Nashville SC (MLS)

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Nashville SC
Nashville SC MLS 2020.svg
Full nameNashville Soccer Club
FoundedDecember 20, 2017;2 years ago (2017-12-20)
Stadium Nissan Stadium [1]
Nashville, Tennessee
Capacity69,143
Owner John Ingram
Zygi Wilf
Mark Wilf
Leonard Wilf
Turner family [2] [3]
CEO Ian Ayre
Head coach Gary Smith
League Major League Soccer
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Nashville Soccer Club will be a Major League Soccer expansion franchise that is expected to begin play in 2020. The club will be based in Nashville, Tennessee, and plans to play their home matches at the Nashville Fairgrounds, a planned 27,500-seat soccer-specific stadium. It is owned by John Ingram, owner of Ingram Industries, along with investors and partial owners the Turners, and the Wilfs.

Contents

History

Soccer in Nashville

Prior to the arrival of Nashville's MLS team, the city had various soccer teams that played in the lower divisions of American soccer. The most notable teams were the Nashville Metros who played from 1989 until 2012 and Nashville FC, who played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) from 2013 to 2016. The city also hosts two NCAA Division I men's soccer teams, the Belmont Bruins and Lipscomb Bisons. The Vanderbilt Commodores also played Division I men's soccer until the team's demise after the 2005 season. Prior to these teams, the Nashville Diamonds participated in the then-second division, American Soccer League for one season in 1982. [4]

The NPSL team, Nashville FC, was founded by a supporters group that intended to form a team as a fan-owned group. Chris Jones, Nashville FC's president, cited existing fan-owned clubs as inspiration for NFC's foundation, in particular the English club F.C. United of Manchester. [5] In February 2014, the two groups merged to form a single club for the 2014 NPSL season. The club had two teams participating in the Middle Tennessee Soccer Alliance, Nashville's largest competitive adult league, and had partnered with the Tennessee State Soccer Association (TSSA), an organization with over 20,000 registered players in the Middle Tennessee area alone. [6] The team played its matches at Vanderbilt Stadium. [7] The NPSL club had ambitions of climbing the American Soccer Pyramid, with the reported target an entry into the third-tier United Soccer League (USL; now known as the USL Championship) by 2017, [8] and then ascension into the Division II North American Soccer League by 2020. [5] However, in 2016, the USL 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 SC, in exchange for a 1 percent equity stake in the USL team and a voting seat on its board. [9]

Expansion bid

In August 2016, a group of Nashville business leaders from several of the city's largest corporations formed the Nashville MLS Organizing Committee and began efforts to secure funding for an MLS stadium. [10] The group, led by Bill Hagerty, sought an MLS team immediately rather than working up the soccer pyramid. The group fully supported the recently awarded USL expansion team, Nashville SC, which began play in 2018. Both groups supported each other in their common vision to grow the sport in Tennessee. [11] In October 2017, the group unveiled their plans for $275 million stadium and redevelopment project, [12] [13] which was approved by the city in November. [14]

The formal bid to add an MLS franchise to Nashville began in January 2017. On March 4, 2017, businessman John Ingram, under the entity Nashville Holdings LLC, bought a majority stake in DMD Soccer, the ownership group of Nashville SC. [15] Ingram also headed up the bid to bring an MLS franchise to Nashville, [16] and the partnership between Ingram and Nashville SC was an effort to present a united front to MLS after Nashville was named one of ten finalist cities for four MLS franchises. [17] In August 2017, Mark Wilf, Zygi Wilf and Leonard Wilf joined as investors; the Wilfs, owners of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, had previously backed an aborted MLS expansion bid in Minneapolis. [18]

On December 19, 2017, news broke that Nashville would be awarded an expansion slot. [19] The announcement was made official on December 20, 2017, when it was confirmed that the club would join MLS in 2020. [20]

On May 21, 2018, Ian Ayre was announced as the CEO of the franchise. [21]

On October 30, 2018, Mike Jacobs was announced as the general manager of the franchise. [22]

On February 20, 2019, the franchise operators announced that the MLS side would assume the Nashville Soccer Club name then in use by the city's USL Championship side. [23]

Nashville SC's inaugural MLS match is scheduled for February 29, 2020, with the club hosting Atlanta United FC at Nissan Stadium. [24]

Club crest and colors

Nashville SC's primary colors are electric gold and acoustic blue, which were also used by the lower-league club. The club's crest is a gold octagon with a monogram "N" and several vertical bars in blue. The vertical bars were chosen to represent sound waves and vibrations, referencing the city's musical history. [25] [26]

Sponsorship

PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsorRef.
2020–present Adidas Renasant Bank [27]

