2019 USL Championship season
The 2019 USL Championship season is the ninth season of the USL Championship and third under Division II sanctioning. This is the first season in which the league is operating under the name "USL Championship," having used the name "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 are the two-time defending USL Cup champions.
The 2019 season is the last for the current version of Nashville SC. The club's identity will transfer to a Major League Soccer team that will start 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- Austin Bold FC
- Birmingham Legion FC
- El Paso Locomotive FC
- Hartford Athletic
- Loudoun United FC
- Memphis 901 FC
- New Mexico United
;Rebranded clubs
- Seattle Sounders FC 2 rebranded as Tacoma Defiance and moved to Tacoma, Washington
Teams
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Head coach | MLS affiliate / ownership |
| Atlanta United 2 | Kennesaw, Georgia | Fifth Third Bank Stadium | 8,318 |  Stephen Glass | Atlanta United FC |
| Austin Bold FC | Austin, Texas | Bold Stadium | 5,000 |  Marcelo Serrano | |
| Bethlehem Steel FC | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Talen Energy Stadium | 16,000 |  Brendan Burke | Philadelphia Union |
| Birmingham Legion FC | Birmingham, Alabama | BBVA Field | 5,000 | Tom Soehn | |
| Charleston Battery | Charleston, South Carolina | MUSC Health Stadium | 5,100 | Mike Anhaeuser | |
| Charlotte Independence | Matthews, North Carolina | Sportsplex at Matthews | 5,000 | Mike Jeffries | |
| Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Weidner Field | 5,000 |  Wolde Harris | Colorado Rapids |
| El Paso Locomotive FC | El Paso, Texas | Southwest University Park | 9,500 |  Mark Lowry | |
| Fresno FC | Fresno, California | Chukchansi Park | 12,500 | Adam Smith | |
| Hartford Athletic | Hartford, Connecticut | Dillon Stadium | 5,500 |  Jimmy Nielsen | |
| Indy Eleven | Indianapolis, Indiana | Lucas Oil Stadium | 62,421 | Martin Rennie | Chicago Fire |
| LA Galaxy II | Carson, California | Dignity Health Track Stadium | 5,000 | Junior Gonzalez | LA Galaxy |
| Las Vegas Lights FC | Las Vegas, Nevada | Cashman Field | 9,334 | Eric Wynalda | |
| Loudoun United FC | Leesburg, Virginia | Segra Field | 5,000 | Ryan Martin | D.C. United |
| Louisville City FC | Louisville, Kentucky | Louisville Slugger Field | 8,000 | John Hackworth | |
| Memphis 901 FC | Memphis, Tennessee | AutoZone Park | 10,000 | Tim Mulqueen | |
| Nashville SC | Nashville, Tennessee | First Tennessee Park | 10,000 | Gary Smith | |
| New Mexico United | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Isotopes Park | 13,500 | Troy Lesesne | |
| New York Red Bulls II | Montclair, New Jersey | MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field | 5,000 | John Wolyniec | New York Red Bulls |
| North Carolina FC | Cary, North Carolina | WakeMed Soccer Park | 10,000 | Dave Sarachan | |
| OKC Energy FC | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Taft Stadium | 7,500 | Steve Cooke | |
| Orange County SC | Irvine, California | Champion Stadium | 5,000 | Braeden Cloutier | |
| Ottawa Fury FC | Ottawa, Ontario | TD Place Stadium | 24,000 |  Nikola Popovic | Montreal Impact |
| Phoenix Rising FC | Tempe, Arizona | Casino Arizona Field | 6,200 | Rick Schantz | |
| Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Highmark Stadium | 5,000 | Bob Lilley | |
| Portland Timbers 2 | Portland, Oregon | Providence Park | 25,218 |  Cameron Knowles | Portland Timbers |
| Real Monarchs | Herriman, Utah | Zions Bank Stadium | 5,000 |  Jámison Olave | Real Salt Lake |
| Reno 1868 FC | Reno, Nevada | Greater Nevada Field | 9,013 | Ian Russell | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Rio Grande Valley FC Toros | Edinburg, Texas | H-E-B Park | 9,400 | Gerson Echeverry | Houston Dynamo |
| Sacramento Republic FC | Sacramento, California | Papa Murphy's Park | 11,569 | Simon Elliott | |
| Saint Louis FC | Fenton, Missouri | 5,500 |  Anthony Pulis | ||
| San Antonio FC | San Antonio, Texas | Toyota Field | 8,296 | Darren Powell | New York City FC |
| Swope Park Rangers | Kansas City, Kansas | Children's Mercy Park | 18,467 | Paulo Nagamura | Sporting Kansas City |
| Tacoma Defiance | Tacoma, Washington | Cheney Stadium | 6,500 |  Chris Little | Seattle Sounders FC |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | St. Petersburg, Florida | Al Lang Stadium | 7,227 | Neill Collins | |
