The 2021 USL Championship season was the eleventh season of the USL Championship and the fifth season under Division II sanctioning. This was the third season under the name "USL Championship", having used the name "United Soccer League" through 2018. The 2021 season saw 31 teams participate in four divisions during the regular season.
Changes from 2020 Expansion clubs Oakland Roots SC (joined from NISA)
Departing clubs North Carolina FC (moved to USL League One) Philadelphia Union II (withdrawn by MLS parent club) Portland Timbers 2 (withdrawn by MLS parent club) Reno 1868 FC (folded) Saint Louis FC (folded in favor of future St. Louis City SC of MLS)
Teams
The following teams are playing in the 2021 USL Championship season:
Team Location Stadium Capacity Head coach MLS affiliate / ownership Atlanta United 2 Kennesaw, Georgia Fifth Third Bank Stadium 8,318 Jack CollisonAtlanta United FC Austin Bold FC Austin, Texas Bold Stadium 5,000 Ryan Thompson Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham, Alabama BBVA Field 5,000 Tom Soehn Charleston Battery Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Patriots Point Soccer Complex 3,900 Mike Anhaeuser Charlotte Independence Matthews, North Carolina Sportsplex at Matthews 5,000 Mike Jeffries Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Colorado Springs, Colorado Weidner Field 8,000 Brendan BurkeColorado RapidsFC Tulsa Tulsa, Oklahoma ONEOK Field 7,833 Michael Nsien El Paso Locomotive FC El Paso, Texas Southwest University Park 9,500 Mark LowryHartford Athletic Hartford, Connecticut Dillon Stadium 5,500 Harry Watling Indy Eleven Indianapolis, Indiana IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium 10,524 Max Rogers LA Galaxy II Carson, California Dignity Health Track Stadium 5,000 Junior GonzalezLA Galaxy Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas, Nevada Cashman Field 9,334 Steve CherundoloLos Angeles FCLoudoun United FC Leesburg, Virginia Segra Field 5,000 Ryan MartinD.C. United Louisville City FC Louisville, Kentucky Lynn Family Stadium 11,700 Danny Cruz Memphis 901 FC Memphis, Tennessee AutoZone Park 10,000 Ben Pirmann Miami FC Miami, Florida Riccardo Silva Stadium 25,000 Paul Dalglish New Mexico United Albuquerque, New Mexico Isotopes Park 13,500 Troy Lesesne New York Red Bulls II Montclair, New Jersey MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field 5,000 John WolyniecNew York Red Bulls OKC Energy FC Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Taft Stadium 7,500 Leigh Veidman Oakland Roots SC Oakland, California Laney College Football Stadium 5,500 Jordan Ferrell Orange County SC Irvine, California Champions Stadium 5,000 Richard Chaplow (interim) Phoenix Rising FC Chandler, Arizona Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex at Wild Horse Pass 10,000 Rick Schantz Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Highmark Stadium 5,000 Bob Lilley Real Monarchs Herriman, Utah Zions Bank Stadium 5,000 Jámison OlaveReal Salt Lake Rio Grande Valley FC Toros Edinburg, Texas H-E-B Park 9,400 Wilmer CabreraHouston Dynamo FC Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento, California Heart Health Park 11,569 Mark Briggs San Antonio FC San Antonio, Texas Toyota Field 8,296 Alen MarcinaNew York City FCSan Diego Loyal SC San Diego, California Torero Stadium 6,000 Landon Donovan Sporting Kansas City II Kansas City, Kansas Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Paulo NagamuraSporting Kansas City Tacoma Defiance Tacoma, Washington Cheney Stadium 6,500 Wade WebberSeattle Sounders FC Tampa Bay Rowdies St. Petersburg, Florida Al Lang Stadium 7,227 Neill Collins
Conference Tables
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Competition format The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in some changes from the most recent pre-COVID format involving two stand alone conferences. For this season, each of the conferences will be further split into two divisions, Atlantic and Central in the Eastern Conference and Mountain and Pacific in the Western Conference, creating four geographically based divisions of 8 (or 7) teams. The teams will play a 32-game schedule in a 27-week period starting around May 1. Individual teams can start their seasons between April 24 and May 15, based on crowd restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the regular season, each team will play its division opponents four times – twice home, twice away, for a total of 28 (or in the Mountain Division, 24) games, making up the bulk of each team's season. The remaining games in each teams schedule will be played against regional or cross-conference opponents.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentHartford Athletic Radhi JaïdiMutual separationOctober 20, 2020 Harry WatlingJanuary 13, 2021Rio Grande Valley FC Gerson EcheverryContract not renewedNovember 6, 2020 Wilmer CabreraFebruary 11, 2021Colorado Springs Switchbacks Alan KochResignedNovember 14, 2020 Brendan BurkeDecember 12, 2020Tacoma Defiance Chris LittleResignedFebruary 26, 2021 Wade WebberFebruary 26, 2021Las Vegas Lights FC Frank YallopMutual separationMarch 12, 2021 Steve CherundoloMarch 12, 2021Atlanta United 2 Stephen GlassSigned by AberdeenMarch 23, 2021 Tony Annan (interim)March 23, 2021Oakland Roots SC Dario PotMutual separationApril 25, 2021 Jordan FerrellApril 25, 2021Louisville City FC John HackworthMutual separationApril 27, 2021 Danny CruzApril 27, 2021Atlanta United 2 Tony Annan (interim)End of interim periodJune 3, 2021 Jack CollisonJune 3, 2021OKC Energy FC John PascarellaMutual separationJune 4, 2021 Leigh VeidmanJune 4, 2021Indy Eleven Martin RennieMutual separationJune 16, 2021 Max Rogers (interim)June 19, 2021Orange County SC Braeden CloutierSacked August 19, 2021 Richard ChaplowAugust 19, 2021Austin Bold FC Marcelo SerranoPromoted to Sporting DirectorSeptember 4, 2021 Ryan ThompsonSeptember 4, 2021
Results table