Category: Sidewinder Insider

Is it hyperbole to say the battle for the soul of American soccer is being waged in Chattanooga, Tennessee?

Sure. That’s way over the top.

But I’m going to say it anyway because, in a sense, one of the battles for the soul of American soccer is most certainly being waged in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In one corner you have Chattanooga Football Club, mainstays of the National Premier Soccer League (an affiliate of the United States Adult Soccer Association) and proof that adult amateur soccer can, indeed, be elite.

They have rabid support – led by the Chattahooligans – and have turned the Scenic City into the scene of some of the best grassroots soccer anywhere in the United States.

And in the other corner is Chattanooga Pro Soccer, an ownership group in the United Soccer League’s upstart USL Division III.

They’re set to field a team of paid players in 2019 under the umbrella of a league that is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation – and one that fits perfectly within the closed pyramid, American soccer model.

So why are so many people in Chattanooga pissed off about having two teams?

Because community soccer is a pretty big deal when you’ve built that community, and that’s what Chattanooga FC and its faithful have done over the past 10 years.

Founded in 2009, CFC has been not only a consistent winner on the pitch but a box office success as well. Playing at Finley Stadium, which seats 20,000-plus, the club is a solid draw and will never be accused of having “casual” supporters.

These people are true believers and have been given something to believe in for a decade.

Obviously the USL took notice, and decided it wanted a piece of the action. CFC chairman Tim Kelly, however, wants the homegrown team to chart its own course.

Simply put, he isn’t sold on the new league.

“It’s not a sustainable business model, we don’t feel,” he told the Times Free Press in Chattanooga. “We’re not going to (make a move like that) just to say we’re a pro team.”

Enter Robert Martino, a real estate agent in Utah who is now staking claim to soccer real estate near the Tennessee River.

“This is a fantastic opportunity and watershed moment for soccer fans in Chattanooga,” Martino said. “This market has proven that it has the right ingredients to launch and sustain a professional franchise, and we are excited to take this next step into USL Division III for fans and the community. I applaud the existing grassroots support and passionate fan base already in place in the city, and I welcome the opportunity for us to work together to realize the great vision for professional soccer in Chattanooga.

“Our goal is to build upon the remarkable soccer history that has been created here, and establish a professional club of which both fans and our community can be proud – one that will make a lasting contribution to what makes this city great.”

Yeah, that prepared statement didn’t go over terribly well with a good portion of the “passionate fan base already in place in the city,” – not according to Twitter mentions, anyway.

Adding insult to injury, (former) CFC general manager Sean McDaniel resigned from the club and joined forces with the new entity.

McDaniel is co-founder of Chattanooga FC and was an NPSL board member.

But, such is life in American soccer.

Club teams like the idea of putting down roots and seeing how big they can grow.

“We are pleased that CFC’s success has drawn national attention to our city, and we remain committed to keeping Chattanooga FC as Chattanooga’s homegrown team,” CFC tweeted. “Our club was founded for Chattanoogans by Chattanoogans, and, after 10 years, we are dedicated to growing Chattanooga FC in a fiscally responsible manner from the grassroots up. Professional soccer has eyed our incredible support in Chattanooga and now wants to enter our market. Chattanooga FC has grown organically, built a solid fan base, introduced the sport to kids and adults alike, helped launch a women’s team and hosted national teams from around the world. Chattanooga FC embodies the ‘Chattanooga Way’ where we bring the community together who share our values to make the city a better place. Our board is already working on plans for the 2019 season and we look forward to strengthening our bonds throughout the community during the off season.”

Franchise owners like the buy-in option, and the USSF heartily endorses this franchise model.

Whether it’s Major League Soccer or the USL, the idea is to identify markets, put a team in place, and make money for the owner/operators.

Nothing wrong with that, of course – no one gets into business to go broke – but the differences between community soccer and franchise soccer is stark. For clubs like CFC, community is the business.

In the case of the USL team in Chattanooga, team officials want to parachute into town after all the advance work has been done by the NPSL team. And they apparently expect Chattanooga FC supporters to share their allegiance, if not switch it.

“In light of recent circumstances, it’s important to reiterate that Chattanooga FC was built and not bought,” Kelly wrote on the club’s website on Friday.

