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Nashville SC

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Nashville SC
Full nameNashville Soccer Club
Nickname(s)Coyotes, Boys in Gold[1]
FoundedMay 19, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05-19)[nb 1]
StadiumGeodis Park
Nashville, Tennessee
Capacity30,000
Owners
List
CEOIan Ayre
Head coachB. J. Callaghan
LeagueMajor League Soccer
2024Eastern Conference: 13th
Overall: 25th
Playoffs: Did not qualify
Websitenashvillesc.com
Current season

Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining MLS as an expansion team. The club plays its home matches at Geodis Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States. It is principally owned by John Ingram, owner of Ingram Industries, along with investors and partial owners the Turner family of Dollar General Stores.

History

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Soccer in Nashville

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Prior to the arrival of Nashville's MLS team, the city had various soccer teams which played in the lower divisions of American soccer. The most notable teams were the Nashville Metros who played from 1989 until 2012 and Nashville FC, who played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) from 2013 to 2016. The city also hosts two NCAA Division I men's soccer teams, the Belmont Bruins and Lipscomb Bisons. The Vanderbilt Commodores also played Division I men's soccer until the team's demise after the 2005 season. Prior to these teams, the Nashville Diamonds participated in the then-second division American Soccer League for one season in 1982.[7]

The NPSL team, Nashville FC, was founded by a supporters group that intended to form a team as a fan-owned group. Chris Jones, Nashville FC's president, cited existing fan-owned clubs as inspiration for NFC's foundation, in particular the English club F.C. United of Manchester.[8] In February 2014, the two groups merged to form a single club for the 2014 NPSL season. The club had two teams participating in the Middle Tennessee Soccer Alliance, Nashville's largest competitive adult league, and had partnered with the Tennessee State Soccer Association (TSSA), an organization with over 20,000 registered players in the Middle Tennessee area alone.[9] The team played its matches at Vanderbilt Stadium.[10] The NPSL club had ambitions of climbing the American soccer pyramid, with the reported target an entry into the then third-tier United Soccer League (USL; now known as the USL Championship) by 2017,[11] and then ascension into the Division II North American Soccer League by 2020.[8] However, in 2016, the USL awarded a franchise to a separate ownership group in Nashville. Nashville FC subsequently sold its team name, logo, and color scheme to the new USL franchise, which became known as Nashville SC, in exchange for a 1 percent equity stake in the USL team and a voting seat on its board.[12] Former 2010 MLS Cup winning coach Gary Smith was announced as the team's first manager in April 2017.[13][14] On February 10, 2018, Nashville SC competed in their first game; in preseason against Atlanta United FC.[15] In the rain-soaked contest, Nashville was defeated by Atlanta, 3–1, in front of 9,059 spectators.[16]

Expansion bid

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In August 2016, a group of Nashville business leaders led by Bill Hagerty formed the Nashville MLS Organizing Committee and began efforts to secure funding for an MLS stadium.[17] The group fully supported the recently awarded USL expansion team, Nashville SC, which began play in 2018. Both groups supported each other in their common vision to grow the sport in Tennessee.[18] In October 2017, the group unveiled their plans for $275 million stadium and redevelopment project,[19][20] which was approved by the city in November.[21]

Nashville SC players: Ropapa Mensah, Tucker Hume, Matt LaGrassa, Alan Winn, in 2018

The formal bid to add an MLS franchise to Nashville began in January 2017. On March 4, 2017, businessman John Ingram, under the entity Nashville Holdings LLC, bought a majority stake in DMD Soccer, the ownership group of Nashville SC.[22] Ingram also headed up the bid to bring an MLS franchise to Nashville,[23] and the partnership between Ingram and Nashville SC was an effort to present a united front to MLS after Nashville was named one of ten finalist cities for four MLS franchises.[24]

MLS officially awarded an expansion team to Nashville on December 20, 2017, and announced that they would join the league in 2020.[25] Mike Jacobs and Ian Ayre was announced as the Nashville's first general manager and CEO respectively.[26]

