The Chattanooga soccer scene was rocked recently by the announcement that the United Soccer League was tabbing the Scenic City as one of its founding members, to begin play in 2019. The Chattanooga Football Club just completed its 10th season of competition and has developed a solid fan base that regularly attends its home and away matches.
Here are five questions that are surrounding everything going on:
1. Where will the new team play?
Although there is no contract in place, all signs point to the new team playing at Finley Stadium. The season will go from March until mid-September, with its biggest conflict being University of Tennessee at Chattanooga home games, with one 2019 Mocs football game - Sept. 21 against James Madison - already scheduled. The Mocs, who are finalizing a two-year deal to continue playing home football and women's soccer matches at Finley, have home games scheduled through 2023, which the new soccer team will have to schedule around. The new league's schedule is expected to be out in early October, with the projected match dates being on Saturday and a weekday, either Tuesday or Wednesday.
2. Will this displace Chattanooga FC?
No. The United Soccer League has a rule that its teams can't share facilities, but the newly formed Division III league that the new team will be playing in hasn't adopted that rule yet. CFC could still move - its most recent one-year contract with Finley is up on Sept. 30, and sources have said the CFC board has looked at alternative playing venues. AT&T Field - where the Chattanooga Lookouts play - and Boyd-Buchanan School have been among sites checked out by the CFC board.
3. What is the difference between the USL and Major League Soccer?
If MLS is the major leagues, then the USL Division III is Double-A. It's basically the same level of competition that the Lookouts play in. The new Chattanooga team is one of the six founding members of the league, which is expected to have 10 members by the time the 2019 season starts.
4. What league does Chattanooga FC play in?
CFC plays in the National Premier Soccer League, a fourth-tier league that is one level below the USL league. CFC will be competing in its 11th season in 2019, with seven conference championships and four national runner-up finishes during its time, although it hasn't advanced past the first weekend of the playoffs the past two seasons.
5. Can two teams survive in Chattanooga?
Perhaps, although it'll be interesting to see how. CFC fans have been extremely vocal on social media about their dislike of the new team, but there's also a group of soccer fans who have expressed excitement about the opportunity to see a professional soccer team in the city. If CFC chooses to move to a separate venue and thereby loses some things that make watching a CFC match great, such as alcohol, would that group of supporters still be willing to show up in the same numbers?
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.