USL1 Instability

The exploits of the Montreal Impact and Puerto Rico Islanders in this year's CONCACAF Champions League have brought a ton of much-needed publicity to the upstart USL1. This has led some posters on various internet message boards to start comparing the leagues and propose that either (a) the USL should try to compete directly with MLS or (b) the two leagues should work together to set up relegation/promotion *sigh*.

What folks tend to forget during these discussions is that the USL1 is about as stable as a house of Jell-o in a hurricane. Over the last five seasons, seven teams have been added, and ten teams have disappeared. This constant turnover of teams makes the league look rinky-dink to many folks even though the top teams are really pretty stable.

Here's the full list of moves since 2004.

2009
In	Out
Cleveland City Stars	Seattle Sounders (moved to MLS)
Austin Aztex	Atlanta Silverbacks (on hiatus)
2008
In	Out
none	California Victory (folded)
2007
In	Out
California Victory	Virginia Beach Mariners (folded)
Carolina Railhawks	Toronto Lynx (folded)
2006
In	Out
Miami FC	Richmond Kickers (dropped to USL2)
2005
In	Out
none	Syracuse Salty Dogs (folded)
	Milwaukee Wave (folded)
	Edmonton Aviators (folded)
	Calgary Mustangs (folded)
2004
In	Out
Puerto Rico Islanders	none
Edmonton Aviators