Chattanooga Football Club (CFC) announced today the addition of Chattanooga Football Club II, a team that will compete in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) beginning in the fall of 2025.
The team will be an important addition to the club's pre-professional development tier alongside its MLS NEXT teams.
Chattanooga FC II will compete in the Premier Division of the Georgia Conference.
Chattanooga FC Sporting Director Sebastian Giraldo, said: "The addition of Chattanooga FC II in the UPSL gives us a much more clear and direct connection to our MLS NEXT Pro team, which facilitates the development of our MLS NEXT athletes.
It will give our MLS NEXT athletes the experience they need to become professionals, while also giving us the flexibility to have a place where our MLS NEXT Pro athletes can train if they are not quite ready to play in a first-team match."
Chattanooga FC Head Coach Chris Nugent, said: "The addition of Chattanooga FC II has huge value to us as it will bridge the gap between the Academy, local players and the first team. It also allows some flexibility with first team players coming back from injury. It's all about giving players with potential for the future more opportunities to play in a competitive environment. Players need minutes on the field and sometimes with squad size restrictions and other factors, we can't give that to them. Having this extra option helps solve that problem. This will benefit younger players coming up as well as first team players."
Chattanooga FC Academy Director of Coaching and MLS NEXT Director Miguel Rodrigues, said: "The UPSL is an important piece of our MLS pathway, giving our guys meaningful minutes in a competitive adult environment. It’s a big step forward for Chattanooga FC and our Academy, helping us better prepare players for the next step."
UPSL Commissioner Yan Skwara, said: “We are excited to welcome professional soccer club Chattanooga FC to the UPSL Premier Division. We’re eager to see what the club’s second team can accomplish on the field, and proud to align with Chattanooga FC to help develop their local, future professional talent. Their presence will only elevate the level of competition in the Georgia Premier Division, and we are excited to offer a high-level of play for talented, young players.”
Founded in 2011, the UPSL now stands as the largest and most competitive professional development league in North America. The league was started in Santa Ana, California by Leonel Lopez with 10 teams and now has nearly 400 clubs competing nationwide.
The league occupies the fourth tier on the US Soccer pyramid, just below the three professional tiers in the pyramid. With a participant average age of 22.5 years, the UPSL fills and brings structure to the large gap that exists between the youth game and the professional game, serving thousands of aspiring players and coaches as they strive to further their aspirations. Currently players with origins in 90 different nations participate in the league, and over 50% of players and coaches are of Hispanic descent.
Each UPSL club is independently owned and operated. The league operates year-round, comprising two seasons each calendar year, with the Spring season beginning in March and ending with national playoffs the first weekend in August, and a Fall season with play beginning in September with national playoffs the first weekend in February.
The UPSL is headquartered in Miami, Florida and functions parallel to its satellite office in Los Angeles, California.
Details on where the team will play its matches and information on coaching staff and players will be announced at a later date.