The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club was based in Albany, New York.
After the collapse of the NASL, the ASL took up the void. Several former NASL and International stars joined Albany including Chico Borja, Elvis Comrie and Hubert Birkenmeier (Cosmos), and England's World Cup star Paul Mariner (Ipswich, Arsenal).