The 2022 USL League One schedule was unveiled on Wednesday afternoon with the 30-game regular season setting the stage for what looks set to be an intriguing fourth season in League One history.

For many fans, schedule day is the starting point for planning the season ahead. In the big picture, though, here are 10 games that we think you should have circled on the calendar that could help tell the story of the 2022 season across the league as a whole. With three newcomers set to join the league as well as the renewal of traditional rivalries, there’s a lot to look forward to over the coming months.

The second weekend of the season brings us the first meeting between two of the league’s newcomers as the Charlotte Independence play host to Central Valley Fuego FC. While the Independence’s recent success – advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs this past November – might make this feel like the hosts have a substantial edge, the changes that are likely to arrive in terms of squad makeup should make this an intriguing battle. The Independence are set to pivot to a younger group, including potential options from a strong youth development program that showed well at the 2021 USL Academy Playoffs, while Fuego FC will be building from scratch and aiming to dip into the rich talent pool that can be found in Northern California. Because of that, this should be a good early yardstick for what we could expect from both clubs as they land in League One. 

Three years ago, Irish forward Éamon Zayed was the second signing in Chattanooga Red Wolves SC history as he joined the club prior to USL League One’s inaugural season. In this contest, he’ll arrive at CHI Memorial Stadium as the Head Coach of 2022 expansion side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC to take on his former club in what should be a big test for the newcomers against one of last year’s postseason contenders. Chattanooga has already announced a solid collection of returning players from the side that reached the Semifinals of the 2021 USL League One Playoffs including leading scorer Juan Galindrez, and his potential battle against Hailstorm FC’s first signing in Irish defender Rob Cornwall could be one to watch for as Zayed tries to lead his side to a positive result on the road.

The first meeting of the season between the prior year’s finalists is always a game to enjoy, and as Union Omaha welcomes Greenville Triumph SC back to Werner Park in the middle of June this matchup also has the potential to add to what feels like a growing rivalry between two of the league’s top clubs. Omaha’s 3-0 victory against Greenville in November put the stamp on a standout second campaign for Head Coach Jay Mims’ squad that saw it dethrone Greenville, but Triumph SC has already got to work bolstering its squad for the 2022 campaign with the return of former leading scorer Jake Keegan to its attack to counter Omaha’s returning group including Defender of the Year Damia Viader and midfielders Conor Doyle and JP Scearce, both of whom were among Los Buhos’ minutes leaders a season ago. Which other key players will join them on the field will be interesting to watch, too, as this offseason continues.

While the Charlotte Independence and Richmond Kickers will meet for the first time in USL League One during the 2022 season, the two clubs separated by only 300 miles are well familiar with one another. The two clubs squared off 13 times in the USL Championship across four seasons (2015-18) before the Kickers elected to join USL League One for its inaugural season in 2019, and now with Charlotte joining them in the division there is a great opportunity for the rivalry to be rekindled for years to come. The Independence held a notable edge in their prior meetings with seven wins to Richmond’s two and four draws between the sides. With the Kickers aiming to continue their upward path after reaching the postseason for the first time since 2016 this past season, however, they visitors will be looking to turn the page – and the tables – on the Independence as they visit American Legion Memorial Stadium for the first time.

The fortunes of League One’s two midwestern clubs couldn’t have been more different in the 2021 campaign as Union Omaha claimed its first league title after finishing on top of the regular season standings, and Forward Madison FC ended the campaign in ninth position and adrift of the playoff positions as a solid final three-game run put some gloss on an otherwise disappointing campaign. But, despite that, it was the Flamingos that came out on top when the two sides played each other in the regular season with a 2-1-1 record sealed by a 2-1 victory at Werner Park when the teams met late in the campaign. Madison will be hoping for better fortunes in 2022 under new Head Coach Matt Glaeser, and this battle between the sides could provide a great mid-season contest as the drive to the playoffs begins.

For USL League One’s first three seasons, FC Tucson has been somewhat isolated in the western half of the country. That’s set to change in 2022 with the arrival of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC to its north, and Central Valley Fuego FC to its west, with both offering the potential for a proper rival for the longstanding Arizona-based club. Tucson will make the trip to the Central Valley in the final weekend in August and will be expecting to be in solid contention for a second consecutive trip to the USL League One Playoffs as it arrives. For Fuego FC, the hope is to build a side that can contend quickly in its first season and potentially upset the current order of established clubs. With three meetings between the sides slated for the regular season, this should be one worth keeping an eye on.

The Charlotte Independence will get to resume two rivalries as it joins League One for the new season, but in addition to that there is the potential for something new to emerge. With Charlotte and Greenville, S.C. separated by a little over 100 miles, the Independence and Triumph SC should bring strong travelling support to each of their first matchups across the calendar and develop another strong rivalry within the Carolinas. This early-September contest could be an important one for both clubs as well in terms of playoff positioning, with Greenville set to pursue its fourth consecutive berth in the USL League One Final and its second league title and the Independence aiming to make a strong first impression in its new surroundings. If the playoff race is tight, it could make for an intriguing tactical clash between two outstanding coaches in Greenville’s John Harkes and Charlotte’s Mike Jeffries.

As the final month of the season arrives, so does the final meeting of the inaugural campaigns of Central Valley Fuego FC and Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. As true expansion clubs, there will be no getting around the fact that the two will draw comparisons not only this season, but in at least their first couple of campaigns as their successes on the field hold up a mirror to their fellow new arrival. This matchup in the Central Valley could serve as a final exam for the two clubs on the progress they’ve made in 2022. If one – or both – has managed to find a formula to put it in position to vie for a top-six finish and a playoff berth it could also serve as a landmark game down the final stretch of what will regardless of final finish be a memorable season for fans of both clubs.

There might be no better illustration of the power of fandom and the internet’s presence as the medium of choice for soccer’s growth in the United States than the Henny Derby, the fan-originated rivalry now contested by Forward Madison FC and the Richmond Kickers each season. As detailed by Black Arrow late last season – when it visited City Stadium and talked to the key figures from both supporters groups about the roots of the rivalry – the Henny Derby games are special for both clubs and sets of fans. With the finale of the three-game series arriving in the penultimate weekend of the regular season, however, there could be major implications for both the Kickers and the Flamingos on the field as well as both clubs seek a place in the 2022 USL League One Playoffs.

After the opening of CHI Memorial Stadium in 2020, and the opening of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC’s Future Legends Complex this year as the club arrives in League One, South Georgia Tormenta FC is also set to open its new permanent home this year, bringing another top-class facility and fan experience to the league’s landscape. As it reaches the final game of the regular season, Tormenta FC will be hoping it has a team to match after a 2021 campaign that offered some midseason promise only to come up short. With players such as All-League First Team selection Marco Micaletto to build around, South Georgia will be hoping to be in contention as Chattanooga Red Wolves SC arrives for the final game of the regular season with its own playoff aspirations in tow.