2019 USL Championship season


The 2019 USL Championship season was the ninth season of the USL Championship and third under Division II sanctioning. This was the first season in which the league operated under the name "USL Championship," having used the moniker "United Soccer League" through 2018. The season began on March 8, 2019, and concluded on October 20, 2019, with each team playing 34 matches. 36 teams competed in the 2019 USL Championship season, split into 2 conferences of 18 teams each. Louisville City FC were the two-time defending champions.
The 2019 season was the last for the current version of Nashville SC. The club's identity transferred to a Major League Soccer team that started to play in 2020. Additionally, this season was the last for Ottawa Fury FC. On November 8, the club announced that it had suspended operations; Fury FC had received sanctioning from its country's governing body, Canada Soccer, but was denied by U.S. Soccer and the continental governing body of CONCACAF.

Changes from 2018

;Expansion clubs
;Departing clubs
;Rebranded clubs

Teams

The following teams are playing in the 2019 USL Championship season:
TeamLocation/StateStadiumCapacityHead coach
Atlanta United 2Kennesaw, GeorgiaFifth Third Bank Stadium8,318

Competition format

The season began the weekend of March 8–10 and will conclude the weekend of October 18–20. The 2019 USL Cup Playoffs are expected to begin October 25–27, and conclude with the final match November 14–18.
This is the first season where the USL teams will only play teams within their own conference for regular-season and playoff games until the USL Cup final. Thus, each team will play a balanced home-and-away schedule against each of the other teams in its conference, resulting in a 34-game schedule.

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointment
Las Vegas Lights FC

League table

;Eastern Conference
;Western Conference

Playoffs

Format

The top 10 teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs. Each conference will have a "play-in round" where the 7 seed will host the 10 seed and the 8 host 9. The lowest remaining seed will then play the 1 seed and the other play-in survivor will play the 2 seed to form an 8 team playoff bracket. Each of the 8 team playoff brackets will consist of teams within their respective conference and the matches will be hosted by the higher seed. The USL Cup will be the season's only match that involves teams from different conferences; it will be hosted by the conference champion with the better regular-season record.

USL Championship Final

Championship Game MVP: Konrad Plewa

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
Team
New Mexico United17215,77515,2478,33012,693
Indy Eleven17182,48120,2518,03510,734
Sacramento Republic FC17177,40911,5699,32410,436
Louisville City FC17153,70512,1886,8119,041
Las Vegas Lights FC17131,08510,1175,1017,711
Nashville SC17118,98513,0475,3566,999
San Antonio FC17115,0098,4065,7046,765
Phoenix Rising FC17114,7897,6066,3726,752
Memphis 901 FC17112,5988,0624,1426,623
El Paso Locomotive FC17111,9308,3245,0156,584
Tampa Bay Rowdies1793,4457,8514,0225,497
Hartford Athletic1785,42411,3462,7465,025
Ottawa Fury FC1777,4316,8073,0944,555
Birmingham Legion FC1777,3655,8073,8244,551
Saint Louis FC1777,0385,9633,5244,532
OKC Energy FC1775,5146,5493,0964,442
Reno 1868 FC1773,3255,1122,9194,313
North Carolina FC1770,0086,1722,8334,118
Fresno FC1769,9887,8632,3434,117
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC1768,0915,6062,7024,005
Rio Grande Valley FC1764,8064,9672,4083,812
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC1763,4008,3912,1503,729
Orange County SC1754,2585,1221,5583,192
Tacoma Defiance1744,8045,1851,3962,636
Charleston Battery1741,2113,9151,3592,424
Austin Bold FC1740,7145,8031,2012,395
Tulsa Roughnecks FC1734,5233,2601,2152,031
Real Monarchs1733,7132,9361,0361,983
Portland Timbers 21732,2893,5131,1161,899
Atlanta United 21729,8243,1091,0151,754
Charlotte Independence1729,7453,5441,2171,750
Loudoun United FC1723,4835,0155501,381
LA Galaxy II1714,9701,984535881
New York Red Bulls II1714,4761,522467852
Swope Park Rangers178,5851,565214505
Bethlehem Steel FC178,1271,537219478
Total6122,740,32320,2512144,478

Updated to games of October 20, 2019.

Sources:

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

RankPlayerNationClubGoals
1Solomon AsanteGhana

Top assists

RankPlayerNationClubAssists
1Solomon AsanteGhana

Shutouts

Source:

Hat-tricks

PlayerNationClubAgainstResultDate
Shane MalcolmGuam