MLS

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Nashville SC's inaugural MLS match was February 29, 2020, with the club hosting Atlanta United FC at Nissan Stadium.[27] The game was played in front of 59,069, becoming the highest attended soccer event in Tennessee.[28] Walker Zimmerman scored the team's first goal in the 2–1 loss.[29] The inaugural season came to a halt on March 12, 2020, after only two games when the MLS suspended the season for thirty days due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[30] then extended to until May 10, 2020. On June 10, MLS announced MLS is Back Tournament, but Nashville were unable to participate in the tournament due to multiple COVID cases on the team. Their next game was an August 12 win against FC Dallas. Nashville SC finished the 2020 regular season 8–8–7 with 32 points. They entered the MLS Cup playoffs in the play-in round defeating Inter Miami 3–0 and knocking off Toronto FC 1–0 in the first round, before being defeated by the eventual champions Columbus Crew in the conference semi-finals in extra time.[31] The 2021 season saw Nashville perform well defensively, only allowing a tied for league-leading 33 goals and going undefeated at home.[32][33] The 2021 team would also tie a league record for draws in a season at 18. Nashville returned to the playoffs, but was again eliminated in the conference semi-finals, this time by Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout.[34] 2022 saw both the opening of Geodis Park and Hany Mukhtar winning both the Landon Donovan MVP and Golden Boot awards after being a finalist for the former in the previous season.[35] Mukhtar led the league with 34 goal contributions, nearly two thirds of Nashville's goals in 2022 and leading the team to a third consecutive playoff berth.[36][37] Despite Mukhtar's success the club was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the LA Galaxy.[38]

Club crest and colors

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Nashville SC's primary colors are electric gold and acoustic blue, referencing the colors of Nashville’s flag. The club's crest is a gold octagon with a monogram "N" and several vertical bars in blue. The vertical bars were chosen to represent sound waves and vibrations, referencing the city's musical history.[39][3][40]

Sponsorship

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Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Sleeve sponsor Ref.
2018–2019 Under Armour Nissan — [41]
2020–present Adidas Renasant Bank Hyundai [42]

Supporters

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Nashville SC's original organized supporter group is The Roadies. Established in February 2014 with the creation of Nashville FC, the city's NPSL amateur franchise with the club's transition from NPSL amateur to USL pro status and finally MLS, The Roadies similarly transitioned to maintain their support for "Our Town, Our Club".[43]

Stadium

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Main article: Geodis Park

The team plays at the 30,000 seat Geodis Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States.[44][45] The $275 million stadium was mostly funded by revenue bonds from the Nashville government, per an agreement with the Nashville Metro Council that was approved in November 2017.[46] The council approved the stadium on September 4, 2018, in front of an audience with mixed opinions on the project, with the votes 31-yes and 8-no. A proposal to submit the plan to a referendum based on Metro government's "partial funding" was rejected by the council, with the votes 25-yes (to reject the referendum) and 12-no (to permit).[47]

In January 2019, John Rose, a U.S. representative from Cookeville led the nonprofit that operates the Tennessee State Fair to sue the team to halt construction, citing that the stadium would not leave adequate space required for the functions of the fair.[48] However, in February of the same year, Rose and the nonprofit dismissed the lawsuit citing that city officials would not meet with the nonprofit while this suit was pending.[49] Demolition on the Fairgrounds site began in March 2020.[50]

The agreement of the stadium and its funding details was amended on February 13, 2020, with the help of Nashville Mayor John Cooper to make the stadium 100 percent privately funded with the team will also funding $19 million of infrastructure improvements in the immediate area.[51]

Nashville, during the USL era primarily played at First Tennessee Park before switching to Nissan Stadium for their first two seasons in MLS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were limited seating capacity in their tenure while using Nissan Stadium.

