Let's get the obvious out of the way up front, shall we? There is not currently, nor has there ever been, a full, traditional system of on-field-merit-based promotion and relegation in any American pro soccer endeavor that I'm aware of[1].

With that said, the essence of promotion and relegation, the ability to move between levels of a nebulous pyramid, does exist, and has for more than a decade[2].

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Seattle Sounders have acquired Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek following his transfer from FC Midtjylland, the Sounders announced on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old midfielder arrives in Seattle after playing for Midtjylland since 2006.

Date Opponent Time 4/7 at Charlotte Eagles 7:00 pm 4/15 vs. Wilmington Hammerheads 6:00 pm 4/21 at Richmond Kickers 7:00 pm 4/28 vs. Richmond Kickers 7:30 pm 5/5 vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 pm 5/11 at Antigua Barracuda FC 7:00 pm 5/13 at Antigua Barracuda FC 4:30 pm 5/24 vs.

Richmond Kickers News Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, January 11, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the 2012 professional schedule, opening their 20th Anniversary season against longtime rival Charleston Battery on Saturday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. As one of the three longest tenured professional soccer clubs in the United States, the Kickers will celebrate 20 years alongside the Battery and the Charlotte Eagles in 2012.

Updated with press release from today. This is now official. Statements from Sigi and Boss.

Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Terry Boss suffered a concussion against Manchester United in the infamous friendly and a few weeks later another while suiting up for the Puerto Rico National Team.

By Jimmy LaRoue
The complete roster for the Norfolk SharX has been announced, and the names and faces should be familiar ones to followers of the outdoor brand of USL soccer, with 10 players having various levels of league experience.
The SharX are introducing themselves and their new Admiral uniforms Tuesday and are opening their inaugural season at home this Friday against Syracuse.

By Jimmy LaRoue
The complete roster for the Norfolk SharX has been announced, and the names and faces should be familiar ones to followers of the outdoor brand of USL soccer, with 10 players having various levels of league experience.
The SharX are introducing themselves and their new Admiral uniforms Tuesday and are opening their inaugural season at home this Friday against Syracuse.

After a long hiatus (for a number of reasons), here are the final (in most cases) attendance figures for the primary men's and women's outdoor soccer leagues in North America for 2011. As always, corrections and additions are welcome.

THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders 17 654,431 38,496 Los Angeles Galaxy 17 396,693 23,335 Vancouver Whitecaps 17 346,909 20,406 Toronto FC 17 344,535 20,267 New York Red Bulls 17 335,740 19,749 Portland Timbers 17 320,051 18,827 Philadelphia Union 17 310,401 18,259 Sporting Kansas City 17 302,776 17,810 Houston Dynamo 17 300,796 17,694 Real Salt Lake 17 299,047 17,591 DC United 17 258,332 15,196 Colorado Rapids 17 252,248 14,838 Chivas USA 17 252,102 14,830 Chicago Fire 17 242,648 14,273 New England Revolution 17 224,770 13,222 FC Dallas 17 218,636 12,861 Columbus Crew 17 207,147 12,185 San Jose Earthquakes 17 201,587 11,858 MLS TOTAL 306 5,468,849 17,872 NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE G Total Avg.

The Norfolk SharX have announced two more player signings.

Defender Brady Bryant, 29, and midfielder Miguel Ferrer, who both played for the USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles this past spring, were signed following the SharX's first open tryouts on Sept. 9-10. They join Brandon Massie, who was announced as the team's first signing last week.

The Norfolk SharX have announced two more player signings.

Defender Brady Bryant, 29, and midfielder Miguel Ferrer, who both played for the USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles this past spring, were signed following the SharX's first open tryouts on Sept. 9-10. They join Brandon Massie, who was announced as the team's first signing last week.

Syracuse, NY---The Syracuse Silver Knights are pleased to announce the signing of USL PRO standout Darren Toby, pending league approval. Toby, a member of the Charlotte Eagles, will travel to the welcoming city of Syracuse to prepare for the upcoming 2011-2012 indoor season.
A native of Lowlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Toby made his professional debut with the Eagles in April of 2008.

Syracuse, NY---The Syracuse Silver Knights are pleased to announce the signing of USL PRO standout Darren Toby, pending league approval. Toby, a member of the Charlotte Eagles, will travel to the welcoming city of Syracuse to prepare for the upcoming 2011-2012 indoor season.

A native of Lowlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Toby made his professional debut with the Eagles in April of 2008.

