Men's Premier Soccer League
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Confederation |
CONCACAF US Soccer |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Divisions | 14 conferences in 4 regions |
| Number of teams | 96 |
| Level on pyramid | 4 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup |
| Current champions | AFC Cleveland (2016) |
| Most championships |
AFC Cleveland Arizona Sahuaros Detroit Arsenal FC Sonic Jacksonville United New York Cosmos B New York Red Bulls U-23 Pennsylvania Stoners RVA Football Club Sacramento Gold Sacramento Knights Sonoma County Sol Southern California Fusion Utah Salt Ratz (1 title each) |
| Website | NPSL website |
 2017 NPSL season
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The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American soccer league commonly recognized as being a fourth tier league although it has been given no official designation by US Soccer. Although the league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup through USASA channels, the league is generally considered to be at the fourth tier of competition in the United States soccer pyramid, behind Major League Soccer (MLS), the North American Soccer League (NASL), and the United Soccer League (USL), and roughly equal with the Premier Development League (PDL). It is the successor of the Men's Premier Soccer League, a regional league originally based out of the Western United States, which has now expanded nationwide to encompass teams from 29 states. The league's motto is "A National League with a Regional Focus". Some of the clubs are former USL clubs.
The National Premier Soccer League's is divided into four separate Regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West). Each Region contains three or four conferences with varying number of teams per conference. The four regions generally correspond to the four USASA regions, Northeast (Region I), Midwest (Region II), South (Region III), and West (Region IV) with the exception of teams in New York Western (one team), Pennsylvania West (two teams), and Missouri (only one team). The regular season runs from May to July with the exception of the West Region that has historically started in late March or early April. Most conferences play between ten and twelve games against teams within the conference, though since 2009 some conferences have played as few as eight games and as many as fourteen games. When possible, each conference follows a double round robin format allowing for a balanced schedule. Larger conferences have had unbalanced schedules due to the constraint of scheduling games within the short window. The schedule is designed to allow college students to compete during their summer break. For the playoffs, the formats vary by region and conference with the four region champions facing each other in the National Semi-finals and Championship games.
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