Chattanooga Football Club Poised For Championship
It's only two years old but the Chattanooga Football Club is already making some big noise on the national scene.
Our homegrown, VW-sponsored soccer team has advanced to the National Premier Soccer League championship game Saturday night near Huntsville, Alabama.
The Chattanooga Football Club and thousands of fans called "Chattahooligans" have been pumped up all season, since they were tied for second place in new teams last year. Keep in mind that was the first year our local team began playing and competing in the world's most popular sport. They advanced to the big tilt after defeating the Madison 56'ers.
Center back Thomas Clark said "we feel great after that win."
And we feel great being able to catch up with center back Thomas Clark Friday, in between two key games. Last night in Madison, Alabama Clark scored the first of two goals to help defeat the Wisconsin team.
The local turnout this season at Finley Stadium has been amazing. Four, five, even six thousand soccer fans came to cheer on the Chattanooga Football Club at their home games.
"Coming down here I thought oh, nobody would be here, there would be no support, this is just guys running around out here on a Saturday night," forward Robbie Hill said. "Well then it turned out every weekend saw 3,000, 4,000, even 6,000 fans out here, 5,100 last weekend, it's been a total mind blower."
Hill came from England with talent, but with low expectations for local support. After all, soccer has not been as popular a sport as American-style football in the U.S. But that's all changing. And Team USA's dance at the World Cup in South African this year has also feuled interest.
CFS's goal keeper coach Scott Bosgraf said "oh it's absolutely exciting, we're exceeded all our expectations this year."
Now the team is getting ready for Saturday night's championship game against Sacramento, California. It's amazing, to think such a new team has so much talent on the field and in coaching to leap ahead of about 40 teams from across the country.
"We're able to celebrate for just a little bit, but then it's all back to business for tomorrow night's game against Sacramento," Clark said.
And what a dream season this has been for the Chattanooga Football Club. They are the southeast region champions now playing for the National Premier Soccer League Championship.
The game starts at 7:30 central time in Madison, Alabama.
To learn more about the Chattanooga Football Club, go to: http://chattanoogafc.com/
