A-League (1995–2004)
Introduction Original A-League logoThe '''A-League''' was a professional men's soccer league which featured teams from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1996 as the '''USISL Select League''', the competition merged with the American Professional Soccer League in 1997 to become the '''USISL A-League'''. In 2005, it was re-branded to the USL First Division.While it existed, it was a Division II league in the United States soccer league system, below the Division I Major League Soccer which began play the same year. The A-League was the highest tier of three leagues operated by United Soccer Leagues (formerly USISL).
History ===Background===The origins of the A-League go back to 1986 and 1987 with the creation of three unrelated semi-professional soccer leagues. On the north-west coast, the Western Soccer Alliance (WSA), a summer outdoor league, emerged in response to the collapse of the North American Soccer League. In the southwest United States, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League was created in response to the upsurge in popularity of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Finally, in 1987, the Canadian Soccer League emerged with eight teams across Canada.While the SISL remained virtually unknown to the wider soccer community, the Western Soccer Alliance grew in popularity and inspired the creation of the third American Soccer League in 1988.By the summer of 1989, these two leagues began considering a merger. At the same time, the SISL had grown to seventeen indoor teams and had added a summer outdoor schedule, known as the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League with included eight teams. In 1990, the WSA and ASL merged to form the American Professional Soccer League with twenty-two teams across the United States. At the same time, the SISL expanded to fourteen outdoor teams.In 1992, the SISL renamed itself the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) and had grown to twenty-one teams. By the 1993 season, the number of teams in the USISL had doubled to forty-two.The mergers between all of these leagues continued in 1993 with the collapse of the Canadian Soccer League. This led to three Canadian teams, the Vancouver 86ers, Toronto Blizzard and Montreal Impact joining the American Professional Soccer League for the 1993 season. So by the summer of 1993, only two outdoor leagues competed for national attention in North America, the United States Interregional Soccer League and the American Professional Soccer League. However, by this time, the USISL was growing and the APSL was shrinking.In 1995, the American Professional Soccer League was down to six teams – two Canadian and four American. It also changed its name to the A-League. At the same time, the rapidly growing USISL had split its teams into two leagues, the fully professional Professional League and the semi-professional Premier League.===Foundation===In 1996, the USISL launched the Select League as its highest tier of three leagues. It debuted with 21 of its most successful clubs. With the creation of the Select League, the USISL now competed directly with the A-League for Division II recognition. This led the two leagues, the A-League which was made up the remains of the old Western Soccer Alliance, American Soccer League and Canadian Soccer League, and the USISL to enter merger talks. The creation of Major League Soccer in 1996 as an American Division I league also spurred the merger.In 1997, six of the seven remaining A-League teams – Montreal Impact, Colorado Foxes, Seattle Sounders, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Vancouver 86ers and Atlanta Ruckus, plus two planned A-League expansion teams (Toronto Lynx and Hershey Wildcats) merged with the USISL Select League to form the USISL A-League, a consolidated American Division II league with twenty-four teams.In 1999, the USISL renamed itself the United Soccer Leagues (USL). The