“It’s about making sure the people in our community feel proud. That this club represents our values and our town”
Interview with Cleveland United's Albert Murza
Earlier this month, it was announced that a new club, Cleveland United FC, would join the United Premier Soccer League’s (UPSL) Georgia Division. Starting play in spring 2026, Cleveland United will be the first ever semi-pro soccer team in the Tennessee city.
Recently, I spoke with the club’s Co-Founder, Albert Murza, about Cleveland United’s founding and his vision for the club.
First off, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
“I’m originally from Russia and lived there until I was 18. Then I moved to Germany for university—that’s actually where I met my wife, who’s from Alabama. She was on a mission trip, and later went to Lee University. We’ve been in Cleveland for about nine years now and never left.
Soccer’s always been a huge part of my life. Growing up in Europe, it’s just part of the culture. I’ve always loved the game—Germany, Brazil, the infamous 7–1 match... unforgettable. Chelsea became my club, mostly because of the connection to Abramovich. I saw the headlines and just got drawn in. It’s always been a fun, unique sport for me.
When I first came to Cleveland, there was definitely a period of adjustment. I found myself asking, ‘What’s going on here?’ I wasn’t really aware of how things worked in smaller towns. MLS was the only soccer I was watching at the time, but I wanted something more local—something we could really connect with.
About four years ago, I discovered Chattanooga FC. I Googled what teams were nearby and saw they were in the NISA playoffs. So I went to a game... and I fell in love with the club. I’ve been a season ticket holder ever since and try to make it to every match. That experience really shaped my connection to the sport here—not as a player, but as a supporter and someone who’s done a bit of coaching.”
Why did you decide to start a semi-pro soccer club?
“For me, it really came down to the cultural and community aspect—something I think soccer in the U.S. often misses, and honestly, maybe all American sports. What Chattanooga FC gave me was that deeper connection. Sports should be about people. That’s very much the European style—connecting with the community, not just throwing money around. That’s what I love about CFC.
Cleveland has its own identity. When I brought people to CFC games, most didn’t come back. That mountain on the freeway kind of separates us. But After the Open Cup [game against the Red Wolves], someone asked, ‘Why not Cleveland?’ That sparked something. It started a narrative—like, yeah, it would be nice to have something here. Of course, the first thought is, ‘We’d need money,’ and it felt like a long shot.
But I’m a bit of a nerd, so I started researching. I looked into NPSL, UPSL, The League for Clubs, NISA Nation—just trying to understand what’s out there. I talked to several people, including Seldon Grizzle [Chattanooga FC Co-Founder]. My wife had worked with him, so I asked if he’d be okay with me picking his brain. I just wanted to know if this idea was too crazy or totally delusional. He was super helpful and pointed us in the right direction.
We’re not trying to be a semi-pro club that only focuses on players—nothing against that, but our focus is the community. We’re 99.99% sure we’ll never be a professional club, and that’s okay. The question became: what can we do to make this semi-pro experience meaningful? Saturday evenings, something people can be proud of. A place to bring folks together. A way to show love for our town.
I think we stumbled onto something no one else saw. I know Cleveland’s a small town, but if Chattanooga can have two pro soccer clubs, a baseball team, UTC, and a pais of UPSL teams—why not us? We’ve got over 2,000 people showing up to high school games. There’s clearly passion here.”
Who are the people involved? Apart from yourself?
“Right now, it’s a small but passionate team. My wife, Kristen Murza, is one of the co-founders. Honestly, I was kind of hoping she’d tell me ‘no’ when I brought up the idea—but for some reason, she said yes! She’s mostly focused on operations.
We also have Carimet Sidney, who’s deeply involved in the community. Kristen and Carimet are the other co-founders alongside me. Then there’s Steven Hodge, who’s our brand manager, and our new head coach, Adam Christensen. We might have more people join us down the line, but that’s the core team for now.