Interim GM Sheldon Grizzle added, “Chattanooga FC has been homegrown from day one and we are committed to keeping it that way. In concert with our supporters and community stakeholders, against all odds, we have a created something truly unique in Chattanooga. Professional and amateur soccer team ownership groups from around the country continue to look at Chattanooga as an inspiration for what can happen when something is created from the ground up.”

Invading this territory is an extremely aggressive move by the USL (and by proxy, the USSF), so a peaceful coexistence just ain’t gonna happen. And you have to wonder why a fledgling league started such a big fight right out of the gate.

Franchises were already in place in Statesboro, Georgia, Greenville, South Carolina, Madison, Wisconsin, Tucson, Arizona, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in advance of a 2019 launch. And there are plenty of other cities to choose from that, unlike Chattanooga, don’t already have a club embedded in the town’s culture.*

*While Greenville FC just completed its first season and built a solid base, the city and USL Division III were already openly courting each other before the NPSL club was formed. In addition, Greenville Pro Soccer is spearheaded by a local ownership group.

Yet instead of respecting one of the crown jewels of lower division soccer, the USL opted for a power play and swooped in on a city that is already spoken for.

Does USL have a legal right to put a team in Chattanooga?

Absolutely.

Does that make it right?

It depends on whose side you’re on.

So get ready for one helluva fight.

And as a fan of grassroots soccer, I already know who I want to win.

Man, I’m gonna miss the National Premier Soccer League season when it ends.

Thanks to Greenville FC giving me a local team to root for in their inaugural NPSL season, I shifted much of my domestic focus to “grassroots” football this year, relegating Major League Soccer to the backburner.

With the North American Soccer League in legal limbo, the NPSL provided the New York Cosmos reserves a home, and I’ve enjoyed following their (to date) unbeaten campaign.

As a Cosmos guy from back in the original NASL days, I’ll support them any time, in any league.

I also became reacquainted with Atlanta Silverbacks FC, who had a terrific season and claimed the Southeast Conference championship of the South Region.

And after immersing myself in all things NPSL this summer, watching as many live streams as I could, I believe now more than ever that an open system that springs from lower division soccer is the key to a stronger foundation for the sport’s American future.

Once an innocent bystander in the promotion/relegation movement, I now count myself as a true believer. The big question is whether or not the United States Soccer Federation would ever allow it. And if not, how would it be feasible?

The United Premier Soccer League, a full-season adult amateur league, started experimenting with pro/rel last season. And there have been rumblings that maybe the NPSL can ultimately let it take root domestically.

The National Independent Soccer Association is a proposed open system that plans to start with third and fourth division clubs, possibly in 2019.

So why is an open system a big deal? Why should I or any other American soccer fan have an issue with MLS and the way “top tier” soccer does business here? Yes, it’s a closed system, but that’s the way pro leagues function in the United States.

No one expects the Huntsville Rockets of the Gridiron Development Football League to be “promoted” to the NFL, just as the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League will never be in the National League of Major League Baseball and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League won’t have the chance to trade up to the Association.

There are a fixed number of franchises in each league, and the only way for a “new” city to become a part of it is through relocation or expansion.

That’s how MLS rolls, even though it differs from many of the other leagues in that it does business as a single entity structure.

I just think soccer is a different animal, and don’t really like seeing it altered to fit U.S. pro sports norms. The Beautiful Game is also the simplest game, and that’s why it’s played throughout the world by people of all shapes, sizes and stations in life.

And in many towns and villages, it’s the very soul of communities that groom future stars from its neighborhoods.

The best part, though, is that it’s designed so that you can take it as far as it’ll go.

Winning trophies doesn’t just mean standing atop your league, it can ultimately mean stepping up to another league.

Play winning soccer, and you get promoted.

Play losing soccer, you get relegated.

It’s not what you pay that determines your place in the pyramid, but how you play. And that structure brings in more players with more incentive to play on and play up.

However, MLS thinks its model is just fine. And for years, I thought it was just fine, too.

If you live in a city with a franchise, it’s easier to share that sentiment. Supporters of Atlanta United FC don’t seem to have a problem with it, averaging 52,409 fans per match this season.

In the interest of full disclosure, last Sunday I was among the 72,243 people who watched Atlanta and Seattle play to a 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the vast majority of those in attendance had a great time. And I get the feeling promotion/relegation isn’t something many of them even think about since it has never been part of their reality.

