Preseason Perspective - Cleveland United FC
- Philip Farrell
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
CLEVELAND, Tn --- Cleveland United FC kicks off its 2026 UPSL Fall season tomorrow when powerhouse Tennessee Tempo FC visits The City with Spirit. The game will kick off at 2pm at Bear Stadium.
Spring 2026 was the Cleveland United’s first season and they went 5-2-3 in Division One’s Georgia North Conference, coming in fourth place before falling 3-2 away to Middle Georgia United in the Georgia Quarter-Finals. With the new re-alignment in Tennessee, the club are now playing in the Premier Division KY-TN conference alongside some heavy hitters like Tempo, seasoned sides like Scenic City SC and Tennessee United, and affluent reserve teams like Chattanooga FC II and the Red Wolves II.
Their opponents tomorrow, Tennessee Tempo, represent possibly the biggest and toughest side Cleveland will have played in its short history. Gift Ndam’s side is possibly the most recognizable and storied team in the Conference and began life in 2021 under the name Beaman United FC. Tempo have made headlines mainly due to their US Open Cup runs. The most significant of these was their 1-0 win over the Red Wolves (the senior team) in the First Round of the Cup earlier this year. They then ran Chattanooga FC close, losing by only one goal in Round Two. Unbeaten in the Spring, they marched all the way to the National Playoffs, beating Georgia South royalty Kalonji before losing to SCU Heat in the Round of 16.
Recently, I caught up with CUFC Co-Founder Albert Murza and Head Coach Tom Bayliss to chat about tomorrow’s opener, the upcoming Fall season, and the club’s preparations over the off-season.
Albert, how is the mood at the club after a successful first season in Spring?
Murza: Yes, it was a successful Spring season that finished with the team earning a play-off spot. As a club, we learned a lot, but Fall is different. You don’t have as many college players available, which might be a bigger challenge for our opponents. It’s a more challenging conference this season and that gives us something to look forward to. Hopefully more fans can travel with us because we’re playing several teams from close by.
And Tom, how is the mood in the squad?
Bayliss: We had a good run in Spring. It was a slow start - new team, new players, change of coach at the last minute. But as the season progressed, we put a good squad together and learned the style of play we wanted to accomplish. Over the last few games, we were very strong. Unfortunately, we lost the first playoff game, but overall, it was a success. The mood is good.
Albert, what consumed most of your time during the off season?
Murza: Honestly, probably the Academy and U20 work. We launched a rec program with 34 kids. We now have U12 and U13 teams and are working on scheduling them. And of course, there’s the U20s. We’re going from having no academy players to having about 80. That’s exciting.
What are your thoughts on the new KY-TN Conference alignment?
Murza: Let’s go ahead and call it the Tennessee Conference, haha. It is just a TN state league now. It’s good. It shows again that soccer in the south not only is popular, but continues to grow. You have Scenic City SC, the Kaistorms, Red Wolves, and CFC, all established and having a good pool of players. We can’t be relaxed; it will be more challenging especially our home opener against Tennessee Tempo. They’re a great side and have performed well in the Open Cup. We’re hoping to start strong.
From an administrative point of view, the switch makes sense,100%. There are teams out in Nashville but it’s still better than the travel last season when our closest away game was in Dalton. It’s a lot easier to drive three times to Chattanooga than once to Dalton, not to mention Atlanta.
Bayliss: I’m excited for the opportunity. We won’t be travelling quite as far. There’s a couple of teams toward Nashville but that feels more local than going below Atlanta. I like the fact that we have so many teams in the Chattanooga area, Cleveland is just outside of that. There’s us, Scenic City, CFC, Red Wolves, and Kaistorms. It’s possible the players will know each other and be more familiar with one another with more teams in the same area. They certainly seem to know each other way more than I know who’s around, but obviously, I’m coming off a coaching break. I have players who show up at training, who’ve played for two or three of these teams. It’s transient and I’m willing to give anyone an opportunity to play.
What changes we can we expect from the club in the Fall?
Murza: We’ve switched all our home games to Sundays at 2pm. This is because on Saturday people will be watching college football. It may be a little hot for the first game, but by the end of September we should see great kick-off temperatures.
Will there be major changes in the squad composition from Spring?
Bayliss: Like I said, UPSL is a very transient league. You maybe have a player for a season or two, but they move onto other opportunities, other teams, or just other things in their lives like jobs and families. In Spring you have more college guys involved than in Fall. I was just looking at my roster. I’d say probably half of the squad is new. Our lineup for this weekend [against Tennessee Tempo] might have as many as six new faces in it.
Cleveland United will enter a II team into the First Division. Where does this side fit into the aims and working of the senior side?
Bayliss: I’m really excited about the second team. The coach Jake [Poulakis] played for me and his grandfather [Jon] was my coaching mentor. Jake has a familiar or similar mindset to what I want to accomplish with the first team and we share a philosophy. The sides don’t train together but we hope for some upward movement from the second team to the seniors eventually.
You face one of the best teams in the region on Sunday. What are your thoughts on the game?
Bayliss: Tempo is a good opportunity right off the bat to start the new season. It’s the first game but looks like it’s the toughest challenge on paper. We’ll have to face it right up front. I know it will be a challenge, and possibly a difficult game. But I embrace those opportunities. It may be a cliché, but I love David versus Goliath, underdog stories. That’s what this is. I know they’re a quality team, but we want to give them a good game.
And what are the club’s aims for the season?
Murza: We just want the public to know that they have their own soccer team right here in Cleveland. We’re bringing a level of sport to the city that it hasn’t had for a long time. We want to show that we will fight for them. We want to inspire youth and the community at large to make soccer more popular. We want them to come and watch good soccer, not just balls being kicked long or time wasting. If you want to see soccer, there’s no need to travel; come to Bear Stadium right here in Cleveland and we’ll watch together.
Bayliss: Win as much as possible, but development is our theme. Not just with the first team, but all teams in the club developing - rec, U12 and U13, the second team. Kind of like last year, we want to win games, as long as we develop and get better.
My thanks to Albert and Tom for taking the time to talk to the National Soccer Network (NSN). NSN will be providing in-depth coverage of the KY-TN conference this Fall, with match previews, player and coach interviews, and match reports charting the course of an exciting season to come.
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