The 2019–20 Chattanooga FC season was the club's first season playing in the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

, a newly established third division soccer league in the United States, and first professional season since being established in 2009.

Overview

Chattanooga FC was admitted into the

on August 15, 2019 and latter fully accepted by the

U.S. Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

on December 11, 2019, and will start competing in the 2020 Spring season. The team had spent its entire eleven-year history in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

, a semi-pro league generally considered the fourth tier of U.S. Soccer, and reached its National Final on four separate occasions (2010, 2012, 2014, & 2015) which is a shared record for the most finals appearance with

Sonoma County Sol Sonoma County Sol is an American soccer team based in Santa Rosa, California, United States. Founded in 2004, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyrami ...

. Prior to joining NISA, Chattanooga hosted two international friendlies. On May 25, the team hosted

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

in the latter's first game ever in the United States. The home side scored twice in the final ten minutes in the 4–3 loss in front of 6,115 fans at

Finley Stadium W. Max Finley Stadium is the home stadium for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga American football, football team and Chattanooga FC (National Independent Soccer Association, NISA), a professional Division 3 soccer team. The stadium also ...

. The next month, the team took part in 30-time Guatemalan league champion

C.S.D. Municipal Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, also known as Municipal or ''Los Rojos'' (the Reds), is a Guatemalan football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football, and play their home matches ...

during its pre-season tour of the U.S., drawing 1–1 at Ridgeland High School in

Rossville, Georgia Rossville is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,980 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office has been in operation at Rossville since ...

. On April 27, 2020, following a stoppage of play and subsequent extension due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, NISA announced the cancellation of the 2020 Spring season.

Players and staff

Roster

Technical staff

Transfers

In

Friendlies

Competitions

NISA Fall season

Chattanooga did not take part in the 2019 NISA Fall season in an official capacity. On August 15, the NISA Board of Governors announced the team, along with Detroit City FC and Oakland Roots SC, had been accepted into the league but would not begin full league play until Spring 2020. During the fall, Chattanooga did play a friendly home-and-away series against NISA side

Stumptown Athletic Stumptown AC, formerly Stumptown Athletic, is an American professional soccer team that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The club is based in Matthews, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. History Following an initi ...

with both games ending in a draw.

NISA Spring season

Details for the 2020 NISA Spring season were announced January 27, 2020.

Standings

Results summary

Matches

U.S. Open Cup

For the first time in its history, Chattanooga will automatically qualify for the U.S. Open Cup tournament. The team will enter the 2020 tournament with the rest of the

teams in the Second Round. It was announced on January 29 that their first opponent would be USL Championship side Memphis 901 FC.

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

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Goal scorers

Disciplinary record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattanooga FC American soccer clubs 2019 season American soccer clubs 2020 season 2019 in sports in Tennessee 2020 in sports in Tennessee