Chattanooga FC

Worldwide, soccer builds community, shapes culture, develops talent and unites diverse peoples. Chattanooga Football Club is helping the same happen in Chattanooga, creating true opportunity for all players and great entertainment for all fans. Chattanooga FC does this through its premier Men’s and Women’s teams, through its youth training programs of the Chattanooga FC Camps, and the select teams of Chattanooga FC Academy, the CFL adult leagues, and through the Chattanooga FC Foundation with its charitable programs CSM and Operation Get Active.

Founded January 2009  |  2015 USASA Amateur National Champions  |  4 NPSL National Finals  |  3 NPSL Regional Championships  |  7 NPSL Conference Titles

In 2009, Chattanooga FC was launched as an experiment in an underutilized community stadium. No one knew whether anyone living in the heart of SEC country would care about a soccer team started by a group of friends and enthusiasts in Chattanooga. And if they did care, it was unclear if they would cheer on amateurs when even professional soccer in the U.S. was struggling.

But more than 1,600 people showed up for CFC’s inaugural match—a huge success for any amateur team, let alone a new one. A group of supporters also banded together to form the Chattahooligans, cheering on their team with cowbells, horns, banners, flags, and chants, and the raw energy and enthusiasm that has become their hallmark. CFC has accomplished a lot since that first game, but here are just a few highlights:

When CFC brought in one of Mexico’s top division clubs, Club Atlas, for a friendly match against their U23s in 2010, more than 6,300 fans showed up to cheer CFC to victory. If any doubts of success lingered, they were put to bed by the club’s run to the NPSL National Championship that year.

CFC has continued their winning record every season, and in that time period has won seven conference titles, three region titles and made it to the NPSL National Championship four times. After 2014’s heartbreaking loss in the finals, the CFC was invited to host USASA’s National Amateur Championship in 2015 and won the Hank Steinbrecher Cup on its home field.

Match attendance consistently ranks at the top among amateur soccer clubs in the nation. A modern U.S. amateur record 18,228 fans packed Finley Stadium for the 2015 NPSL National Championship match against the New York Cosmos, and that night an excitement filled the stadium that no one who was there will ever forget.

Owing to CFC’s fantastic crowds and lively support, U.S. Soccer chose Chattanooga as one of only a small handful of venues for the U.S. Women’s National team to play an international friendly on their World Cup victory tour. The U.S. Men’s team visited a year later for an international friendly against Jamaica. Both events packed Finley Stadium.