Chattanooga Football Club today announced that it will host MLS side Atlanta United for the third time in club history. The game is scheduled for Saturday, January 25 with a 3:00 p.m. EST kickoff at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
Only 117 miles separate the two clubs with history between the two stretching back to February 11, 2017 when Atlanta's first-ever match took place at Finley Stadium. At the time, Chattanooga was still an amateur side competing in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).
CFC has since become professional and now competes as an independent club in MLS NEXT Pro, a professional men’s soccer league in the United States and Canada that completes the pro player pathway from MLS NEXT to MLS first teams.
"Hosting Atlanta United in Chattanooga is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the region’s passion for the game and elevate the city’s status as a key destination for professional soccer," said Chattanooga FC Technical Director Sebastian Giraldo. "This match brings one of the top tier franchises in the U.S. to our community and helps strengthen the growing soccer culture while also giving a boost to our ambitions of being nationally recognized for overall development related to the game."
"Playing such a high-level team will be great preparation for our team," said Chris Nugent, Head Coach for Chattanooga FC's men's team. “Having high-level friendlies pushes us to train harder, perform at a higher level and hopefully that sets us up for the season to compete on a higher level. It's also a huge event to be able to get teams of that size to come into the city. These are major league players that have played in the Champions League and are going to play in the World Cup. Our club wants to help grow our city and community through soccer and what better way of doing it than having an elite team come in to play us."
Both clubs are in the process of building and finalizing their 2025 rosters, so new faces are expected on the pitch. One player who is returning to Atlanta United in 2025 is Brad Guzan, who helped lead Atlanta to a first-round playoff series victory over Lionel Messi's Inter Miami.
In the 2017 meeting at Finley, Atlanta collected a 4-0 victory in front of 12,484 fans and in 2023, the clubs played to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Finley in front of 7,513 fans.
Tickets go on sale exclusively to Chattanooga FC season ticket holders and CFC Academy families today, Monday, December 16 at 12:00 p.m. EST at ChattanoogaFC.com.
The general public sale will begin on Wednesday, December 18th at 10:00 a.m. EST.
Fans are encouraged to reserve their seats early as prices will increase closer to matchday.