El Paso Locomotive FC, alongside USL Championship, announced its alignment in the 2021 Regular Season today. Locomotive joins the USL West Mountain Division alongside Copa Tejas rivals San Antonio FC, Rio Grande Valley FC, and Austin Bold FC, as well as New Mexico United, Real Monarchs, and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
Divided into four divisions aligned across the country as Atlantic, Central, Mountain, and Pacific, the 2021 USL Championship season will feature a 32-game regular season that will be conducted over 27 weeks. Each club will play its division opponents four times – twice home, twice away – with the remaining games being played against regional or cross-conference opponents.
The Copa Tejas rivalry returns for the first time since 2019 as Locomotive is set to play regularly against all three USL Championship teams for supremacy over the Lone Star State. Meanwhile, the intense local rivalry with New Mexico United returns after the historic Western Conference Semifinal clash in 2020. El Paso will also see the return of 2020 Group C rivals, Real Monarchs, and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC to round out the Mountain Division. The opponents for the remaining eight Locomotive matches will be announced in the coming weeks.
As previously announced, the Championship’s regular season will begin on or about May 1st while employing a flexible start date that allows clubs to begin play anywhere between April 24th and May 15th.
The divisional alignments for all 31 USL Championship Teams are listed below:
2021 USL Championship Conference Alignment
Eastern Conference Western Conference
Atlantic Division Mountain Division
Charleston Battery Austin Bold FC
Charlotte Independence Switchbacks FC
Hartford Athletic El Paso Locomotive FC
Loudoun United FC New Mexico United
Miami FC Real Monarchs SLC
New York Red Bulls II Rio Grande Valley FC
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC San Antonio FC
Tampa Bay Rowdies
Central Division Pacific Division
Atlanta United 2 LA Galaxy II
Birmingham Legion FC Las Vegas Lights FC
FC Tulsa Oakland Roots SC
Indy Eleven Orange County SC
Louisville City FC Phoenix Rising FC
Memphis 901 FC Sacramento Republic FC
OKC Energy FC San Diego Loyal SC
Sporting Kansas City II Tacoma Defiance
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for competition-related announcements on home openers for the 2021 USL Championship season, the 2021 ESPN national broadcast schedule, and the full 2021 regular-season schedule.
Get on board with El Paso Locomotive when it returns to action for this third season in the USL Championship! Lock in your Season Ticket Membership by visiting https://www.eplocomotivefc.com/seasontickets or by calling/texting 915-235-GOAL and enjoy world-class Championship soccer at Southwest University Park!