Crew SC agreed to an affiliate partnership with the United Soccer League’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds for 2016, the club announced on Wednesday.
Major League Soccer teams have been able to partner with clubs from the third-tier USL as a result of an agreement reached in January 2013. The agreement with the Riverhounds — the Crew’s lone deal with a USL franchise for 2016 — allows the Crew to loan players to Pittsburgh during the upcoming MLS season.
“When we’re talking about making players better, developing players, being a player-first club, those are some of the common themes that I heard in discussions with Pittsburgh,” Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter said.