# 2019–20 National Independent Soccer Association season

The 2019–20 NISA season was the inaugural season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. The regular season was split into two halves, fall and spring, with playoffs at the end. The fall season, named "NISA Showcase", featured seven teams, with the East and West champions earning berths into the 2020 playoffs. The spring season featured eight teams, and switches to a single table format, the top 3 teams joining California United Strikers in the playoffs.
The spring season was suspended on March 12, for 30 days, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension was then extended in accordance with CDC guidelines and eventually made permanent on April 27, 2020.

## Teams

* Full season club
* Spring expansion club
* Fall-only club

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Atlanta SC | Alpharetta, Georgia | St. Francis High School Lupo Field at Life University | — — |
| California United Strikers FC | Irvine, California | Championship Stadium | 5,000 |
| Chattanooga FC | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Finley Stadium | 20,668 |
| Detroit City FC | Hamtramck, Michigan | Keyworth Stadium | 7,933 |
| Los Angeles Force | Whittier, California | Rio Hondo College Jesse Owens Stadium | 1,000 5,000 |
| Miami FC | Miami, Florida | Buccaneer Field Riccardo Silva Stadium | 1,500 23,500 |
| Michigan Stars FC | Pontiac, Michigan | Ultimate Soccer Arena | 5,000 |
| Oakland Roots SC | Oakland, California | Laney College | 5,500 |
| Philadelphia Fury | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Franklin Field | 52,958 |
| San Diego 1904 FC | San Diego, California | SDCCU Stadium Lincoln High School | 70,561 3,700 |
| Stumptown Athletic | Matthews, North Carolina | CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex Sportsplex at Matthews | 1,200 5,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

    Note: The league signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allowed clubs to find their own provider.
| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| California United Strikers FC | Don Ebert | Xavier Fuerte | Nike | Taco Bell |
| Chattanooga FC | Peter Fuller | Juan Hernandez | Hummel | Volkswagen |
| Detroit City FC | Trevor James | Stephen Carroll | Adidas | Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers |
| Los Angeles Force | Thales Peterson | Joshua Culwell | Hummel | — |
| Michigan Stars FC | Alexander Strehmel | Kyle Nuel | Hummel | HTC |
| Oakland Roots SC | Jordan Ferrell | Nana Attakora | Nike | Oaklandish |
| San Diego 1904 FC | Alexandre Gontran | Ozzie Ramos | Nike | — |
| Stumptown Athletic | Mark Steffens | Tate Robertson | Hummel | — |
| Only played the Fall Season |||||
| Atlanta SC | Roberto Neves Filho | Sheriff Suma | Hummel | — |
| Miami FC | Paul Dalglish | Dylan Mares | Macron | — |
| Philadelphia Fury | Cris Vaccaro | Ian McGrath | Hummel | — |
* ↑ Ferrell was named head coach on December 3, replacing Paul Bravo.

## Fall season

Miami FC and California United Strikers FC played seven matches while the rest of the league played only six. To accommodate for this, the Miami FC home match against Oakland Roots SC did not count in the standings for Miami and the second California United Strikers FC home match against San Diego 1904 FC did not count in the standings for Cal United.

### Standings
#### East Coast standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Miami FC (O) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 6 | +13 | 14 | East Coast Championship |
| 2 | Stumptown Athletic | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 12 | East Coast Championship |
| 3 | Atlanta SC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 8 | |
| 4 | Philadelphia Fury | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 23 | −22 | 0 | Withdrew |
* ↑ Philadelphia Fury withdrew after one match and forfeited their remaining matches

#### West Coast standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Los Angeles Force | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 11 | West Coast Championship |
| 2 | California United Strikers FC (O) | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 9 | West Coast Championship |
| 3 | San Diego 1904 FC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 6 | |
| 4 | Oakland Roots SC | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 3 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ATL | MIA | PHI | STU | CAL | LAF | OAK | SDI | ATL | MIA | PHI | STU | CAL | LAF | OAK | SDI |
| Atlanta SC | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | | | | | — | | | | | | | |
| Miami FC | 2–2 | — | 8–1 | 2–1 | | | 3–2 | | | — | | | | | | |
| Philadelphia Fury | 0–3 | 0–3 | — | 0–3 | | | | | | | — | | | | | |
| Stumptown Athletic | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | — | | | | | | | | — | | | | |
| California United Strikers FC | | | | | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | | | | — | | | 4–1 |
| Los Angeles Force | | | | | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | | | | | | — | | |
| Oakland Roots SC | | | | | 3–3 | 1–1 | — | | | | | | | | — | |
| San Diego 1904 FC | | | | | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 | — | | | | | | | | — |

### Playoffs

The top two eastern teams will meet in the East Coast Championship while the top two western teams will meet in the West Coast Championship. Each champion will earn an automatic berth into the Spring 2020 playoffs.

## Spring season

The 2020 Spring season began on February 28 and featured eight teams (five teams that also played in the Fall season, plus three new entries). It consisted of a single table instead of the conferences used during Fall. The top three teams would have qualified for the Playoffs, together with California United Strikers, already qualified because of their Fall season West Championship win.
The spring season was suspended on March 12, for 30 days, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension was then extended in accordance with CDC guidelines and eventually made permanent on April 27, 2020.

### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Oakland Roots SC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Playoffs |
| 2 | California United Strikers FC (Q) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Detroit City FC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Stumptown Athletic | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | Playoffs |
| 5 | San Diego 1904 FC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | Chattanooga FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Los Angeles Force | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | |
| 8 | Michigan Stars FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CAL | CHA | DET | LAF | MIC | OAK | SAN | STU |
| California United Strikers FC | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | — | — |
| Chattanooga FC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Detroit City FC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Los Angeles Force | — | — | 0–2 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| Michigan Stars FC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oakland Roots SC | — | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| San Diego 1904 FC | 0–0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stumptown Athletic | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2–2 | — |