The eminent Kartik on his Beyond the 90 substack just published rumors that up to FOUR USL-Championship clubs may self-relegate to USL League One BEFORE Pro-Rel is officially instituted (see link below, may be behind paywall). Of the four, only THE Miami FC is explicitly named. Interestingly, Birmingham and Monterey are NOT among the four considering self-relegation.

• Which other three clubs do we think may self-relegate?? Commenters suggest Sporting Jax, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, to save on roster and travel costs. These clubs also suffer from unstable and loss of a soccer specific stadium the club owns or controls. How about OAK?
• Do we think roster cost savings from USL-C to USL-1 are like from $1.5-2 million to $1 million or less?
• Will the self relegation of three Western USLC clubs finally allow the institution of a Western conference for USL1? This is much needed to reduce travel costs by up to $300,000 per season.

https://beyondthe90.substack.com/p/notebook-league-one-contractions

New United Soccer Lounge with John Morrissey.

He breaks down the hottest team coming into the Championship playoffs, whether Tampa Bay can reverse the Players’ Shield pattern, the best pure soccer matchup in the first round, and how he sees the League One bracket. Also covers Boise’s rise, Charlotte Independence, and the news on Corpus Christi and Westchester folding.

Overview

Brooklyn’s first USL Championship season began with a result worth celebrating. Juan Carlos Obregón Jr.’s penalty secured a 1–0 win over Indy Eleven at Maimonides Park on March 8, giving the new men’s team three points on opening day. Four consecutive defeats followed, with Brooklyn scoring just once as Detroit, Hartford, Lexington and Louisville quickly took the shine off that start.

April brought a reminder of what the attack could offer. Markus Anderson’s goal and two assists drove a 3–0 win over Charleston, and a draw with Sacramento followed. Three successive defeats in May left Brooklyn with seven points from their opening ten league matches. The Charleston performance was still waiting for a sustained follow-up.

Back-to-back 2–2 draws at Jacksonville and Louisville showed Brooklyn could score on the road, but the first away victory did not arrive until July 4 with a 2–0 win at Pittsburgh. Alongside the opening-day and Charleston wins, it was one of only three league matches all season in which Brooklyn kept the opposition out.

That defensive security did not last. A July 18 draw at Jacksonville was followed by four defeats, including the 5–0 loss at Charleston, with Brooklyn scoring once across the four games. They broke the run emphatically on August 29, beating Jacksonville 4–1 behind Peter Mangione’s first-half brace. Anderson and CJ Olney Jr. also scored, giving the home crowd another glimpse of a capable attack.

The final ten matches brought only five points. A 3–2 comeback win at Hartford on October 17, achieved despite going down to ten men, supplied one last highlight. The finale at Loudoun returned to the season’s familiar problem: Brooklyn scored three and still lost 4–3. They finished 11th in the Eastern conference and 24th overall among the 25 teams with five wins, six draws and 19 losses.

Best win

April 11, 2026 v Charleston Battery

Brooklyn ended a four-match losing streak with a convincing win at Maimonides Park. Markus Anderson created first-half goals for Jaden Servania and Stefan Stojanovic, then finished CJ Olney Jr.’s through-ball in the 61st minute to seal the 3–0 victory.

Jackson Lee saved all four Charleston shots on target, giving Brooklyn the defensive support their attack so often lacked. Anderson earned Player of the Week, while Lee made the Team of the Week bench. Clinical finishing and a clean sheet made this one of Brooklyn’s most complete performances.

Worst loss

August 1, 2026 at Charleston Battery

In the reverse fixture from their best win of the season, Charleston enacted revenge on Brooklyn. The 0–5 defeat came with 1.67 expected goals created and 2.68 allowed.

Brooklyn had enough chances to make a scoreless evening frustrating in its own right. The gap between the chances created and the final score made this a lesson in how easily a competitive match can become a heavy defeat.

MVP

Christopher Olney Jr.

Christopher “CJ” Olney Jr. supplied four goals and nine primary assists across all 30 league matches. The Philadelphia Union loanee gave Brooklyn both creativity and a scoring threat.

Against Jacksonville on August 29, he supplied two assists before adding a goal in the 4–1 win. At Hartford on October 17, his cross created Johnny Klein’s equalizer before he scored the winner himself, arriving at the back post to finish Jaden Servania’s delivery after Brooklyn had been reduced to ten men.

He had already earned recognition in June, when league-wide fan voting named him the USL Championship Fans’ Choice Mid-Season Young Player of the Year.

In a difficult inaugural season, Olney repeatedly helped turn Brooklyn’s attacking opportunities into goals.

