"That's what gets you through, having that many people care about you"
Interview with Chattanooga FC Captain Alex McGrath
Back in early April, Chattanooga FC announced that club captain Alex McGrath would miss the rest of the season. It was a bitter blow for the club, the fans, and the player. Staring ahead to their second MLS Next Pro season and with promising early form under their belt, the injury created a gaping hole in the middle of the squad. McGrath, who hails from Durham in northern England, subsequently missed the US Open Cup tie with the Red Wolves and CFC’s biggest crowd for years.
As outlined in our Season Preview; the 28-year-old is arguably the club’s most important player. In 2024 he was in the top five CFC players across multiple performance measures including games played (2nd), games started (5th), minutes played (3rd), goals (3rd), assists (3rd), scoring attempts (2nd), shots on target (1st), key passes (1st), and drawing fouls (2nd). His contribution of 12 goals was the highest of any non-attacker.
Just shy of his 100th game for the side, McGrath had started and captained in CFC’s first four matches of the season, providing one assist in 382 minutes of play.
I recently sat down with McGrath at CFC’s offices in downtown Chattanooga to chat about his recovery, his career, and how he came to the club.
I began by asking him how he was doing now.
Alex: Doing good. I mean, as good as you can be without playing. But now things are moving forward so that's been a good thing that keeps you going, if you can see progress even if it's only small steps. Being able to keep myself busy outside of football aswell which I think helps in general but especially at the minute when obviously you're not playing. I think it's a good way to try and keep your mind off being disappointed week-in-week-out that you're not on the pitch.
What does he remember about the injury, and how did it happen?
Alex: It was a weird one to be honest. Thankfully I've not had any bad knee injuries before, so I didn't really have anything to compare it to. But it's typical; last minute of the game and just before we had probably the biggest game of the season against the Red Wolves, it's sort of typical, something like that happens. I just tackled one of their lads and the way he landed right on top of my knee, I knew, the way it bent, it's not meant to bend that way. At the time I was in pain, but I didn't think it was anything too serious. I'd had an MCL [medial collateral ligament] sprain in the past, so that was the only thing I had to compare it to. Even after the game, I knew something was up, but I never thought it was going to be anything too serious. The day after, we had the scans, and it took a bit of time to hear back. During that time, I was like, “Well, it feels decent. I should be fine to tape it up and play Wednesday”. That was my mindset. As soon as we got the results back from the scan, initially we thought it was just my MCL, which still wouldn't have been ideal, but it would have only been three months. I would have been back by now. And then I met with a surgeon the day after and he was like, “No, it's both unfortunately”, which is one of those where you think, “Oh, well, I'm going to be fine for Wednesday”. And then you're like, “Oh, well, I'm going to be fine for three months”. And then you're out for nine months. It just gradually got worse. The first few weeks were pretty miserable after the surgery, with the MCL I had to have a brace locked for quite a while so I couldn't really do that much. But then after four or six weeks, I could start moving fully again, which was a good thing, but it was all so miserable. They happen and it's obviously devastating to be out for that amount of time.
But I was more gutted just because I felt like we had a really good bunch of lads, and I was excited about the games coming up and the season in general. So that's probably where it hit a bit harder. It wasn't necessarily just like the injury itself, I was gutted just to miss out, spending time with the lads. You have to sort of accept it and get on with it. There's not too much you can do about it. Thankfully, the support from everyone was unbelievable. Like the lads on the team, trainers, Richie [Dixon], the club in general, unbelievable! To have so many people contacting you and wishing you the best, it pushes you. That's what gets you through, having that many people care about you which, as a human, that's what you want.
While it's hard for any athlete to be out of their team, is it worse when you’re the captain?
Alex: Everybody at the club, and the lads, made me feel involved. But as soon as you can't play, you're automatically disconnected to a certain extent because you've got no impact on the field. I'm not saying you can't help in other ways, but I'm trying to figure out how I can have an impact without playing, which is a learning curve. I feel like during the week when I'm doing other stuff and doing my rehab and stuff with Richie as well, that almost replaces training. So, during the week, you feel like you're busy with all that stuff. So, you sort of take your mind off it. And then when it comes to the weekend, you start watching. That's probably when it hits the most, because although you can say stuff to the lads during the week, ultimately you can’t do anything on the field.
Does he still attend training?