The final USL Pro playoff berth wasn't decided until the final whistle of last Friday's USL Pro Game of the Week on FOX Soccer. Here are the highlights of the Charleston Battery's 4-3 win over the Charlotte Eagles, one that included a two-goal, Player of the Week performance by the Battery's Mike Zaher:

The playoffs begin Friday, with Rochester hosting Pittsburgh, Wilmington hosting Richmond and Los Angeles traveling to Harrisburg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After 20 weeks of regular season play, the playoff picture in the USL Pro came into focus in dramatic fashion with a flurry of high-scoring games.

The Charlotte Eagles failed to lock up a playoff spot with a mid-week loss to the Harrisburg City Islanders and fell late in a 4-3 shootout with Charleston, which would claim the final post-season berth in the American Division.

It's as if European soccer never left.

A full slate of games from overseas are on tap for this weekend as the Premier League joins the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 as major leagues to start the 2011-2012 campaign. Defending Premier League champion Manchester United opens up against West Brom on Sunday, but a game most Americans will want to keep an eye on is the Fulham-Aston Villa tilt on Saturday.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With a week to go in the USL Pro regular season, the playoff picture is clearing up.

The National Division has its playoff participants settled following the Pittsburgh Riverhounds' 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Eagles. Pittsburgh will be joined in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Blues, Harrisburg City Islanders and the Rochester Rhinos.

Here are highlights of last Friday night's USL Pro Game of the Week, in which the Wilmington Hammerheads defeated the Los Angeles Blues 2-1 in front of a Legion Stadium record crowd of nearly 6,000.

Our final regular-season telecast, this Friday at Charleston, could determine the eighth and final playoff spot for 2011.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After holding a dominating lead going into its nearly three week break, Orlando City S.C. finds itself with a serious contender breathing down its neck.

The Wilmington Hammerheads won twice over the weekend in convincing fashion to put themselves within three points of the American Division Leaders.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Orlando City off until the middle of August, it's now or never for the Richmond Kickers and the Wilmington Hammerheads to mount a challenge on the American Division regular-season title. The results were mixed over the weekend with neither team making significant progress or falling completely out of the picture.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Week 15 passed without any major changes, and with the conclusion of the USL Pro season now only a month away, that'll suit Orlando City just fine.

Orlando still holds a comfortable nine-point lead in the American Division and faces a long vacation before the home stretch.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Just as it looked like Orlando City is poised to run away with the American Division, the mid-season leaders go winless over a weekend.

In a move that is becoming all too common among division leaders, Orlando gained just one point from two games over the weekend with a scoreless draw against the woeful Dayton Dutch Lions and a 1-0 loss to the Charleston Battery.

Tomorrow KC continues their busy schedule with their Open Cup quarterfinal against the Richmond Kickers at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Once again KC is playing their 3rd game in the span of a week when the USL-Pro team (US third division) comes into town. The Kickers will also be playing their 3rd game in a week, as they played a home and home series with the Charlotte Eagles on Friday and Saturday night this past week, and now travel to KC.

Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

The United States and Brazil didn't think they'd be meeting this early in the FIFA Women's World Cup. That hardly means their matchup will be any less entertaining.

The two powers go head-to-head in the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Sunday in a rematch of the 2008 Olympic gold medal game as a highlight of this weekend's slate of matches.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

There was no shortage of action during the holiday weekend as the USL Pro packed 10 games into four days.

Despite the glut of games, everything is pretty much as it was in the races for the division titles as Orlando City padded its massive lead in the American Division and Rochester clings to a three-point lead over on the National side.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

If the rest of the American Division isn't careful, Orlando City could wrap up the division title before the end of July.

A couple of weekend wins saw Orlando City move 10 points clear of the Richmond Kickers. Richmond does have three games in hand but a scoreless draw with FC New York highlights the early-season leaders inconsistent form.

Two rounds were played within one week as the US Open Cup continues to get more exciting. The teams in the lower levels of US soccer are fighting hard to make an impression against their MLS opponents. Round Three of the US Open Cup begins Tuesday night, June 28th.

Even though the match in Madison, Wisconsin started on time recently between the 56ers and the Chicago Fire's PDL side, the heavy rain and lightning storm found a way to postpone the match from the 21st to Wednesday the 22nd.

By CALEB SONNELAND

In the latest installment of the 2011 U.S. Open Cup, seven teams marched into the third round of the competition while one postponed match remains to be played to arrange matchups with eight of Major League Soccer's heavy hitters.

Drama ran rampant in North Carolina, as the Wilmington Hammerheads, having initially trailed the Charlotte Eagles, 2-0, midway through the second half, stormed from behind to take the game, 3-2, after extra time.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Antigua on hiatus and Orlando drawing with Wilmington, Richmond had an opportunity to mount a charge in the American Division.

