Western Conference (USL Championship)

Western Conference
League	USL Championship
Sport	Soccer
Founded	January 21, 2015
Teams
No. of teams	13
Championships
Most recent champion(s)	Orange County SC; (1st title)
Most titles	Phoenix Rising FC; Swope Park Rangers; (2 titles)

The Western Conference is one of two conferences in USL Championship soccer.^[1]

Current standings[]

Pos	Team v	Qualification
1	Colorado Springs Switchbacks	Qualification for the Conference Semifinals
2	El Paso Locomotive FC	Playoffs
3	Las Vegas Lights FC
4	LA Galaxy II
5	Monterey Bay FC
6	New Mexico United
7	Oakland Roots SC
8	Orange County SC
9	Phoenix Rising FC
10	Rio Grande Valley Toros
11	Sacramento Republic
12	San Antonio FC
13	San Diego Loyal SC

First match(es) will be played on March 12, 2022. Source: USL Championship Standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots

Members[]

Current[]

Club	City	Stadium
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Weidner Field
El Paso Locomotive FC	El Paso, Texas	Southwest University Park
Las Vegas Lights FC	Las Vegas, Nevada	Cashman Field
LA Galaxy II	Carson, California	Dignity Health Sports Park
Monterey Bay FC	Seaside, California	Cardinale Stadium
New Mexico United	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Isotopes Park
Oakland Roots SC	Oakland, California	Laney College Football Stadium
Orange County SC	Irvine, California	Champion Stadium
Phoenix Rising FC	Glendale, Arizona	Wild Horse Pass Stadium
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros	Edinburg, Texas	H-E-B Park
Sacramento Republic FC	Sacramento, California	Heart Health Park
San Antonio FC	San Antonio, Texas	Toyota Field
San Diego Loyal SC	San Diego, California	Torero Stadium

Locations of teams for the 2022 USL Championship season

Conference Lineups[]

Clubs timeline[]

Conference Member Club moved to Eastern Conference Club playing in different league Former clubs

2015 (12 teams)[]

Arizona United SC
Austin Aztex
Colorado Springs Switchbacks
LA Galaxy II
Oklahoma City Energy
Orange County Blues
Portland Timbers 2
Real Monarchs SLC
Sacramento Republic
Seattle Sounders 2
Tulsa Roughnecks
Vancouver Whitecaps 2

2016 (15 teams)[]

Arizona United SC
Colorado Springs Switchbacks
LA Galaxy II
Oklahoma City Energy
Orange County Blues
Portland Timbers 2
Real Monarchs SLC
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
Sacramento Republic
St. Louis FC
San Antonio FC
Seattle Sounders 2
Swope Park Rangers
Tulsa Roughnecks
Vancouver Whitecaps 2

Changes from 2015[]

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, Swope Park Rangers and San Antonio FC were added as expansion franchises ^[2]
Saint Louis FC moved in from Eastern Conference
Austin Aztex went on hiatus for the 2016 season

2017 (15 teams)[]

Changes from 2016[]

Arizona United SC was renamed Phoenix Rising FC
Orange County Blues was renamed Orange County SC
Austin Aztex folded
Reno 1868 FC was added as an expansion franchise
Saint Louis FC moved out to Eastern Conference^[3]

2018 (17 teams)[]

Changes from 2017[]

Fresno FC, Las Vegas Lights FC were added as expansion franchises
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 folded
Saint Louis FC moved in to Western Conference

2019 (18 teams)[]

Changes from 2018[]

Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC and New Mexico United were added as expansion franchises.^[4]
Saint Louis FC and Swope Park Rangers moved out to Eastern Conference
Seattle Sounders FC 2 was rebranded as Tacoma Defiance.

2020 (18 teams)[]

Changes from 2019[]

San Diego Loyal SC was added as an expansion franchise.
Tulsa Roughnecks were rebranded FC Tulsa.
Fresno FC was disbanded.

