Chattanooga Pre-Season Bulletin - January

Jonathan Turner
29 minutes ago
6 min read

NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- A Happy New Year from the Scenic City. As we near closer to the beginning of the 2026 season across different leagues, we’re seeing some significant roster building going on across the teams in the local area. Added to this has been the release of a number of regular season schedules, and the excitement to Spring builds. Here’s the latest soccer headlines from Chattanooga and nearby for January.

Chattanooga Challenge

On January 21, the National Soccer Network (NSN) announced the NSN Chattanooga Challenge 2026. This will bring together several regional UPSL and APSL clubs while supporting charitable organizations in the local area. The tournament will take place in Chattanooga, with a portion of proceeds benefiting Chattanooga Sports Ministries and City Fields (Cleveland, TN), organizations that use soccer to positively impact youth and families throughout the region.

Cleveland United FC (Cleveland, TN), Tango FC (Athens, TN), Scenic City SC (Chattanooga, TN), Georgia United FC (Smyrna, GA), Potros FC (Marietta, GA), and Red Top SC (Cartersville, GA) will compete for the new tournament. While the full schedule has yet to be released, NSN confirmed the opening match will feature Scenic City SC hosting Cleveland United FC on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:00 PM, to be played at the Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts. We’ll have more coverage of the Tournament as details are announced.

Chattanooga FC

Leading off, Chattanooga FC have been busy as ever this month. They kick off their pre-season on February 8th when they host Birmingham Legion at home in front of their season ticket holders. Pre-season was supposed to begin last weekend, but inclement weather in the Scenic City caused the game against TECCE FC to be postponed.

Over in the transfer and free agent markets the club made no less than 11 new signings in January. These were Alexis Arrúa (Racing Club, Argentina), Ashton Gordon (loan from Atlanta United), Damien Barker John (Nashville/Huntsville City), Isaiah Jones (loan from Nashville), Francis Amoateng (Right to Dream Academy), Kenneth Tsokli (Right to Dream Academy), and Junior Flores (Colón, Argentina). Striker Yuval Cohen will return

for 2026 also. This brings CFC’s squad to a total of 25 players. You can read our breakdown of the roster here.

CFC’s regular season schedule was released in January 21st. Their home opener will be on Sunday, March 1 against Crown Legacy on the league’s opening weekend. They will host expansion side CT United the next weekend on March 8. Important to know is that MLS NEXT Pro will continue to play through the World Cup in June and July. CFC’s away game at Atlanta United 2 on June 13th will be played at the Turner Soccer Complex and not Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw where they played in 2024 and 2025. In the US Open Cup, Chattanooga will host near neighbors Kalonji Pro-Profile of the UPSL in the First Round on Wednesday, March 18th at 6:00 p.m. ET.

The lads over at the Section 109 podcast recently hosted Sporting Director Sebastian Giraldo to talk about the 2025 men’s and women’s season, data usage, and what to expect with the 2026 roster. It’s a great conversation and required listening for anyone who follows the club or is curious about the inner-workings of roster building at a lower league side.

Elsewhere, former CFC Head Coach Rod Underwood spoke to journalist Zachary Lowy from Breaking The Lines about his life, growing up in post-Jim Crow Atlanta, blazing the trail for Black players and coaches, and laying down his footprint in Chattanooga. It’s well worth a read for CFC’s fans, who still hold fond regard for a genuinely good man and his progressive style of coaching.

As for recently released players; Ethan Dudley has earned a move to USL Championship newcomers Sporting JAX. It’s an excellent move for the center-back who made 19 appearances for CFC in 2025. Midfielder Nick Mendonça, who played 27 times for Chattanooga last season has scored an intriguing move to USL League One expansion side New York Cosmos.

