For the sixth time since February, Chattanooga Football Club will take the pitch.
Only this time, it's for real.
CFC will open its 10th regular season in the National Premier Soccer League this evening with a visit from the Emerald Force Soccer Club, a Knoxville team. Kickoff at Finley Stadium is set for 7:30.
A lot has happened since CFC season No. 9 ended last June minus its typical deep playoff run. In July, CFC officials made known their desire to start working toward becoming a professional club, with the ideal landing spot the National Independent Soccer Association - to which CFC has since been accepted - in 2019.
In March, CFC hosted 34 other programs in what it dubbed the Summit for American Soccer to discuss the future of the sport in the United States. According to a release published in advance of the event, the expected topics for discussion included "the shared challenges and opportunities facing their organizations," such as how to build sustainable business models and stable leagues, schedule quality opponents and generate enthusiastic support in their communities - something that hasn't been a problem in Chattanooga, where in four exhibition matches this year the average attendance was 4,392.
CFC went 1-2-2 overall in the preseason, with its victory a 2-1 win last weekend against the under-23 team for Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders. CFC dropped home matches against Nashville Soccer Club and Detroit City FC, and it played to draws against FC Dallas - an MLS team - and at Detroit City, a fellow NPSL member.
"We looked sharp," CFC coach Bill Elliott, speaking of last week's victory, said in a release. " We still have some work to do, certainly, but we're looking forward to kicking off the season and seeing what these guys can do."
And now the matches count.
After tonight, CFC's busy schedule will include two per week for six of the next seven weeks. CFC will host Asheville City Soccer Club on Wednesday and host the New Orleans Jesters next Saturday, with both matches at 7:30 p.m.
The Emerald Force (formerly Knoxville Force) have already played a league match, falling 4-0 at New Orleans.
"Emerald Force is a good organization, and they always bring a certain toughness with them," CFC general manager Sean McDaniel said in a release. "I expect nothing less this weekend. We'll need to play our best game and see what happens."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.