Atlanta United may announce its USL affiliation as soon as next week, team president Darren Eales said on Tuesday while attending the MLS combine in Carson, Calif. Eales declined to say who the partner may be.

The club was affiliated with Charleston (S.C.) in 2016. Several players, including goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, midfielder Andrew Carleton and forward Jeffrey Otoo spent time with the Battery. Other academy players made spot appearances with the club.

The USL was considered the third division in the U.S. soccer hierarchy, but was recently granted provisional second-division status by the United States Soccer Federation.

Twenty-one MLS teams had affilations, or partnered with, USL teams in 2016. The affiliations/partnerships are typically used to give inexperienced players a place to get playing time.

About the Author

Keep Reading

The city of Atlanta gave Georgia State University the green light to start construction on a new baseball facility. (Courtesy of Georgia State University Athletics)

Credit: Georgia State University Athletics

Featured

Waymo autonomous vehicles operate across 65 square miles inside I-285 and have been involved in six incidents with Atlanta Public School buses since May. Waymo issued a recall because of their cars briefly stopping or slowing down before continuing forward while a bus was stopped and flashing its lights. (Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools)

Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools