North Carolina FC scaling back to USL League One, emphasizing role in youth soccer
The United Soccer League announced Sunday that North Carolina FC will join USL League One beginning with the 2021 season.
The club competed for the past three seasons in the USL Championship, considered the second tier of American men’s soccer below Major League Soccer. USL League One is considered a third-division men’s professional soccer league.
North Carolina FC said it sees the transition as a way to emphasize its role in youth-to-pro soccer development by increasing first-team minutes for young players and focusing additional financial resources on youth development, including through enhanced scouting and recruitment.
According to an October report by The Athletic, USL Championship clubs paid $225,000 in annual dues to the league in 2020, while League One club dues were just under $100,000.
“It is important that as the landscape of soccer in North Carolina evolves, our club does the same,” North Carolina Football Club president Curt Johnson said in a statement. “We can do more to develop our best players and are committing that player development will be the focus of our professional team for the foreseeable future.”
The decision comes after the 2020 USL Championship season was largely disrupted by the pandemic, including a title match that was canceled due to an outbreak on one of the competing teams, and as nearby Charlotte FC prepares to field an expansion team in Major League Soccer in 2022, bringing a greater focus on the region’s existing youth and professional talent.
North Carolina FC also announced Sunday that NCFC Youth Academy will be part of the USL Academy League that is scheduled to begin this year. It will continue to operate its USL League Two club North Carolina FC U23.
The NWSL team affiliated with North Carolina FC, the North Carolina Courage, is not impacted by the club’s division change. The Courage shares a home stadium with North Carolina FC at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. and is expected to report to camp Feb. 1 for the 2021 season.
The USL and NWSL soccer clubs also share an owner in Stephen Malik, the founder of Medfusion, who launched North Carolina FC in 2006 and has been outspoken about his desire to pursue both MLS and NWSL bids, the latter of which was successful with the Courage joining the league in 2017. Carolina Panthers owner and billionaire David Tepper landed an MLS bid for Charlotte FC in 2019.
“We are in the midst of a very important period with key initiatives,” Malik said in a statement. “In addition to this strategic move to League One, we remain focused on the Downtown South project and the associated future professional soccer stadium, the 2021 NC Courage season, and enhancing our youth-to-pro development model for both boys and girls.”
Malik has recently been at the forefront of plans to develop a $2.2 billion mixed-use facility and sports and entertainment venue in Raleigh’s Downtown South District. Malik, along with project partners Kane Realty and Trademark Properties, announced the closing of the final piece of land at the end of 2020, and indicated his longstanding commitment to supporting soccer in the region.
“We are pleased to continue the nearly 30-year tradition of men’s professional soccer in the Triangle,” Malik said. “We look forward to continuing to invest to provide opportunities for both fans and young talent to locally grow the global game we all love.”
A 2021 schedule for USL League One has not yet been announced, nor has a final decision been made. League One traditionally starts play in March, but owners are exploring a potential early May start date for 2021 given the pandemic environment, USL vice president Ryan Madden told the News & Observer.
North Carolina FC is expected to join 11 other participating clubs, including regional rivals the Richmond Kickers and the Greenville Triumph. The North Carolina club, formerly called the Carolina Railhawks, finished with a 6-8-1 record in the 2020 USL Championship season.
“League One is the fastest growing professional soccer league in the United States at the moment — in terms of club growth — and being able to add North Carolina Football Club to the ranks ahead of next season is a really positive development,” Madden said in an email. “We’re excited to see what they can accomplish.”