Stadium

A 27,500-seat soccer-specific stadium at the Nashville Fairgrounds is planned to be the team's home when it opens in 2022. [28] The $275 million stadium will be mostly funded by revenue bonds from the Nashville government, per an agreement with the Nashville Metro Council that was approved in November 2017. [29] The council approved the stadium on September 4, 2018, with the votes 31-yes and 8-no, with a crowd in the room of supporters and opponents in the audience. A referendum for "partial funding" was rejected by the council, with the votes 25-yes (to reject the referendum) and 12-no (to permit). [30]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of January 22, 2020 [31]
No.PositionPlayerNation
1 Goalkeeper Joe Willis Flag of the United States.svg  United States
2 Defender Daniel Lovitz Flag of the United States.svg  United States
3 Defender Jalil Anibaba Flag of the United States.svg  United States
4 Defender David Romney Flag of the United States.svg  United States
5 Defender Miguel Nazarit Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
6 Midfielder Dax McCarty Flag of the United States.svg  United States
7 Forward Abu Danladi Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
8 Forward Randall Leal Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica
9 Forward Dominique Badji Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal
10 Midfielder Hany Mukhtar (DP)Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
11 Forward David Accam Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
13 Goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas Flag of the United States.svg  United States
14 Forward Daniel Ríos Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
15 Defender Eric Miller Flag of the United States.svg  United States
16 Defender Ken Tribbett Flag of the United States.svg  United States
18 Defender Jack Maher (GA)Flag of the United States.svg  United States
19 Forward Alan Winn Flag of the United States.svg  United States
20 Midfielder Aníbal Godoy Flag of Panama.svg  Panama
21 Midfielder Derrick Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States
22 Midfielder Matt LaGrassa Flag of the United States.svg  United States
23 Defender Taylor Washington Flag of the United States.svg  United States
27 Midfielder Brian Anunga Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon
55 Defender Brayan Beckeles Flag of Honduras.svg  Honduras
94 Defender Jimmy Medranda Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
— Defender Walker Zimmerman Flag of the United States.svg  United States

Out on loan

No.PositionPlayerNation
17 Forward Cameron Lancaster (at Louisville City)Flag of England.svg  England

Staff

As of January 7, 2020 [32]
Technical Staff
Head coach Gary Smith
Assistant coach Steve Guppy
Assistant coachBrett Jacobs
Goalkeeping coach Matt Pickens
General managerMike Jacobs
Assistant general managerAlly Mackay
Chief scout Chance Myers
Director, strategy & analyticsOliver Miller-Farrell

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References

  1. ↑ Garrison, Joey (January 10, 2019). "Nashville Sports Authority finalizes $225M bond sale for new MLS stadium". The Tennesseean . Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Nashville MLS expansion team unveils name, crest". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019. Ingram's partners in the soccer club include Minnesota Vikings owners Mark, Zygi and Leonard Wilf, and the Turner Family, managing partners of Nashville-based MarketStreet Enterprises.
  3. ↑ Garrison, Joey (October 4, 2017). "Nashville MLS stadium plan raises questions over 10-acre private development". The Tennesseean . Retrieved February 21, 2019. The Turners, who led the transformation of the Gulch neighborhood a decade ago, recently signed on as minority owners in the Ingram-led MLS investment group.
  4. ↑ "1982 Nashville Diamonds". FunWhileItLasted.net. July 30, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  5. 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". When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ "NASHVILLE ATLAS FC JOINS THE NPSL". nationalpremiersoccerleague.com. National Premier Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2014.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ Boyer, E.J. (May 27, 2014). "Nashville FC soccer club draws crowd in first home opener, eyes Greer Stadium". The Business Journals. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ 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 January 31, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ "USL Formally Welcomes Nashville to League". United Soccer League. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Tennessee legislature proposes bill to help fund Nashville MLS stadium", MLS Soccer, December 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Nashville business leaders form group to bring MLS to the Music City", MLS Soccer, August 9, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Soccer stadium backers detail redevelopment plans". Nashville Post . October 23, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Nashville soccer fans come out in force for $275M MLS stadium proposal". The Tennessean . October 24, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Nashville MLS expansion bid gets boost from $275m stadium approval". ESPN. November 8, 2017.
  15. ↑ Garrison, Joey (May 4, 2017). "John Ingram buys majority stake in Nashville SC, aligning efforts for MLS bid". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  16. ↑ Garrison, Joey (December 20, 2016). "Businessman John Ingram to lead Nashville's Major League Soccer bid". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  17. ↑ Garrison, Joey (December 15, 2016). "Nashville among 10 cities under consideration for four MLS expansion teams". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  18. ↑ Garrison, Joey (August 8, 2017). "Wilf family, owners of the Minnesota Vikings, joins Nashville's MLS ownership group". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  19. ↑ Straus, Brian (December 19, 2017). "MLS Announces Nashville Event Where it's Expected to Accept Expansion Bid". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  20. ↑ Rosano, Nicholas (December 20, 2017). "Nashville awarded MLS expansion club". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Former Liverpool chief Ian Ayre to head up Nashville MLS outfit". SportsPro Media. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ SC, Nashville (October 30, 2018). "Nashville MLS Appoints First General Manager" . Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Nashville MLS expansion team unveils name, crest". February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Nashville SC to host Atlanta United in inaugural MLS match". Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Nashville SC Unveiled as Name of MLS Club". MLS.NashvilleSC.com (Press release). MLS Digital. February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  26. ↑ Torres, Luis (February 20, 2019). "Nashville MLS: Team releases new logo, brands itself as Nashville SC". The Tennessean. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Nashville SC Unveils First Major League Soccer Jersey". NashvilleSC.com. Nashville SC Communications. January 18, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  28. ↑ Prince-Right, Joe (September 5, 2018). "Nashville's $275 million MLS stadium approved" . Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  29. ↑ Garrison, Joey (November 7, 2017). "Nashville Metro Council approves financing for $275M MLS stadium project". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Nashville MLS stadium project wins final Metro Council approval". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Roster-Nashville SC". Nashville SC. November 26, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  32. ↑ "Technical Staff". Nashville SC. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
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