The Volunteer Shield was a trophy awarded to the primary supporter group of the Tennessean club 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. ...

with the best head-to-head record. It was inaugurated in 2015, and awarded retroactively to

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team is in MLS Next Pro starting in 2024. Prior to joining MLS Next Pro, the club played in the National Indep ...

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 ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

, the official state tree of Tennessee.

Teams

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 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

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

Previous results

2014

2015

2016

2017

For 2017, the

Southeast Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, 3 ...

was split in two with Knoxville Force competing in the East Division while

, Memphis City FC, and new team

Inter Nashville FC Inter Nashville FC is an amateur soccer team based in Nashville suburb of Antioch, Tennessee. They began play in the National Premier Soccer League in May 2017, following Nashville FC folding. The team underwent an extended hiatus following the C ...

all competed in the West Division. To accommodate for this, the shield organizers divided the four teams into two groups: *''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. 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).

Group A

''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''

Group B

Other 2017 matches between Tennessee teams

2018

2019

References

{{United States-Canada soccer rivalries Soccer in Tennessee Soccer rivalries in the United States 2015 establishments in Tennessee 2019 disestablishments in Tennessee Dissolved sports rivalries