Players and staff

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See also: List of Nashville SC players

Current roster

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As of December 27, 2024[52]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United States USA Joe Willis
2 DF United States USA Daniel Lovitz
5 DF United States USA Jack Maher
8 MF Costa Rica CRC Randall Leal
9 FW England ENG Sam Surridge
10 MF Germany GER Hany Mukhtar
11 MF United States USA Tyler Boyd
12 FW United States USA Teal Bunbury
14 MF Canada CAN Jacob Shaffelburg
15 MF Australia AUS Patrick Yazbek
19 MF United States USA Alex Muyl
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 DF United States USA Josh Bauer
23 DF United States USA Taylor Washington
24 MF Mexico MEX Jonathan Pérez (on loan from LA Galaxy)
25 DF United States USA Walker Zimmerman
28 FW Canada CAN Woobens Pacius
29 DF United States USA Julian Gaines
30 GK United States USA Elliot Panicco
47 MF Sierra Leone SLE Isaiah Jones
77 FW United States USA Adem Sipić
— MF Uruguay URU Gastón Brugman
— MF Norway NOR Edvard Tagseth

Staff

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As of May 16, 2024[53]
Technical Staff
Head coach B.J. Callaghan
Assistant coach John Bello
Goalkeeping coach vacant
General manager Mike Jacobs
Assistant general manager Oliver Miller-Farrell
Chief scout Luke Sassano

Team records

[edit]

Seasons

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This table of the last few Nashville SC seasons is an excerpt from List of Nashville SC seasons § Seasons.[edit]
For a more comprehensive list, see List of Nashville SC seasons.
Season League Position Playoffs USOC Continental / Other Average
attendance 		Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Con Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts PPG Conf. Overall Player(s) Goals
2018 2 USL E 34 12 13 9 42 31 +11 49 1.44 8th 17th R1 Ro16 DNQ 9,561 United States Brandon Allen 9
2019 USLC 34 20 7 7 59 26 +33 67 1.97 2nd 3rd QF R3 DNQ 6,999 Mexico Daniel Ríos 21
2020 1 MLS E[a] 23 8 7 8 24 22 +2 32 1.39 7th 14th QF NH MLS is Back Tournament DNE 12,925 Germany Hany Mukhtar 5
2021 MLS 34 12 4 18 55 33 +22 54 1.59 3rd 7th QF NH DNQ 19,338 Germany Hany Mukhtar 19
2022 MLS W 34 13 10 11 52 41 +11 50 1.47 5th 10th R1 QF DNQ 27,554 Germany Hany Mukhtar 26 ♦
2023 MLS E 24 11 8 5 31 22 +9 38 1.58 4th 6th R1 R16 Leagues Cup RU 28,604 Germany Hany Mukhtar 17
Total – – – 183 76 49 58 263 175 +88 290 1.58 – – – – – – Germany Hany Mukhtar 67

^ 1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
^ 2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, MLS is Back Tournament, Leagues Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

  1. ^ In 2020, Nashville SC switched from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference after playing 2 matches.

Honors

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Player records

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Statistics include all competitive matches since Nashville SC entered the MLS in 2020. Current players on the club's roster are shown in bold.

As of October 29, 2024[54][55]

Most appearances

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Rank Name Nat. Period MLS PO OC LC CCC Total
1 Alex Muyl United States 2020– 145 7 6 8 4 170
2 Hany Mukhtar Germany 2020– 145 8 4 9 3 169
3 Joe Willis United States 2020– 151 8 1 5 3 168
4 Daniel Lovitz United States 2020– 139 8 5 9 3 164
5 Walker Zimmerman United States 2020– 126 8 3 7 2 146
6 Aníbal Godoy Panama 2020–2024 111 6 1 9 4 131
7 Brian Anunga Cameroon 2020–2024 109 7 6 3 3 128
8 Jack Maher United States 2020– 110 4 6 5 2 127
9 Dax McCarty United States 2020–2023 105 7 3 6 0 121
10 Randall Leal Costa Rica 2020– 105 6 3 2 0 116

