The National Independent Soccer Association(NISA) announced its 2024 slate of clubs and regular season and playoff format today. Here is the list of clubs that will participate in the upcoming season.
2024 NISA Clubs
East Conference
- Club de Lyon FC (Orlando, FL)
- Georgia Lions FC (Conyers, GA)
- Maryland Bobcats FC (Boyds, MD)
- Michigan Stars FC (Washington, MI)
- Savannah Clovers FC (Savannah, GA)
West Division
- Arizona Monsoon FC (Glendale, AZ)
- Capo FC (San Juan Capistrano, CA)
- Irvine Zeta FC (Irvine, CA)
- Los Angeles Force (Long Beach, CA)
2024 Regular Season and Playoff Format
The league focused this off-season on building a regional schedule, minimizing traveling across the country for its clubs for the 2024 season, and creating more local rivalries. The league will kick off its season on March 23 in Georgia for inter-conference matchups. The league is returning to an east/west conference format for the first time since the 2022 season. The East will play 20 intra-conference matchups, while the West will play 18 intra-conference matchups. East clubs will play four inter-conference matchups, while the West will play five inter-conference matches this season.
As for the 2024 NISA Playoffs, the format will be different this year as the top two teams in each conference will advance to their respective conference championship during the weekend of Oct. 4-6. The regular season head-to-head winner between conference champions will host the 2024 NISA Championship final the weekend of Oct. 25-27. The league will announce the full schedule shortly.
Clubs On Hiatus
ALBION San Diego
ALBION San Diego announced on Jan 30. on social media that the club will be going on hiatus this year but plans to return in 2025.
The club, formerly known as San Diego 1904 FC before its merger with ALBION before the 2022 season, did well on the field. ALBION finished fourth place in the table with 32 points in its first full year and runners-up in the 2022 NISA Championship final. Last season, ALBION finished fourth in the league table again but got more wins, 11 and more points 41 than its previous season(11W-8D-5L). ALBION’s 2023 season ended in the semifinals of the NISA playoffs, losing 3-2 to the Michigan Stars.
Gold Star FC Detroit
As my previous blog post mentioned, the league confirmed that Gold Star FC will be under new ownership. The club will take the season off to re-brand and prepare to play the 2025 season. Gold Star FC finished its first and only season last year at the bottom of the table with 12 points(3W-3D-18L). Gold Star FC also ended the season on a 16-match winless streak. The club was connected to a player agency, and after a challenging inaugural season last year that saw Gold Star FC struggle on and off the field, getting a fresh start under a new brand is a smart move.
Clubs Not Returning to NISA
Chattanooga FC (2023 NISA League Cup Regular Season Champions)
Chattanooga FC announced last November that the club was leaving NISA after three seasons and joining MLS NEXT Pro for 2024. Chattanooga FC had been one of the most dominant teams in NISA the last two seasons, was the top team in the league last season, and went on an impressive 17-match unbeaten streak. CFC bowed out of NISA, losing in the NISA playoff semifinals for the second consecutive season to eventual league champion Flower City Union on penalty kicks.
Flower City Union (2023 NISA Playoff Champions)
Yesterday, both NISA and Flower City Union (a.k.a. City Union, a.k.a Salt City Union in 2023) announced that the club won’t return to the league to defend its championship title. Flower City Union played two seasons in the league and went from a last-place finish in 2022 to league champions in 2023. Below is the league’s statement on Flower City Union’s departure.
There were rumors all off-season that Flower City Union was planning to move to USL League Two, but that league didn’t include FCU in its 2024 alignment of clubs announcement on Tuesday. Flower City Union still intends to play somewhere in 2024 and plans to make an announcement next week.
Strikers FC (2024 expansion club was suppose to be a revival of former NISA side Cal United Strikers FC)
Strikers FC was announced by the NISA league as a 2024 expansion team last June, but no updates about the club have been announced since then. Former Cal United Strikers president Michael Collins was expected to lead a group that would bring back pro soccer to Irvine in 2024 and have a connection with the Strikers FC youth organization. The plan was for the club to be run similarly to former NISA side Cal United Strikers FC, with different ownership but the same management. According to Kartik Krishnaiyer of Beyond the 90, Strikers FC won’t be playing in NISA this year, and last month, we all learned that Collins is now involved with OSA(Open Soccer Alliance) as their President and CEO.
My Thoughts
The NISA league will have nine clubs again playing this season, and the league confirmed in its press release that all its clubs will be participating in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. NISA will have four new expansion sides featuring Arizona Monsoon FC, Capo FC, Georgia Lions FC, and Irvine Zeta FC. Georgia Lions FC, based in Conyers, Georgia (Atlanta metro), joined the league after playing in USL League Two for the last few years as East Atlanta FC and East Atlanta Dutch Lions FC, respectively. They will keep their East Atlanta Dutch Lions FC team playing in USL League Two this year. NISA is returning to Atlanta for the first time since 2019 when Atlanta SC(based in Alpharetta, GA) played in the league during NISA’s inaugural fall season.
Arizona Monsoon FC is technically a rebrand of former NISA side Valley United FC. Hopefully, things will be different with the club this time, being more cautious with the same ownership but different management with Head Coach Omar Bravo leading the way. Capistrano FC(a.k.a Capo FC) played in the Southwest Premier League, NISA Nation, and USL League Two in recent seasons and will be led by Head Coach Peter Carey. Irvine Zeta FC played in the UPSL before moving up into NISA and keeps the league in Orange County. Cal United Strikers FC previously played at Championship Stadium from 2019-2022, and the LA Force played their home matches there last year.
Speaking of ALBION, I’m sad I won’t get to watch them play this season in NISA, but I understand why they decided to go on hiatus. This also means we won’t have the SoCal derby this year with the LA Force. This club previously went through a hiatus when it was known as 1904 FC during the fall season of 2020 but returned for the spring season in 2021. Hopefully, ALBION can get things back on track by reorganizing their front office and seal the deal with a potential new ownership group moving forward. San Diego has a lot going on lately with the buzz around the NWSL’s San Diego Wave, the Loyal folding, and San Diego FC and MLS coming to town in 2025. ALBION won’t be the only club on hiatus, as Gold Star FC will also take the year off with a focus on new ownership, a rebranding, and preparing for its return in 2025. That also means no more Michigan Starby. I’m hopeful both will be back next year and come back stronger than before, but we will have to wait and see how this plays out.
With Flower City Union not returning to NISA, we’ll get a new league champion this year. The LA Force is also moving to a new stadium this year, going from Championship Stadium in Irvine to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, so that will be interesting to watch. With the new season format, focusing on reducing travel expenses for clubs is also a plus. Now fans can be excited for another season, and we only have to wait 35 days before kickoff. What do you think about the 2024 NISA clubs, their season, and playoff formats? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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