Alex: Yeah, still. Obviously to start with, I couldn't really move too much but now things are decent. There's still challenges with the rehab. Every week you're pushing that threshold of what you can do, that takes a lot out of you. But I've been at training a lot more and trying to find that balance, that middle ground of how I can help the lads from a player's standpoint and what I see probably different to what the coaches see. And also speaking with the coaches and bridging that gap between what the lads are seeing and what the coaches see. It's a fine line because you can't go shouting at the lads about stuff because I know what it's like to be in their position. And obviously I'm not playing, so I feel like that would be wrong for me to do that. And then you can't go to the coaches and tell them what team I think should be playing.
Little things like that where it's a fine balance of not crossing a line. Not that you would anyway, but because you're not involved, you want to try and have some impact. Ultimately, you're trying to help with the success of the team, and I feel like at the minute that's a slightly different role. Possibly I'll have a little bit more of a say because I'm not playing, I don't need to be picked, I don't have that bias.
Is it a learning? Does he think it could teach him something about maybe being a coach one day?
Alex: Possibly yeah. Even at the start, Chris [Nugent] and all the staff were keen to get me involved with stuff on the field in training. But again, it's just finding that balance. I'm not a coach; I'm still a player but maybe I have a little bit more freedom than I would if I was playing. It's a learning curve and it's something that, even if it helps one of the lads or I can help one of the coaches the way they've always been trying to help me, I feel like that's something that can be a positive to take out of it as well. I'm not saying my input's going to change us or win us games in the current situation, but I feel like I can probably connect with the lads more than coaching staff can just because I'm still a player.
I’m keen to know how he keeps himself mentally fit and sharp, as well as physically fit at this time.
Alex: It's tough. I mentioned Richie and Mariah [Bernanke]. Everything from them has been unbelievable, in terms of structure and how quick everything's been moving forward. And to be honest, I think without them, I'd be struggling. I know that's the way the club is and especially the medical side of it and Richie's stuff. I trust them 100%, so it's easy for me turning up and pretty much just doing what I'm told, and I feel like that side of it's been excellent.
But then in terms of keeping your mind off other stuff it's just trying to make the most of this time you wouldn't typically have. If you're playing and you're travelling all the time you're thinking about your own performance. And that's what is at the front of everything. Like, are you performing well? If you are, can you try and help the other lads as well as a captain? But I feel like at the minute it's even little daft things like; I play Xbox with my mates back home, which during the day I'd never normally have the chance to do that as much. And even though it's not purely football related, that stuff, I feel like it goes a long way because that's when you're just enjoying speaking to your friends. I'm not saying Xbox sets you up better for the future but hobby stuff, business ideas and little things that you'd only have a certain amount of time for. Injuries happen. You never know how long your career is gonna go so it's I think it's a good time to set up things for after, even if that is in five, ten years. But doing it now while I've got the opportunity, I think I'd probably regret not making the most of it.
Switching to his background then, I ask what influence soccer (football) had on his early life.
Alex: In the Northeast and England in general, everybody lives and breathes football. Where I'm from, football and cricket are the main two. So, growing up, I always played both, played football in the winter and then cricket in the summer. And that's just how I grew up. I had other hobbies, but football and cricket were always the main, consistent things. Growing up, I wanted to be either a footballer or a cricketer. That was the goal. I was lucky that I played cricket for so long and to a decent level and at University back home. With the US, when I first came over you had a little bit more time to get into professional football just with the way the dynamics are with college, so it wasn't until I was 20-21 that I had to pick between the two which is a lot later than usual. I had the opportunity to come to the US and the chance to continue with the education and play football and that was when I had to leave the cricket behind and I thought, “Well I'm just I'm gonna give one one a go”.
How important is Sunderland to him?
Alex: Spennymoor [Alex’s hometown in County Durham] is closest to Sunderland. Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough are all close. But Durham, it's on the River Wear. My Dad is from Seaham, which is in the Sunderland area. In Spennymoor, even though it's Wearside, it should be more Sunderland, in my opinion. It's probably 50-50, Sunderland-Newcastle. But it's generational. My Dad, Sunderland, because they're from the area, but then my Granddad, like, it's just... it's real Sunderland. And that's the way you grow up. As a kid, you dream of playing for Sunderland. That's what you play football for really. When I was younger, we were still in the Premier League so you're growing up watching all the best players. Kevin Phillips, ‘Super Kev’, he was my hero growing up. And Julio Arca as well, which is why I wear 33.
He was an Argentinian who played for Sunderland and growing up, he was always my favorite player. So that's what shaped pretty much my childhood. Always sport and always Sunderland.
As he developed into a central midfielder, was there any footballer that he modelled his game on or influenced how he played?
