Volunteer Shield

Last updated
Volunteer Shield
VolunteerShield.jpg
Volunteer Shield held up at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee after being awarded to Chattanooga FC on July 4, 2015.
SportSoccer
League National Premier Soccer League
Awarded forBest NPSL team from the state of Tennessee
Location Tennessee
Country United States
History
First award2015 (Plus retroactive 2014 awarding)
Editions6
Final award2019
First winner Chattanooga FC
Most wins Chattanooga FC (5)
Most recent Chattanooga FC (2019)
Website Volunteer Shield Page

The Volunteer Shield was a trophy awarded to the primary supporter group of the Tennessean club in the National Premier Soccer League with the best head-to-head record. It was inaugurated in 2015, and awarded retroactively to Chattanooga FC for the best record during the 2014 season. The shield derives its name from the state's nickname, the "Volunteer State," and is made of Tulip Poplar, the official state tree of Tennessee. [1] [2]

Contents

Teams

Originally contested between three teams, at the shield's peak it was contested between four clubs within the NPSL's Southeastern Conference. Chattanooga FC had been the longest standing member of the competition before it left the league following the 2019 season.

As of 2020, only one team in the NPSL (Inter Nashville) is based in the state of Tennessee.

Volunteer Shield Teams
Team NameFirst seasonNo. of Shield WinsLast NPSL season
Chattanooga FC 20145 (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)2019 (to NISA)
Emerald Force SC 20141 (2017)2018 (folded)
Inter Nashville FC 20170N/A
Memphis City FC 201602017 (to PDL)
Nashville FC 201402016 (folded)

Previous results

2014

2014 results summary
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Chattanooga FC104301121+11
Nashville FC7421152+2
Knoxville Force04040215−13

2015

2015 results summary
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Chattanooga FC10430193+6
Nashville FC64220107+3
Knoxville Force14031615−9
June 9, 2015 Knoxville Force 3–4 Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
Report Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 13, 2015 Knoxville Force 1–1 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
Report Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

2016

2016 results summary
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Chattanooga FC166501153+12
Memphis City FC106321139+4
Knoxville Force66240819−11
Nashville FC36150510−5
May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21) Chattanooga FC 2–1 Nashville FC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Samuel Goni Soccerball shade.svg55'
  • Luke Winter Soccerball shade.svg62'
  • John Carrier Yellow card.svg 64'
  • Liam Guest Yellow card.svg 67'
  • Danny Reynolds Yellow card.svg 90'
 CFC Report
NFC Report
  • Joel Kazhila Yellow card.svg 32'
  • Elias Tamburini Yellow card.svg 50'
  • Liam Collins Yellow card.svg 62'
  • Kyle McLagan Yellow card.svg 75'
  • Jordan Wright Soccerball shade.svg86'
  • Denzel Woods Yellow card.svg 86'
  • Alec Velez Yellow card.svg 90'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 5,593
May 28, 2016 (2016-05-28) Nashville FC 0–1 Memphis City FC Nashville, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)
  • Fazlo Alihodzic Yellow card.svg 26'
  • Liam Collins Yellow card.svg 40'
 NFC Report
MCFC Report
  • Blake Lashlee Yellow card.svg 82'
  • Neil Cummings Yellow card.svg 86'
  • Cameron Woodfin Soccerball shade.svg89'
Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium
Attendance: 1,133
June 4, 2016 (2016-06-04) Knoxville Force 3–2 Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Dallas Dunn Soccerball shade.svg2'
  • Ryan Creel Soccerball shade.svg65'
  • Cameron Schneider Soccerball shade.svg83'
 KF Report
NFC Report
  • Elliot Goodwin Soccerball shade.svg16'
  • Yuji Callahan Soccerball shade.svg23'
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 4, 2016 (2016-06-04) Chattanooga FC 2–1 Memphis City FC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Jon Finlay Soccerball shade.svg6'
  • William Roberts Soccerball shade.svg31'
 CFC Report
MCFC Report
  • Santiago Moore Soccerball shade.svg16'
  • Fakhry Kholfan Yellow card.svg 61'
  • Luke Parker Yellow card.svg 83'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 3,464
June 7, 2016 (2016-06-07) Chattanooga FC 4–0 Knoxville Force Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Sindre Welo Soccerball shade.svg47'
  • John Carter Soccerball shade.svg66'
  • John Carter Soccerball shade.svg73'
  • Juan Mendicabal Soccerball shade.svg85'
  • David Perez Yellow card.svg 89'
 CFC Report
KF Report
  • Jamie McLellan Yellow card.svg 65'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
June 16, 2016 (2016-06-16) Nashville FC 0–2 Chattanooga FC Nashville, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)
  • Erik Furseth Yellow card.svg 1'
  • Kyle McLagan Yellow card.svg 8'
  • Nicholas Melville Yellow card.svg 80'
 NFC Report CFC Report
  • Luke Winter Soccerball shade.svg36'
  • Danny Reynolds Yellow card.svg 38'
  • Kieran Bywater Soccerball shade.svg46'
Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium
June 18, 2016 (2016-06-18) Memphis City FC 1–2 Nashville FC Memphis, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)Stadium: Mike Rose Soccer Complex
July 2, 2016 Knoxville Force 3–4 Memphis City FC Knoxville, TN
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
July 5, 2016 Knoxville Force 0–4 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

