Eastern Conference (USL Championship)

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Eastern Conference
League USL Championship
Sport Soccer
Founded January 21, 2015
Teams
No. of teams 12
Championships
Most recent champion(s) Rhode Island FC (2024)
(1st title)
Most Eastern Conference titles Louisville City FC
(4 titles)

The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in USL Championship soccer.[1]

Current standings

Template:2025 USL Championship Eastern Conference table

Members

Current

Club City Stadium
Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham, Alabama Protective Stadium
Charleston Battery Charleston, South Carolina Patriots Point Soccer Complex
Detroit City FC Hamtramack, Michigan Keyworth Stadium
Hartford Athletic Hartford, Connecticut Trinity Health Stadium
Indy Eleven Indianapolis, Indiana IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium
Loudoun United FC Leesburg, Virginia Segra Field
Louisville City FC Louisville, Kentucky Lynn Family Stadium
Miami FC Miami, Florida Riccardo Silva Stadium
North Carolina FC Cary, North Carolina WakeMed Soccer Park
Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Highmark Stadium
Rhode Island FC Smithfield, Rhode Island Beirne Stadium
Tampa Bay Rowdies St. Petersburg, Florida Al Lang Stadium
Locations of teams for the 2024 USL Championship season

Conference Lineups

Clubs timeline

Conference Member   Club moved to Western Conference   Former clubs   Club playing in different league

‡Orlando City B & Rochester Rhinos went on hiatus after the 2017 season.[2][3] OKC Energy FC went and has been on hiatus since the 2021 season, and looks to be on hiatus until the 2027 season.[4]

2015 (12 teams)

Changes from 2014: USL Pro expanded and was rebranded as simply USL; the round robin table was split into two conferences: Eastern and Western.

2016 (14 teams)

Changes from 2015: Bethlehem Steel FC, FC Cincinnati and Orlando City B were added as expansion franchises;[5] St. Louis FC moved out to the Western Conference.

2017 (15 teams)

Changes from 2016: Ottawa Fury FC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies moved in from the North American Soccer League; FC Montreal was disbanded; Saint Louis FC moved back in from the Western Conference;[6] Wilmington Hammerheads FC moved out to the Premier Development League (now USL League Two).

2018 (16 teams)

Changes from 2017: USL was divided into three divisions: Championship, League One and League Two; Atlanta United 2 was added as an expansion franchise; the Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC moved in from the North American Soccer League; the Harrisburg City Islanders were renamed Penn FC; Orlando City B and the Rochester Rhinos went on hiatus; Saint Louis FC moved out back to the Western Conference.[7]

2019 (18 teams)

Changes from 2018: FC Cincinnati disbanded to make way for the MLS franchise;[8] Birmingham Legion FC, Hartford Athletic, Loudoun United FC and Memphis 901 FC were added as expansion franchises; Saint Louis FC and the Swope Park Rangers moved in from the Western Conference; Orlando City B, the Richmond Kickers and Toronto FC II moved out to USL League One; Penn FC and the Rochester Rhinos went on hiatus. They will move to USL League One in 2020.

2020 (17 teams)

Group E (4 teams)

Group F (5 teams)

Group G (4 teams)

Group H (4 teams)

Changes from 2019: Nashville SC moved out to Major League Soccer; Bethlehem Steel FC was renamed Philadelphia Union II; the Swope Park Rangers were renamed Sporting Kansas City II; Ottawa Fury FC was not sanctioned by U.S. Soccer and had their franchise rights sold to Miami FC; Penn FC was disbanded. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference was split into four groups. Three groups of four and one group of five.[9]

2021 (16 teams)

Atlantic Division (8 teams)

Central Division (8 teams)

Changes from 2020: The conference was divided into two divisions, Atlantic and Central; the OKC Energy FC and FC Tulsa moved in from the Western Conference; North Carolina FC moved out to USL League One; Philadelphia Union II was withdrawn by its MLS parent club; Saint Louis FC was disbanded.[10]

2022 (14 teams)

Changes from 2021: The Atlantic and Central divisions were dropped; OKC Energy FC went on hiatus; Charlotte Independence moved to USL League One; Detroit City FC joined from NISA; Sporting Kansas City II was withdrawn by its MLS parent club and moved to MLS Next Pro.[11]

2023 (12 teams)

Changes from 2022: Atlanta United 2 and New York Red Bulls II were withdrawn by its MLS parent club and moved to MLS Next Pro.[12]

2024–25 (12 teams)

Changes from 2023: North Carolina FC returned from USL League One.[13] Rhode Island FC was added as an expansion franchise.[14] Memphis 901 FC and FC Tulsa were moved to the Western Conference.[15]

Eastern Conference Playoff champions by year

Bold USL Champions
Season Champions Score Runners Up
2015 Rochester Rhinos 1–0 Louisville City FC
2016 New York Red Bulls II 1–1 (4–3 PK) Louisville City FC
2017 Louisville City FC 1–1 (4–3 PK) New York Red Bulls II
2018 Louisville City FC 5–1 New York Red Bulls II
2019 Louisville City FC 3–1 (AET) Indy Eleven
2020[lower-alpha 1] Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 Louisville City FC
2021 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–2 (AET) Louisville City FC
2022 Louisville City FC 1–0 (AET) Tampa Bay Rowdies
2023 Charleston Battery 2–1 Louisville City FC
2024 Rhode Island FC 2–1 Charleston Battery

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Eastern Conference regular season champions by year

Bold Players' Shield Champions
Season Team Record Playoffs result
2015 Rochester Rhinos 17–1–10 (+25) Won USL Championship
2016 New York Red Bulls II 21–3–6 (+40) Won USL Championship
2017 Louisville City FC 18–6–8 (+27) Won USL Championship
2018 FC Cincinnati 23–3–8 (+38) Lost Conference semifinals
2019 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 19-4-11 (+28) Lost Conference semifinals
2020 Louisville City FC 11-3-2 (+16) Lost Conference Final
2021 Tampa Bay Rowdies 23–7–2 (+32) Lost Championship final
2022 Louisville City FC 22–6–6 (+37) Lost Championship final
2023 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 19–5–10 (+21) Lost Conference quarterfinals
2024 Louisville City FC 24–6–4 (+43) Lost Conference semifinals

See also

References

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