February 1 – The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the US third tier professional men’s league today, is bringing in three new clubs for the 2023 season, but is losing two clubs from its 2022 roster.
Club de Lyon FC (Orlando, Florida), Savannah Clovers FC (Georgia), and Gold Star FC Detroit (Michigan) all join the league while California teams Syracuse FC and Cal Utd Strikers are both out.
NISA said it “anticipates Cal United Strikers, a club with a long history of success and engagement before and during its time in NISA, will be under new ownership and is expected back in the 2024 season.”
Cal United Strikers topped the 2022 table on an average points per game (PPG) basis with a 2.19 PPG from 21 games, compared to second placed Chattanooga FC with a 2.04 (PPG) from 24 games.
The three new teams join Albion San Diego, Chattanooga FC, Los Angeles Force, Maryland Bobcats FC, Michigan Stars FC, and City Union (the merged Flower City Union / Salt City Union clubs), for the season that kicks off the first weekend of April.
The full schedule is still to be announced but the league said all NISA clubs will play in the 2023 Open Cup.
“We begin this season with even more optimism than we did in 2022, and last season provided so many highlights,” says NISA Commissioner John Prutch. “While our numbers haven’t grown, the stability of our clubs has – and that is great for the long-term health of our league and the players.”
NISA was founded in 2017 with a commercial model that gives clubs ownership of their intellectual property, without the barrier of territorial rights. As well as its top league NISA also runs the mid-summer Independent Cup, open to independent professional and amateur clubs alike, and NISA Nation, which acts as an incubator league for amateur Clubs interested in going pro
“Our table this year reflects the need to mitigate travel – a lesson we learned last year,” said Prutch. “But we also saw how these clubs grow and gel at critical moments. Every one of these clubs is excited for another competitive season.”
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