MLS Next Pro 2024 preview

MLS Next Pro, which kicks off this weekend, is one of 3 third-tier leagues sanctioned by US soccer. After being announced in June 2021, it began play in March 2022 and was made-up of 20 MLS reserve teams and the independent Rochester New York club, formerly active at division II level as Rochester Raging Rhinos (and the last non-MLS side to win the US Open Cup in 1999). MLS reserve sides had previously played in the USL system, with LA Galaxy II first taking part in the 2014 USL Pro season, which was division III sanctioned at the time. In 2015, Galaxy were joined by reserve sides from NY Red Bulls, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps, with Orlando City B, Philadelphia Union II, and Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City) joining in 2016. In 2017, the USL was upgraded to a division II league, and Atlanta United 2 joined a year later, although Orlando and Vancouver opted out that year.

The renamed USL Championship contained 9 MLS reserve teams, including the renamed Tacoma Defiance (Seattle) and newly minted Loudoun United (DC United), and USL League One – a new third-tier competition – welcomed Orlando, North Texas SC (FC Dallas), and Toronto II, dropping down a level. In 2020, Swope Park Rangers became Sporting Kansas City II, with Inter Miami and New England Revolution sending second teams to USL-1 (Toronto were forced to withdraw due to COVID protocols). They returned for 2021 to replace Orlando, who had opted to take a year out as had USL-C sides Philadelphia and Portland. The announcement of MLS Next Pro came that June but 2022 still saw Atlanta, LA Galaxy, and Red Bulls opt to stay in the USL Championship its inaugural season. Loudoun also chose to stay but ended its formal relationship with DC United, although they remain close allies (and DC still has a financial interest in the club).

Columbus Crew 2 were the 2022 MLS Next Pro champions, but Rochester went on hiatus at the end of the season and eventually went out of business altogether. Alongside DC United, there was no second team from CF Montreal involved in 2023 (and that will be the case in 2024, too), and Austin II beat Columbus Crew 2 in the play-off final to win the title. In November 2022, it was announced that a new independent club - Carolina Core - would join the league in 2024, with National Independent Soccer Association heavyweights Chattanooga FC also signalling their intention to join in November 2023. Both new teams will compete in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, the 29 teams split into 4 regional groupings. The season consists of 28 regular games, with the top 8 in each Conference moving forward to the play-offs. Further independent additions are anticipated in 2025 and beyond, with a long-term aim being a 3-tier structure of MLS, a 2^nd division made of independent clubs, and a 3^rd division with reserve sides.

As a league made up mostly of MLS reserve teams, there is a notable – but understandable - lack of interest in MLS Next Pro from fans and reporters alike. The addition of the 2 new independent clubs adds a new dimension but you can’t help but wish more clubs took the approach of Charlotte FC (Crown Legacy), FC Dallas (North Texas SC), Nashville SC (Huntsville City), Real Salt Lake (Real Monarchs), San Jose Earthquakes (The Town FC), and Seattle Sounders (Tacoma Defiance) in creating unique identities for their reserve teams. With strict roster rules put in place by MLS to prevent too much fluidity between the senior and reserve clubs, and with 11 of the 2s, IIs, and Bs playing in different towns to their first teams (and, in the case of Inter Miami, playing in a city with a city with a massive soccer heritage in Fort Lauderdale), I’m not sure why they don’t, especially as those fans invested in their MLS clubs to the extent that they would follow MLS Next Pro regardless. Still, it is what it is, and with that in mind, I’ll stick to previewing – and reporting on – the independent clubs for now.

Carolina Core were founded in late 2022 and announced US soccer legend Eddie Pope as their Chief Sporting Director. They will play at Truist Point, a 5,000-seater stadium in High Point, North Carolina, equidistant between Winston-Salem and Greensboro, 75 miles northeast of Charlotte.  Former US national team striker Roy Lassiter has been named as head coach after spending the last 2 seasons as Houston Dynamo 2 assistant coach, and has put together a squad from scratch, most of whom are in their early-20s. Goalkeeper Andrew Pannenberg played in MLS next Pro for Houston Dynamo 2 last season, as did centre-back Jacob Evans, while fellow defenders Juan Pablo Rodriguez and Ibraham Covi have come in from Argentina and the Spanish third-tier, respectively. Notable arrivals in midfield include former Albion San Diego man Jonathan Bazaes and teenage prodigy Aryeh Miller from the Charlotte Fc academy, while goals can be expected from former Houston 2 winger Papa Ndoye and Tyler Freeman, who spent time with Birmingham Legion in the USL Championship last season. Everything is an unknown at the moment, both for the club and for the league in accepting another independent club…

Chattanooga FC are celebrating their 15^th birthday this year and spent their first 11 seasons in the National Professional Soccer League (unofficially ranked at division IV by most), before becoming founder members of NISA in 2019. Perennial play-off semi-finalists, they managed to escape NISA without winning the title but were undoubtedly the biggest club left in that league, especially after the departure of Detroit City in 2021. Their natural next move probably should have been into the USL Championship but Chattanooga Red Wolves hold territorial rights in that league, despite being 9 years younger than their city rivals. Chattanooga play at Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga, home of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team, its 20,000 capacity never touched by the admittedly good 3,000 or so they attracted for NISA games. Coach Rod Underwood has been in charge since 2022 and has kept a core of his NISa side together, including 2023 Golden Glove winner Jean Antoine, defenders Joseph Pérez and Anatolie Prepeliță, midfielders Damian Rodriguez and Alex McGrath, and striker Taylor Gray. He’s also recruited over a dozen new players, with winger Jalen James arriving from USL League One Lexington SC, Callum Watson coming in from Canadian Premier League side HFX Wanderers, and French striker Mehdi Ouamri signed from the Croatian second tier. Whether Chattanooga succeed this year will be a bellwether for other sides looking to jump to MLS Next Pro in future and so their success is very much in MLS’s interests.