The club was initially unveiled as Knox Pro Soccer starting as a semi-professional USL League Two club with the goal to eventually move to the professional USL League One in the future.[1] The official name for the team, One Knoxville Sporting Club, was announced on July 15, 2021.[2] The official crest for the team, designed by artist Matthew Wolff, was unveiled on August 19, 2021.[3] Mark McKeever was appointed as the club's first ever head coach on January 13, 2021.[4]
The team made their USL2 debut on May 14, 2022 hosting Asheville City SC,[5] where they were defeated by a score of 2–1 in front of 2200 spectators.[6] They recorded their first victory in their next match on May 17, defeating the Tri-Cities Otters by a score of 1–0.[7] In their inaugural season, they won the South Central Division, with an 11–1–2 record, advancing to the playoffs.[8][9] After winning their first two playoff rounds, the club was defeated by North Carolina Fusion U23 in the South Conference Finals (league quarterfinals).[10]
On October 20, 2022, it was announced that the club would move up to the fully professional level, joining USL League One.[11] The club also announced that all of the team's 15 home games would by played at Regal Stadium, home of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers.[12]
The club announced their first professional signing on December 12, 2022, forward Ilija Ilić, who will also serve as assistant coach.[13]
The club scored its first ever professional win with a 2–1 victory over Lexington SC.[14] Midfielder Jimmie Villalobos scored the team's first ever professional goal.[15]
On April 26, 2025, One Knoxville SC set the record for largest home attendance for a USL League One club across all competitions with 6,378 fans in attendance for a match against FC Tulsa in the opening round of the USL Jägermeister Cup.[16]
Women's team
On March 8, 2025, the club announced the addition of a women's team, which would complete in its inaugural season in the USL W-League beginning that year.[17] Simon Duffy, the women's soccer coach at Carson-Newman University, was hired to lead the new women's soccer team.
During their first 2 seasons of being in USL League One, they played at Regal Soccer Stadium, home of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers' soccer program. The stadium has a capacity of 3,000 fans. The club achieved their attendance record against Lexington SC, where 2,512 fans attended on March 18, 2023.
Since the 2025 season, the team has played at Covenant Health Park alongside the Knoxville Smokies, a minor league baseball team. The stadium was designed to convert between soccer and baseball and includes a retractable pitcher's mound.[18]
Supporters
The Scruffs are an independent supporters group for One Knoxville. The group's name is a reference to Scruffy City, a commonly used nickname for Knoxville from the 1982 World's Fair.[19][20]
The reported trophy for the winner on aggregate score at the end of the USL1 season is "a full-size whiskey barrel and a bottle of bourbon from a distiller located in the losing club's locale."[23] Despite this, neither fan group has yet to see such a prize as of the start of the 2024 season.
As members of USL League Two and of the league's South Central Division, the two clubs created a rivalry called the Smoky Mountain Series. The series was won by head to head matches, and the tiebreaker being aggregate score. One Knoxville SC won the 2022 Smoky Mountain Series from a 4-3 aggregate win.[28] Since One Knoxville SC has promoted to USL League One, there is no way for these teams to meet again except the U.S. Open Cup, which happened in 2024.
Although the men no longer regularly participate in the rivalry, the rivalry has continued onto the women's side. With the expansion of One Knoxville SC to USL W League, the clubs are now divisional rivals.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
