Volunteer Shield

Volunteer Shield
	Volunteer Shield held up at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee after being awarded to Chattanooga FC on July 4, 2015.
Sport	Soccer
League	National Premier Soccer League
Awarded for	Best NPSL team from the state of Tennessee
Location	Tennessee
Country	United States
History
First award	2015 (Plus retroactive 2014 awarding)
Editions	6
Final award	2019
First winner	Chattanooga FC
Most wins	Chattanooga FC (5)
Most recent	Chattanooga FC (2019)
Website	Volunteer Shield Page

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]

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.

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

2014

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

May 10, 2014	Knoxville Force	1–4	Nashville FC	Knoxville, TN
		Report

May 17, 2014	Chattanooga FC	0–0	Nashville FC	Chattanooga, TN
		Report

May 31, 2014	Knoxville Force	0–4	Chattanooga FC	Knoxville, TN
		Report

June 13, 2014	Nashville FC	0–2	Chattanooga FC	Nashville, TN
		Report

June 21, 2014	Chattanooga FC	6–1	Knoxville Force	Chattanooga, TN
		Report

July 4, 2014	Nashville FC	1–0	Knoxville Force	Nashville, TN
		Report

2015

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

June 20, 2015	Nashville FC	0–2	Chattanooga FC	Nashville, TN
		Report		Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium

June 27, 2015	Chattanooga FC	4–2	Knoxville Force	Chattanooga, TN
		Report		Stadium: Finley Stadium

July 2, 2015	Nashville FC	6–0	Knoxville Force	Nashville, TN
		Report		Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium

July 4, 2015	Chattanooga FC	2–0	Nashville FC	Chattanooga, TN
		Report		Stadium: Finley Stadium

2016

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 12, 2016 (2016-06-12)	Memphis City FC	5–1	Knoxville Force	Memphis, TN
19:00 CDT (UTC-05:00)				Stadium: Mike Rose Soccer Complex

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 Report CFC 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

June 25, 2016	Memphis City FC	1–1	Chattanooga FC	Memphis, TN
				Stadium: Mike Rose Soccer Complex

June 25, 2016	Nashville FC	0–1	Knoxville Force	Nashville, TN
				Stadium: Vanderbilt Stadium

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

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

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)	Winter 58' Whitehall 68' Reynolds 91'	Report	Chamberlain 45' Perez 90' Wilson 90'	Stadium: Finley Stadium

July 1, 2017	Inter Nashville FC	2–1	Chattanooga FC	Antioch, TN
	Cordova 29', 66' Gomez 56' Dunleavy 73'	Report	Whitehall 42', 71' Aldred 69' Bywater 90'	Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

Group B

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)	Avgousti 25' Tim Baker 40' Kelynack 51' Taylor 53' Pickering 70' Bamba 87' Foster 90' Schneider 90'	Report	Jones 69' Wadda 76'	Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

July 8, 2017	Memphis City FC	2–1	Knoxville Force	Memphis, TN
19:00 EDT	Steele 32' Wadda 44' Moreto 90'	Report	Fernandez 32' Pickering 74'	Stadium: Christian Brothers High School

Other 2017 matches between Tennessee teams

May 20, 2017	Inter Nashville FC	3–0	Memphis City FC	Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)	Kholfan 27' Medina 46' Reichenberger 51' Narke 77'	Report		Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

May 24, 2017	Memphis City FC	0–0	Chattanooga FC	Memphis, TN
19:00 EDT	Nishi 38' Jones 76'	Report	Yuhaschek 18' Carrier 79' Bywater 88'	Stadium: Christian Brothers High School

May 27, 2017	Memphis City FC	0–0	Inter Nashville FC	Memphis, TN
	Nishi 36'	Report	Chamberlain 68'	Stadium: Christian Brothers High School

June 28, 2017	Chattanooga FC	1–2	Memphis City FC	Chattanooga, TN
	Antonio 16' De Smedt 67'	Report	Nishi 33' Demba 55' Jones 67' Hyman 82'	Stadium: Finley Stadium Attendance: 3,854

2018

2018 results summary
Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
Chattanooga FC	12	4	4	0	10	1	+9
Inter Nashville FC	6	4	2	2	7	7	0
Emerald Force SC	0	4	0	4	5	14	-9

May 19, 2018	Chattanooga FC	2–0	Emerald Force SC	Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)	Valenciano 62' Clarke 78'	Report	Zaczyk 42' Rodriguez 90'	Stadium: Finley Stadium

May 26, 2018	Emerald Force SC	1–2	Inter Nashville FC	Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT	Garuba 44', Altman 76' Volny 90'	Report	de Jesus 44' Redmond 49' Emerald Force Soccer Club 61' (o.g.) Sakou 63', 73' Sassano 79'	Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

May 30, 2018	Emerald Force SC	1–5	Chattanooga FC	Knoxville, TN
19:00 EDT	Barlow 32' Hellmann 34' Zapata 64'	Report	Costa 3' Clarke 11' Mendizabal 22' Oliveira 47' Valenciano 65'	Stadium: Sansom Sports Complex

June 2, 2018	Inter Nashville FC	5–3	Emerald Force SC	Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT	Collins 11' Dunleavy 22' Sakou 26, 66' Simon 48' Taylor 72' Reichenberger 73'	Report	Barlow 8', 50' 75' Zapata 30' Garuba 42', 73' Alvarez 81'	Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

June 13, 2018	Inter Nashville FC	0–2	Chattanooga FC	Antioch, TN
19:00 EDT	Sakou 2' Taylor 61' 63'	Report	Valenciano 42' Ferraz 89'	Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

July 4, 2018	Chattanooga FC	1–0	Inter Nashville FC	Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)	Oliveira 66'	Report		Stadium: Finley Stadium

2019

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

June 8, 2018	Chattanooga FC	4–0	Inter Nashville FC	Chattanooga, TN
19:30 EDT (UTC-04:00)	Ferraz 20, 50' Mendizabal 84' Wilschrey 86' Oliveira 89'	Report	Brookes 60'	Stadium: Finley Stadium

July 3, 2019	Inter Nashville FC	1–5	Chattanooga FC	Antioch, TN
19:30 EDT	Moreland 39' Silva 48'	Report	Dustan 4' Walsh 33' Ferraz 43' Webb 47' De Lima 51'	Stadium: International Indoor Soccer Complex

References

^ "The Yellow Hammer - Nashville FC Supporter's Club". Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
^ https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerShield ^{[user-generated source]}
^ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ "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).
^ McElhaney, Tori (12 July 2017). "Chattanooga Football Club out of playoffs with 2-1 loss to Inter Nashville [photos]". timesfreepress.com.
^ "Volunteer Shield Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[1] "The Yellow Hammer - Nashville FC Supporter's Club". Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.

[2] ttps://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.

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