What if I told you that USL League One was the greatest little football league in the world?
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you might agree. After all, you probably made your way to this story by way of an X post on a niche account with 401 followers. An account you follow because we provide commentary and news on what we believe is the greatest little football league in the world.
Or maybe you don’t agree but are still here because you live in one of those mid-market cities with a USL League One club and just want to support your local club anyway.
Either way, thank you for being here. You’re why we do this.
After a full year of League One Updater, let’s take some time to reflect on what we’ve seen and where we might be going in the future.
I started this project in October 2022
The season was winding down, with the playoffs approaching. I was finishing my first full season as a Richmond Kickers season ticket holder, and boy was my local club good. However, over the course of the season, I started taking more of an interest in the opposing sides. Who are their players? What separates these clubs? What’s their history?
As I often tend to do, I dove in headfirst and decided to start writing and podcasting about it without checking to see who was already in this space. Fortunately, those who were already here showed me an incredible amount of welcome and support. Once I became integrated into the community, I took full stock of what was already out there. I took a step back and reevaluated what I could provide in the USL League One media landscape. We’ll get to that in a minute.
Along the way, we’ve had some highlights
- We became part of the growing network of USL League One content creators.
- We gained our 400th follower on X over the weekend.
- We’ve had nearly 7,000 views on the website.
- We established fan, supporter group, media, and/or club contacts in every single USL League One city.
- Official club accounts, owners, managers, and players have followed us, read our stories, and commented, shared, and interacted on X and Instagram.
- The league’s media folks invited us and others to participate in voting on mid-season awards.
- I was a guest on five podcasts of which I am a regular listener: The USL Show, League ONe the Rocks, Walkin90, El Fuego Pod, and River City 93.
- I met several of you in person at either Kickers matches or related events.
- We correctly predicted NCFC to win the league championship.
We’ve also had some lessons learned
We learned that not every player dropping from the USL Championship or another league higher on the pyramid will make an impact on his new club. Some will struggle to fit in.
We learned that sometimes they really do make an impact, and this year, it seems a whole lot of them did. Hello, Devin Boyce, Leo Castro, Lalo Delgado, Ates Diouf, Steevan Dos Santos, Brad Dunwell, Avionne Flanagan, Dane Kelly, Angelo Kelly-Rosales, Preston Kilwien, Isidro Martinez, Sean Lewis, Junior Palacios, Alexis Souahy, and any others USL Championship veterans who found success this season who I may have missed.
We learned that sometimes, the Golden Boot winner comes out of nowhere. We predicted Dane Kelly; no one predicted Trevor Amann.
We learned that a club sitting in 3rd place on July 5th can find itself in 11th place by the end of the season, and a club sitting in 8th place at the same time can win the table.
We learned that going all in on free-agent talent can turn around a sinking ship and win a championship (and prove the financial resiliency to option yourself back to the USL Championship).
We learned that some coaches not only read our content but also keep receipts. Hello, Éamon Zayed.
We learned the local media tends to drop coverage as soon as high school and college fall sports begin.
We learned the MLS still doesn’t take the US Open Cup seriously, and we will continue to be in support of the notion that the lower league club should always host as long as they have the facilities to do so.
League One Updater: Changes and Unknowns
League One Updater Podcast
I started a podcast in January. It lasted two episodes before I abandoned it. The reason for the abandonment was simply because there are already several high-quality, established podcasts covering the league. I did not feel I was adding anything that these podcasts didn’t already have.
Over the last year, I’ve been honored to be a guest on three league podcasts of which I am a regular listener: The USL Show, League ONe the Rocks, and Walkin90. I also joined El Fuego Pod and River City 93 to discuss Fuego FC and the Richmond Kickers respectively. I thoroughly enjoyed each of these experiences and look forward to any future opportunities to join these and any other podcasts.
We also saw the introduction of One League Under the C, from the folks at Protagonist Soccer. They brought a neutral perspective (neither host lives in a USL League One market), along with their endless institutional knowledge, professionalism, and experience from covering all levels of lower-league soccer in the United States. They also have a pretty sweet sticker club if you support their work.
Moving forward, I have no plans to restart the League One Updater podcast and will continue to support and help promote the podcasts that already exist. I’m always happy to contribute to any of them, directly or indirectly. Just reach out if you would like me as a guest, and feel free to use any of my written material as a reference at any time. Shoutouts are appreciated, but not necessary.
League One Updater Instagram
I’ve struggled to maintain an identity with the Instagram account. When your niche is writing, it’s more difficult to promote on Instagram since you can’t provide direct links on posts, and stories disappear after 24 hours. Link Tree is functional, but let’s be honest – it can be a bit tedious to maintain.
The point is, I’m not sure where that platform is headed for me. I’ll probably keep it around and use it for event photos. It’s also a fun place to follow teams and players.
Threads
I’ve also struggled to adopt Threads, mostly because when it started, there just wasn’t enough engagement on it. Maybe this has changed, as more people become fed up with the more toxic areas of X. I’ll give it another shot.
Where We Plan to Drive Forward: The Website
This is my passion and an area in which I feel I can contribute – writing. In the age of YouTube, TikTok, and other social media, maybe it’s a lost art. And certainly, recent changes to the X platform, from which almost all my views originate, may further contribute to the downfall of web writing.
The Transaction Tracker has been a big hit. It has already returned for 2024, and I plan to keep it up to date with verified roster movements and announcements. It is not a place for rumors – only documented official announcements. My goal is to have it as a credible resource for fans, and anyone else who wants to reference it.
I also enjoy the weekly power rankings, and based on engagement, the readers do too. Those will continue.
I’d like to branch out to written form interviews with players or others involved with USL League One clubs. But I’m still learning how to establish a network, relationships, and the proper channels to make things like this happen. All in good time.
I’d also like to offer my writing services to other websites that still appreciate good writing. But we’ll see what happens.
Once again, thank you for reading, engaging, and sharing my work
While we all share the struggles of being in one of the lowest professional divisions in American soccer, I think there are some exciting developments on the horizon. We will do our best to cover it as it happens.
Thanks for reading.
—Alex, League One Updater
