The 1996 USISL Select League season was the first season of a professional men's soccer league which featured teams from the United States.
The league shared Division II status in the American soccer pyramid with the A-League, before the two leagues merged in 1997 as the USISL A-League.
Both the A-League and the new USISL Select League had Division II status in 1996.
In an attempt to counteract the fact that a number of top A-League players had left to join MLS in 1995 and 1996[1] six of the seven remaining A-League teams – Montreal Impact, Colorado Foxes, Seattle Sounders, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Vancouver 86ers and Atlanta Ruckus, plus two planned A-League expansion teams (Toronto Lynx and Hershey Wildcats) merged with the USISL Select League to form a consolidated Division II league before the 1997 season.
The Charleston Battery entered as the champion of the 1996 USISL Professional League.