Protagonist Podcasts Presents: America’s Greatest is our soccer history series co-hosted by several of Protagonist’s writers and podcasters. We want to explore the history and pedigree of the sport in the United States - to tell the stories about our greatest games, moments, and iconic soccer characters.

We’ve reached out to authors, historians, coaches, players and fellow podcasters to help uncover the narrative of soccer in our country and in episode nine we explore the 2020 NISA Fall Championship Final between tournament hosts Detroit City FC and their opponents Oakland Roots SC. Host Josh Duder is joined by Sportswriter and podcaster of the Daily Detroiter, Fletcher Sharpe, as well as co-host of the Knights Who Say NISA and Protagonist Soccer Editor, Dan Vaughn.

When we reached out to Fletcher to see if there was a Detroit City FC game he’d like to chat about in our series, he offered up the unique covid-era experience that was, the Final of the 2020 NISA Fall Championship. We lead into the game by discussing the second season for the fledging league and how covid couldn’t had hit at a more strategically dangerous time for NISA. Originally announced in 2017, the league first kicked off in 2019 and by year two not only were no fans allowed, but finding accessible venues was putting the whole league at risk.

Despite all of this, the league found a way to move forward with a Fall Tournament, in which two groups of four teams played its soccer at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan - the home venue for Detroit City FC. Group A included Oakland Roots, DCFC, Michigan Stars, and New Amsterdam FC while Group B pitted LA Force, Chattanooga FC, Cal United Strikers and the New York Cosmos against one another.

For fans of Detroit City FC and Oakland Roots, even though this game took place a few years ago, its still a fun little trip back in time - we revisit the lineups and coaches then go over the game itself. JOIN US HERE for the ninth episode of America’s Greatest to take a journey to 2020 and the NISA Fall Championship Final.

We have a few more episodes already recorded and look forward to releasing them every few weeks during the Autumn / Winter. If there is a player, game, or moment you think we should consider, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know!

by Joshua Duder