We’ve also had amazing support from local leaders. Tammy Randolph, Director of Investor Development at the Cleveland Chamber, Joe Fivas, the city manager, and Jonathan Jobe, the city engineer, have all taken time out of their busy schedules to help us build a plan for the community. And Milan Patel, the owner of DosBros, has been incredibly supportive as well.”
What made you chose the UPSL over other options?
“One of the biggest reasons was the structure of the season. With NPSL, you play for about four months and then you’re off for eight. UPSL was more appealing because it offers two seasons a year. That means we can guarantee at least 10 games annually, and if we plan things right—like adding a couple of preseason matches, maybe four additional games, and if playoffs go well—we could be looking at 15 to 20 home games a year. That’s a lot closer to a professional setup, like what you’d see in Division III.
The U.S. Open Cup is also a big deal for us. We want to participate and give our town that experience. The dream is to one day host a professional club here.
Another factor was geography. NPSL teams are pretty far—mostly in places like Knoxville and North Carolina. UPSL teams are much closer, which makes travel and logistics easier. Of course, UPSL has its own challenges, like the season starting early in April. But we’re not mainly targeting college players, so that works for us.
Cleveland has a unique love for soccer. For a town of around 55,000 people, it’s surprisingly popular. There’s a local academy here with around 700 members across recreational and travel programs. That alone gives us great perspective. There are talented local players who want to play but can’t always make it to Chattanooga. We even know players who travel to Dalton just to get opportunities.”
You’re joining UPSL’s Georgia Division. Do you know yet or can you share yet if you’ll be joining the Premier Division or starting in Division 1?
“They’ve told us we’ll be starting in Division 1 for now, and then a decision will be made later about moving up. Honestly, we’re just excited to get going. It’ll be fun to play against Chattanooga’s second team and see the level of competition UPSL brings.
For our region, I think UPSL is doing a fantastic job. It’s growing, it’s organized, and it’s giving small towns like ours a real chance to be part of something bigger.”
Are there any lessons from teams in nearby cities like Knoxville or Chattanooga that you want to take on when setting out with Cleveland United?
“There’s a phrase we use in Russia: ‘Only a bad soldier doesn’t dream of becoming a general.’ The idea is, if you don’t dream big, you won’t work hard or hold yourself to high standards. Sure, I’d love to see a pro team in Cleveland one day—but realistically, that probably won’t happen. And maybe that’s not even the goal. Maybe it’s more about representation and what we can build for the community.
That’s what we admire about Chattanooga FC. They were successful before and after turning pro because of their community-first approach. They had to learn a lot along the way, and they’ve built something really special. Knoxville also has a great system they’re working with. When you look at the three pro clubs in the region, it’s a reminder to a wider audience that soccer is thriving in the South.
People used to say soccer wouldn’t work here. Even NFL owners said Atlanta United would fail—and now it’s one of the biggest success stories in MLS. Soccer is huge in the South. I’m constantly amazed by how popular it is, especially in places where you’re told it’s all about college football.
At the end of the day, it’s not about titles. It’s about making sure the people in our community feel proud. That this club represents our values and our town.”
Are you happy with how season ticket deposits have gone?
“Yeah! We ran a tiered promotion, and 27 people signed up. What’s exciting is that over 75% of them chose the highest tier—and most of them weren’t even close friends or family. These were people we met at events who got genuinely excited about what we’re building.
Looking back, we probably should’ve expected this. The local academy’s been around since 1995, so there’s clearly been a need for something like this in the community.
We’ll be at the Fall Market during the Halloween Block Party—most people in town don’t go trick-or-treating, they head downtown. So we’ll be there pushing ticket options and deposits. We’re also planning early tryouts in mid-November to get a sense of what we can expect for preseason.
On social media, we’ve already passed 900 followers across LinkedIn, Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram—and we haven’t even played a single game yet. Compared to other UPSL teams, those numbers are phenomenal. It’s really encouraging. We’re not here to make money—we’re here because the city needed this. The goal was always to build something meaningful.”
You’ll start playing in spring 2026. What is the main thing you’re working on right now?
