Western Conference (USL Championship)


The Western Conference is one of two conferences in the USL Championship, the second level of men's club soccer in the United States.

Members

Current


Conference Lineups

Clubs timeline


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bar:1 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Arizona United SC
bar:1 color:Full from:01/01/2017 till:end text:Phoenix Rising FC
bar:2 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2015 text:Austin Aztex
bar:3 color:Full from:01/01/2015 till:end text:Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2022 text:LA Galaxy II
bar:4 color:Other from:01/01/2023 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/21/2020 text:Oklahoma City Energy FC
bar:5 color:Eastern from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Eastern Conference
bar:6 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Orange County Blues FC
bar:6 color:Full from:01/01/2017 till:end text:Orange County SC
bar:7 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2020 text:Portland Timbers 2
bar:7 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:8 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2021 text:Real Monarchs
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bar:9 color:Full from:01/01/2015 till:end text:Sacramento Republic FC
bar:10 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2018 text:Seattle Sounders FC 2
bar:10 color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:Tacoma Defiance
bar:10 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:11 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2019 text:Tulsa Roughnecks FC
bar:11 color:Full from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:FC Tulsa
bar:11 color:Eastern from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text:Eastern Conference
bar:11 color:Full from:01/01/2024 till:end text:FC Tulsa
bar:12 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2017 text:Whitecaps FC 2
bar:13 color:Former from:01/01/2016 till:12/21/2023 text:Rio Grande Valley FC
bar:14 color:Full from:01/01/2016 till:end text:San Antonio FC
bar:15 color:Former from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2016 text:Saint Louis FC
bar:15 color:Eastern from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2017 text:Eastern Conference
bar:15 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2018 text:
bar:15 color:Eastern from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2020 text:Eastern Conference
bar:16 color:Former from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2018 text:Swope Park Rangers
bar:16 color:Eastern from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:Eastern Conference
bar:16 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:17 color:Former from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2020 text:Reno 1868 FC
bar:18 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Fresno FC
bar:19 color:Full from:01/01/2018 till:end text:Las Vegas Lights FC
bar:20 color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:Austin Bold FC
bar:21 color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:El Paso Locomotive FC
bar:22 color:Eastern from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2023 text:Eastern Conference
bar:22 color:Full from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text:Memphis 901 FC
bar:23 color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:New Mexico United
bar:24 color:Former from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2023 text:San Diego Loyal SC
bar:25 color:Other from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:NISA
bar:25 color:Full from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Oakland Roots SC
bar:26 color:Full from:01/01/2022 till:end text:Monterey Bay FC
bar:27 color:Other from:01/01/2023 till:12/31/2024 text:USL1
bar:27 color:Full from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Lexington SC
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2015 (12 teams)

Changes from 2014: USL Pro expanded and was rebranded as simply USL; the round robin table was split into two conferences: Eastern and Western.

2016 (15 teams)

Changes from 2015: Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, the Swope Park Rangers and San Antonio FC were added as expansion franchises; Saint Louis FC moved in from the Eastern Conference; the Austin Aztex went on hiatus

2017 (15 teams)

Changes from 2016: Arizona United SC was renamed Phoenix Rising FC; the Orange County Blues was renamed Orange County SC; the Austin Aztex folded; Reno 1868 FC was added as an expansion franchise; Saint Louis FC moved out to the Eastern Conference

2018 (17 teams)

Changes from 2017: Fresno FC and Las Vegas Lights FC were added as expansion franchises; the Vancouver Whitecaps 2 folded; Saint Louis FC moved in from the Western Conference.

2019 (18 teams)

Changes from 2018: Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC and the New Mexico United were added as expansion franchises.; Saint Louis FC and the Swope Park Rangers moved out to the Eastern Conference; Seattle Sounders FC 2 rebranded as Tacoma Defiance.

2020 (18 teams)

Group A (4 teams)

Group B (5 teams)

Group C (4 teams)

Group D (5 teams)

Changes from 2019: San Diego Loyal SC was added as an expansion franchise; the Tulsa Roughnecks were renamed FC Tulsa; Fresno FC was disbanded. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference was split into four groups. Two groups of four and two groups of five.

2021 (15 teams)

Mountain Division

Pacific Division

Changes from 2020: The conference was divided into two divisions, Mountain and Pacific; Oakland Roots SC joined in from NISA: the Portland Timbers 2 was withdrawn by the MLS parent club; Reno 1868 FC was disbanded; Oklahoma City Energy and FC Tulsa moved out to the Eastern Conference.

2022 (13 teams)

Changes from 2021: The Mountain and Pacific divisions were dropped; Monterey Bay FC was added as an expansion franchise; the Real Monarchs and the Tacoma Defiance were withdrawn by their MLS parent clubs and moved to MLS Next Pro; Austin Bold FC went on hiatus; will move to a yet-to-be-named Texas city for the 2023 season.

2023 (12 teams)

Changes from 2022: The LA Galaxy II was withdrawn by their MLS parent club and moved to MLS Next Pro;

2024 (12 teams)

Changes from 2023: Rio Grande Valley FC Toros and San Diego Loyal SC folded. FC Tulsa and Memphis 901 FC moved from the Eastern Conference.

2025-2026 (12 teams)

Changes from 2024: Lexington SC joined from USL League One. Memphis 901 FC folded.

Western Conference Playoff champions by year

SeasonChampionsScoreRunners up
2015LA Galaxy II2–1OKC Energy FC
2016Swope Park Rangers3–0Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
2017Swope Park Rangers0–0 OKC Energy FC
2018Phoenix Rising FC2–1Orange County SC
2019Real Monarchs SLC2–1 El Paso Locomotive FC
2020Phoenix Rising FC1–1 El Paso Locomotive FC
2021Orange County SC1–1 San Antonio FC
2022San Antonio FC2–0Colorado Springs Switchbacks
2023Phoenix Rising FC2–1Sacramento Republic FC
2024Colorado Springs Switchbacks1–0Las Vegas Lights FC
2025FC Tulsa3–0New Mexico United

Western Conference regular season champions by year

SeasonTeamRecordPlayoffs result
2015Orange County Blues14–9–5 Lost conference semifinals
2016Sacramento Republic FC14–10–6 Lost conference quarterfinals
2017Real Monarchs SLC20–5–7 Lost conference quarterfinals
2018Orange County SC20–8–6 Lost conference final
2019Phoenix Rising FC24–4–6 Lost conference semifinals
2020Reno 1868 FC11–2–3 Lost conference semifinals
2021Phoenix Rising FC20–5–7 Lost conference quarterfinals
2022San Antonio FC24–5–5 Won USL Championship
2023Sacramento Republic FC18–6–10 Lost conference final
2024New Mexico United18–11–5 Lost conference semifinals
2025FC Tulsa16–9–5 Lost finals