The Volunteer Shield was a trophy awarded to the primary supporter group of the Tennessean club in the National Premier Soccer League with the best head-to-head record. It was inaugurated in 2015, and awarded retroactively to Chattanooga FC for the best record during the 2014 season. The shield derives its name from the state's nickname, the "Volunteer State," and is made of Tulip Poplar, the official state tree of Tennessee.[1][2]

Volunteer Shield
Volunteer Shield held up at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee after being awarded to Chattanooga FC on July 4, 2015.
SportSoccer
LeagueNational Premier Soccer League
Awarded forBest NPSL team from the state of Tennessee
LocationTennessee
CountryUnited States
History
First award2015 (Plus retroactive 2014 awarding)
Editions6
Final award2019
First winnerChattanooga FC
Most winsChattanooga FC (5)
Most recentChattanooga FC (2019)
WebsiteVolunteer Shield Page

Teams

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Originally contested between three teams, at the shield's peak it was contested between four clubs within the NPSL's Southeastern Conference. Chattanooga FC had been the longest standing member of the competition before it left the league following the 2019 season.

As of 2020, only one team in the NPSL (Inter Nashville) is based in the state of Tennessee.

Volunteer Shield Teams
Team Name First season No. of Shield Wins Last NPSL season
Chattanooga FC 2014 5 (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) 2019 (to NISA)
Emerald Force SC 2014 1 (2017) 2018 (folded)
Inter Nashville FC 2017 0 N/A
Memphis City FC 2016 0 2017 (to PDL)
Nashville FC 2014 0 2016 (folded)

Previous results

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2014

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2014 results summary
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Chattanooga FC 10 4 3 0 1 12 1 +11
Nashville FC 7 4 2 1 1 5 2 +2
Knoxville Force 0 4 0 4 0 2 15 −13

2015

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2015 results summary
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Chattanooga FC 10 4 3 0 1 9 3 +6
Nashville FC 6 4 2 2 0 10 7 +3
Knoxville Force 1 4 0 3 1 6 15 −9
June 9, 2015 Knoxville Force 3–4 Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
Report Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 13, 2015 Knoxville Force 1–1 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
Report Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

2016

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2016 results summary
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Chattanooga FC 16 6 5 0 1 15 3 +12
Memphis City FC 10 6 3 2 1 13 9 +4
Knoxville Force 6 6 2 4 0 8 19 −11
Nashville FC 3 6 1 5 0 5 10 −5
May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21) Chattanooga FC 2–1 Nashville FC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Samuel Goni   55'
  • Luke Winter   62'
  • John Carrier   64'
  • Liam Guest   67'
  • Danny Reynolds   90'
CFC Report
NFC Report
  • Joel Kazhila   32'
  • Elias Tamburini   50'
  • Liam Collins   62'
  • Kyle McLagan   75'
  • Jordan Wright   86'
  • Denzel Woods   86'
  • Alec Velez   90'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 5,593
May 28, 2016 (2016-05-28) Nashville FC 0–1 Memphis City FC Nashville, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)
  • Fazlo Alihodzic   26'
  • Liam Collins   40'
NFC Report
MCFC Report
  • Blake Lashlee   82'
  • Neil Cummings   86'
  • Cameron Woodfin   89'
Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium
Attendance: 1,133
June 4, 2016 (2016-06-04) Knoxville Force 3–2 Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Dallas Dunn   2'
  • Ryan Creel   65'
  • Cameron Schneider   83'
KF Report
NFC Report
  • Elliot Goodwin   16'
  • Yuji Callahan   23'
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 4, 2016 (2016-06-04) Chattanooga FC 2–1 Memphis City FC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Jon Finlay   6'
  • William Roberts   31'
CFC Report
MCFC Report
  • Santiago Moore   16'
  • Fakhry Kholfan   61'
  • Luke Parker   83'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 3,464
June 7, 2016 (2016-06-07) Chattanooga FC 4–0 Knoxville Force Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
  • Sindre Welo   47'
  • John Carter   66'
  • John Carter   73'
  • Juan Mendicabal   85'
  • David Perez   89'
CFC Report
KF Report
  • Jamie McLellan   65'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
June 16, 2016 (2016-06-16) Nashville FC 0–2 Chattanooga FC Nashville, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)
  • Erik Furseth   1'
  • Kyle McLagan   8'
  • Nicholas Melville   80'
NFC ReportCFC Report
  • Luke Winter   36'
  • Danny Reynolds   38'
  • Kieran Bywater   46'
Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium
June 18, 2016 (2016-06-18) Memphis City FC 1–2 Nashville FC Memphis, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00) Stadium: Mike Rose Soccer Complex
July 2, 2016 Knoxville Force 3–4 Memphis City FC Knoxville, TN
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
July 5, 2016 Knoxville Force 0–4 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

