Tampa, FL - United Soccer Leagues (USL) announced the 2005 USL First Division College Player Draft will be held the afternoon of Tuesday, January 18th, 2005 via conference call.

The draft will follow the same format as 2004.  Each of the 12 USL First Division teams will have one pick in each of two rounds.  The order is the reverse of the 2004 final regular season standings.

"We've moved the draft back from mid-December to mid-January to increase the likelihood that players drafted by the USL First Division teams are signed by those teams," commented Steven Thompson, Director of Professional League Operations.

For information from previous USL College Player Drafts, please visit:  http://aleague.uslsoccer.com/draft/index_E.html.

2005 USL First Division College Player Draft
1 - Puerto Rico Islanders
2 - Charleston Battery
3 - Toronto Lynx
4 - Virginia Beach Mariners
5 - Seattle Sounders
6 - Minnesota Thunder
7 - Atlanta Silverbacks
8 - Vancouver Whitecaps
9 - Rochester Raging Rhinos
10 - Richmond Kickers
11 - Montreal Impact
12 - Portland Timbers