2018 PDL season

The 2018 Premier Development League season was the 24th season of the PDL, and the last under the PDL name. The regular season started on May 4 and ended on July 16. Calgary Foothills FC won the final championship under the PDL branding, having defeated Reading United AC 4–2 in extra time in the Championship game on August 4, 2018.

New teams
A total of 12 new member clubs join the PDL for the 2018 season.

Name changes

 * Palm Beach Suns FC became Next Academy Palm Beach
 * Fresno Fuego became Fresno FC U-23
 * South Florida Surf became North County United

Folded

 * Burlingame Dragons FC
 * BYU Cougars
 * FC Boulder U23
 * Jersey Express S.C.
 * K-W United FC
 * Nashville SC U23
 * Saint Louis FC U23
 * SoCal Surf
 * Tampa Bay Rowdies U-23
 * Wilmington Hammerheads

Playoffs
Bold = winner * = after extra time, = penalty shootout score

Conference Championships
The PDL Conference Championships were held over the weekend of July 20–21. Matches were played at: Whittier, CA (Western Conference, host FC Golden State Force); Reading, PA (Eastern Conference, host Reading United AC); Des Moines, IA (Central Conference, host Des Moines Menace); and Statesboro, GA (Southern Conference, host South Georgia Tormenta FC). The four conference champions advanced to the PDL semifinals.

Awards

 * Most Valuable Player: Ryosuke Kinoshita (DMM)
 * Golden Boot: Marek Weber (SCU)
 * Young (U21) Player of the Year: Luka Prpa (CHI)
 * Coach of the Year: Alan McCann, (REA)
 * Goalkeeper of the Year: Marco Carducci (CGY)
 * Defender of the Year: Jordan Skelton (MIS)

Eastern Conference
F: Ifunanyachi Achara (BLR), Khori Bennett (REA), Charlie Ledula (LIR) M: Jakov Basic (BOS), Ricardo Gomez (MYB), Aaron Molloy (REA) *, Brian Saramago (NYR) D: Prosper Figbe (BLR), Kamal Miller (REA), Kevin O'Toole (NYR) G: Bennet Strutz (REA)

Central Conference
F: Austin Ricci (MIB), Kinoshita Ryosuke (DMM) *, Tucker Stephenson (KAW) M: Kyle Carr (LNU), Brad Dunwell (MIB), Luka Prpa (CHI) *, Tate Robertson (DAY) * D: Ebenezer Ackon (LNU), Mark Lindstrom (CIN), Grant Stoneman (CHI) G: Carlos Mercado (DMM)

Southern Conference
F: Brandon Guhl (BVC), Juan Tejada (LAK), Marek Weber (SCU) * M: David Graydon (SIM), Marco Micaletto (SGT) *, Leonardo Paiva (VIL), Toni Soler (SGT) D: Mathieu Laurent (BIR), Jordan Skelton (MIS) *, Gabriel Torres (VIL) * G: Pablo Jara (SGT)

Western Conference
F: Moses Danto (CGY) *, Santiago Patino (SEA), Samuel Villava (GSF) M: Elijah Adekugbe (CGY), Nico Pasquotti (CGY), Matteo Polisi (TSS), Willy Spurr (LAN) D: Henry Lander (TUC), Callum Montgomery (VIC) *, Dominick Zator (CGY) G: Marco Carducci (CGY) *

 * denotes All-League player