Club of the Year Nominee: Chattanooga Football Club

As a staff, we sat down and discussed which clubs deserved the title “Club of the Year.” Working together over the last three weeks we came up with a list of five. This week, I’ll introduce each club and make the argument for your vote. Saturday morning, voting begins and will continue till the end of the year. January 1, we’ll announce our Protagonist Soccer 2019 Club of the Year. I hope you enjoy these articles and then vote for your club of choice. - Dan

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I will not lie. When I sat down to write this nomination, I had a different club on the list. The staff had worked together to build a list of diverse clubs who all deserved recognition based on the year they had put together. We winnowed the list down to five amazing teams and I sat down to write the nomination article for each one. And as I began to write this particular article, I realized that I would be making a mistake to include the original club but skip over the other. Of course, that other club had every reason to be considered for this award, but, in the end, I could not, in good conscience ignore Chattanooga FC.

Clubs considered for this award were measured in multiple areas. Success on the field was an important factor, but it was certainly only one category that went into the decision. For Chattanooga’s part, the club performed well on the field this year. Before the NPSL regular season kicked off for CFC, the club scheduled a series of big-name international clubs in friendlies. Comunicaciones FC (Guatemala), Real Betis (Spain), and CSD Municipal (Guatemala) all travelled to Chattanooga to take on the homeside. And though the matches ended 0-2, 3-4, and 1-1 respectively, they helped elevate the club and American lower league football across the world. A series of domestic friendlies that included Detroit City (NPSL), AFC Mobile (GCPL), and Bugeaters FC (Independent) resulted in three wins for CFC.

Playing in the NPSL’s Southeast Conference, CFC ended the regular season with a 7-2-1 record, winning the conference easily. . In the regular season, the team only surrendered 11 goals, while scoring 29, for a goal differential for a conference best +18. Both Phil D’Amico and Oliva were chosen for Southwest Conference All-Conference XI, while midfielder Juan Hernandez was chosen for NPSL National XI. In the playoffs, CFC were eliminated in the Regional Semifinals by eventual NPSL champion, Miami FC

After six friendlies, the NPSL regular season, and the playoff match against Miami FC, it wasn’t a massive surprise to see the club struggle in the NPSL Member’s Cup competition. CFC finished third out of six clubs, losing 4 out of 4 matches against DCFC and NY Cosmos. Jim Hicks, one of the cohosts of the 423 Soccer Pod (he goes by @Chattagooner on Twitter), described the experience of the club playing in the Members Cup. “The addition of fall soccer was really cool. However, we had some of the worst weather that we have had for CFC matches. It put a damper on attendance and made it a little harder to really gauge interest. The results were a mixed bag as well. The team played well but just struggled to translate quality performances into positive outcomes.”

If we were only considering the success on the field, maybe Chattanooga would fall short of the other nominations for Protagonist Club of the Year. But what the club did off the field may have been even more important. 2018 had seen a USL League One side move into town and there were concerns on what might happen with the more established and entrenched CFC in the face of a new challenger. CFC went pro and public. Early 2019 saw Chattanooga preparing for the upcoming (at that time, anyway) NPSL Pro and, in preparing for that move, chose to sell shares in the club to raise funding. Club co-cofounder, Sheldon Grizzle, introduced the sale with this statement - “By selling equity shares, we’re expanding our commitment to Chattanooga and our fans, so that when Chattanooga Football Club wins, we all win.” The sale sparked massive interest in the club and was covered throughout the media. The club eventually raised almost $900,000 with over 3,000 shareholders/owners buying into the club from every state in the country and 25 different countries internationally. For Hicks, purchasing shares was just the next step of his ongoing relationship with the club. “It wasn’t a difficult decision for us to want to provide some additional support. The club had become a huge part of my family’s lives. Both of our boys played in the academy and most of our friend group has become centered around the soccer community of Chattanooga.”

With the rise of multiple issues stalling NPSL Pro, the club decided to move to the emerging NISA professional league, along with fellow Members Cup competitors, Michigan Stars, DCFC, New York Cosmos, and Stumptown Athletic. The only other realistic professional league would have been the USL, but several roadblocks made NISA the best move for the club. According to Jim Hicks, “First, someone already owns the territorial rights for this market and I don’t see the owners of that franchise ever allowing CFC to share those rights. Second, even if there were some agreement to share the rights, there are large philosophical differences between the leadership of CFC and USL. So, it was NISA or nothing as far as professional soccer and CFC.” On December 11th, NISA announced Chattanooga FC was officially a member of the new league.

