The Chattanooga Football Club has added two home matches to complete its 2020 schedule after the National Independent Soccer Association's upcoming fall championship tournament in the Detroit area.
Chattanooga FC will host Metro Louisville FC on Oct. 17 and Maryland Bobcats FC on Oct. 24, with both of those Saturday matches set for 7:30 p.m. kickoffs at Finley Stadium. They will be the club's third and fourth home matches this year with fans allowed to attend, with spectators present for recent wins over the New York Cosmos and New Amsterdam FC as CFC earned the NISA Eastern Conference fall championship.
Metro Louisville is part of the National Premier Soccer League, which included CFC among its membership before the 12-year-old club's move to the professional ranks and the NISA this season. The Maryland Bobcats took part in NISA Independent Cup competition this summer but not the fall schedule, and they will also miss the league's spring 2021 schedule before joining in full next fall.
Tickets for the matches are available at cfctix.com, with stadium capacity limited due to the coronavirus.
In a CFC release Friday announcing the additional home dates, managing director Jeremy Alumbaugh said the club's "reduced capacity protocols have been well received, and playing these matches will allow a little more normalcy to return to our lives in a safe way. Metro Louisville is an expansion NPSL Club, and it's great to bring them to Finley. Maryland Bobcats are joining us in NISA, and they are a fantastic club with talent and solid leadership both on and off the field."
NISA has also released its tournament schedule for Monday to Oct. 2 at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan. Spectators are not permitted for group or bracket play, but the eight-team event will be televised via beIN SPORTS XTRA.
CFC is the No. 1 seed in Group B and has matches against the Los Angeles Force (8 p.m. Tuesday), New York Cosmos (5 p.m. on Sept. 25) and California United Strikers FC (5 p.m. on Sept. 28). In the Sept. 30 semifinals, the top team in each group after round-robin play will play the second-place team from the opposite group.
The semifinal winners will meet in the title match on Oct. 2 to decide the fall champion, and NISA ultimately plans to determine its 2020-21 season champion by having the fall winner host the spring tournament champion.
CFC is 6-1 overall, including a 5-0 mark at Finley Stadium, since returning to competition July 11. CFC's only other match this year before the pandemic shut down competition was its pro and NISA debut on the last day of February, a 1-1 draw in California against Oakland Roots SC.
In addition to the fall regular-season title, CFC won the Southeast Region in the Independent Cup in dominant fashion.
Compiled by Marty Kirkland. Contact him at mkirkland@timesfreepress.com.