A new professional soccer team will grace the field of Eugene’s Civic Park next spring.
USL Eugene will play in United Soccer League’s USL League One, a third-tier professional league. It is one of seven expansion teams announced for next season, though the final new team has yet to be announced.
Eugene will be the third USL One team in the northwestern United States. The league has an established team in Spokane, Wash. and is adding a team in Boise, Idaho.
"It’s exciting because it’s growing quite a bit on that standpoint, and the expectation is that it’s going to keep growing," said USL Eugene Principal Owner Sat Dhinsa.
The ownership group hopes to add a professional women’s team in the future.
The stakes for USL Eugene are expected to rise in its second or third year, as the USL adopts a promotion and relegation system similar to many European leagues, where top finishers move up to a higher league and low finishers drop to a lesser league.
A media release from the team says it anticipates playing at the new 2,500-seat stadium at Civic Park, which sits where the old Civic Stadium was.
Civic Stadium is already home to Lane FC, an amateur club that includes a USL League 2 men’s team and a USLW women’s team.
