The 2012 USL Premier Development League season was the 18th season of the PDL. The regular season began on 22 April with a match between the Los Angeles Misioneros and Fresno Fuego, and ended with 14 matches on 15 July 2012.[3] The regular season was followed by a postseason tournament of conference winners which determined the league's champion, Forest City London. Thirteen teams were added to the league and 4 teams dropped, bringing the total number of teams in the league to 73 for 2012.[3]
2012 Premier Development League standings.[18][19]
Key to colours in group tables
Team won the Division Title
Team qualified for playoff berth
Note: The first tie-breaker in PDL standings is head-to-head results between teams tied on points, which is why some teams with inferior goal differences finish ahead in the standings.
As in prior years, each of the four conferences will hold a conference championship. In 2012, the location for each conference championship will be held the weekend of 20–22 July with the host team decided by a bidding process with preference given to the teams with the best records. The winner of the four conference championships will then compete in the PDL Championship held 27–29 July and 4 August.[20]
Divisional Playoffs
Five of the divisions have additional matches in order for teams to qualify for the conference championship.
In the Great Lakes Division the 2nd and 3rd place teams qualify for a play in match; however, the 3rd place River City Rovers ceded the match to Forest City London who qualified for the Central Conference Championship.
In the Northwest Division, the top 4 teams qualify for a play-in match with the #4 seed playing at the home pitch of the top seed; and the #3 seed playing at the #2 seed. The winners of these matches then qualify for the Western Conference Championships. These matches were played on 7/14 and 7/15 with Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers U-23 teams winning.
In the Eastern Conference, there are three divisions. The team with the best overall record in the conference qualifies for the Conference Championships directly, and, from that team's division, the 2nd and 3rd place teams compete in a play-in match. In 2012, Ocean City from the Mid Atlantic Division had the best overall all record. Therefore, 3rd place Jersey Expressed traveled to 2nd place Reading United on 17 July to determine the 2nd team from the Mid Atlantic that would qualify for the Conference Championships. Reading United won the match 3–1 with an extra time goal scored in the 119th minute and a penalty goal in stoppage time.
The top two teams from the other two divisions will also compete in a play-in match. In the Northeast Division, the Ottawa Fury hosted the GPS Portland Phoenix on 17 July with Ottawa claiming victory after extra time 3–2. The Carolina Dynamo hosted the Real Maryland Monarchs in the South Atlantic play-in match, with Carolina easily cruising to a 5–0 victory. The Eastern Conference Championships which will be hosted by Carolina Dynamo.[21]
The 2012 PDL Championship consisted of 4 teams, the winner of each Conference Championship, with the semi-finals being held on Saturday, 28 July and the finals being played Saturday, 4 August. The host sites were determined following the completion of the Conference Championships.