Alex: I always liked [Frank] Lampard. Watching him play for England and when he was playing for Chelsea. And [Steven] Gerrard. They were the two main men and the two central midfielders that England had. I like box-to-box players, he got a few good goals, and I just liked his technique and the way he played football. So, he was probably, outside of Sunderland players, he was probably a big influence.
McGrath later moved to the US, obtained an MSc in Exercise Science with Appalachian State and played with the now discontinued Appalachian State Mountaineers men's soccer team. Having reviewed his stats at App State, I was surprised that across 2018-19 he played 35 games but scored no goals. This seemed odd as he’s become an adept goalscorer at pro level. So what changed?
Alex: I struggled a bit there because I played more as a 6. I played more defensive which, growing up, was never my strength. Growing up I always scored goals. I was never a 10, I was always a box-to-box 8 but then for some reason in those University years I did play a little bit more defensively. I feel like I did all right, still was playing decent. In football, you always fluctuate a little bit. I was always a center midfielder. Any time people were like, “Oh, he might end up right back”, I was like, “I don't want to do that”. I'd grown up my whole life playing center midfield, and when I started with Rod [Underwood] in Charlotte, I had a bit of freedom that let me go back to doing what I was naturally good at.
I feel like that's why I had a lot more success and especially even coming to Chattanooga with Rod, I had that freedom as a midfielder to still play within the structure but do what I was good at. Career-wise, that helped me massively, because I just turned up and did what I was naturally good at and it seemed to work out. You go through spells in your career where it depends on the freedom you have. I was always a number 8. I was always that style of footballer. And I just maybe adjusted a little bit depending on what was needed from the team.
And it's not always a bad thing. Like playing as a 6, there's ways you can impact the game. But as soon as I was back to that 8 position, I've always been a lot happier.
Having come from playing football in England, how was the adjustment to playing college soccer in the US?
Alex: Everything happened so quick, down to the wire. I got something sorted in June and then I was out here in August, so I didn't really know what to expect. I remember the first game we played down in Florida in Jacksonville, and I didn't have a clue. I thought it was just normal football. It was a mental game. It was roll-on roll-off subs; I didn't know it was that. And then it was 3-3 at full time. I didn't even know it went to extra time. And then everyone was back in. I was like, “What's going on here?” and they were like, “It goes to extra time”. I was like, “Oh, does it?” So then extra time. And we scored in the first half. And all the lads were going ballistic. And I was running back to the middle. I was like, “Eh, lads, we've got to keep going here. It's 4-3. It's still the first half of extra time”. They were like, “What are you on about? It's golden goal”. So little things like that. I didn't even know what was going on. You just have to adapt, but it did change the football a little bit. Not just technically, but the roll-on, roll-off subs changed the dynamics of the game. That took a bit of time to get used to and just the coaching styles and style of football. It was different to what I came from back home. Not that it was a bad thing, it just took a bit of time to get used to.
It's a bit strange because it doesn't really prepare you for football. Youth systems are obviously changing over here and there is some really good academies with the MLS clubs and the direction that they're moving in quickly. It's producing a lot of good players. But I feel like it is always difficult, especially if you're not introduced to men's football until your mid-twenties. You're always going to be behind because if you're trying to compete with the European teams and kids coming over from Europe, even if they've been playing lower league football it's still men's football. Ultimately that's what shapes you because even if you're only involved a few times it's a big wake-up call if you're maybe a good 16-year-old and you're running the show in under 18s, but then you go into men's football and you're getting flattened by some 30-year-old bloke who doesn't care who you are that's like “Oh my God, I need to figure it out quick”. I feel like that's what's lacking a little bit here. But it's moving in the right direction, I think because of MLS Next, MLS Next Pro, and CFC Academy.
But Boone (in North Carolina, home of App State) was a beautiful place. I didn't know what to expect. I turned up in the mountains and it was just incredible, really. And that's probably what made it feel a little bit more like America because it seemed like a movie set a little bit, the way Boone is and such a beautiful downtown. I was really lucky that I ended up there, even though it was only for two years. And I'm pleased I was able to move on after that because I was already 21 at the time so if I'd done four years, I probably would have struggled a bit more to get into the professional game. That's why I met my now wife as well so we try and go back because she's from North Carolina. Anytime we get some free time we try and make it back to Boone.
After playing in Boone, McGrath got signed by Rod Underwood, manager of Stumptown Athletic in NISA.