And all of that progress as a club hasn’t gone unrecognized by the supporter group that has grown side by side with the club, The Chattahooligans. Galen Riley, one of the leaders of the group, spoke about what the year was like for him and his fellow supporters. “The year began with a historic public ownership campaign. We made a lifetime of memories during the preseason, earned a conference championship, and enjoyed soccer in the fall. CFC Academy is doing great, the CFC Foundation programs are doing critical work in our city, and The Chattahooligans’ projects like Prideraiser and Hooligan Hymnal are being embraced around the country.” What CFC has done this year has spurred the SG that supports it into doing even more in the community. As Riley put it, “The year ended just like it started, with our city embracing our club, and we are so excited for what comes next.”

Success in the NPSL. Success in bringing headline-worthy clubs for friendlies. Success in expanding their brand through the public sale of shares. Success in going professional. Success in joining an upcoming professional league. Success in inspiring their supporters to become even more involved. 2019 was marked with unparalleled success for CFC. All of these reasons make Chattanooga Football Club an excellent choice for your consideration. Chattanooga FC deserves to be named Protagonist Club of the Year.

- Dan Vaughn

The Man with the Bullhorn: Galen Riley

I recently got the chance to talk to Galen Riley of the Chattahooligans. Riley is involved with both the Chattahooligans and PrideRaiser and has done a lot of good with both organizations. This past season, the NPSL named Riley Supporter of the Year, and rightfully so. He’s also a great follow on Twitter if you aren’t following him yet. Check out the interview I was able to do with Riley below.

- Aarik Long

What has it been like being involved with the Chattahooligans over the years?

Being involved with The Club that Chattanooga Built has been life-changing, for sure. Chattanooga FC in 2009 was my first ever live soccer experience, and serving the club since then has consumed most of my time/money/energy/sanity for the past several years. It's part rewarding, part exhausting, for sure.

It's really cool to be a component of CFC's growth. The club has become a tentpole experience in Chattanooga. Attending a CFC match is THE thing to do on Saturday night during the summer. Locals whip ourselves into a frenzy as each match day, or new season, approaches.

Not only that, but the club and the community around it have become a force in American soccer itself. Fans of the game make pilgrimages to "Fort" Finley Stadium and other budding clubs look to CFC as a both a model to emulate, and also a direct source of advice and support. The Chattahooligans have also become influential in the soccer conversation, ourselves.

Overall, supporting CFC has given me some incredible memories, lifelong friendships, and projects that I'm deeply proud of. I know countless others feel the same way. And I'm never, ever bored.

The Chattahooligans is one of the fierect SGs in grassroots soccer. Image courtesy of Chattahooligans social media.

What was your reaction to winning Supporter of the Year this season?

Mixed feelings on that. I think the NPSL, and all leagues, could be doing a better, more regular, job of highlighting the creative and community service work being done by supporters than an end-of-season internet popularity contest. I'm against the award in principle, and we submitted a drum (not a drummer, a drum) in protest this year and didn't campaign.

At the end of the day, though, I accepted the award on behalf of The Chattahooligans and the entire CFC supporter community. It's been a grueling year, and we worked harder than anybody else, as a collective. Plus, there's a perk for the winner from Global Scarves. We'll use that to pay for some of our charity obligations, which is only a good thing.

What have been your feelings about the Members Cup this fall?

I'm a revolutionary at heart, so it's a bit disappointing to see the NPSL Pro project collapse and Founders Cup change. More match days is great for everybody, though, so I'm happy to see those opportunities. Now if only we could get some dang wins!

What inspired you to start Prideraiser?

I don't recall the specifics on the inspiration, but I was Angry Online(tm) about something. (As usual, really.)

I wanted to make a statement about inclusion and allyship, but speaking up alone felt inadequate, thus spending actual dollars in addition to running my mouth.

For readers who may be unaware, Prideraiser is an international, supporter-driven initiative that marries fundraising for charities that benefit LGBTQ+ individuals, outreach to those communities, and promotion of soccer clubs. The gimmick is that fans make a pledge at the start of June, Pride Month, and and then make a donation that is scaled by the team's goal count during matches in that window. You can see all about the project at http://Prideraiser.org

Image courtesy of Pridraiser social media and Phil Thach Photography.

What has been your reaction to how many clubs and individuals have participated in Prideraiser?

I never could have dreamed to see Prideraiser grow into what it has. I hoped to raise three hundred bucks, and now we're three years into the initiative that's spread across the country, and into Canada, with more than $188 Thousand pledged? That is literally unbelievable.

