leaving

5 teams folded after the 1998 Season:

• Detroit Dynamite
• Lansing Locomotive
• Northern Arizona Prospectors
• Seattle BigFoot
• Southern California Chivas

Alabama Saints and South Florida Future went on hiatus for this season.

Okanagan Valley Challenge and Victoria Umbro Select returned to the PCSL, ending their associate membership. Abbotsford Athletes In Action and Seattle Hibernian retained their membership.

Standings

Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as host.
* denotes team is a provisional team and does not play a full schedule.

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	Mid-Michigan Bucks	16	14	2	1	0	62	11	+51	11	65
2	Chicago Sockers	16	12	4	1	1	41	14	+27	7	53
4	Wisconsin Rebels	16	11	5	1	0	45	37	+8	9	51
4	Indiana Invaders	16	7	9	0	0	34	44	-10	7	35
5	Kalamazoo Kingdom	16	6	10	1	1	28	45	-17	5	28
6	Rockford Raptors	16	2	14	0	2	23	61	-38	3	13
7	West Michigan Explosion	16	2	14	0	0	17	49	-32	2	5

Heartland Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	Twin Cities Tornado	16	14	2	0	0	55	18	+37	9	65
2	Sioux City Breeze	16	13	3	0	0	52	25	+27	9	61
3	Colorado Comets	15	8	7	0	1	48	33	+15	9	42
4	Des Moines Menace	16	7	9	0	1	33	36	-3	5	34
5	Kansas City Brass	16	6	10	2	0	23	38	-15	4	24
6	Team St. Louis*	6	5	1	0	0	28	8	+20	4	24
7	Wichita Blue**	11	3	8	0	2	13	43	-30	2	16
8	Colorado Springs Stampede	16	3	12	2	0	21	52	-31	2	10

** Wichita Blue folded during the season.

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	New York Freedom	16	11	5	1	1	45	24	+21	8	49
2	Central Jersey Riptide	16	8	8	0	1	40	28	+12	9	36
3	Brooklyn Knights	16	7	9	2	0	29	42	-13	5	29
4	Westchester Flames	16	7	9	1	0	19	32	-13	3	29
5	Vermont Voltage	16	4	12	0	1	26	42	-16	4	21
6	Capital District Shockers	16	2	14	0	0	18	65	-47	1	9

Southeast Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	Jackson Chargers	16	14	2	0	0	67	12	+55	11	67
2	Cocoa Expos	16	12	4	2	0	58	24	+34	10	54
3	Central Florida Kraze	16	10	6	0	1	47	23	+24	8	49
4	Miami Breakers	16	9	7	1	0	29	32	-3	6	40
5	Bradenton Academics	16	8	8	0	1	28	32	-4	5	38
5	Clarksville Gunners	16	6	10	1	1	28	37	-9	3	26
7	Miami Tango	16	5	11	1	0	25	61	-36	5	23
8	Lexington Bluegrass Bandits	6	3	3	0	0	17	14	+3	4	16
9	Orlando Nighthawks	16	1	15	0	1	13	63	-40	0	5

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	16	14	2	0	0	54	20	+34	10	56
2	Spokane Shadow	16	10	6	0	0	36	21	+15	8	48
3	Abbotsford 86ers Select	16	8	8	0	1	36	32	+4	7	40
4	Seattle Sounders Select	16	8	8	2	0	19	32	-13	1	29
5	Yakima Reds	16	6	10	1	1	31	43	-12	6	29
6	Cascade Surge	16	2	14	0	1	19	47	-28	3	12

Southwest Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Bonus	Points
1	San Fernando Valley Heroes	16	13	3	4	0	53	21	+32	8	52
2	Central Coast Roadrunners	16	8	8	1	1	32	24	+12	7	38
3	Nevada Zephyrs	16	7	9	0	0	26	31	-5	4	32
4	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	16	6	10	0	0	33	51	-18	6	27
5	Silicon Valley Ambassadors	16	5	11	0	2	23	44	-21	2	24
6	Tucson Amigos	16	3	13	0	2	23	41	-18	1	15

Playoffs

Spokane hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals.

	Central Semifinals					Central Finals
	GL1	Mid-Michigan Bucks	1
	HL2	Sioux City Breeze	2
						HL2	Sioux City Breeze	1
						GL2	Chicago Sockers	3
	HL1	Twin Cities Tornado	0
	GL2	Chicago Sockers	2

	Eastern Semifinals					Eastern Finals
	SE1	Jackson Chargers	9
	NE2	Brooklyn Knights	1
						HL2	Jackson Chargers	0
						GL2	New York Freedom	1
	NE1	New York Freedom	3
	SE2	Cocoa Expos	1

	Western Semifinals					Western Finals
	NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	1
	SW2	Central Coast Roadrunners	0
						NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	5
						NW2	Abbotsford 86ers Select	1
	SW1	San Fernando Valley Heroes	1
	NW2	Abbotsford 86ers Select	2

	PDL Semifinals
	NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	1
	H	Spokane Shadow	2			PDL Finals
						H	Spokane Shadow	1
	PDL Semifinals				GL2	Chicago Sockers	3
	NE1	New York Freedom	0
	GL2	Chicago Sockers	1			PDL Third Place
						NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	2
						NE1	New York Freedom	5