For Niall Logue, 2021 was full of challenges and opportunities in equal measure. He made a deserved move from FC Tucson to the El Paso Locomotive, jumping up from an average side in the third-tier USL League One to a perennial favorite in the USL Championship. "I felt like everything was a perfect fit for me and El Paso," said Logue. "I felt I had all the attributes to play in that team with their style of play, and the manager wanted me to play a big part that year."
It wasn't to be. The central defender sustained an injury in the run-up to the season, ending up on the sidelines for four months in total. In the meantime, the Locomotive conceded just three goals in their first seven matches; finally healthy but stuck riding the pine, Logue sought out a loan. Fortunately, he got a new lease on life with Memphis 901 FC, and twenty-one games later, the Northern Irishman was anchoring the Tennesseans to the club's first-ever playoff appearance.
Logue knew from the start he was up to the task, but it was a matter of getting an opportunity. When that chance came, he was more than ready. "It was like someone let a caged animal free, so to speak," he remembers, "I was just loving every bit of it!" Coach Ben Pirmann of Memphis clearly felt similarly, bringing the defender back for the 2022 season on a full-term basis after that successful loan stint.
With experience in Ireland's top two divisions, Logue never felt that his pedigree was in question in the lower tiers of American soccer. Playing college ball in Arizona, he even had an opportunity with Phoenix Rising that evidenced his skills. Still, USL League One was ultimately a proving ground for his game, an opportunity to stay fit and keep up his level of play in a year full of global uncertainty. Says Logue: "The pandemic hit, of course, and I just wanted to play football for however long a season would be." Nonetheless, he "wanted to get back to the level [he] was playing at in Ireland."
In his mind, the League of Ireland sits at "a high USL Championship" or "lower MLS standard." He recalls that he "noticed that difference a lot" in comparing his European days to League One, but he qualified that League One is "by no means a bad league," just "younger and inexperienced." On the pitch, Logue put his money where his mouth was in terms of his level. Across those twenty-one Championship games in 2021, the central defender played at a 69th percentile caliber versus all USL peers. He was the third-best performer of all League One-to-Championship leapers, in fact.
In studying the players that made the jump, seen in the table, one is immediately struck by the name at the top of the pile: Ronaldo Damus of Orange County SC. The Haitian forward joined Orange County from League One's North Texas SC, banging home fourteen goals in a title-winning campaign that saw him named the most valuable player of the playoffs. Across the board, this Damus-led group provided above-average value on a minute-weighted basis.
Logue was similarly impactful in Memphis as Damus was further west. His passing suited a direct and vertically-oriented side, illustrating just how successful a League One alumnus can be at the back. Between Damus, Logue, and Phoenix Rising midfielder Arturo Rodriguez, each phase of the game saw a third-tier graduate blow the Championship away.
Heading into 2022, the group of players moving up a rung of the ladder appears similarly impressive. Players like Aaron Molloy and Devin Boyce in Memphis, Greg Hurst in Phoenix, and Andrew Booth in Charleston all seem more than ready to prove themselves. Dallas Jaye also looks to be an impactful addition as the rare goalie to make the leap, joining an expansion side in the form of Monterey Bay FC. While a gap between the quality of League One and the Championship may be undeniable, proofs of concept exist for finding difference-makers in the third tier that have raised their game and developed.
USL League One is entering its fourth year of competition in 2022, and Éamon Zayed has been involved since the start. Tim Hankinson, who coached Zayed in Indy and was the inaugural manager of Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, brought the forward to League One at the first possible opportunity. The veteran international was there to provide leadership and bang in goals, and he quickly became a convert to the division's core mission. "I got to see first hand from day one the pitfalls and areas to tackle when building a USL League One squad," Zayed says. "I love League One as a league and idea. I think it’s already proved a fantastic platform and opportunity for players to go on to bigger things and develop."
Now, Zayed has the chance to spearhead development in his own right as the first head man for Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, an expansion team. So far, the Hailstorm roster combines players with experiences as varied as Australia's Manley United and the Colorado School of Mines. In studying the nascent squad, a different trend sticks out: a preponderance of players with USL Championship experience that chose to move down to League One.
For the new gaffer, it's a question of intentions. Zayed notes that he "needs to understand...ambition and motivation" before he tries to "convince a player to come to Colorado and USL League One." He cites three examples on his developing roster: Leo Folla and Brecc Evans, who recognized the need to "take one step back to take two steps forward," and Irvin Parra, a proven second-division forward that "wanted to win a championship and a golden boot...to create history at a brand new club." Zayed is bullish about his own role in "providing...that platform," especially in letting the former pair "develop into better players and hopefully become better equipped for when they undoubtedly return to the USL Championship."
As much as League One can be a springboard for dynamic prospects like Logue and Damus, it equally serves as a safety net for ambitious figures like Folla and Evans. In Tulsa and Memphis, respectively, the pair of defenders didn't get much of a look-in at the Championship level. Folla played less than three-hundred total minutes for the Oklahoman side, and Evans, who starred down the stretch alongside Logue in Tennessee, was a substitute for most of the campaign. Neither had a bad year, but both will benefit from regular opportunities in the third tier under Zayed.
The aforementioned Aaron Molloy is a prominent example in this vein. A veteran of the Portland Timbers system with Championship experience, Molloy spent 2021 with Forward Madison. His season wasn't too shabby: he put up the league's fourth-best performance by value-added (99th percentile) alongside high-level passing statistics (94th percentile expected assists). A number of players joined Molloy in the move to the third tier in 2021, shown in the nearby table. Together, they combined to play at a 70th percentile level, solidly above average. For Molloy, this led to a Championship return with Memphis, something that Folla and Evans will look to replicate this season.