2017

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For 2017, the Southeast Conference was split in two with Knoxville Force competing in the East Division while Chattanooga FC, Memphis City FC, and new team Inter Nashville FC all competed in the West Division. To accommodate for this, the shield organizers divided the four teams into two groups:[3]

  • Chattanooga vs Inter Nashville
  • Memphis City vs Knoxville Force

The results from the two matches within each group would determine who wins that group. Once the two group winners emerge, the points earned in the two regular season matches the group winners played against one another would determine the overall winner. If those points were tied, or if the two group winners didn’t play in the regular season, the first tiebreaker would be the results of a playoff match between the group winners. If the group winners did not meet in the playoffs, then the overall results stand tied between the group winners and both would be listed a co-champions.

Chattanooga and Knoxville both won their groups on tie-breakers but since neither team played one-another in the regular season, the shield champion would be decided by tie-breaker whether that be a in a playoff match between the two sides or PointPerGame average vs other Tennessee teams.[4] In the first playoff round, which Knoxville had a bye in due to winning the East Division, Chattanooga fell to Nashville, 2-1, meaning the Knoxville Force won the shield based on PPG (1.5 to 1.0).[5]

Group A

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2017 Group A
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD SEC P SEC GD
Chattanooga FC 3 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 22 +21
Inter Nashville FC 3 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 22 +10

Tiebreakers: 1) Goal Diff in the two group matches; 2) Goals Scored in the two group matches; 3) Points earned in Southeast Conference play; 4) Goal Differential in Southeast Conference matches; 5) Coin-flip[6]

June 17, 2017 Chattanooga FC 2–1 Inter Nashville FC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
Report
Stadium: Finley Stadium
July 1, 2017 Inter Nashville FC 2–1 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

Group B

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2017 Group B
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Knoxville Force 3 2 1 1 0 4 3 +1
Memphis City FC 3 2 1 1 0 3 4 -1

Tiebreakers: 1) Goal Diff in the two group matches; 2) Goals Scored in the two group matches; 3) Points earned in Southeast Conference play; 4) Goal Differential in Southeast Conference matches; 5) Coin-flip

June 10, 2017 Knoxville Force 3–1 Memphis City FC Knoxville, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

Other 2017 matches between Tennessee teams

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May 20, 2017 Inter Nashville FC 3–0 Memphis City FC Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
Report Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex
June 28, 2017 Chattanooga FC 1–2 Memphis City FC Chattanooga, TN
Report
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Attendance: 3,854

2018

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2018 results summary
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Chattanooga FC 12 4 4 0 0 10 1 +9
Inter Nashville FC 6 4 2 2 0 7 7 0
Emerald Force SC 0 4 0 4 0 5 14 -9
May 19, 2018 Chattanooga FC 2–0 Emerald Force SC Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)
Report
  • Zaczyk   42'
  • Rodriguez   90'
Stadium: Finley Stadium
May 26, 2018 Emerald Force SC 1–2 Inter Nashville FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
May 30, 2018 Emerald Force SC 1–5 Chattanooga FC Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex
June 2, 2018 Inter Nashville FC 5–3 Emerald Force SC Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex
June 13, 2018 Inter Nashville FC 0–2 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

2019

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2019 results summary
Team Pts Pld W L D GF GA GD
Chattanooga FC 6 2 2 0 0 9 1 +8
Inter Nashville FC 0 2 0 2 0 1 9 -8
July 3, 2019 Inter Nashville FC 1–5 Chattanooga FC Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT
Report
Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Yellow Hammer - Nashville FC Supporter's Club". Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  2. ^ https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerShield [user-generated source]
  3. ^ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Since the two did not meet in the season, the Shield could be decided by the two teams meeting in the playoffs. Knoxville skips the quarterfinal round on the strength of the 1st-place divisional finish. Chattanooga will host Nashville Tuesday night. Should Chattanooga win that match, then Friday's semifinal between Knoxville and Chattanooga would determine the Volunteer Shield. If Chattanooga loses on Tuesday, then Knoxville wins the Volunteer Shield on the strength of their higher PointPerGame average vs. Tennessee teams (1.5 to 1.0).
  5. ^ McElhaney, Tori (12 July 2017). "Chattanooga Football Club out of playoffs with 2-1 loss to Inter Nashville [photos]". timesfreepress.com.
  6. ^ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.