PDL alignment announced for 2004
Four new clubs among league’s 55 set to play
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Friday, December 12, 2003
TAMPA, FL -- United Soccer Leagues announced today the alignment for the 2004 Premier Development League season. Four new expansion clubs are among the 55 teams that will play in the upcoming season.
The conferences and divisions remain unchanged from 2003 with the Central Conference (Great Lakes and Heartland Divisions), Eastern Conference (Mid Atlantic and Northeast Divisions), Southern Conference (Mid South and Southeast Divisions) and Western Conference (Northwest and Southwest Divisions).
Two of the four expansion clubs will play in the Central Conference.
The Cleveland Internationals will join the Columbus Shooting Stars, Fort Wayne Fever, Indiana Invaders, Kalamazoo Kingdom, Michigan Bucks, Toledo Slayers and West Michigan Edge in the Great Lakes Division.
Former A-League club Indiana Blast, along with a new club in Colorado Springs to be announced at a later date, will join the Boulder Rapids Reserve, 2003 finalist Chicago Fire Reserves, Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Sioux Falls SpitFire, St Louis Strikers, Thunder Bay Chill and Wisconsin Rebels in the Heartland Division.
The Eastern Conference sees three former clubs from the Pro Soccer League come into the mix.
The Carolina Dynamo join the Chesapeake Dragons, Raleigh CASL Elite, Richmond Kickers Future, West Virginia Chaos and Williamsburg Legacy in the Mid Atlantic Division.
The New Jersey Stallions and Reading Rage are among the nine in the Northeast Division with the Albany Blackwatch Highlanders, Brooklyn Knights, Jersey Falcons, Rhode Island Stingrays, South Jersey Barons, Vermont Voltage and two-time defending champion Cape Cod Crusaders.
The Southern Conference will see the most change with two new clubs, the addition of a former pro team and two teams with name changes.
The Mid South Division will look rather different in 2004 with the formation of a club in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the addition of former A-League side El Paso Patriots and name changes for the clubs formerly known as the Texas Spurs and Louisiana Outlaws. The new names will be announced at a later date. They are joined by the Austin Lightning, Memphis Express, Nashville Metros and 2003 regular season champion New Orleans Shell Shockers.
The Southeast Division sees just one change with the addition of the Ajax Orlando Prospects to the 2003 roster of the Bradenton Academics, Central Florida Kraze, Cocoa Expos and Palm Beach Pumas.
The Western Conference remains relatively unchanged.
The Abbotsford Rangers became a full member of the Northwest Division after playing a provisional schedule last year, joining the Cascade Surge, Spokane Shadow and Yakima Reds.
The Southwest remains the same with the BYU Cougars, Fresno Fuego, Nevada Wonders, Orange County Blue Star and Southern California Seahorses.
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