2017

For 2017, the Southeast Conference was split in two with Knoxville Force competing in the East Division while Chattanooga FC, Memphis City FC, and new team Inter Nashville FC all competed in the West Division. To accommodate for this, the shield organizers divided the four teams into two groups: [3]

The results from the two matches within each group would determine who wins that group. Once the two group winners emerge, the points earned in the two regular season matches the group winners played against one another would determine the overall winner. If those points were tied, or if the two group winners didn’t play in the regular season, the first tiebreaker would be the results of a playoff match between the group winners. If the group winners did not meet in the playoffs, then the overall results stand tied between the group winners and both would be listed a co-champions.

Chattanooga and Knoxville both won their groups on tie-breakers but since neither team played one-another in the regular season, the shield champion would be decided by tie-breaker whether that be a in a playoff match between the two sides or PointPerGame average vs other Tennessee teams. [4] In the first playoff round, which Knoxville had a bye in due to winning the East Division, Chattanooga fell to Nashville, 2-1, meaning the Knoxville Force won the shield based on PPG (1.5 to 1.0). [5]

Group A

2017 Group A
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGDSEC PSEC GD
Chattanooga FC3211033022+21
Inter Nashville FC3211033022+10

Tiebreakers: 1) Goal Diff in the two group matches; 2) Goals Scored in the two group matches; 3) Points earned in Southeast Conference play; 4) Goal Differential in Southeast Conference matches; 5) Coin-flip [6]

July 1, 2017 Inter Nashville FC 2–1 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
 Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

Group B

2017 Group B
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Knoxville Force3211043+1
Memphis City FC3211034-1

Tiebreakers: 1) Goal Diff in the two group matches; 2) Goals Scored in the two group matches; 3) Points earned in Southeast Conference play; 4) Goal Differential in Southeast Conference matches; 5) Coin-flip

June 10, 2017 Knoxville Force 3–1 Memphis City FC Knoxville, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
 Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

Other 2017 matches between Tennessee teams

May 20, 2017 Inter Nashville FC 3–0 Memphis City FC Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
 Report Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex
June 28, 2017 Chattanooga FC 1–2 Memphis City FC Chattanooga, TN
 Report
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 3,854

2018

2018 results summary
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Chattanooga FC124400101+9
Inter Nashville FC64220770
Emerald Force SC04040514-9
May 26, 2018 Emerald Force SC 1–2 Inter Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
May 30, 2018 Emerald Force SC 1–5 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 2, 2018 Inter Nashville FC 5–3 Emerald Force SC Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex
June 13, 2018 Inter Nashville FC 0–2 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

2019

2019 results summary
TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Chattanooga FC6220091+8
Inter Nashville FC0202019-8
July 3, 2019 Inter Nashville FC 1–5 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "The Yellow Hammer - Nashville FC Supporter's Club". Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerShield [ user-generated source ]
  3. ↑ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Since the two did not meet in the season, the Shield could be decided by the two teams meeting in the playoffs. Knoxville skips the quarterfinal round on the strength of the 1st-place divisional finish. Chattanooga will host Nashville Tuesday night. Should Chattanooga win that match, then Friday's semifinal between Knoxville and Chattanooga would determine the Volunteer Shield. If Chattanooga loses on Tuesday, then Knoxville wins the Volunteer Shield on the strength of their higher PointPerGame average vs. Tennessee teams (1.5 to 1.0).
  5. ↑ McElhaney, Tori (12 July 2017). "Chattanooga Football Club out of playoffs with 2-1 loss to Inter Nashville [photos]". timesfreepress.com.
  6. ↑ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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