“The biggest priority right now is finalizing our home field. We’re looking at several locations, but we really want to stay within the city limits as much as possible. It’s important to us that the team feels rooted in Cleveland—not just in name, but in presence. We want people to feel like this is their club, right in their backyard.”
What can fans attending a home game expect?
“We’re really focused on creating an experience—not just a soccer match. Think about what pro teams do: they build an environment where people want to show up early, not just because their friend is playing, but because it’s fun.
We’re planning things like food trucks, games for kids, and entertainment that makes it a full evening out. One of our inspirations is the Savannah Bananas. As much as it’s about the sport, people go because it’s entertaining. That’s what we want to offer—music, social media content, player announcements, photos, ads—something that feels alive.
We’re even putting players’ names on jerseys because we want fans to feel connected to them. Whether a player stays for a season or heads off to college, we want them to be more than just a number—they’re part of the club.
We’d love to have a supporters’ group like the Chattahooligans, with drums and chants. But that kind of thing has to grow naturally. Sheldon from CFC told us their group just started with a few guys showing up. We’ve already seen signs of that here—someone started a fan page on Facebook completely independently and just asked people to follow us. That’s the kind of organic support we love.
Of course, we want to win on the field—who doesn’t? We want to go as far as we can in competitions. But if we build something the community is proud of, we’ll consider that a win.”
You’ve got some quality merch up on the website. Is there more coming?
“Everything we have right now is up on the site. I guess as we get closer to the spring season, adding jerseys will be the next thing. We’ll see how things hold up after the summer.
We knew from the start that we had to do merch. There’s something special about seeing a sticker on a car window or a flag waving—and it’s not someone you know personally. That’s when you realize the club is starting to mean something to people.
If people have ideas for merch they’d like to see, we’re totally open to that. We want the community to help shape this.”
You recently announced the hiring of your first ever Head Coach, Adam Christensen. How did you find him?
“I started doing research back in June to see who we had locally. I came across Adam’s name and really wanted to get in touch as I thought he’d be a great fit for what we’re doing—but I couldn’t find a way to reach him. Then, after we launched the club on September 4th, he applied. So I guess I didn’t need to worry!
He’s got experience with several startups—not soccer-related—so he understands how startups work, which is huge for us. He came in with clear expectations, not demands, just thoughtful suggestions like, ‘Think about this, and we’ll figure out the rest together.’
Honestly, my biggest concern early on was securing a field. I always assumed coaching would come together eventually. I’m working on getting my own coaching licenses, and our head coach is doing the same—pursuing higher-level certifications even though he already has solid experience. That says a lot about his commitment.
The rest of the team kept bringing up the need for a Head Coach, and now that he’s here, it’s made a big difference. Every meeting isn’t just about logistics anymore—it’s about vision. We’re aligned on how to reach players and what kind of talent we can attract. Adam even had a website focused on dribbling and skills development, which shows how invested he is in helping players grow.
We’ve got talent in town. They just need the right support to reach the next level.”
Finally, is there any message for soccer fans in Cleveland that you’d like to share?
“This is your club. That’s why our hashtag is #WeAreCUFC—it’s not us, it’s we. We want to give back to the community, and the goal for 2026 to partner with three nonprofits to create volunteer opportunities.. The goal is to build something great for Cleveland—not just soccer-related, but something that reflects who we are as a town.
We don’t know exactly what it’ll look like yet, but we’re already seeing it take shape. For example, after our launch event, City Fields, a local NGO, invited us to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new football field. They called us up and said, ‘Hey, do you want to come over, help out, and spread the word?’ We had our event on September 4th, and theirs was on September 8th. That kind of collaboration is what this is all about.
This club is for Cleveland, Tennessee—not Cleveland, Ohio, haha. We want to start something that can help put our Cleveland on the map. We have big dreams, but we know we can’t make them happen without the community. We want people to feel proud of this team, to feel like it represents their values and their town.
My thanks to Albert and to Cleveland United FC for taking the time to speak with the Southeast Soccer Report. You can follow the club’s journey by visiting their website or following them on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.