Top goalscorers

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Rank Name Nat. Period MLS PO OC LC CCC Total[a] Ratio
1 Hany Mukhtar Germany 2020– 66 4 3 2 1 76 (169) 0.45
2 Sam Surridge England 2023– 14 0 0 4 2 20 (47) 0.43
3 C. J. Sapong United States 2021–2023 17 0 1 0 0 18 (80) 0.23
4 Randall Leal Costa Rica 2020– 16 1 0 0 0 17 (116) 0.15
5 Walker Zimmerman United States 2020– 13 0 0 2 0 15 (146) 0.10
6 Alex Muyl United States 2020– 11 0 2 1 0 14 (170) 0.08
7 Teal Bunbury United States 2022– 11 0 0 1 0 12 (88) 0.14
8 Jacob Shaffelburg Canada 2022– 7 0 0 1 2 10 (77) 0.13
9 Fafà Picault Haiti 2023 5 0 1 3 0 9 (39) 0.23
10 Daniel Ríos Mexico 2020–2021 5 1 0 0 0 6 (33) 0.18
  1. ^ Numbers in brackets indicate appearances made.

Notes

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  1. ^ Club founded in 2016. MLS franchise granted in 2017.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "GEODIS Preview: Nashville SC hosts NYCFC as Boys in Gold return to GEODIS Park". Nashville SC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Nashville SC sign four players from USL Championship side". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. November 22, 2019. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Nashville MLS expansion team unveils name, crest". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. February 20, 2019. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020. Ingram's partners in the soccer club include Minnesota Vikings owners Mark, Zygi and Leonard Wilf, and the Turner Family, managing partners of Nashville-based MarketStreet Enterprises.
  4. ^ Garrison, Joey (October 4, 2017). "Nashville MLS stadium plan raises questions over 10-acre private development". The Tennessean. Retrieved February 21, 2019. The Turners, who led the transformation of the Gulch neighborhood a decade ago, recently signed on as minority owners in the Ingram-led MLS investment group.
  5. ^ Capps, Milt (November 12, 2018). "Venture Notes - November 12, 2018". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  6. ^ "Filip Forsberg, Giannis Antetokounmpo Join Nashville Soccer Club Ownership Group". Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  7. ^ "1982 Nashville Diamonds". FunWhileItLasted.net. July 30, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Barker, Matthew (February 25, 2015). "Fan-owned Nashville FC under threat from US franchise: Club ownership model a rarity among US sports teams". When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  9. ^ "NASHVILLE ATLAS FC JOINS THE NPSL". nationalpremiersoccerleague.com. National Premier Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  10. ^ Boyer, E.J. (May 27, 2014). "Nashville FC soccer club draws crowd in first home opener, eyes Greer Stadium". The Business Journals. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. ^ Itel, Dan (July 29, 2015). "Supporter-owned FC Nashville looking to make jump up soccer pyramid". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  12. ^ "USL Formally Welcomes Nashville to League". United Soccer League. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  13. ^ "Nashville Unveils Smith as Head Coach". United Soccer League (USL). April 12, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  14. ^ "Gary Smith, MLS Cup-winning coach, to lead Nashville SC". Mike Organ. Nashville Tennessean. April 12, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  15. ^ "Nashville SC to Host Atlanta United in Historic Exhibition". USL Soccer. November 28, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  16. ^ Roberson, Doug (February 10, 2018). "Atlanta United wins preseason opener". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  17. ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (December 19, 2016). "Tennessee legislature proposes bill to help fund Nashville MLS stadium". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  18. ^ Stejskal, Sam (August 9, 2016). "Nashville business leaders form group to bring MLS to the Music City". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "Soccer stadium backers detail redevelopment plans". Nashville Post. October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  20. ^ "Nashville soccer fans come out in force for $275M MLS stadium proposal". The Tennessean. October 24, 2017.
