The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in USL Championship soccer.
Current standings
Members Current Club City Stadium Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham, Alabama Protective Stadium Brooklyn FC Brooklyn, New York Maimonides Park 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 StadiumLoudoun United FCLeesburg, VirginiaSegra FieldLouisville City FCLouisville, KentuckyLynn Family Stadium Miami FC Miami, Florida Riccardo Silva Stadium Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Highmark Stadium Rhode Island FC Smithfield, Rhode Island Beirne Stadium Sporting Club Jacksonville Jacksonville, Florida Hodges Stadium Tampa Bay Rowdies St. Petersburg, Florida Al Lang Stadium
Conference Lineups
Clubs timeline
‡Orlando City B & Rochester Rhinos went on hiatus after the 2017 season. OKC Energy FC went and has been on hiatus since the 2021 season, and looks to be on hiatus until the 2028 season, under the name OKC United.
2015 (12 teams) Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City FC FC Montreal New York Red Bulls II Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Rochester Rhinos St. Louis FC Toronto FC II Wilmington Hammerheads 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) Bethlehem Steel FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati FC Montreal Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City FC New York Red Bulls II Orlando City B Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Rochester Rhinos Toronto FC II Wilmington Hammerheads
Changes from 2015: Bethlehem Steel FC, FC Cincinnati and Orlando City B were added as expansion franchises; St. Louis FC moved out to the Western Conference.
2017 (15 teams) Bethlehem Steel FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Harrisburg City Islanders Louisville City FC New York Red Bulls II Orlando City B Ottawa Fury FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Rochester Rhinos Saint Louis FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Toronto FC II 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; Wilmington Hammerheads FC moved out to the Premier Development League (now USL League Two).
2018 (16 teams) Atlanta United 2 Bethlehem Steel FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Nashville SC New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC Ottawa Fury FC Penn FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds Richmond Kickers Tampa Bay Rowdies Toronto FC II Changes from 2017: USL was divided into three divisions: Championship, League One and League Two; Atlanta United 2 was added as an expansion franchise; Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC moved in from the North American Soccer League; 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.
2019 (18 teams) Atlanta United 2 Bethlehem Steel FC Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC Nashville SC New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC Ottawa Fury FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds Saint Louis FC Swope Park Rangers Tampa Bay Rowdies Changes from 2018: FC Cincinnati disbanded to make way for the MLS franchise; 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. Penn FC disbanded, while Rochester rebranded as Rochester NY FC for one season in MLSNP before ceasing operations.
2020 (17 teams) Group E (4 teams) Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Saint Louis FC Sporting Kansas City II Group F (5 teams) Hartford Athletic Loudoun United FC New York Red Bulls II Philadelphia Union II Pittsburgh Riverhounds Group G (4 teams) Birmingham Legion FC Charlotte Independence Memphis 901 FC North Carolina FC Group H (4 teams) Atlanta United 2 Charleston Battery Miami FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
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.
2021 (16 teams) Atlantic Division (8 teams) Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Hartford Athletic Loudoun United FC Miami FC New York Red Bulls II Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies
Central Division (8 teams) Atlanta United 2 Birmingham Legion FC Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC OKC Energy FC Sporting Kansas City II FC Tulsa 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.
2022 (14 teams) Atlanta United 2 Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Detroit City FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Loudoun United FC Memphis 901 FC Miami FC New York Red Bulls II Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa 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.
2023 (12 teams) Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Detroit City FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Loudoun United FC Memphis 901 FC Miami FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa 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.
2024–25 (12 teams) Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Detroit City FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Loudoun United FC Miami FC North Carolina FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Rhode Island FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Changes from 2023: North Carolina FC returned from USL League One. Rhode Island FC was added as an expansion franchise. Memphis 901 FC and FC Tulsa were moved to the Western Conference.
2026 (13 teams) Birmingham Legion FC Brooklyn FC Charleston Battery Detroit City FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Loudoun United FC Miami FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Rhode Island FC Sporting Club Jacksonville Tampa Bay Rowdies Changes from 2025: Brooklyn FC and Sporting Club Jacksonville are added as expansion teams. North Carolina FC pulled their team from competition in plans of making a move to the USL Premier at some point in the future.
Eastern Conference Playoff champions by year BoldUSL Champions Season Champions Score Runners up2015Rochester Rhinos1–0Louisville City FC2016New York Red Bulls II1–1 (4–3 PK)Louisville City FC2017Louisville City FC1–1 (4–3 PK)New York Red Bulls II2018Louisville City FC5–1New York Red Bulls II2019Louisville City FC3–1 (AET)Indy Eleven2020Tampa Bay Rowdies2–1Louisville City FC2021Tampa Bay Rowdies3–2 (AET)Louisville City FC2022Louisville City FC1–0 (AET)Tampa Bay Rowdies2023Charleston Battery2–1Louisville City FC2024Rhode Island FC2–1Charleston Battery2025Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC1–0Rhode Island FC
Eastern Conference regular season champions by year BoldPlayers' Shield Champions Season Team Record Playoffs result2015Rochester Rhinos17–1–10 (+25)Won USL Championship2016New York Red Bulls II21–3–6 (+40)Won USL Championship2017Louisville City FC18–6–8 (+27)Won USL Championship2018FC Cincinnati23–3–8 (+38)Lost Conference semifinals2019Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC19-4-11 (+28)Lost Conference semifinals2020Louisville City FC11-3-2 (+16)Lost Conference Final2021Tampa Bay Rowdies23–7–2 (+32)Lost Championship final2022Louisville City FC22–6–6 (+37)Lost Championship final2023Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC19–5–10 (+21)Lost Conference quarterfinals2024Louisville City FC24–6–4 (+43)Lost Conference semifinals2025Louisville City FC22–1–7 (+37)Lost Conference quarterfinals
See also Western Conference (USL Championship)
References