USMNT legend Brian McBride hails USL's 'positive' promotion-relegation plan

Tom Weber

• 22 Oct 2025 12:01 CDT
• 4 min read

News

Former USMNT striker Brian McBride has been named the first General Manager of USL Championship expansion franchise Brooklyn FC, and he is looking forward to promotion and relegation coming to America.

The 53-year-old, who played in Germany and England during a stellar career that saw him become a fan favourite at Premier League side Fulham, is taking charge of new USL club Brooklyn FC.

McBride has been announced as the expansion franchise's first General Manager and will be tasked with assembling their inaugural squad for the 2026 USL Championship season. He will also oversee the club's women's team, which is already playing competitively in the USL Super League.

Brooklyn's men's team were initially slated to begin play in the third-tier USL League One this year, but their debut season was pushed back to 2026, with the franchise immediately lining up in the second-division Championship instead.

McBride was previously the GM of the USMNT from 2020 until the 2022 World Cup. USMNT and Marseille winger Timothy Weah is part of Brooklyn's ownership setup.

McBride excited about promotion-relegation

Speaking to The Athletic, McBride explained that he was drawn to Brooklyn's "unique" project. “The vision is to build something the community will be proud of," he said. "Not just the soccer side. Having something where Brooklyn can go and call their own.”

The former striker also expressed his excitement about USL's historic plans to implement promotion and relegation in 2027 or 2028. In March, it announced that it is looking to get sanctioning from US Soccer for a new Division I league to go along with pro-rel.

This would mean that the new competition would be on par with MLS in the footballing pyramid, with promotion and relegation initially implemented in the D1 league, the Championship and League One. The semi-professional, regionally-divided League Two will not be affected.

“It’s a great situation for clubs - not great for owners, of course,” McBride joked. “It makes every game meaningful. MLS has their way and they’re doing great, but USL is committed to doing it [their way].

"It benefits the players," the 53-year-old added. "I experienced it in England and Germany. I think it’s a positive in the end.” Despite McBride's remark about pro-rel not being great for owners, USL's project was sanctioned by a supermajority of club owners in March.

If USL manages to go through with its plans - there always needs to be a healthy dose of circumspection when it comes to grand projects in American soccer - it will become the first professional sports league in the United States to implement promotion and relegation.

There is optimism that USL will be able to achieve this historic feat. Unlike the many leagues that have fallen by the wayside over the years, USL is operating from a position of strength, having managed to build a solid foundation and a fairly healthy ecosystem over the past decades.

Of course, there have been plenty of setbacks in the past, with clubs folding for various reasons every year, but these instances have become increasingly rare.

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