The Nashville Metros were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, United States. Founded in 1989, the team most recently played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

(PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The Metros were the longest continuously operating soccer club in the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

before their last season in 2012. In the side's later years its home games were contested at

Ezell Park Ezell Park is an urban park in southeastern Nashville, Tennessee. The park is home to a soccer complex formerly used by the Nashville Metros of the USL PDL, and is run by the Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation. The park is adjacent to a co ...

and E. S. Rose Park.

History

The Nashville Metros were founded by Lynn Agee and Devinder Sandhu and began

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

play in the

Sunbelt Independent Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

in 1990. Due to a lack of facilities, the team played their entire first season on the road, before settling in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

. The Metros continued to play indoors until 1996, but only won six matches in six seasons. During much of the same period, the outdoor team played in the USL's amateur Premier League with significantly better results. Nashville's first winning season came in 1995 with a 12–6 record and their first playoff appearance. The 1996 team witnessed the Metros'

Pasi Kinturi Pasi Kinturi is a retired Finnish association football player who played professionally in the USL A-League. He was the 1996 USISL Premier League MVP. Kinturi played for Malmin Palloseura youth team when it won the 1993 Helsinki Cup. In 1994, ...

score a league-leading 19 goals as he was named that season's league MVP. The Metros moved up to the second division

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

in 1997. After several years of playing at various high school and municipal stadiums in Nashville and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, the team settled into their new home at

. Nashville made their first U.S. Open Cup appearance in the 1998 tournament where they routed the third division

Delaware Wizards The Delaware Wizards were a professional soccer club based in Wilmington and New Castle, Delaware. The team played their first game in 1993 and their last in 2000. They played in the USISL. They were considered DC United's farm team but ended ...

before advancing to face the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. A heavy underdog, the Metros pulled off the upset of the tournament with a victory over the first division club in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Nashville eventually fell in the quarterfinals to MLS'

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

. In 1999 due to financial circumstances, the club was forced to reorganize. The side was renamed the Tennessee Rhythm and moved from Nashville to Franklin, but returned to their original venue in 2001, reverting to their original name at the same time. This time period featured an unsuccessful rematch against the Dallas Burn in the

2000 U.S. Open Cup The 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ran from June through October, 2000, open to all soccer teams in the United States. The Chicago Fire earned their second Open Cup by defeating the Miami Fusion 2–1 in the final at Soldier Field, Chicago. Amat ...

and a nationally televised game against the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

in the 2001 tournament. In 2002 the Metros moved down from the A-League to the

, mainly due to Ezell Park's substandard facilities, such as the lack of a press box. Beginning with their first playoff appearance in 1994, Nashville made eight postseason trips over the next 11 years.

Players

Final roster

''Source''

Notable former players

''This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.'' *

Jay Ayres Jay Ayres (born February 25, 1986 in Valrico, Florida) is an American soccer defender. Ayres played college soccer at Belmont University, and for Nashville Metros in the USL Premier Development League, before being signed by the San Jose Earthqu ...

* Kainoa Bailey * Kalin Bankov *

Trevor Banks Trevor Charles Banks (born 4 October 1955) was an English motorcycle racer who competed in grasstrack and & longtrack. He is the son of Monty Banks who was a notable Grasstrack competitor in the South East of England. World Longtrack Champions ...

* Ian Borders *

Jon Busch Jon Busch (born August 18, 1976) is an American professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. Busch is currently the goalkeeping coach for USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He is best remembered for ...

* Danny DeVall * Tanner Redden *

Gabe Eastman Gabe Eastman (born March 7, 1977 in Modesto, California) is a retired American soccer defender. Career College Eastman attended Modesto Junior College, where he was voted his college soccer team's MVP in 1995. Professional Eastman began hi ...

* Albert Edward * John Jones *

* Patrick Parker * Steve Klein *

Tony Kuhn Tony Kuhn (born December 15, 1975) is a former U.S. soccer forward who spent two seasons in Major League Soccer and several in the USL First Division, USISL and Premier Development League. Kuhn attended Vanderbilt University, where he played ...

* Jamel Mitchell *

Richard Mulrooney Richard Mulrooney (born November 3, 1976) is an American former soccer player. He is the current men's soccer coach at the University of Memphis. Career College Mulrooney played four years of college soccer at Creighton University, where he re ...

* Dimitry Shamootin * J. P. Rodrigues *

Daryl Sattler Daryl Sattler (born September 5, 1980 in Miami, Florida) is an American soccer player. Career College Sattler played college soccer at Western Kentucky University where he started in the net all four years. He currently holds the WKU school re ...

Year-by-year

Indoor

Honors

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

** Central Conference Champions (1): 1998

Head coaches

Greg Petersen Greg Petersen is an American soccer coach. Player Petersen attended CSU East Bay where he played as goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team. In 1984, he was named to the First Team All Conference team. Coach In 1990, Petersen became an assistan ...

(1998–1999) *

Brett Mosen Brett Mosen is an English football coach currently coaching with the Oakville Blue Devils FC in Canada. Managerial career Mosen started his professional coaching in 1995 as Head Coach of the Nashville Metros in the USL A-League, United Soccer Le ...

(2000–2001) * Andy Poklad (2002–2004) * Rico Laise (1999, 2007–2008) *

Richard Askey Richard Allen Askey (4 June 1933 – 9 October 2019) was an American mathematician, known for his expertise in the area of special functions. The Askey–Wilson polynomials (introduced by him in 1984 together with James A. Wilson) are on the t ...

(2009) *

Obed Compean Obed may refer to: Geography *Obed, Alberta, an unincorporated community in west-central Alberta, Canada *Obed, Arizona, a ghost town in northern Arizona, U.S. * Obed, Croatia, a settlement in Orle, Croatia *Little Obed River, a ten mile long str ...

(2005–2006, 2010) * Ricardo Lopez (2011) *

Brent Goulet Brent Goulet (born June 19, 1964) is a retired American soccer forward who later coached SV Elversberg from 2004 to 2008. He began his career in the United States before moving to England and Germany, and also earned eight caps with the U.S. nat ...

(2012)

Stadium

* Stadiums in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

; (1990–1996) * Stadium in

; (1999–2000) *

;

(1997–1998, 2001–2011) ** Siegel Park;

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

5 games (2007–2010) * E.S. Rose Park;

; (2012)

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20131208011525/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html. * 2005: 307 * 2006: 392 (8th in PDL) * 2007: 361 * 2008: 308 * 2009: 162 * 2010: 215 * 2011: 349

References

{{reflist

External links

Official PDL site
Defunct soccer clubs in Tennessee Association football clubs established in 1989 Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 Sports in Nashville, Tennessee USL League Two teams A-League (1995–2004) teams USISL teams Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States 1989 establishments in Tennessee 2012 disestablishments in Tennessee