2 Regional Soccer Leagues Join in Step Toward National Circuit

NEW YORK —  The United States took a big step toward a national soccer league today when the two major regional leagues announced they are merging to form the American Professional Soccer League.

The Western Soccer League and the American Soccer League, whose members are all Eastern teams, issued a joint announcement saying that after a year of negotiations they are immediately unifying their business and marketing operations to try to attract funding from major corporations.

They will operate different schedules for this year at least, with the two champions meeting in a playoff, but will continue working on a combined schedule along the lines of major league baseball.

The move comes in a year that will see the return of the U.S. national team to the World Cup finals for the first time in 40 years. The United States will also automatically qualify for the 1994 finals as the host country.

However, there has been no national U.S. soccer league since 1985 when the North American Soccer League, which once showcased the skills of world stars such as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, collapsed with clubs suffocating in debt.

The new league has less grandiose ambitions, aiming mainly to help the growth of soccer in the United States, where millions of youngsters play the sport up to college level but have nowhere to go for a professional career.

The ASL and WSL each consists of 11 teams playing a 20-match season that begins April 7. After a series of playoffs the two winners meet Sept. 22 to decide a national champion.