Chattanooga Red Wolves SC

In late December, the Red Wolves appointed Scotsman Danny McBride as the new Head Coach of their USL W side. McBride took over from Luke Winter who in 2025 led the Lady Red Wolves to 4th place in the USL W South Central Division. Last year, the side featured eight current Academy players on the roster, who collectively earned 28 starts and made 28 substitute appearances across 11 USL W matches. These graduates will be well known to McBride, who has worked with the Red Wolves Academy since the franchise’s birth in 2019.

The organization also appointed John White as General Manager. In a front office role, White is expected to oversee the club’s business operations and development. He predominantly has a background in advertising and founded Nooga Networking.

In the US Open Cup, the Red Wolves will be on the road in Round One, travelling to Murfreesboro, TN to take on Tennessee Tempo on Thursday, March 19th.

The Red Wolves lost a major player this offseason. 2025 All-League Team Player Declan Watters has signed for Sarasota Paradise, an expansion club in USL League One. Watters was arguably the Red Wolves’ best player last season, and his loss will leave a massive hole in their backline. In better news for the organization Pedro Hernández, Omar Hernández, and Aaron Lombardi were all confirmed as returning in 2026. Pedro Hernández returns for his fifth season with the Red Wolves and was their top scorer in 2025. Omar, from nearby Dalton, got six goals and four assists, while Lombardi is in his second spell with the outfit and contributed two goals in 2025.

English center-back Harry Jolley is the Red Wolves’ only confirmed new signing. The 23-year-old has experience with Wigan Athletic’s academy and has been in the Red Wolves’ system for some time, having previously played for the Red Wolves’ USL League Two affiliate in Park City, where he was part of their undefeated 2022 season.

UPSL

Scenic City

Scenic City are participating in the Chattanooga Challenge 2026 and have recently been posting about it on their Instagram. We will aim to have some pre-season coverage of their 2026 Spring preparations next month.

Cleveland United

Cleveland United will also play in the Chattanooga Challenge, kicking off against Scenic City on February 7th. As they enter their first season this Spring, the club has been busy spreading the word and we were lucky enough to sit down with Head Coach Adam Christensen in January to chat about roster building, the upcoming season, and his own journey in soccer and approach to the game.

Co-Founder Albert Murza also recently spoke with the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber to discuss the club’s mission and principles and the club was also featured on Protagonist Soccer’s Who Are Ya! series.

Tango

Another club to play in the Chattanooga Challenge is Tango FC from nearby Athens. The UPSL outfit, who play in the KY-TN Conference, have been busy in January. They announced the appointment of Ricardo Torres as their new Head Coach, with Tyler Phillips as his Assistant. A host of player announcements have also followed including returnees Ty Campbell, Sammuel Baker, Jesse Ventura, Chris Martinez, Valentine Montes, Estuardo Morales, and Estiven Roblero. The return of so many players can only be good for the club as they continue to grow. Additionally, five new players were announced: Azrael Phillips (Carson-Newman), Addison Johnson, Max Dihen, and Cole Stopka (all Johnson University), and Edwin Flores.

Chattanooga Red Wolves II

On January 28th the Red Wolves confirmed what had been a rumor, that they would be entering a reserve side into the UPSL. It appears they will play in the UPSL Georgia Premier Division. It still remains unclear if they will be an U23 side or a II side, but a recent Instagram post seemed to confirm the latter. Misc

There’s been some movement for local athletes. Former CFC and Red Wolves winger Jonathan Ricketts has signed for AC Boise, who are a new USL League One outfit. Ricketts most recently played for Miami FC in the USL Championship. Noah Cobb, another Chattanoogan, was signed by the Colorado Rapids from Atlanta United in exchange for $525,000 in general allocation money. Cobb had been on loan with the Rapids since July, but played for ATL 2 against CFC last March.

Finally, the Spanish Football Federation confirmed months-held rumors that La Roja will be using Chattanooga as their base for the FIFA World Cup this summer. They’ll utilize the facilities of the Baylor School. Spain plays Cabo Verde (June 15th) and Saudi Arabia (June 21st) in Atlanta before moving to Mexico to take on Uruguay on June 25th.