Other examples of the League One springboard abound. The jury is out on Jay Tee Kamara's future with Louisville City FC, but 2021 was a rip-roaring start to his full-blown professional career. A teenaged Sierra Leonean, Kamara generated 98th percentile expected goals and assists on loan with North Carolina FC in the third division. His Kentuckian home added in attack this offseason, but the high-potential youngster has earned a chance in the Championship after a prodigious season. Like Molloy, he made the most out of a chance in League One.
Irvin Parra's move to Northern Colorado is equally instructive in a different sense. With the Charlotte Independence last season, the striker returned a 91st percentile performance in playoff side. He started alongside Premier League veterans like Sylvain Marveaux and USL Championship greats like Dane Kelly, chalking up eleven goals for his second double-digit return in his last three campaigns. This is a player that's more than capable of starting for any Championship side. Still, Parra wanted more. Zayed cites his golden boot ambitions, and League One is as good a platform as any for the twenty-eight-year-old Californian to ply his trade and make a lasting mark.
Not everyone is looking to League One for purely competitive reasons. Another expansion side, Central Valley Fuego FC out of Fresno, shows that, home is where the heart is for many. To that tune, the new side inked Championship veterans Villyan Bijev (91st percentile GAR), Anthony Velarde (84th percentile xA), and Nathan Smith (twelve games played for title-winning Orange County). What unites this trio beyond their new club? All three grew up in and around Fresno. The group surely harbors Parra-esque ambitions to show out on the pitch, but their moves are driven by the revival of the game in their home market.
As the second-division sees expansion fees rise, League One provides an opportunity for soccer-hungry cities to find representation. Jake Edwards, the President of the USL, has stated that he envisions a third division with as many as forty teams, and this goal will naturally include areas traditionally been deemed too small to support the professional game. Franchises from Omaha to Madison to Greenville all represent markets too insubstantial on paper for the Championship's liking.
On top of that, the new club in the former-Championship city of Fresno, shows how League One can be a safety net on soccer's business side. The professional game has been revived through Central Valley Fuego precisely because of League One's financial model. North Carolina, Richmond, and Charlotte are also examples of this phenomenon, as all three self-relegated from the second-division amidst financial questions. None of their situations are optimal, but their continued existence on a lower budget is preferable to communities losing out on the game.
It's trite to point out, but soccer is endlessly growing in the United States. As participation and support continue to rise and the country continues to produce more professional-level talent, it's important that a platform exists to provide professional-level salaries. League One is an important part of that platform, a segment that lets soccer's growth trickle down to underrepresented corners of the country. Three tiers of clubs providing (mostly) livable wages was unimaginable a decade ago but is essential to the continued expansion of the sport. As teams like Madison, Tucson, or Northern Colorado eventually create academies, this growth will only multiply and feed itself.
Still, praise for League One isn't universal, and its critics echo the experiences recounted by figures like Logue. The Memphis defender's talk of a low level of play and widespread inexperience is a common refrain. One player agent with a playing career across the lower leagues expressed "how surprised [he] was at how many guys are making the jump to Championship," going on to note that the "Championship is a considerably higher level, especially the top half of clubs." Still, the agent gave the caveat that "there are still guys that absolutely can be successful in Championship that get their first opportunity in League One." However, there are enough examples of failed jumps to give pause.
The table featured above paints a rosy picture for Damus and Rodriguez, who benefited from high-end development in League One. Both plied their trade in the FC Dallas pipeline, one of America's premier setups. Most of their fellow risers, coming from lesser environments, failed in the Championship; eleven of fifteen played in less than ten Championship games, each providing below-average value. The quality leap between leagues is supplemented by technical differences borne out in data. The Championship values possession and short passing to a greater degree (5% more passes in League One are booted long), and it boasts stronger goalkeeping (save percentages are 2% higher). It isn't smooth sailing for players making this jump, especially for those coming from shoddier situations.
Still, the player-turned-representative ultimately had positive aspects of League One to laud. Specifically referring to Marios Lomis, a North Carolina and Greenville forward who put up 96th percentile numbers last season, he noted:
I’m all about giving guys who fall through the cracks opportunities because that’s something our country has notoriously been bad about. A guy like Lomis who proved himself in the Championship, got hurt, and had an average year in 2020 goes to League One and does really well. I think for a guy like him, he deserves another look in the Championship.
The third tier opens up the possibility of such a look, but the agent still questions whether League One is the best proving ground for someone like Lomis. "The biggest issue with League One," he says, "is the disparity between clubs where some treat it like a developmental league with young academy players and others treat it more professionally." This perception affects veterans in a real way. "There is still a stigma to dropping if you’re a Championship guy, because once you drop it seems to be very difficult to make your way back up," the ex-player notes. "[I'm] not sure guys see it as a safety net."
Nonetheless, the story of Niall Logue lingers. Having gone through "green card issues" that killed the Championship chance he earned while "originally being with Phoenix Rising," he had clear conclusions about his career arc. "Tucson gave me that opportunity," Logue says. "I feel I did really well there, playing every minute of every game, player of the year, captain; I definitely knew I was capable." For players like the Memphis defender, League One can be both a safety net and a launching pad. There are valid criticisms of the setup, but a stable third division is crucial to the American game, and USL's iteration on the theme has been a qualified success and a positive force in this nation's soccer landscape.