Canada was first In 1876 Canada became the

Canada was first … In 1876 Canada became the first nation outside of the British Isles to form a national Football organization, with the creation of the Dominion Football Association (DFA), using the rules of the game standardized by the English Football Association (FA) in 1862. Other independent football associations were subsequently established in Berlin (Kitchener), Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, each operating local teams and leagues. In 1912 the Dominion of Canada Football Association (DFA) was established in Toronto, and was granted membership the following year in FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the international governing body of Association Football. From 1928 until 1946 Canada withdrew from FIFA in solidarity with the FA protest over broken time payments to amateur players. After rejoining FIFA, the DFA became known as the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), reflecting the growing Canadian use of the American name for Association Football. The CSA remains the governing body of soccer in Canada today. CSA Logo

The Beautiful Game in America The first US-based ‘Association Football’ league was the American Football Association (AFA), established in 1884. It was comprised mostly of teams from New York and New Jersey. Other football leagues were also established in the northeast, but none survived. In 1911 the rival American Amateur Football Association (AAFA) was created, and both organizations applied for membership in FIFA. After the re-organization of the AAFA in 1913 as the United States Football Association (USFA), FIFA granted the new organization membership representing the United States. This led to the decline and eventual extinction of the AFA in 1924. The Fall River Rovers, an early AFA side.

The Birth of ‘Soccer’ Between about 1910 and 1925, the emergence of Rugby-style block-and-run ‘American Football’ in the United States, and the equivalent 12 -man game played in Canada, led to the widespread adoption of the word ‘soccer’ in both the USA and Canada to describe Association Football. It was widely believed that the word ‘soccer’ was British slang for Association Football. Early ‘American Football’ In 1974 the USFA was re-named the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), which remains the name of the governing body of soccer in the United States today. USSF Logo Early Association Football AKA ‘Soccer’

The Soccer Wars In 1921 the American Soccer League (ASL) was established by the USFA. Operated by well-funded owners, the league attracted many foreign players, particularly English and Scottish players. The league was based principally in the northeast region of the US, and most of the teams were rooted in local ethnic and immigrant communities. The quality of play was very high and quite comparable to the skill of most European sides at that time. Unfortunately the USFA requirement that ASL teams participate in the National Challenge Cup (later the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup), led to a revolt against the USFA by the ASL owners, who claimed the requirement was a financial burden (despite the considerable sums they spent on foreign players). When ASL executives tried to prevent three ASL teams from entering the 1928 Cup, the USFA and FIFA both declared the ASL to be an ‘outlaw’ league and de-sanctioned the ASL. Without USFA and FIFA sanction, the ASL folded in 1933. That same summer, a second league bearing the ASL name was established as a semi-professional league, but the onset of the Great Depression and fan disgust with the ‘Soccer Wars’ between FIFA, the USFA and the old ASL, ensured that the second incarnation of the ASL remained a semiprofessional league. The second ASL finally folded in 1983 after 50 years of play.

Soccer’s Long History in Canada In 1926 the National Soccer League (NSL) was established in Canada. It was the first attempt to establish a truly professional soccer league in the Dominion. The league lasted until 1997, when it was re-branded as the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL). As in the United States, many of the teams were rooted in local ethnic communities, with a leavening of English and Scottish players. In 2006 the league was re-branded once again as the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) in order to position itself for national expansion. The CSL is still the principal soccer league in Canada.

America’s Soccer Slumber, 1933 - 1967 The ‘Soccer Wars’ of the 1920’s was probably the single most important factor in the alienation of Americans from the sport of Association Football. The appearance of a U. S. athletic association conspiring with a European organization to undermine an American athletic league, alienated many U. S. sports fans by creating an image of soccer as a sport controlled by foreigners. These fans turned their backs on soccer, relegating the remnant ASL to the position of an ethnic-based minor league for decades to come. Coupled with the deprivations of the Great Depression, the rise of ‘American Football, ’ and then the epochal events of the Second World War, professional soccer essentially disappeared from the American sports consciousness. For more than thirty years, major league professional soccer slumbered in the United States.

The North American Soccer League 1968 - 1984 In 1967 two fledgling American leagues, the United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League, merged to form the North American Soccer League, which became the first truly world-class soccer league in either the United States or Canada. Fueled by the quixotic ambition of Warner Communications owner Steve Ross, who owned the New York Cosmos, the free-spending NASL owners attracted some of the best players in the history of the sport, including Pele, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Gordon Banks, George Best, Gerd Muller, and many others. Pele Banks Best Hamilton Beckenbauer Cruyff

1984: The End of the Ride For a time, the NASL was a sports sensation in both the United States and Canada. The New York Cosmos and a few other sides, regularly attracted crowds of 70, 000 spectators and more, rivaling the best South American and European clubs for fan support. But after the retirement of Pele, however, fan attendance dropped. By the early 1980’s the NASL had spent itself into bankruptcy, and the league folded in 1984. A few of the better teams in the league, switched to playing indoor soccer just to stay alive. America suddenly seemed to revert to it’s historic indifference to pro soccer.