  21. ^ "Nashville MLS expansion bid gets boost from $275m stadium approval". ESPN. November 8, 2017. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  22. ^ Garrison, Joey (May 4, 2017). "John Ingram buys majority stake in Nashville SC, aligning efforts for MLS bid". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  23. ^ Garrison, Joey (December 20, 2016). "Businessman John Ingram to lead Nashville's Major League Soccer bid". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  24. ^ Garrison, Joey (December 15, 2016). "Nashville among 10 cities under consideration for four MLS expansion teams". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  25. ^ Rosano, Nicholas (December 20, 2017). "Nashville awarded MLS expansion club". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  26. ^ "Nashville MLS Appoints First General Manager". NashvilleSC.com. MLS Digital. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  27. ^ "Nashville SC to host Atlanta United in inaugural MLS match". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. November 18, 2019. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  28. ^ "Nashville SC sets attendance record in first MLS match". Nashville PRIDE, Inc. March 6, 2020. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  29. ^ Liljenwall, Ari (February 29, 2020). "Nashville SC 1, Atlanta United 2". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  30. ^ Butler, Dylan (March 12, 2020). "List of Major League Soccer games affected by coronavirus-related suspension". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  31. ^ "2020 MLS Cup playoffs: Who's in, fixtures, results, final date and key info". ESPN. December 12, 2020. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  32. ^ "2021 Major League Soccer Stats". FBRef.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  33. ^ "Nashville Soccer Club Extends Home Unbeaten Streak to 23 Matches Across All Competitions with 2-1 Win over CF Montréal". NashvilleSC.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  34. ^ Estes, Gentry (November 29, 2021). "Despite progress, Nashville SC's 2021 efforts were undone by too many ties". The Tennessean.
  35. ^ "Nashville Soccer Club Opens GEODIS Park in Front of a Sellout Crowd of 30,109". NashvilleSC.com.
  36. ^ "Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar named 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP". MLSSoccer.com. November 1, 2022. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  37. ^ "MLS 2021 year-end awards finalists". MLSSoccer.com. November 15, 2021. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  38. ^ Hills, Drake (October 15, 2022). "MLS Playoffs: Nashville SC left thinking 'what if' as 2022 season ends in Round One". The Tennessean.
  39. ^ "Nashville SC Unveiled as Name of MLS Club". NashvilleSC.com. MLS Digital. February 20, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  40. ^ Torres, Luis (February 20, 2019). "Nashville MLS: Team releases new logo, brands itself as Nashville SC". The Tennessean. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  41. ^ "Nissan backs USL expansion franchise Nashville SC". November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  42. ^ "Nashville SC Unveils First Major League Soccer Jersey". NashvilleSC.com. MLS Digital. January 18, 2020. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  43. ^ "The Roadies". NSCRoadies.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  44. ^ Parsi, Novid. "Nashville boasts the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada". BDCNetwork.com.
  45. ^ Prince-Right, Joe (September 5, 2018). "Nashville's $275 million MLS stadium approved". Archived from the original on September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  46. ^ Garrison, Joey (November 7, 2017). "Nashville Metro Council approves financing for $275M MLS stadium project". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  47. ^ "Nashville MLS stadium project wins final Metro Council approval". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  48. ^ Garrison, Joey. "Tennessee congressman's state fair group sues Nashville seeking to stop MLS stadium". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  49. ^ Tamburin, Adam. "Tennessee State Fair Association withdraws suit against Nashville MLS stadium construction". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  50. ^ Sigal, Jonathan (March 16, 2020). "Nashville SC begin demolition at fairgrounds site for soccer-specific stadium". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  51. ^ Borg, Simon (February 13, 2020). "New Nashville soccer stadium is a go: MLS club, mayor agree on revised deal". MLSSoccer.com. MLS Digital. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  52. ^ "Roster". NashvilleSC.com. Nashville SC. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  53. ^ "Technical Staff". Nashville SC. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  54. ^ "Nashville SC – Stats". MLSSoccer.com.
  55. ^ "Squad of Nashville SC". BeSoccer.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
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