Alex: Yeah. It was a bit bizarre, to be honest. I was working construction in Boone, lucky again in a way that I've met some really great people and some people who took me on for work when no one else would. I learned a lot during that time, and I was still training because I still wanted to give football a go and I wanted to stay in the US at the time but obviously I didn't have any guarantees. I thought as soon as the end of this visa comes, I'm probably going to have to go back home and obviously it was during COVID as well. So, it was like, everything was a bit up in the air and thankfully I had the construction to keep me going financially. And like I said, I learned a lot from that. Just through meeting good people. Like it's, it's one of those where I feel like I've been lucky every place I've gone, to meet the people I have, because they've helped me out. I feel like I've helped people out as well, but the fact that they go out of their way to give this kid some work who has only been in the US for a short amount of time. I'm not sure if that's just the South in general but everyone was always really welcoming and made things in a difficult time a lot a lot easier.
But yeah, I was just training most days during the summer and playing in the Sunday leagues up in Boone. I went to a few trials and the usual stuff. And then we just happened to be in the Charlotte area me and my girlfriend at the time, and this thing came up at Stumptown. I was like, “Stumptown, what the heck's this?” It didn't sound like a real team. But just because I was in the area, I was like, oh, right, I'll go. I mean, I've got nothing to lose at this point. I'll just go and see what happens. And it was like this open tryout. I met Rod. It was a weird COVID season, so it was only split into like – a Spring and a Fall. So, I played there, thankfully did half decent in the handful of games that I played. And during that time, me and my girlfriend got married, so then we were going through the Green Card process. And then, yeah, Rod got the job here [in Chattanooga]. It was just the timing of that seemed to work out. And obviously, I've been here ever since. So, it was a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest, looking back. At the time, you're sort of just trying to go with the flow and figure things out. Not lucky, but you put yourself in those situations that have been training hard, and I'd been working as well and thankfully I got the opportunity, and I sort of took it.
With Stumptown, McGrath had played in Chattanooga before. Did he know much about CFC and what impression did he have of the club?
Alex: I knew they had a good history in the NPSL, and they'd always had a good fan base. And even in NISA at the time they and Detroit were like the top dogs in terms of how they went about things, and it was a fairly professional setup for the league in general compared to definitely what we had at Stumptown. So, I was excited. It was nice to have a bit more security with having the Green Card stuff but also knowing how CFC was as a club, they had that foundation. Not just in America but around the world you see clubs disappearing all the time and the fact that CFC had been around a long time and they had a good foundation I feel like that it was easy for me to kick on here because you knew you weren't worrying about what's going to happen with contracts, what's going to happen from one week to the next.
There's always ups and downs, especially with results and stuff like that. But I feel like for me personally, as long as I feel like I'm moving forward individually, and even my time here at the club, it still felt like it's been moving forward to a certain extent every year, especially since moving to Next Pro. You go from being the best in a league where other teams don't have that capability to now, you're in a league where teams have unlimited resources. It's a new standard for CFC which I think it'll take a bit of time to fit in there but it's only going to help the club move forward, I think.
On the field does it feel much different to playing in NISA?
Alex: It's definitely a different type of league in terms of quality of player and age of player. I feel like that's where CFC is still trying to find its feet. Because obviously you can't copy what Crown Legacy are doing because it's a different environment. You've got different players coming through, their goals are different to what CFC's goals are. But I think we're slowly getting there in terms of trying to understand how CFC fits into that and no one knows the best way to go about things fully because it's still a learning process. I think it's a bit of trial and error but I'm hoping that each year we keep progressing as a club and that comes down to results and how the fans view things. But I can definitely say from day one when I came here in NISA, a lot's changed. It's just going to take a little bit of time to sort of settle within Next Pro.
So where to now? What are Alex’s plans and when will he be seen in a blue shirt again?
Alex: I'm hoping that things can get sorted for next season. Obviously, I'm out of contract currently at the end of this year, but optimistic that things are going to get figured out. I should be back next pre-season and have a full pre-season to work everything back to hopefully full fitness and being better than I was when I got injured. That's the plan and that's always the motivation that keeps you going at the minute, even if things aren't perfect all the time. Hopefully things figure themselves out and get back on track going into next season. So that's all I'm looking forward to. And then in the meantime, just trying to figure out how I can help the lads and even coaching staff this season just make playoffs. That's a goal ultimately because we still have a job to do this year and I'm still a part of that. So, it's just, yeah, finding a way to be somewhat successful in this new role I have, even if it's only a temporary one.
This is great!