When you look at the Alabama, you don’t expect there to be a big soccer presence due to the heavy college football influence that is the University of Alabama and Auburn University. But, clubs like AFC Mobile and those on the Gulf Coast have been changing that view. Now it seems that the passion in the south is making its way to northern Alabama.

Prior to the Thanksgiving and holiday period, I got the opportunity to talk with the President of North Alabama FC. What I learned has me excited for the future of both the soccer scene in Alabama and the future of lower league soccer in the country.

Without further ado, I present to you the pride of Huntsville, North Alabama FC.

Can you give us some background on yourself?

I'm Brian Foy. I am a father of two soccer playing daughters, a soccer fan, and love serving our soccer club. I have served on the Board of Directors since 2014 and served as President since 2017.

My professional background is in the software industry. I am currently the Service Delivery Executive at a Huntsville-based solutions provider for the financial services and banking industry.

I see that there is a solid developmental system set up. What made you decide to jump up another level and add NPSL?

We are very proud of our youth development system that has prepared our players to succeed at the next level. Our decision to add an NPSL team was to provide an enhanced player development pathway for our local club, high school, college, and adult players and provide the North Alabama soccer community with a higher-level soccer experience.

I’ll be honest, I never thought of Northern Alabama as a huge soccer area. Can you tell us how big the soccer scene really is in the Huntsville area?

North Alabama is an inspired soccer community. While football is the sport of choice in our State (Roll Tide and War Eagle), North Alabama has soccer in its DNA. Our soccer community is made up of more than 1,200 adult soccer league players and thousands more youth players participating in competitive club and recreational soccer. This does not include the local high school soccer community that fields some of the most competitive teams in the State and the three local universities: Alabama A&M University, Oakwood University, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) that field sanctioned soccer teams. Huntsville also hosts the annual Alabama State High School Soccer Championship. Each May since 2002, this three-day event welcomes thousands of local soccer-crazed fans and families to cheer on teams from across the State.

We experienced something truly magical last summer. Our soccer community really demonstrated how much it loves and supports local soccer by the way they embraced our new WPSL team. Our fans created the best matchday experience in the WPSL Southeast Conference. We even led the conference in attendance for our inaugural season - averaging 285 fans per game. We are excited about next season and cannot wait to see how North Alabama embraces and supports our new NPSL team.

Where do you plan on having home matches?

Our home matches will be played at the John Hunt Park Championship Soccer Stadium in Huntsville. It is an awesome venue for soccer. The stadium has two identical natural grass fields. Each lighted fields measures 80x120 yards and can accommodate up to 1,000 spectators.

With the current cycle of clubs closing down or relocating due to costs, do you feel that the model you and the club have in place is something that is sustainable for the next 5-10 years?

As a non-profit club, our NPSL team's financial sustainability is based on a self-supported, break-even model without the profitability burden experienced by teams that may have a more traditional ownership model. Based on our WPSL experience last summer, we are confident that our club is positioned for a sustained entry in the NPSL. Our true measurement of success will be our player development results and further connecting with our soccer community - being the hub for North Alabama soccer families, players, and fans.

Even though the club is just starting, are there any clubs you’d consider as rivals?

The Southeast Conference is very competitive, but given the short distance between our clubs, Inter Nashville FC looks like it will become an instant rival for us. We may need to go ahead and buy one of those big fancy trophies for the inaugural I-65 Derby.

What are the goals for the club in year one?

Our year one goals are to field a team that is a reflection of our local soccer community and can compete for 90-minutes with the established teams in the Southeast Conference, create an engaging and second-to-none matchday experience for our fans, and, most importantly, we want have fun - a lot of fun!

Are there any long term goals you’d like to share?

Our long-term goal is to position ourselves to consistently compete for NPSL Southeast Conference and Regional Championships. And, who knows, maybe one day qualify for the Open Cup.

Lastly, is there anything else you’d like people to know about the club that wasn’t covered?

We held a fan vote during our inaugural WPSL season last summer to select our club mascot - and the winner was Gravity. We can't wait to hear all of our fans chanting Go Gravity next season!