Unfortunately for the Kickers, a 1-0 defeat to the Harrisburg City Islanders saw them fall to six points behind Orlando.

Due to high demand (1 person asked) we are going to run a 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup contest. The unique nature of this tournament makes an NCAA style bracket is impossible; hosts aren't known throughout the tournament and we still don't know match-ups for the eight MLS teams that will enter the contest in the Third Round.

The U.S. Open Cup field of 40 is a game away from being set, but the pairings for the first two rounds of the tournament have been released.

The first round is slated for June 14, when 32 teams will being their battle for the right to face eight MLS sides in the Round of 16, which is scheduled for June 28.

Might be the last one for a while, but here's the latest list of attendance figures for the prominent leagues (if a team's not listed, either they haven't had a home game yet or I have no figures for them).

THE MLS G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders FC 7 253,864 36,266 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 136,938 22,823 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 140,923 20,132 Toronto FC 8 157,020 19,628 Portland Timbers 6 111,762 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 Houston Dynamo 7 122,414 17,488 New York Red Bulls 6 104,036 17,339 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 Real Salt Lake 5 81,360 16,272 Colorado Rapids 6 83,007 13,835 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 Chicago Fire 5 66,439 13,288 New England Revolution 7 87,146 12,449 Columbus Crew 6 60,427 10,071 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 TMLS TOTAL 106 1,852,818 17,479 NASL G Total Avg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With their closest rivals on hiatus, the Richmond Kickers are looking to take advantage.

A midweek loss to Orlando City put the Floridians into pole position in the American Division, a place Richmond has occupied since the first week of the season.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With the Richmond Kickers off for the weekend, Orlando City took a temporary lead at the top of the Atlantic Division while Antigua Barracuda FC gifted Charlotte its second win of the season.

It was the second 2-0 loss in as many weeks for Antigua, which is cooling rapidly after a hot streak during April.

All the leagues are up and running now, so here's a look at where the crowds are going in the prominent soccer leagues in the US and Canada as of yesterday's games:

THE MLS G Total Avg. Median Seattle Sounders FC 6 217,838 36,306 36,255 Los Angeles Galaxy 5 122,480 24,496 24,998 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 6 119,923 19,987 20,664 Toronto FC 7 136,898 19,557 20,086 Portland Timbers 5 93,135 18,627 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 18,482 Houston Dynamo 6 105,705 17,618 17,281 New York Red Bulls 5 85,955 17,191 16,365 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 14,058 Real Salt Lake 4 66,634 16,659 15,907 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 15,276 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 12,109 Chicago Fire 4 54,513 13,628 12,315 Colorado Rapids 5 66,568 13,314 13,598 New England Revolution 6 65,353 10,892 11,585 Columbus Crew 5 50,996 10,199 10,306 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 10,006 Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0 0 TMLS TOTAL 94 1,633,480 17,377 16,752 NASL G Total Avg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers had to drop points eventually.

After an eight-game winning streak kicked off their season in style, the Kickers were held to a 1-1 draw with the Harrisburg City Islanders. Richmond continues to be the only unbeaten team left in the USL Pro and holds a one-point lead with two games in hand over Antigua Barracuda FC in the Atlantic Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

And then there were 12.

With Puerto Rico's three franchises no longer a part of USL Pro, the league has reorganized the standings to feature two six-team divisions instead of three five-team divisions. Antigua Barracuda FC joins the American Division while the Los Angeles Blues are now part of the National Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers winning streak continued in emphatic fashion with a 6-0 rout of the Dayton Dutch Lions.

The USL Pro leaders have one five-straight game to begin the season and have racked up a +9 goal difference in that time.

Not to be outdone, Antigua Barracuda FC put seven by Puerto Rico United on Wednesday before squeaking out a narrow victory over River Plate Puerto Rico over the weekend.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

An early-season clash between a defending champion and the league leader highlights the fourth weekend of fixtures in the USL Pro.

The Easter weekend slate of matches kicks off tonight with the resurgent Orlando City welcoming a Puerto Rico United side that is struggling to find its feet after going winless in its opening home stand.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Welcome to the USL, Los Angeles.

The expansion L.A. Blues started off their existence with a couple of victories on the road over Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and fellow newcomer Antigua Barracuda FC. Walter Gaitan is off to a blistering start with three goals in two games.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

It's the first full weekend of action the USL Pro as 18 teams take to the field.

Making their debut are the Rochester Rhinos, Los Angeles Blues, Harrisburg City Islanders, Dayton Dutch Lions, Wilmington Hammerheads and Antigua Barracuda FC.