North Carolina Fusion U-23 will join the MLS Next Pro in 2023
The Territorio MLS can inform with exclusivity that the North Carolina Fusion, currently at USL League Two, will be the second independent expansion team of the MLS NEXT Pro, joining the league in 2023 alongside with 8 MLS affiliates such as Atlanta, Charlotte and LAFC.
The MLS NEXT Pro is a new professional development league recently reveled by the Major League Soccer, debuting in 2022. With 21 founding clubs in it’s first season, the league comes to the market as the biggest USL opponent for the second and third tier of soccer in the United States.
North Carolina Fusion, based in North Carolina, was founded in 1993 by Neil Macpherson, the same owner of the English side Nottingham Forest. Formerly named Greensboro Dynamo, debuted in the USISL(former USL) in 1993 and even played half a season as a Indoor team in 1994. After a hiatus in 1998, the team joined the USL D3-Pro League in 1999 reaching the Conference Semifinals. Since then the club has been under the USL umbrella, moving up to the USL PDL in 2003 and consequently the USL League Two in 2019. In its short period in League Two the club reached the 2021 national finals where they lost 1-0 for Iowa’s Des Moines Menace.
Although the league already has eight predefined teams announced for 2023, North Carolina will be the first expansion independent club to enter the league as the club has no relationship with any MLS club. The list of MLS affiliate clubs joining in 2023 is: Atlanta, Austin. Charlotte, D.C, L.A, LAFC, Nashville and RBNY.
The USL’s reaction to North Carolina’s departure is not yet public knowledge. At the moment the league focuses on its reformulation, such as the possible implementation of relegation between its leagues.
