Memphis 901 FC begins US Open Cup campaign in Knoxville

In many countries around the world, teams that are struggling in their regular league season tend to focus on domestic cup competitions to boost morale and hopefully get some momentum going. Such is the position that Memphis 901 FC finds itself in. They are winless through their first three USL games (two losses and a draw) and not only sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference but are dead last in the entire league with just a single point. Some fans hope that a deep Open Cup run might jump-start the season for the Boys in Blue. The first step on that journey is on the road against One Knoxville SC.

901 FC’s history in the Open Cup is something of a mixed bag. Their debut season in 2019 was a wonderful showing. They won their opener (in front of 4,057 at AutoZone Park) 3-1 against the New York Red Bulls U-23 team in a game where: the weather delayed kickoff for several hours, they fell behind to New York after five minutes, and the Red Bulls had two players on the field with the same jersey number. They followed that up two weeks later with a 4-0 thrashing of the Hartford Athletic in front of 1,819 in the stadium out at Mike Rose Soccer Complex (the 1,819 funnily enough coming the same week that the City of Memphis celebrated the anniversary of its founding in…1819). After that was the big one. Memphis hosted a third straight US Open Cup game and this time it was Orlando City of MLS coming to town, featuring players like former USMNTer Sacha Kljestian and Portuguese World Cup veteran Nani. An over-capacity crowd of 3,088 at Mike Rose saw an entertaining affair between the two sides before Orlando eventually wore Memphis down and ran out 3-1 winners.

2020 and 2021 saw the interruption of the Open Cup (which had been the longest-running American soccer event) due to the COVID pandemic. However, by 2022 US Soccer had decided that the show would go on and 901 FC drew a road trip to Chattanooga FC. There was sense of intrigue surrounding the match-up as Chattanooga FC had a little bit of soccer history with Memphis (dating back to the days of Memphis City competing in the NPSL). Unfortunately, 901 FC was unable to duplicate their Open Cup magic from 2019 and crashed out to the lower division team by a score of 3-1.

One Knoxville SC may be in a lower division than 901 FC down in USL League One, but they are no slouch competition. Last season was their first year of existence and they put on quite a show: posting a record of 13-1-3 and reaching their Conference Finals. They have no Open Cup history to speak of as they were not eligible last year, given it was only their first year of existence. They currently sit 4th in league play, having played only one game and emerged victorious against Lexington SC, by a score of 2-1. Excitement is high in Knoxville for this game and Memphis’s players should be prepared for a hostile crowd as even on a night with freezing temperatures, over 2,500 people attended Knoxville’s home opener in March.

When, Where

Date: Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Venue: Regal Soccer Stadium
City: Knoxville, Tennessee
Time: 6pm CT
TV: YouTube

All-Time Series

First meeting

Next Game

Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023
Competition: USL Regular Season
Match-Up: Memphis 901 FC vs. Las Vegas Lights
Venue: AutoZone Park
City: Memphis, Tennessee