Knoxville Force
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| Full name | Knoxville Force |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Stadium | Hackney Field, Sansom Sports Complex Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Capacity | 1,000 |
| Owner | Emerald Youth Foundation |
| General Manager | Derrick Long |
| Head Coach | Chad Stocton |
| League | National Premier Soccer League |
| 2016 | 4th, Southeast Playoffs: Conference Semi-finalist |
| Website | Club home page |
Knoxville Force is an American soccer club based in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2010, the senior team is part of the Southeast Conference within the South Region of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Additionally, the club fields a Women's team which competes in the Southeast Conference of the Women's Premier Soccer League, several youth teams, and an academy system.
The Force teams train and play home games at the Sansom Sports Complex in downtown Knoxville. The team's colors are emerald, black, and white.
The Knoxville Force began play in the 2011 NPSL season. The team's founding ownership group was Knoxville Soccer, LLC. Barry Goss served as president and majority owner of the team, while his son, Jason Goss, served as the team's general manager.
The Force finished their inaugural season, 5th in the Southeast Conference with, 3 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw in conference play.
The Force started out the 2012 campaign with a 1–0 win against in-state rival Chattanooga FC, and finished with a 6 wins and 4 losses in conference, good for 2nd in the final conference standings.
The Force finished the 2013 season with a only 1 conference win to go along with 4 losses and 5 draws, which led to a 5th place position in the final Southeast Conference standings.
The 2014 season was the team's worst on-field performance to date. The team finished no wins and only 2 draws, to 8 losses. They finished last place in the conference. Beginning in 2014, Knoxville Force merged their soccer operations with the Emerald Youth Foundation.
Following the 2014 season, Barry Goss and Knoxville Soccer sold the team to the Emerald Youth Foundation, a Christian, urban youth ministry, and serve as the senior team of the Emerald Youth Foundation academy system. The new ownership changed the teams colors from their original orange, navy, and white to the current emerald, black, and white, which better matches their existing academy branding. They new ownership also moved home matches from Regal Stadium to Hackney Field, part of the new Sansom Sports Complex in downtown Knoxville which is operated by the foundation.
The 2015 season saw many positives off the field, with the move to the new Sansom Sports Complex, growth of the academy structure, and the development of the Scruffy City Syndicate supporters group. On the field results were mixed. The men again won no conference games, lost seven, and tied 3. They again placed last in the conference. They did, however, have two wins against the Birmingham Hammers, an expansion team which would be in the Force's conference beginning in 2016. While the men's team's struggles continued, the 2015 season was very positive for the women's side. They were undefeated in the regular season winning 6 games and drawing 1, which made them conference champions. In the playoffs they defeated Chattanooga FC 3-2 in 2nd extra time and defeated the FC Nashville Wolves in a penalty shootout. Their season came to an end in the Regional Championship when their first loss of the season came against Oklahoma City FC.
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