Orlando City SC announced on Thursday their reserve team, Orlando City B, will return for the 2019 season as a founding member of USL Division III, a new professional league in North America.
The league, set to be a third-tier league in the US soccer pyramid, below MLS and its sister league, the second-division USL, will also include South Georgia Tormenta FC (Statesboro, Georgia), FC Tucson (Tucson, Arizona), Greenville Triumph SC (Greenville, South Carolina), Madison Pro Soccer (Madison, Wisconsin), Chattanooga Pro Soccer (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and fellow MLS reserve side Toronto FC II as founding members, announced for the 2019 season.
Orlando City B was founded for the 2016 USL season. After playing two years in USL, the team sat out the 2018 season, but reports indicated the club was planning to revive the team in the future.
“The return of Orlando City in USL’s new Division III has been an ongoing project, and we are very pleased to see this vision for our player development come together for the 2019 season,” said Orlando City SC’s general manager Niki Budalic in a team statement. “USL Division III is a perfect fit for the long-term goals Orlando City has of aligning our USL operation with the Academy to ultimately serve at the top of the player development pyramid for our First Team in Major League Soccer. Having this connection will give our Academy players age-appropriate opportunities to keep advancing their game to ultimately compete at the highest level of our sport in the U.S. and beyond.”
OCB will be based at Montverde Academy, alongside Orlando City's academy.