| Tulsa Roughnecks FC | Tulsa, Oklahoma | ONEOK Field | 7,833 |  Michael Nsien |
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
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Las Vegas Lights FC |  Isidro Sánchez | Contract not renewed | October 14, 2018 | Eric Wynalda | October 17, 2018 |
| North Carolina FC |  Colin Clarke | Contract not renewed | October 17, 2018 | Dave Sarachan | December 17, 2018 |
| Phoenix Rising FC | Rick Schantz | End of interim period | November 14, 2018 | Rick Schantz | November 14, 2018 |
| Charlotte Independence | Mike Jefferies | Promoted to general manager | December 7, 2018 |  Jim McGuinness | December 7, 2018 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | Michael Nsien | End of interim period | December 7, 2018 | Michael Nsien | December 7, 2018 |
| Real Monarchs | Jámison Olave | End of interim period | January 21, 2019 | Martín Vásquez | January 21, 2019 |
| Tacoma Defiance |  John Hutchinson | Left organization | January 23, 2019 | Chris Little | January 23, 2019 |
| Atlanta United 2 | Scott Donnelly | Left organization | January 10, 2019 | Stephen Glass | January 30, 2019 |
| Loudoun United FC | Richie Williams | Left organization | May 30, 2019 | Ryan Martin | May 30, 2019 |
| Charlotte Independence |  Jim McGuinness | Fired | June 12, 2019 | Mike Jeffries | June 12, 2019 |
| Real Monarchs | Martín Vásquez | Left organization | July 1, 2019 | Jámison Olave | July 1, 2019 |
| Colorado Springs Switchbacks | Steve Trittschuh | Fired | July 1, 2019 | Wolde Harris | July 1, 2019 |
| LA Galaxy II | Mike Muñoz | Fired | July 19, 2019 | Junior Gonzalez | July 19, 2019 |
| Colorado Springs Switchbacks | Wolde Harris | End of interim period | September 23, 2019 |  Alan Koch | September 23, 2019 |
League table
;Eastern Conference;Western Conference
Results table
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.Bracket
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
USL Championship Final
Championship Game MVP: Konrad PlewaAttendance
Average home attendances
Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.| Team | |||||
| New Mexico United | 17 | 215,775 | 15,247 | 8,330 | 12,693 |
| Indy Eleven | 17 | 182,481 | 20,251 | 8,035 | 10,734 |
| Sacramento Republic FC | 17 | 177,409 | 11,569 | 9,324 | 10,436 |
| Louisville City FC | 17 | 153,705 | 12,188 | 6,811 | 9,041 |
| Las Vegas Lights FC | 17 | 131,085 | 10,117 | 5,101 | 7,711 |
| Nashville SC | 17 | 118,985 | 13,047 | 5,356 | 6,999 |
| San Antonio FC | 17 | 115,009 | 8,406 | 5,704 | 6,765 |
| Phoenix Rising FC | 17 | 114,789 | 7,606 | 6,372 | 6,752 |
| Memphis 901 FC | 17 | 112,598 | 8,062 | 4,142 | 6,623 |
| El Paso Locomotive FC | 17 | 111,930 | 8,324 | 5,015 | 6,584 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 17 | 93,445 | 7,851 | 4,022 | 5,497 |
| Hartford Athletic | 17 | 85,424 | 11,346 | 2,746 | 5,025 |
| Ottawa Fury FC | 17 | 77,431 | 6,807 | 3,094 | 4,555 |
| Birmingham Legion FC | 17 | 77,365 | 5,807 | 3,824 | 4,551 |
| Saint Louis FC | 17 | 77,038 | 5,963 | 3,524 | 4,532 |
| OKC Energy FC | 17 | 75,514 | 6,549 | 3,096 | 4,442 |
| Reno 1868 FC | 17 | 73,325 | 5,112 | 2,919 | 4,313 |
| North Carolina FC | 17 | 70,008 | 6,172 | 2,833 | 4,118 |
| Fresno FC | 17 | 69,988 | 7,863 | 2,343 | 4,117 |
| Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 17 | 68,091 | 5,606 | 2,702 | 4,005 |
| Rio Grande Valley FC | 17 | 64,806 | 4,967 | 2,408 | 3,812 |
| Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | 17 | 63,400 | 8,391 | 2,150 | 3,729 |
| Orange County SC | 17 | 54,258 | 5,122 | 1,558 | 3,192 |
| Tacoma Defiance | 17 | 44,804 | 5,185 | 1,396 | 2,636 |
| Charleston Battery | 17 | 41,211 | 3,915 | 1,359 | 2,424 |
| Austin Bold FC | 17 | 40,714 | 5,803 | 1,201 | 2,395 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks FC | 17 | 34,523 | 3,260 | 1,215 | 2,031 |
| Real Monarchs | 17 | 33,713 | 2,936 | 1,036 | 1,983 |
| Portland Timbers 2 | 17 | 32,289 | 3,513 | 1,116 | 1,899 |
| Atlanta United 2 | 17 | 29,824 | 3,109 | 1,015 | 1,754 |
| Charlotte Independence | 17 | 29,745 | 3,544 | 1,217 | 1,750 |
| Loudoun United FC | 17 | 23,483 | 5,015 | 550 | 1,381 |
| LA Galaxy II | 17 | 14,970 | 1,984 | 535 | 881 |
| New York Red Bulls II | 17 | 14,476 | 1,522 | 467 | 852 |
| Swope Park Rangers | 17 | 8,585 | 1,565 | 214 | 505 |
| Bethlehem Steel FC | 17 | 8,127 | 1,537 | 219 | 478 |
| Total | 612 | 2,740,323 | 20,251 | 214 | 4,478 |
Updated to games of October 20, 2019.
