Mobile, Alabama – February 11, 2020 –AFC Mobile announced its 2020 NPSL schedule on Wednesday, including a highly-anticipated Mobile-New Orleans home-and-home tilt, back-to-back matches against longtime rivals Port City FC, and the second annual Moon Pie Match against Chattanooga FC.
The season will be the team’s first in the National Premier Soccer League, the top summer soccer league in the country, sanctioned by the US Adult Soccer Association. The 91-team NPSL offers direct qualification to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, which pits clubs from every division in American soccer against one another in single-knockout competition.
“We are certainly excited about the upcoming campaign. We will see some familiar faces and create new rivalries which will be fantastic for our supporters and special for the players,” said AFC Mobile head coach Steve Wieczorek. “The schedule will be tough but I know that we are up for it and ready to give everything for the club and our loyal supporters.”
The Azaleas will open their 2020 campaign on May 7th on the road against the Jacksonville Armada U23s. AFC Mobile will then travel to New Orleans, Louisiana to face the New Orleans Jesters on May 16th. This will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2018 when the Jesters beat the Azaleas 2-1 in a preseason friendly in Mobile.
AFC Mobile will play its home opener on May 23rd when the Jacksonville Armada U23s travel to the Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex (“The Lip”). Mobile will spend the next two weeks on the road facing familiar opposition in Tallahassee SC and Pensacola FC. Both clubs are joining AFC Mobile in moving from the Gulf Coast Premier League to the Gulf Coast Conference of the NPSL. Mobile will return home on June 6th to host the Jesters, who spent 2019 on hiatus after an NPSL Southeastern Conference Finals appearance in 2018.
The Forgotten Coast Cup will be renewed when Port City FC travels to Mobile on June 13th and AFC Mobile heads to Gulfport the following weekend on June 20th. The Azaleas will play host to Tallahassee SC the following weekend on June 27th.
On July 1st, AFC Mobile will travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee to take on Chattanooga FC of the National Independent Soccer Association, the third division of American professional soccer, in the second annual Moon Pie Match friendly.
“Renewing our match against CFC is another important part of the journey forward as an organization. We get to measure ourselves against an established successful club and play in an outstanding environment,” Wieczorek said.
The Match for the Moon Pie will pit AFC Mobile against a fully professional Chattanooga FC led by former University of Mobile coaching great Peter Fuller. The winner will take home a professional wrestling-style belt adorned with a Moon Pie Championship logo.
“It’s exciting for us to see some familiar faces come back to Finley (Stadium) this summer,” said Jeremey Alumbaugh, Managing Director of Chattanooga FC. “Having AFC Mobile return for the Moon Pie Match will give our fans and supporters a great treat and we are anxious for the 2020 season to begin.”
AFC Mobile will conclude the regular season the following Saturday on the Fourth of July by hosting Pensacola FC at the Lip. All home matches will kick-off at 7 p.m. at the Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb Athletic Complex. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at http://afcmobile.net/shop!