Soccer Fights for Survival, 1984 -1994 The demise of the NASL led to the formation of new, less ambitious leagues: In 1985 the Western Soccer League (WSL) was formed from surviving west coast NASL sides. In 1986 the Southwest Indoor Soccer League (SISL) was formed. Initially an amateur league, over time the league evolved into the United Soccer Leagues (USL), operating both amateur and professional leagues in the USA & Canada. Professional Indoor Soccer In 1988 the third incarnation of the American Soccer League (ASL) was formed as the eastcoast counterpart of the Western Soccer League. In 1990 the WSL and the ASL merged to form the American Professional Soccer League (APSL), which after 1993 also included Canadian teams as well.

World Cup 1994 The 1994 World Cup, hosted by the United States for the first time ever, probably saved professional soccer in North America by once again generating fan interest in the sport. The United States advanced to the quarterfinals of the quadrennial tournament, where they lost a competitive match against eventual tournament winners Brazil.

Major League Soccer The success of the 1994 World Cup was the springboard for the rebirth of premier league soccer in the USA and Canada. In 1996 a new league sanctioned by FIFA and USSF began play in the United States: the MLS or ‘Major League Soccer. ’ Mindful of the financial mistakes of the old NASL and determined not to repeat them, the MLS established a system of league oversight of its teams, to prevent owner mismanagement. Mindful too of the fierce competition from other American sports leagues, the MLS deliberately chose to play a spring-summer schedule, instead of the typical fallwinter schedule played in other football countries. The cautious approach of the MLS has proven itself. Despite several difficult years, the league has now survived as long (1996 – 2011) as the star-crossed NASL (1968 – 1984), and has longed since expanded into Canada. Over the history of the league, the most successful side has been DC United with four championships, followed by the LA Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes, and Houston Dynamo with two championships apiece.

Division II Soccer 1996 -2011 The advent of the MLS was a blow to the APSL, which had hoped to become the premier soccer league in the United States. Forced to accept Division II status, the APSL merged with the SISL to form the United Soccer Leagues (USL), whose top tier division became the principal Division II league in the United States. Likewise, the growth of the MLS into Canada led to the classification of the CSL as a Division II league, despite the fact that the USL was also operating teams in Canada. This created the unusual situation of having two nations sharing a single ‘premier league’ (MLS) as the capstone of their national professional soccer Associations, while retaining separate Division II leagues (USL & CSL).

Rebirth of the NASL In 2009 Nu Rock Soccer Holdings LLC, which owned a USL team in Atlanta, formally purchased the USL and announced plans to grow the league. This came as an unpleasant surprise to many USL team owners, several of whom elected to leave the USL and revive the NASL as a Division II league in direct competition with the USL. Forced to adjudicate between the two parties, the USSF elected to disqualify both leagues for the 2010 season, and Instead directly operate an interim ‘Division 2 Pro League’ for one season. Beginning with the 2011 season, the reborn NASL commenced operations in both the United States and Canada with eight teams — the minimum number of teams for a professional league under FIFA rules— as the Division II ‘a’ League in North America, while the USL was relegated to the role of being a Division II ‘b’ League in the US and Canada. Several old NASL team names, such as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, were revived in order to appeal to fan nostalgia for the old NASL.

The USL-PRO League With several of its best teams gone, the USL was forced to consolidate its top two divisions in order to maintain a professional league. Although this diluted the level of competition, some of the USL’s remaining sides— such as the Charleston Battery and Rochester Rhinos— were as good as any of the new NASL teams. Coupled with the decision of the USL to expand into the Caribbean by adding teams in Puerto Rico and Antigua, the result was the ‘USLPRO League, ’ which began operations in 2011 with 15 teams in the United States and the Caribbean.

The North American Soccer Pyramid The culmination of soccer history in the United States and Canada, has been the de facto establishment of the ‘North American Soccer Pyramid. ’ This is an unofficial term used by soccer fans in both countries to describe the hierarchical relationship between the four principal professional soccer leagues in North America. With the MLS and NASL representing the first and second tiers of professional competition, the third tier is divided between the USL in the United States, and the CSL in Canada. In addition, the USL also operates the leading amateur soccer leagues in the United States. Unlike in other soccer nations, however, there is no system of promotion and relegation between the various leagues, with advancement into the MLS dependent on corporate and financial considerations and not winning promotion on the pitch. The absence of a system for promoting or relegating teams between the various leagues, remains the principal weakness of the North American Soccer Pyramid and is a source of ongoing friction with FIFA.