Before there was WUSA or WPS or the NWSL, there was the W-League, which the USL launched in 1995. At its height in 2008, the women’s national amateur league had 48 teams. Seventeen of the 23 playerson the U.S. World Cup championship team played in the W-League. But down to 18 teams in 2015, the W-League won’t return next summer.

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