Chattanooga FC welcomes Huntsville City FC on Saturday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m. at Finley Stadium to begin the club's 2025 home campaign in MLS NEXT Pro. Home opener and U.S. Open Cup first round bundle tickets are available HERE.
It will be a case of déjà vu on Saturday afternoon. For the second year in a row, Chattanooga FC will host Huntsville City FC for the club’s home opener.
Last year, the teams played to a thrilling 2-2 draw, with CFC winning the extra point 3-2 on penalties.
Both teams began 2025 with victories away from home. CFC defeated Inter Miami CF II 2-1 in Fort Lauderdale last Friday night, while Huntsville convincingly won 4-1 in Chicago on Sunday.
CFC and Huntsville met three times in total last season with each team winning a match in Huntsville aside from win on shootouts CFC booked at the start of the season.
The two teams will meet three times in 2025 with Huntsville hosting CFC on May 17th and CFC hosting again on August 23rd.
Coach's Corner
Head Coach Chris Nugent described the excitement in the dressing room ahead of the home opener with the first chance of the season to play in front of the Chattanooga faithful.
"We're the city's team," said Nugent. "We're the team that people here support. It's not just something for them to do on a weekend or a Saturday. People care about the team and that's reflected with the passion and support before, during and after the game. You'll hear our supporters from the second they arrive to the second they leave, so it's huge for us to have that support at home."
Nugent also detailed what his and team's objectives are on Saturday.
"I'm looking to see more of our identity come through and us getting some success out of that. How we press leads to chances, how we defend leads to counter-attacks and how we attack leads to goals or big chances. We want to see more attacking play, so we're looking for quick transitions from defence to attack. We're going to be who we are and as a club we believe that can take us quite far."
Know the Opponent
Huntsville City FC are coached by Chris O'Neal, who took charge on August 5th 2024. O'Neal has an overall record of 6-4-0 as head coach of Huntsville City.
Midfielder and Frenchman Christian Koffi will be one to watch, who scored the first two goals for Huntsville in their opener against his former club, Chicago Fire II.
Match info
Venue: Finley Stadium | Chattanooga, Tennessee
Kick-off: 1:00 p.m. ET, Saturday March 15
Broadcast: Apple TV - MLS Season Pass | Talent: Jake Griffith
Team uniforms for Saturday's match
Referees:
Amin Hadzic
Head Referee
Hillis Waddell III
Assistant Referee 1
Aaron Riley
Assistant Referee 2
Paige Bell
4th Official