2021 (15 teams)[]

Mountain Division[]

Pacific Division[]

Changes from 2020[]

Conference divided into two divisions, Mountain and Pacific.
Oakland Roots SC joined from NISA
Portland Timbers 2 was withdrawn by the MLS parent club.
Reno 1868 FC was disbanded.
Oklahoma City Energy and FC Tulsa moved 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.
Real Monarchs & 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.^[5]

Western Conference Playoff champions by year[]

Bold	USL Champions

Season	Champions	Score	Runners Up
2015	LA Galaxy II	2–1	OKC Energy FC
2016	Swope Park Rangers	3–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
2017	Swope Park Rangers	0–0 (7–6 PK)	OKC Energy FC
2018	Phoenix Rising FC	2–1	Orange County SC
2019	Real Monarchs SLC	2–1 (AET)	El Paso Locomotive FC
2020	Phoenix Rising FC	1–1 (4–2 PK)	El Paso Locomotive FC
2021	Orange County SC	1–1 (5–3 PK)	San Antonio FC

Western Conference regular season champions by year[]

Bold	USL Regular Season Champions

Season	Team	Record	Playoffs result
2015	Orange County Blues	14–9–5 (+4)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2016	Sacramento Republic FC	14–10–6 (+16)	Lost Conference Quarterfinals
2017	Real Monarchs SLC	20–5–7 (+28)	Lost Conference Quarterfinals
2018	Orange County SC	20–8–6 (+30)	Lost Conference Final
2019	Phoenix Rising FC	24–4–6 (+53)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2020	Reno 1868 FC	11–2–3 (+22)	Lost Conference Semifinals
2021	Phoenix Rising FC	20–5–7 (+33)	Lost Conference Quarterfinals

References[]

^ "Expanded USL Unveils 2015 Format". United Soccer League (USL). January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
^ "2016 USL Alignment and Format Announced". United Soccer League (USL). January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
^ "USL Announces 2017 Conference Alignment". www.uslsoccer.com. United Soccer League (USL). January 9, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
^ "USL Championship Unveils 2019 Conference Alignment". United Soccer League (USL). December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
^ "Texas-Based Ownership Group Purchases Austin Bold FC". USLChampionship.com. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

[1] "Expanded USL Unveils 2015 Format". United Soccer League (USL). January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2016.

[2016format-2] "2016 USL Alignment and Format Announced". United Soccer League (USL). January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.

[2017format-3] "USL Announces 2017 Conference Alignment". www.uslsoccer.com. United Soccer League (USL). January 9, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.

[4] "USL Championship Unveils 2019 Conference Alignment". United Soccer League (USL). December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[5] "Texas-Based Ownership Group Purchases Austin Bold FC". USLChampionship.com. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

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v t USL Championship
Eastern Conference	Atlanta United 2 Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Detroit City FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC Miami FC New York Red Bulls II Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa
Western Conference	Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC LA Galaxy II Las Vegas Lights FC Monterey Bay FC New Mexico United Oakland Roots SC Orange County SC Phoenix Rising FC Rio Grande Valley FC Toros Sacramento Republic FC San Antonio FC San Diego Loyal SC
Future teams	Austin Bold FC (on hiatus) OKC Energy FC (on hiatus) Queensboro FC (2023) USL Pro Iowa (2024)
Former teams	Antigua Barracuda FC Austin Aztex Charlotte Eagles Charlotte Independence FC Cincinnati Dayton Dutch Lions Fresno FC FC Montreal Nashville SC F.C. New York North Carolina FC Orlando City B Orlando City SC Ottawa Fury FC Penn FC Philadelphia Union II Phoenix FC Portland Timbers 2 Puerto Rico United Real Monarchs Reno 1868 FC Richmond Kickers River Plate Puerto Rico Rochester Rhinos Saint Louis FC Sevilla FC Puerto Rico Sporting Kansas City II Tacoma Defiance Toronto FC II VSI Tampa Bay FC Whitecaps FC 2 Wilmington Hammerheads FC
Seasons	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Miscellaneous	Foreign players USL Championship Final United Soccer League USL League One USL League Two