The creation of Ingo Krieg, owner of the Jacksonville Tea Men, the United Soccer League formally announced its existence on February 1, 1984.

Krieg joined with the owner of the Dallas Americans to found a new second division league called the United Soccer League that would try to operate within its means, feature primarily American players, play a mostly regional schedule to reduce travel expenses, and embrace a "grass roots" approach to growing the game in their towns.

[1] In late January 1984, the Detroit Express joined Jacksonville and Dallas in announcing their intention to move to the USL for the upcoming season.

[3] In the following weeks, the list of teams grew to include one last ASL defector, the Rochester Flash, another new club, the Houston Dynamos, and the Charlotte Gold (also a new franchise but one that employed many of the office staff and players from the recently folded Carolina Lightnin').

This game, too, would end in a tie and be decided in a shootout, but this time Fort Lauderdale prevailed to claim the first (and ultimately only) USL championship.