Promotion and relegation, a.k.a. pro/rel, is a controversial and highly debated topic in American football circles. The United States is one of the few countries in the world that does not use the system allowing movement of clubs between divisions based on competitive merit. But how could things have been so different. When US Soccer planned to bid to host the 1994 World Cup, the original plan in the late 1980s called for three divisions with promotion and relegation.
Pro/rel in the United States? That was the idea
The story begins with the United States’ bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. One caveat to the hosting was that US Soccer had to create a professional Division 1 men’s league. At the end of the 1980s, this did not exist. The North American Soccer League had folded after the 1984 season. The American Soccer League (later the APSL, which would eventually become today’s USL) existed, with teams such as the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the Washington Diplomats and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. But it was officially only a second division league and did not live up to the professional standards of the major leagues.
At that time, the president of the American Soccer Federation was Werner Fricker. Shortly after the United States World Cup winner in July 1988press materials were released by the Federation mentioning the creation of the new professional league configuration, including “…a system of promotion and relegation that will be unique to American professional sports.”
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These documents and declarations have come to be known as the “Fricker Plan”. What was apparently, at least initially, envisaged was a three-tier professional league structure, with club movements between them.
In 1990, two years after announcing plans to create a three-tier league, The New York Times reported that “(the league) is an ambitious project to say the least, especially with so little evidence of progress since plans for the league were first announced.” »
THE Times added that the U.S. Soccer Federation had considered running the league itself.
When Fricker lost his 1990 re-election bid For the USSF president, this is probably the change that prevented the Fricker plan from becoming a reality.
Details to be debated
Unfortunately, further details on these plans are not available. The detailed plan of the professional league system of this era has not yet been discovered. Fricker himself died in 2001. Plus the documents themselves and contemporary reporting on the plans. are to be interpreted.
It is still unclear exactly where these plans stand. Just as if we were trying to glean the original intent of 250-year-old lines in the U.S. Constitution, we must postulate about what these statements actually mean. Could any club in any city with a suitable stadium climb to the top division? Could a Premier League team be sacked?
Whatever the details, the period leading up to 1994 may have been the best opportunity for true pro/rels to reach American shores. With only a handful of professional D2 teams at the time, the massive financial risk to owners that exists today was not an issue. If pro/rel was integrated from the start, no one would be able to complain about the loss of value of their investment. It would just be part of the game.
The path we took
Whatever happened to the Fricker Plan behind closed doors, we know what did arrive. Alan Rothenberg (namesake of the MLS championship trophy from 1996 to 2007) became president of US Soccer in 1990. He oversaw what was the most financially successful World Cup of all time. USA ’94 still holds the record for largest total attendance 30 years later. . And that was with only 24 teams and fewer matches than the following tournaments.
In 1993, Major League Soccer was founded in 1996. It was far from the European-style league system launched by Fricker. It did not incorporate any pre-existing clubs, but formed ten new teams in a single entity configuration. Unlike the Fricker Plan’s “any community” dream, all teams were placed in large cities that hosted other major league sports at the time (with the exception of Columbus, Ohio).
Before the launch, Rothenberg had high expectations for MLS.
“We don’t expect overnight success. It could take 10 years to bring our sport to the big leagues – football, baseball and basketball. said RothenbergIn 1994.
Since then, the US Soccer Pro League standards have set stipulations that limit participation in professional divisions based on market size.
MLS struggled somewhat in its early years, losing clubs and almost completely collapsing. But while it’s not without its problems today, it has become the most successful professional football team in American history. Under MLS, the lower divisions have also grown and improved significantly. But the pyramid remains a series of disconnected leagues.
We can’t help but wonder…what if? If a three-tier pyramid of professional leagues were implemented in the early 1990s, what would soccer in the United States look like three decades later? Would football in the United States be more successful? Would there be a stronger base of lower league clubs that could increase the popularity of the sport at all levels? The mind wanders.
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