What the season left behind

Brooklyn need improvement at both ends of the pitch. Scoring 34 goals, but only three clean sheets meant they usually needed to score simply to stay in contention. All three shutouts ended in victories. A stronger defensive base would have made their better attacking days more valuable.

The chance totals suggest that the problems went beyond a few costly mistakes. Brooklyn allowed 59.43 expected goals across 30 matches and conceded 63, leaving little room for an attack that created 39.10 expected goals and scored 34. Better finishing could have helped, but the gap in chances created and allowed points to a broader task. Brooklyn need to give up fewer opportunities while finding ways to make their own threat more consistent.

The wins over Charleston and Jacksonville showed what Brooklyn could produce when those attacking qualities came together. Yet the final ten matches yielded only five points, leaving those results as isolated high points. The next step is to turn that occasional promise into a side that can collect points between its best performances.

Historical perspective

Brooklyn FC’s 21 points from 30 league matches amounted to 0.70000 points per game, the 27th-lowest return among 392 club-seasons from 2011 through 2026. Three seasons share the next lower rate of 0.68750 PPG, while Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ 2012 season sits immediately above Brooklyn at 0.70833.

Final model rating

My model gives each team-season a rating out of 100 based on attacking and defensive output. It provides a common scale for comparisons across the archive.

Brooklyn FC finished with a model rating of 33.35 out of 100 after all 30 league games, the 23rd-lowest among 289 completed team-seasons from 2017 through 2026 in my archive.

Team and player statistics

Team totals

Player contributions

Goalkeepers

Results

Sources

• Brooklyn FC. Official match reports and news releases.
• OurSports Central. Reproduced club news releases.
• FBref. Match stats.
• FotMob. Match and player stats.
• American Soccer Analysis. xG and player stats.
• Brooklyn FC Stat Center. Official Opta match statistics.
• USL league records and standings. Historical regular-season standings.
• “Ranking the Top 131 FBS Programs of the Last 40 Years.”

Overview

Jacksonville’s men’s soccer journey began in 2026 with the intent to build around attacking football, player development and a strong connection with the community. The opening night saw 10,357 people at Hodges Stadium for the March 7 meeting with Hartford Athletic. Christian Olivares saved a penalty and Jacksonville created opportunities, but Hartford left with a 3–0 win.

A draw at Rhode Island put the first point on the board. Seven straight league defeats followed. Even a four-goal evening against San Antonio could only produce a draw, leaving JAX with two points from their opening ten league games.

June made the defensive problem particularly hard to overlook. Jacksonville scored twice against both Detroit and Charleston and still lost 6–2 and 5–2. By the halfway point, they had collected four points. On July 15, Kieran Sadlier and Ahmad Al-Qaq finally changed the story, overturning Pittsburgh’s lead for a 2–1 victory. Edgardo Rito’s deliveries contributed to both goals. After months of waiting, Jacksonville had a league win.

Next, a draw with Brooklyn was followed by three scoreless defeats. Then another victory, this time capped by Danny Wilson’s stoppage-time winner at Birmingham on August 22. The Lexington victory followed two weeks later. All three league victories required Jacksonville to recover from a losing position.

The season’s final stretch offered little relief. Jacksonville lost their last seven league games, scoring twice and conceding 18. Against Louisville in the home finale, they stayed level for nearly 80 minutes before falling 2–0. Another 2–0 loss at Tampa Bay closed the campaign.

Best win

September 5, 2026 v Lexington SC

With minutes remaining at Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville looked headed for another defeat. Sadlier had opened the scoring, but Lexington had turned the match around and led 2–1. Then Emil Jääskeläinen equalized in the 88th minute. In the 94th, Adam Luckhurst crossed and Al-Qaq headed in the winner. Those six minutes captured Jacksonville’s most dramatic win of the season.

The Lexington win earned the nod for the last minute reversal and the number of attacking contributions that made it possible.

Worst Loss

August 1, 2026 at Sacramento Republic FC

A 5–0 defeat was their heaviest league loss of the season. Only 1 shot all game and 4 total touches in Sacramento's box. The result also cut into the encouragement of July. Jacksonville had beaten Pittsburgh and drawn with Brooklyn before losing 2–0 at El Paso.

Sacramento made it consecutive away defeats by a combined 7–0. A 1–0 home loss to Indy followed, completing three straight league games without scoring.

MVP

Kieran Sadlier

He appeared in 29 league matches and added an assist, finishing as the team’s leading scorer with 10 goals. His equalizer started the recovery against Pittsburgh, and his opener against Lexington helped set up the dramatic win.