Take some time to read the mission statements of our LGBTQ+ beneficiary charities. They are universally about improving and saving lives. These organizations would not exist if there were not life-threatening pressures that they are combating. The only conclusion to draw is that, by now, one of our pledges, and one of the goals scored, has directly gone to preserving a beautiful human life that might not be with us otherwise. That's powerful. (Plus, we're turning a whole lot of people into brand new soccer fans.)

The biggest irony of Prideraiser is that I fit into almost every category of privilege one can be: I'm straight, white, cis-male, and so on. So what's probably the most meaningful work of my life is also something I will never actually understand.

There's an element of your question that is remarkable. All of the local campaign organizers are invited to a Slack channel for communication and collaboration. One of the more interesting observations there is the constant exchange of ideas about topics outside of Prideraiser. It's a collection of the best and brightest that soccer supporter culture has to offer, and the conversation in Prideraiser Slack is making us all better. I'd love to figure out how to focus that group to solve some larger challenges, because the potential is there for it.

What do you enjoy doing outside of soccer?

There's nothing better than living it up in our beloved Scenic City of Chattanooga, Tennessee with my partner Becca and her awesome dog.

Soccer isn't my strangest hobby, though. I also build costumes (just got home from an event called DragonCon) and am an occasional burlesque performer.

What is Hooligan Hymnal? How did it start? Is it open to other supporters groups?

Hooligan Hymnal is a budding software platform and mobile app for supporters groups, though the direction is still a little bit fuzzy. Right now, an overview of the project can be found at http://chattahooligan.com/app/

The origin of the project was the necessity to invent a better mousetrap. The Chattahooligans pride ourselves on an ambitious, ever-changing song list. It's core to the identity of our community, but maintaining that ambition has been challenging as we've grown. If you're four beers in at a tailgate, you may not be inspired to thumb a made-up word (who named us "Chattahooligans," anyway?) into your phone and then search for the most recent song lyrics.

The first release had the latest and greatest songs and chants, and the handy ability for us to update the app's home screen with a particular song as a reference during pregame "choir practice." Since then, it has expanded to include a team roster that's more accurate than the club website, links to our charity projects, and whatever else we can think of. We also send out news using push notifications, which is increasingly beneficial as Facebook algorithms become ever more worthless. I have a feature roadmap that's a mile long and includes some off-the-wall ideas like submitting chants recorded on your phone and a supporter dating service.

Because The Chattahooligans adapt every good idea we see from other groups, and because we think that our own ideas are worth stealing (Everyone should start a Prideraiser campaign!), we want to make the software available to other supporters groups. It has been revolutionary for us, especially for getting news out and for welcoming brand new fans into the community.

It's totally not a turnkey solution yet, though, and won't be for some time. Most of my development effort recently has been making the mobile app skinnable, so other logos and color schemes can be applied easily. We added a frenemy with the Northern Guard Supporters of Detroit City FC to the core team and helping them get a version out that's more _rouge and gold_ than _blue and white_ has been a priority. With more engaged brains and development resources, we will be able to move forward and build a product that's useful to the larger supporter community.

For salivating readers interested in their own Hooligan Hymnal implementation, I'll get to the point— your SG can have the app sooner if you have a motivated developer to join our team.

Photo courtesy of Matt Reiter.

If you could change anything about the current American soccer landscape (besides Pro/ Rel) what would it be?

I recall saying in 2012 that it would be interesting and exciting to see what American soccer was like, and what CFC's place in it would be, "in five years when everything is mature and stable." Oh boy, I have never been more misguided about anything in my life.

I'm still an ignorant fan overall, but it seems like every time I learn something new about the American soccer landscape (and it's not like FIFA is a model of fairness and ethical practices), the more upside down everything seems. Single entity, prohibitively expensive pay to play, lower division leagues cannibalizing each other, MLS at constant war with its own fans, franchise relocation, wage inequality at the national team level, failure for the men to qualify for the World Cup or even the Olympics, and so on. It's an unbelievable mess. Even if I had a magic wand, I do not know where I would start.

I think that the soccer ecosystem should be centered around clubs and that clubs should always act in a way that serves their communities.

I think that sports is sort of silly, but that teams, soccer teams especially, can serve as a gathering place and rallying point for communities and have a tremendous positive impact on people's lives. I really buy into the notion that a club is something greater and broader— Dennis Crowley (Kingston Stockade) elegantly expressed that clubs are platforms to build other things on, and I think about that frequently.

I think there are some great ideas to study and consider from other sports that can make soccer better. The local-centric structure of WFTDA roller derby and the post-play scholarship opportunities provided by the Canadian developmental hockey system come to mind.

I don't know, man. Soccer is simultaneously the best and worst thing to ever happen to me. It's wonderful, but also all-consuming.