Sources:
Statistical leaders
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Nation | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Solomon Asante | Phoenix Rising FC | 22 | |
| 2 | Daniel Ríos | Nashville SC | 20 | |
| 3 | Sebastián Guenzatti | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 18 | |
| 3 | Corey Hertzog | Reno 1868 FC | 18 | |
| 5 | Adam Jahn | Phoenix Rising FC | 17 | |
| 6 | Cameron Iwasa | Sacramento Republic | 16 | |
| 6 | Douglas Martínez | Real Monarchs | 16 | |
| 8 | Deshorn Brown | OKC Energy FC | 15 | |
| 8 | Junior Flemmings | Phoenix Rising FC | 15 | |
| 8 | Irvin Parra | Las Vegas Lights FC | 15 | |
| 8 | Jared Stroud | New York Red Bulls II | 15 |
Source:
Top assists
| Rank | Player | Nation | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Solomon Asante | Phoenix Rising FC | 17 | |
| 2 | Rodrigo da Costa | Tulsa Roughnecks FC | 13 | |
| 3 | Sean McFarlane | Austin Bold FC | 12 | |
| 4 | Leo Fernandes | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | |
| 4 | Lebo Moloto | Nashville SC | 10 | |
| 6 | Kenardo Forbes | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | 9 | |
| 6 | Enzo Martinez | Charlotte Independence | 9 | |
| 6 | Jared Stroud | New York Red Bulls II | 9 | |
| 6 | Eryk Williamson | Portland Timbers 2 | 9 | |
| 10 | Malik Johnson | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 8 | |
| 10 | Isidro Martinez | Rio Grande Valley FC | 8 | |
| 10 | Raúl Mendiola | Reno 1868 FC | 8 | |
| 10 | Walter Restrepo | San Antonio FC | 8 |
Source:
Clean Sheets
Source:Hat-tricks
| Player | Nation | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Shane Malcolm | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | LA Galaxy II | 4–1 | March 9 | |
| Romario Williams | Atlanta United 2 | Charlotte Independence | 3–3 | March 23 | |
| Cameron Iwasa | Sacramento Republic | OKC Energy FC | 4–1 | March 24 | |
| Santi Moar | New Mexico United | Real Monarchs | 5–1 | April 13 | |
| Irvin Parra | Las Vegas Lights | Tacoma Defiance | 5–0 | April 13 | |
| Michael Salazar | Rio Grande Valley FC | LA Galaxy II | 4–4 | April 24 | |
| Kevaughn Frater | New Mexico United | Portland Timbers 2 | 3–3 | April 26 | |
| Kevaughn Frater | New Mexico United | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 3–1 | May 18 | |
| Kris Tyrpak | Austin Bold FC | Tulsa Roughnecks | 3–2 | June 1 | |
| Elliot Collier | Memphis 901 FC | Hartford Athletic | 4–1 | July 6 | |
| Douglas Martínez | Real Monarchs | Tacoma Defiance | 5–0 | July 12 | |
| Chris Lema | New York Red Bulls II | Atlanta United 2 | 8–1 | July 13 | |
| Bienvenue Kanakimana | Atlanta United 2 | Loudoun United | 4–2 | August 2 | |
| Danny Musovski | Reno 1868 FC | Tacoma Defiance | 5–0 | September 10 | |
| Douglas Martínez | Real Monarchs | Portland Timbers 2 | 5–1 | September 14 | |
| Devon Sandoval | New Mexico United | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 3–1 | September 14 | |
| Hadji Barry | Ottawa Fury FC | Hartford Athletic | 4–1 | September 22 | |
| Kléber | Austin Bold FC | Las Vegas Lights FC | 4–1 | September 22 | |
| Gordon Wild | Loudoun United | Swope Park Rangers | 4–1 | September 25 | |
| Éver Guzmán | San Antonio FC | Portland Timbers 2 | 4–3 | October 11 |
League awards
Individual awards
All-League Teams
First TeamF: Daniel Rios, Adam Jahn, Solomon Asante
M: Jared Stroud, Magnus Rasmussen, Kenardo Forbes
D: Neveal Hackshaw, Joe Greenspan, Forrest Lasso, Oscar Jimenez
G: Matt Pickens
Second Team
F: Sebastian Guenzatti, Corey Hertzog, Neco Brett
M: Santi Moar, Chris Lema, Rodrigo Da Costa
D: Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Papé Diakité, Paco Craig, A.J. Cochran
G: Zac Lubin