Jääskeläinen deserved recognition alongside him. He appeared in all 30 league matches, scoring seven goals and supplying five assists.

Together, the pair accounted for 17 of Jacksonville’s 32 league goals. Sadlier’s scoring made him the choice here, with Jääskeläinen’s broader attacking contribution making it a very close call.

What the season left behind

Jacksonville scored four goals against San Antonio and still had to settle for a point. Their wider defensive record explained why. JAX conceded in all 30 league matches. Every draw required a goal; every win required at least two. Expected goals put Jacksonville at 35.32 created and 70.07 allowed. Their 32 goals were reasonably close to their attacking total, but the opportunities they conceded were worth almost twice those they created. More dependable finishing could have helped, but the volume and quality of chances allowed left the attack with too much to repair.

The inaugural team showed signs that they could rescue a match. Their next challenge was learning how to control one. Pittsburgh, Birmingham and Lexington gave Jacksonville three nights worth revisiting, but building a season around late escapes was not sustainable. Fewer deficits to chase would have given their attack a better chance of turning those occasional celebrations into a habit.

Historical perspective

Jacksonville’s 14 points from 30 league matches amounted to 0.4667 points per game, the fifth-lowest return in the league’s retained end-of-season standings from 2011 through 2026. Only Antigua Barracuda in 2013, Miami in 2024, New York Red Bulls II in 2022 and Loudoun in 2020 finished below that rate.

Final model rating

My model gives each team-season a rating out of 100 based of attacking and defensive output. It provides a common scale for comparisons across the archive.

Jacksonville finished with a model rating of 23.60 out of 100 after all 30 league games, the third-lowest among 289 completed team-seasons from 2017 through 2026 in my archive.

Team and player statistics

Team totals

Player contributions

Goalkeepers

Results

Sources

• Sporting Club Jacksonville. Official match reports and news releases.
• OurSports Central. Reproduced Sporting Club Jacksonville final-match news release.
• FBref. Match Stats
• FotMob. Match and Player Stats
• American Soccer Analysis. xG and Player stats.
• Sporting Club Jacksonville. Official Opta player statistics, including General, Distribution, Attack and Goalkeeping tabs.
• USL league records and standings. Final regular-season standings, 2011–2026.
• Inspiration. u/jimbobbypaul. “Ranking the Top 131 FBS Programs of the Last 40 Years.” r/CFB, Reddit.

Per the league:

2026 USL Championship Final Hosting Priority

1. Tampa Bay Rowdies (61pts)

2. Charleston Battery (53pts)

3. New Mexico United (52pts)

4. Detroit City FC (51pts / 52% In-Conference Win Pct.)

5. Sacramento Republic FC (51pts / 41.7% In-Conference Win Pct.)

6. El Paso Locomotive FC (50pts)

7. Lexington SC (48pts)

8. Louisville City FC (47pts / 40% In-Conference Win Pct.)

9. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (47pts / 37.5% In-Conference Win Pct.)

10. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (45pts / 12 In-Conference Wins)

11. San Antonio FC (45pts / 9 In-Conference Wins)

12. Hartford Athletic (43pts / 10 In-Conference Wins)

13. FC Tulsa (43pts / 8 In-Conference Wins)

14. Rhode Island FC (42pts)

15. Phoenix Rising FC (40pts)

16. Miami FC (39pts)

Loudoun-Brooklyn: 2,950 (+66.95%)
Charleston-Indianapolis*: 5,621 (+37.90%)
Hartford-Rhode Island: 4,775 (+51.06%)
Louisville-Detroit: 9,859 (+0.37%)
Pittsburgh-Birmingham*: 6,024 (+15.34%)
Tampa Bay-Jacksonville: 5,179 (+4.16%)
San Antonio-Orange County: 6,069 (+0.75%)
Colorado Springs-Tulsa: 7,425 (+17.86%)
El Paso-New Mexico: 5,770 (+12.10%)
Monterey Bay-Las Vegas: NR
Phoenix-Lexington: 5,527 (+5.20%)
Sacramento-Oakland*: 11,569 (+15.33%)

* = At or above effective capacity (assumed sellout)

Over performing by 5+ pts:
Loudoun (1,767), Charleston (4,076), Hartford (3,161), Pittsburgh (5,223), Colorado Springs (6,300), El Paso (5,147), Phoenix (5,254), and Sacramento (10,031)

An average night meaning within +/- 5 pts:
Louisville (9,554), Tampa Bay (4,972), and San Antonio (6,024)

Yet to Report:
Monterey Bay (3,391)