Share
The Blazing Musket Podcast
USL Championship and League One Preview w/John Morrissey
•
This week's show welcomes John Morrissey from Backheeled.com, The USL Show and USL Tactics for a preview of the USL Championship and League One. We'll also take a close look at what to expect from Rhode Island FC, Hartford Athletic and the Portland Hearts of Pine in 2025.
John also touched on how the USL Super League is doing, potential expansion across the USL's many leagues, division one sanctioning and offered some thoughts on USL's stated goal of bringing promotion and relegation to the US.
Thomas tries to work in as many references as possible to Vermont Green but we'll get a preview of their season later in the spring.
You can find John's extensive, insightful and excellent coverage of the USL at Backheeled.com, The USL Show on YouTube and USL Tactics on BlueSky and Substack
If you're a paid subscriber to The Blazing Musket, don't forget you have access to all the content on Backheeled.com thanks to our partnership with them. And if you're not a paid subscriber, please considering it. Your $5 a month gets you the best coverage of New England soccer there is, access to exclusive content and helps supports this new podcast venture.
Be sure to like and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts from and we hope to have you join us for our next episode!
More episodes
View all episodes
Revs II Season Preview
01:05:03|The MLS Next Pro season kicks off this weekend and a revamped Revs II is back in action for 2026. They had a lot of turnover this past off-season and with a youth minded coach with the first team, Revs II are worth keeping an eye on this season. Literally no one follows this team like Josh Nye does for The Blazing Musket, he's here to get us all caught up and ready for the new season!Thomas opened the show with some words on Merrimack New Hampshire, South Georgia Tormenta, the blizzard of 2026 and the USLPA before Josh joined as well.The best way to follow Revs II is with Josh's coverage at The Blazing Musket and on BlueSky.If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!February 2026 Roundtable!
01:35:44|It's the time of year where everyone makes their predictions for the season ahead, everyone offered up their best thought out predictions that will mostly turn out to be wildly inaccurate in a few months time.We also discussed the 1st round of the US Open Cup in New England and we tested the limits of how far off topic we can get and still get back on track.Our guests join from:United in Green podcast covering the Vermont GreenFrom the Forest to the Tide podcast covering Portland Hearts of PineRaising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FCAnd contributing writers for The Blazing MusketYou can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution Recap.We hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!Boston Legacy's Inaugural Season Draws Closer
49:15|It's almost time! The NWSL's return to New England with the Boston Legacy is drawing ever closer. Jackie is back to get you caught up on who the Legacy have got, where they're playing, when they're playing and everything to expect this season.The best way to follow the Legacy is with Jackie's coverage at The Blazing Musket and on BlueSky.If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!All the Latest in New England Soccer with Sam Lattof
01:06:21|The leader of The Blazing Musket, Sam Lattof, checks in to catch up on all the latest developments with soccer in New England. We've got preseason behind closed doors for the Revs, new players for RIFC and Hartford, the US Open Cup brings New England vs New England match-ups and Mauricio Pochettino puts his foot in his mouth. Sam's here to discuss it all!If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!Get to Know Boston Emeralds FC
45:47|With all the excitement around New England's growing USL presence in recent years, the strong presence of the UPSL may have been overlooked. The founders of one of the UPSL's newest teams, Boston Emeralds, are in this week to tell you all about their Club and why we should check them out in 2026.What goes into founding a Club, deciding on a league, name, badge and building a following, Kevin and Keegan let us know all about it!You can follow the Boston Emeralds on Instagram and checkout the UPSL at their site.If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!The USL Labor Dispute with Connor Tobin
51:19|The biggest obstacle to the biggest year of soccer in the US that isn't the Federal government is the USL Championship labor dispute. The USL and USLPA are three weeks past the expiration of the previous deal and it's an open question as to when a new one will be reached. Connor Tobin is fully involved in the negotiation process and joins us to tell the tale of how we reached this point, what an ongoing dispute could mean and what are the key points holding up the deal.It's a critical and important situation for the future of US soccer and one to keep full up to date on!If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!January 2026 Roundtable Show!
01:21:32|We're back for the January 2026 Roundtable! The USL has an ongoing labor dispute, women's soccer is back in New England, new teams are joining the party in Maine, Vermont and Connecticut and the USL is going to play right through the World Cup.It's a lot discuss and we tackled all of it!Our guests join from:United in Green podcast covering the Vermont GreenFrom the Forest to the Tide podcast covering Portland Hearts of PineRaising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FCAnd contributing writers for The Blazing MusketYou can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution RecapWe hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!Welcome to 2026!
01:07:22|We're back up and running for 2026! The much anticipated biggest year of soccer in the US is finally here. It will be a year of soccer the likes of which has never been seen in New England as well. Sam Latoff joins Thomas to preview all there is to look forward to, we've got new teams in New England, the return of women's soccer, a new coach in Foxboro and the World Cup drama looms in the distance.It's going to be a year to remember in 2026, let's kick it off together!If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!A World Cup Draw Like No Other
59:08|After a prolonged procession and giving out of totally made up prizes to suck up to the President, FIFA managed to place all 42 qualified teams into their groups for next year's World Cup. They also determined where the remaining countries still trying to qualify will end up should they get in. The schedule came out shortly thereafter, finally letting people know who they can see next summer if they're prepared to sell vital organs to buy tickets.We're joined by Valair Shabilla from SixOneFive Soccer to talk about the draw itself, how the groups are looking and discussed if the group of death is dead, how happy should the US be with their group, does 48 teams take away from the group stage drama and more.You can checkout Valair's work at SixOneFive Soccer for their continuing coverage of the World Cup and on BlueSky.If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!To keep up with MLS, as well as all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!