Nashville FC

For the United Soccer League team of a similar name, see Nashville SC.
Nashville FC
Full name Nashville Football Club
Founded 2013
Stadium Vanderbilt Stadium
Nashville, Tennessee
Ground Capacity 40,550
President Chris Jones
Coach Kyle Roelke
League NPSL - South Region
Southeast Conference
2015 4th, Southeast Conference
Playoffs: Eliminated
Website Club home page

Nashville Football Club is a soccer organization based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2013, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southeast Conference.

History

The team was founded by a supporters group that intended to form a team as a fan owned group. Club president Chris Jones cited existing fan-owned clubs as inspiration for NFC's foundation, in particular English club F.C. United of Manchester.[1] In February 2014, the two groups merged to form a single club for the 2014 NPSL season. The club has two teams currently participating in the Middle Tennessee Soccer Alliance, Nashville’s largest competitive adult league, and has already partnered with the TN State Soccer Association (TSSA), an organization with over 20,000 registered players in the middle Tennessee area alone.[2]

On May 24, 2014, Nashville FC held its first ever home match at Vanderbilt Stadium, defeating the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves 3-1 in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 fans.[3]

After a maiden season in which fourth place in the Southeastern Conference garnered the club a playoff spot, Nashville was eliminated at the Conference Semifinal stage by Chattanooga FC, who finished top of the Conference and went on to lose in the Championship match. The club had ambitions of climbing the American Soccer Pyramid, with the reported target an entry into the third-tier United Soccer League (USL) by 2017,[4] and then ascension into the Division II North American Soccer League by 2020.[1] However, in 2016, the United Soccer League awarded a franchise to a separate ownership group in Nashville. Nashville FC subsequently sold its team name, logo, and color scheme to the new USL franchise, which became known as Nashville FC, in exchange for a 1 percent equity stake in the USL team and a voting seat on its board.[5] When the USL club begins play, the NPSL team will no longer be known as "Nashville FC". The franchise's future under another name is uncertain.[6]

Stadium

Nashville FC have played at Vanderbilt Stadium beginning in 2015 after quickly outgrowing the Vanderbilt Soccer/Lacrosse Complex in their inaugural season.[7]

However, since the Triple-A baseball outfit Nashville Sounds announced plans for a move to a new ballpark, leaving the Herschel Greer Stadium complex vacant, NFC stated their aim to "reconfigure" the former ballpark facility for soccer use, following the previous example of the Portland Timbers' renovation of Providence Park.[8]

Current roster

[9] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
2 Finland FW Elias Tamburini
3 Spain DF Juan Avendano
3 South Africa DF Joel Kazhila
4 Republic of Ireland FW Guy Clennett
5 Australia DF Luke Gearin
5 Trinidad and Tobago DF Denzel Woods
7 Brazil MF Roberto Pimentel
8 United States MF Nick Melville
9 Republic of Ireland FW Brian McNamara
10 Republic of Ireland MF Liam Collins
11 United States FW Jonathan Ramirez
13 Chile DF Ignacio Milla
13 United States MF Alec Velez
14 United States FW Fazlo Alihodzic
15 United States DF Austin Petrovich
No. Position Player
16 Spain DF Guillermo Lazcano
17 Republic of Ireland DF Owen Collins
18 Republic of Ireland GK Hayden Coffman
19 United States DF Kyle McLagan
21 Scotland FW Jordan Wright
22 United States DF Anthony Torres
23 England MF Elliot Goodwin
26 United States GK Micah Bledsoe
26 Germany GK Bennet Strutz
27 United States DF Brad Ross
Japan MF Yuji Callahan
United States DF Andrew Conwell
United States DF Tanner Dieterich
United States GK Erik Furseth
United States MF Johnny Heckman

Club identity

Supporters of Nashville

Rivalry

Nashville's main rivals are fellow Tennessee club Chattanooga FC, based 135 miles away.[10]

In addition, the four Tennessee clubs in the NPSL (Chattanooga FC, Knoxville Force, Memphis City FC, and Nashville FC) compete for a rivalry trophy called the "Volunteer Shield". The Volunteer Shield is presented at the end of the season to the supporters of the club that took the most points in games against one another, with a medallion added to the trophy commemorating the year.[11]

Colors and crest

The club's colors were chosen from the Flag of Nashville, Tennessee.[8]

The club's crest is a roundel. The overall shape and formation of the circular "N" along with the small center circle is to represent a spinning record, paying respect to the club's "Music City" heritage. The fleur-di-lis comes from the city seal and represents the original French settlers of Nashville. The divide represents the numerous Civil War battles that took place in the area.[12]

Supporters

Nashville's primary supporter group is the NFC Roadies.

Record

Year-by-year

Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2014 4 NPSL 4th, Southeast Conference Semifinalists Did Not Enter
2015 4 NPSL 4th, Southeast Conference Semifinalists Did Not Enter

References

  1. 1 2 Barker, Matthew (February 25, 2015). "Fan-owned Nashville FC under threat from US franchise: Club ownership model a rarity among US sports teams". wsc.co.uk. When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "NASHVILLE ATLAS FC JOINS THE NPSL". nationalpremiersoccerleague.com. National Premier Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  3. ↑ Boyer, E.J. (May 27, 2014). "Nashville FC soccer club draws crowd in first home opener, eyes Greer Stadium". bizjournals.com. Nashville Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ Itel, Dan (July 29, 2015). "Supporter-owned FC Nashville looking to make jump up soccer pyramid". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ "USL Formally Welcomes Nashville to League". United Soccer League. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ Cortez, Javier (July 2, 2016). "What's next for current Nashville FC soccer team?". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Nashville FC to Play Home Games at Vanderbilt Football Stadium". April 9, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Freedman, Jonah (February 14, 2014). "How a group of fans created Nashville FC, a supporter-owned club in Music City". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ http://nashvillefc.net/players/
  10. ↑ Edwards, Andy (September 24, 2013). "Nashville FC: 100 percent supporter-owned, now accepting founding memberships". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150219135517/http://www.theyellowhammer.org/. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ http://nashvillefc.net/know-your-club/
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