Memphis City FC were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

which played in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. The team was founded in 2015 and played its inaugural season in 2016 in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

. The team competed for a rivalry trophy called the "Volunteer Shield". The four Tennessee teams Memphis City FC,

Nashville FC Nashville Football Club was a soccer organization based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2013, the team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the ...

, Chattanooga FC, and Knoxville Force play against one another twice throughout the season. The team with the most points per win/tie, wins the trophy.

History

Memphis City FC was founded on May 27, 2015, with the intention of bringing high-level soccer to the city of Memphis and to advance the cause of Memphis soccer nationally. Following several months of planning and set-up, the club was officially announced to the public on November 4, 2015, when it was revealed that they had won a place in the NPSL for the 2016 season.

Badge and colors

The badge of the club consists of a stylized capitals "MCFC" contained within concentric rings, the club's name written again in full within the rings, and the design topped off with two small

Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Most were built as tombs for the pharaohs and their consorts during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom periods. At least 138 identi ...

which represent the namesake of the club's home city, being

Memphis, Egypt Memphis (, ; Bohairic ; ), or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first Nome (Egypt), nome of Lower Egypt that was known as ''mḥw'' ("North"). Its ruins are located in the vicinity of the present-day village of Mit Rahina () ...

. The design bears strong similarities to that of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

, with Memphis City's management admitting that NYCFC sister club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

influenced the naming of the NPSL team, although the two sides share neither ownership, management nor affiliation. The colors of the club, in contrast, are similar to the Maroon and Orange of

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

, which the club again cites as a primary influence on the founders, stating that they additionally represent a contrast to the traditional blues and greens of other nearby soccer sides. The jerseys used by Memphis City FC are supplied by Hummel Sports and the jersey sponsor is Toyota. Their home jersey boasts a maroon base with white accents and the away jersey is white and the I-40 cup boasts a sky blue body and white accents.

Stadium

The club played its home games at Mike Rose Soccer Complex, in a 2,500 capacity stadium on the site, lying a short distance to the east of the city. Toward the end of the 2016 season the team moved to Christian Brothers High School's Tom Nix Stadium. They now play their home games there at 5900 Walnut Grove, seating 3,000.

Awards 2016

Santiago Moore of Memphis City FC won the 2016 Volunteer Shield Golden Boot. Moore finished the competition for Tennessee's premier club with 5 goals and helped guide MCFC and their MCFC Rogue Squadron to a respectable second place finish in the derby in Memphis' inaugural season. * Volunteer Golden Boot * NPSL SE Conference Player of the Week (multiple times) * Dalton State scholarship offer Humberto Paelez * Voted NPSL SE Player of the Week (multiple times) Jack Skahan * Youngest player ever (17 yo) to score in the NPSL SE Conference Cameron Woodfin * Southern Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week Hayden Hamilton (16 Y/O) * Youngest player to play in NPSL Southeast Conference

Conference

In 2016 MCFC was a part of the SouthEastern Conference. It consisted of 6 teams.

, Chattanooga FC, Knoxville Force,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Birmingham Hammers, and Memphis City FC. In 2017 the Conference expanded and added 4 more teams and divided the conference into two divisions, the East and West. In the East Asheville City FC, Atlanta Silverbacks,

FC Carolina Discoveries FC Carolina United is a soccer organization based in Rock Hill, South Carolina near Charlotte, North Carolina. The team announced they would participate in the National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an Ame ...

, Georgia Revolution, and Knoxville Force. In the West Birmingham Hammers, Chattanooga FC, Inter-Nashville FC, Memphis City FC, and

New Orleans Jesters The New Orleans Jesters are an American association football, soccer team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Nicknamed 'Th ...

Regular season 2016 record

(** Represents I-40 CUP) (* Represents Conference Play)

Post-season 2016

Regular season 2017 record

(~ Represents I-40 CUP) (* Represents Conference Play) (** Represents West Conference Play)

Year-by-year

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.memphiscityfc.com/ National Premier Soccer League teams 2015 establishments in Tennessee Association football clubs established in 2015 Association football clubs disestablished in 2018 Soccer clubs in Memphis, Tennessee 2010s in Memphis, Tennessee