It would appear Chattanooga Football Club is following the script created by this evening’s opponent, new Major League Soccer franchise Nashville Soccer Club.
CFC thinks it’s quite the opposite, though.
Although the Nashville club has made the jump into professional soccer much faster, the Chattanooga brand has become a far more well-known entity in the past 10 years. Despite being an amateur organization (for now), CFC has entertained both the United States men’s and women’s national teams in Finley Stadium and drew a crowd of 18,227 for a National Premier Soccer League final in 2015 – a U.S. amateur soccer attendance record that was followed twice in 2016 by games with more than 10,000 spectators.
Like Chattanooga FC, Nashville started as an NPSL club. It was awarded an MLS franchise three months ago and will compete as a Division II-level organization until its new stadium is built.
“What Nashville did was incredible,” CFC general manager Sean McDaniel said. “They were a dark horse when MLS put an application out for newest cities to have an opportunity to bid for a franchise, but they were able to get a commitment to build a new stadium, and that’s what put them over the top. And they did it without much issue from fans, from taxpayers and from the city of Nashville.”