Regardless, with the United Soccer League starting its D3 circuit in 2019 – and leagues such as NPSL representing the Fourth Division – MLS sits atop a closed pyramid that promotes players, not teams. It’ll look more and more like the kind of farm system used in professional baseball in the coming years.

And MLS has the full support and blessing of the United States Soccer Federation, which is clearly biased toward MLS at the expense of all other challengers.

Ideally, soccer governing bodies (under the umbrella of FIFA) oversee the sport with a more inclusive eye. It’s that body that actually implements pro/rel.

The USSF is snugly in bed with MLS, whose investor-operators also own Soccer United Marketing (the marketing arm of both MLS and the USSF). All are in the business of making money for stakeholders, and the way to get the most bang for their bucks is to mold one league above all others into something akin to a soccer version of the NFL.

So when someone buys into MLS, there is no risk that a bad season will bring demotion, just as the Brooklyn Nets don’t ever have to worry about spending a season in the G League because they stunk it up in the NBA.

If you have no other point of reference than the American sports model, you’ll likely shrug at the torch and pitchfork crowd coming at MLS and demanding change. And if you think American soccer should do business like American football, American baseball, American basketball, etc., you’re getting what you want.

Still, I’m hopeful a pro/rel system can happen outside of MLS (and outside of the USSF) sooner than later, and give grassroots soccer a place to grow up and grow out.

Just as the NFL once had the American Football League to deal with and the NBA received competition from the American Basketball Association, a renegade soccer federation in the U.S. would be welcomed by people like me.

In the meantime, I’ve got four NPSL playoff games to follow tonight: Orange County FC vs. FCM Portland, Miami FC 2 vs. Little Rock Rangers, AFC Ann Arbor vs. Duluth FC, and FC Motown vs. New York Cosmos B.

And if you haven’t given lower division soccer a serious look, you’re seriously missing out.

By Scott Adamson
Adamsonmedia.com

Greenville FC has earned a share of the spoils in its last three matches at Eugene Stone Stadium.

Tonight would be an opportune time to take all three points in the friendly confines.

With just two home matches left and four remaining in its National Premier Soccer League schedule, GVLFC faces the New Orleans Jesters (5-2-3) at 7 p.m. in a crucial showdown. Lee Squires’ club is currently seventh in the standings at 3-3-4, and sitting three points out of sixth place.

The top six teams in the Southeast Conference Division of the NPSL South Region make the playoffs.

“We are in no position to talk about playoffs,” Squires said earlier today. “We know we control our own destiny still, and that there is so much left to play for, but it’s one game at time starting with New Orleans, and trying to earn three points.”

Greenville is coming off a 1-0 road victory over Asheville SC last Saturday, a clash that served as the first leg of the inaugural “Carolina Clasico.”

Not only did French forward Ismael Noumansana come off the bench to notch the game-winner in the 76^th minute, goalkeeper Austin Mullins got the clean sheet – the team’s first shutout of the season.

“That first clean sheet is definitely welcoming,” Squires said. “We made a change in goal with Austin Mullins coming in, and while Austin played well, any clean sheet is a collective effort.”

Winning a rivalry game in a hostile environment was the headline from Saturday, however.

“The Asheville game is one our players, fans, and coaches will remember for a while,” Squires said. “The atmosphere was unbelievable and added to the occasion. Our boys fought hard for 90-plus minutes to earn the points, which we needed.”

With the schedule winding down so is the energy level of the players, who are forced to grind through the last part of the regular season in oppressive heat.

“Our training time has gone down as a result of all the games;  we’re literally in a cycle of Sunday and Monday off, Tuesday preparation, Wednesday game, Thursday off, Friday preparation, Saturday game, and on repeat for the rest of the season.”

Tonight the cycle shifts to game mode against the Jesters, a squad Greenville topped 2-1 in The Big Easy on May 19 for the first victory in franchise history. Nola, coached by Kenny Farrell, is currently one point off the top of the table following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Inter Nashville FC.

Chattanooga FC (5-3-2) leads the way with 18 points.

“We can’t read too much into last time out against New Orleans,” Squires said. “Our 11 will be different, formation likely different, and I’m sure they won’t be exactly the same as when we played them before. We’ll just prepare as we always do, and try to execute our game plan.”