American soccer writing, history & data.
Please check out my Atom and RSS feeds (your choice) where you'll get reminders when I post pieces on occasion on this site's soccer blog.
I'm also on Bluesky if you want to see my more cheeky, off-the-cuff soccer (and other) takes. @dancreel.com on Bluesky
The transformation from amateur to pro during the 1993-1995 seasons
Posted on Aug. 30, 2025, 5:32 p.m. | Categories: USLWhat is now known as the United Soccer Leagues began as a five-team indoor soccer league called the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. Located primarily in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico the league was founded and owned by Francisco Marcos. His vision for the SISL was that it be an amateur developmental league for players who wanted to retain their NCAA eligibility.
In the summer of 1988, the USSF won the rights to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. This spurred renewed interest in the outdoor game and the SISL launched their first outdoor season in 1989 — the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League.
By 1991 the league had grown by adding more teams in the southwest along with an expansion into the Deep South. After a couple of temporary name changes, the league was renamed the United States Interregional Soccer League. The 1992 outdoor season saw a big jump in teams with a dozen joining. This also included the first expansions to the west coast and Florida.
The outdoor league had been sanctioned by the USSF as a regional amateur league since its founding. But, with a Division I professional league in the offing as part of the requirements of the USSF’s winning World Cup bid, Marcos and the USISL’s leadership planned to enter the USSF’s “Professional Division” as a lower level development league in 1993 or 1994.
1993: The Experimental League
Including a few provisional teams, the 1992 USISL outdoor league had grown to 24 teams. While still an amateur league, the USISL contained one truly professional team. The Richardson Rockets won the 1991 SISL outdoor league and were runners-up for that year’s U.S. Open Cup. The latter showing qualified the semi-pro club for the 1992 CONCACAF American Airlines Championship Club.
In early 1992, the Richardson Rockets became the Dallas Rockets and its owner, Ron Higgins, made the club a fully professional organization. Higgins signed a number of former MISL players to professional contracts. And, the Rockets played a transitional season as a professional franchise in the amateur USISL with hopes of entering the A-League in 1993.
In late 1992 and early 1993, the USISL began planning to apply for Division III professional status with USSF for the 1993 outdoor season. The plans were put on hold and it remained classified as a regional amateur league.
But, at the time of the 1993 outdoor season, the USISL had a number of clubs that were professional. The NCAA formally considered seven or eight USISL franchises to be professional teams. As such, the two organizations came to an agreement whereby the USISL would be considered an “experimental” league with a mixture of professional and amateur teams. College players would be allowed to play for the amateur sides but would be ruled ineligible if they played for a pro team.
Another round of expansion nearly doubled the size of the USISL to 43 teams. Four of the six teams in the Sizzlin’ Six playoff tournament were professional squads. Two of these pro teams made it to the final which saw the expansion Greensboro Dynamo defeat the second-year Orlando Lions 2-1.
1994: Everything Everywhere All at Once
In late 1993, the USSF finally sanctioned a Division I professional league chosing Major League Pro Soccer Inc. over a number of other applicants. One of them, the A-League, begrudgingly accepted Division II sanctioning and the USISL received Division III status.
Another round of expansion saw the USISL expand to over 70 teams. But, while the USISL was sanctioned as a professional league individual teams were either professional or amateur organizations. After the 1994 season, the USISL planned on formally dividing into pro and amateur division. But for the 1994 season, individual clubs had the option to go pro and forego college-eligible players or retain amateur status and be able to use college players. During the offseason, the USISL negotiated with the NCAA in hopes of retaining its standing as an “experimental league” for 1994 to allow college players permission to play in the league.
FIFA alto tested several rule changes in the USISL during the 1994 season. Most were designed to increase offense and all new rules had to be approved by both USSF and MLS. Different combinations of rules were implemented in each USISL division. Rules included increasing the size of the goal, a shooutout after every seventh foul per half, sixty-minute games with the clock stopping during dead-ball situations, and shorter corner kicks.
When the 1994 season started, the 71 teams of the USISL were divided into eight regional divisions. Each region had a mixture of amateur and professional teams. At the end of the regular season, each division was scheduled to hold playoffs to determine the eight teams, one from each division, which would take part in the playoffs. The ninth team was the Greensboro Dynamo which received an automatic bid as host of the final playoff tournament.
In mid-May, about a month into the season, the USISL finally came to a formal agreement with the NCAA. As such, the league officially realigned its teams into Professional and Amateur divisions. While the Professional Group would officially be sanctioned under the USISL, the Amateur Group would formally fall under the USASA.
While there were a few more professional teams, the USISL was almost evenly split between pro and amateur teams. The USISL Professional Group teams were split into four regions while the USASA Amateur Group teams were split into three regions.
However, while the USISL was split into seven official divisions in two leagues, the berths in the playoffs were determined by the original lineup of eight divisions which included both professional and amateur clubs. While most divisions in the original regional lineup had both pro and amateur teams, the Northeast was made up of completely professional teams and the Midsouth was made up completely of amateur teams.
While 14 of the 32 playoff teams were amateur, only three amateur teams made it to the final Sizzlin’ Nine playoff tournament. Only one amateur team, the Minnesota Thunder, made it to the semifinals. They easily beat the Charleston Battery 5-0 in their semifinal match but lost the final on penalty kicks to the Greensboro Dynamo.
1995: The Split
During the winter meetings in November of 1994 the USISL officially split into professonal and amateur leagues. The organization’s corporate name became the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues with four separate leagues operating under that umbrella. The Division III professional league was named the United States International Soccer League (aka the Pro League). The United States Interregional Soccer League (aka the Premier League) contained all the amateur teams which competed on a non-professional basis. The indoor league was renamed the United States Indoor Soccer League. And the fourth league was the new, amateur United States Women’s Interregional Soccer League. Also known as the W League, the USWISL had fielded a pilot season in 1994 but its first full-fledged competition would be in 1995.
While the Pro and Premier Leagues officially split and had their own playoffs, there was still some cross-league play to fill in schedules. Pro and Premier League teams would sometimes play each other in official USISL exhibitions and “Designated Makeup Games”. DMGs would count in the standings if a team had to cancel a match.
The Minnesota Thunder left the amateur ranks to become a Pro League team in 1995. They again made it to the final but lost 2-1 to the Long Island Rough Riders. On the other hand, the Richmond Kickers were a Professional Group team in 1994 but moved to the amateur Premier League in 1995.
The Kickers had a budget similar to the Pro League teams. A handful of Richmond players did receive salaries, but the club decided to play in the Premier League so some of its players could retain college eligibility and scholarships at the University of Virginia. The Kickers would go on to Premier League final 3-1 over the Cocoa Expos and then beat the Pro League El Paso Patriots on penalty kicks to win the 1995 U.S. Open Cup.
Last modified on Aug. 30, 2025, 6:24 p.m.