USISL A-League then became the '''USL A-League'''. In 2005, the USL A-League was formally renamed the USL First Division or USL-1.It remained the top league for Canadian teams throughout its existence until 2007 when Toronto FC debuted in MLS. Regular season matches between Canadian teams were used to award the fan created Voyageurs Cup,===A-League teams===* Atlanta Silverbacks (1995–2004, as ''Atlanta Ruckus'' 1995–98)* Boston Bulldogs (1997–2000, as ''Worcester Wildfire'' 1997–98)* Calgary Mustangs (2002–04, as ''Calgary Storm'' 2002–03)* California Jaguars (1995–98)* Carolina Dynamo (1997)* Charleston Battery (1997–2004)* Charlotte Eagles (2001–03)* Cincinnati Riverhawks (1998–2003)* Connecticut Wolves (1995–2001)* Edmonton Aviators (2004)* El Paso Patriots (1997–2003)* Hershey Wildcats (1997–2001)* Indiana Blast (1999–2003)* Jacksonville Cyclones (1997–99)* Lehigh Valley Steam (1999)* Long Island Rough Riders (1997–2001)* Maryland Mania (1999)* Milwaukee Rampage (1997–2002)* Milwaukee Wave United (2003–04)* Minnesota Thunder (1997–2004)* MLS Project 40 (1998–2000)* Montreal Impact (1995–2004)* Nashville Metros (1997–2001, as ''Tennessee Rhythm'' 1999–2000)* New Orleans Storm (1997–99, as ''New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers'' 1997)* New York Centaurs (1995)* New York Fever (1996)* Orange County Waves (1997–2000, as ''Orange County Zodiac'' 1997–99)* Orlando Sundogs (1997)* Pittsburgh Riverhounds (1999–2003)* Portland Timbers (2001–04)* Puerto Rico Islanders (2004)* Raleigh Capital Express (1997–2000, as ''Raleigh Flyers'' 1997–98, ''Raleigh Express'' 1999)* Richmond Kickers (1997–2004)* Rochester Raging Rhinos (1997–2004)* Sacramento Geckos (1998–99, as ''Albuquerque Geckos'' 1998)* San Diego Flash (1995–2001, as Colorado Foxes 1995–1997)* San Francisco Bay Seals (1998–2000, as ''Bay Area Seals'' 2000)* Seattle Sounders (1995–2004)* Staten Island Vipers (1998–99)* Syracuse Salty Dogs (2003–04)* Toronto Lynx (1997–2004)* Vancouver Whitecaps (1995–2004, as ''Vancouver 86ers'' 1995–2000)* Virginia Beach Mariners (1997–2004, as ''Hampton Roads Mariners'' 1997–2000, 2002)
Champions ===Playoff season===SeasonWinnerScoreRunner-up1996'''California Jaguars'''2–1Richmond Kickers1997'''Milwaukee Rampage'''1–1 (SO)Carolina Dynamo1998'''Rochester Raging Rhinos'''3–1Minnesota Thunder1999'''Minnesota Thunder'''2–1Rochester Raging Rhinos2000'''Rochester Raging Rhinos'''3–1Minnesota Thunder2001'''Rochester Raging Rhinos'''2–0Hershey Wildcats2002'''Milwaukee Rampage'''2–1 (2OT)Richmond Kickers2003'''Charleston Battery'''3–0Minnesota Thunder2004'''Montreal Impact'''2–0Seattle Sounders===Regular season===SeasonBest recordW–L–TPointsTop goalscorerTeamGoals1996'''Carolina Dynamo'''  14–3–1  31Dan StebbinsMilwaukee Rampage211997 '''Montreal Impact'''  21–7  61Doug MillerRochester Raging Rhinos231998 '''Rochester Raging Rhinos'''  24–4  70Mark BaenaSeattle Sounders241999 '''Rochester Raging Rhinos'''  22–6  92Mark Baena and Niall ThompsonSeattle Sounders and Vancouver 86ers202000 '''Minnesota Thunder'''  20–4–4  99Paul Conway, Greg Howes, and Johnny MenyongarCharleston Battery, Seattle Sounders, and Minnesota Thunder172001 '''Richmond Kickers'''  16–7–3  76Paul ConwayCharleston Battery222002 '''Seattle Sounders'''  23–4–1  107Fadi Afash, Eduardo Sebrango, and McKinley TennysonPortland Timbers, Montreal Impact, and Portland Timbers182003 '''Milwaukee Wave United'''  18–10–0 54Thiago MartinsPittsburgh Riverhounds222004 '''Portland Timbers'''  18–7–3  57Alan Gordon and Dante WashingtonPortland Timbers and Virginia Beach Mariners17
Most successful clubs ClubChampionshipsRunners-upBest regular season record Rochester Rhinos 3 1 2 Milwaukee Rampage2 0 0 Minnesota Thunder 1 3 1 Montreal Impact 1 0 1 California Jaguars 1 0 0 Charleston Battery 1 0 0 Richmond Kickers 0 2 1 Seattle Sounders 0 1 1 Carolina Dynamo 0 0 1 Portland Timbers 0 0 1 Milwaukee Wave United 0 0 1
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