About Us
We are One. We are Many. We are Knoxville.
The Scruffs are a community-first supporters group of One Knoxville Sporting Club. We believe that sport has the potential to create a positive culture of unity and energy, and we strive to embrace that philosophy both in the environment we create on match day and in the ways we interact with Knoxville and the surrounding area.
Match Day-Minded
Help us make The Fort the noisiest, most intimidating supporters section in USL League 1. Buy tickets in Section 118 for an upcoming match, and please introduce yourself! We welcome loyal members and guests alike.
Community-Centered
East Tennessee has given so much to each of us, and we consider it an honor to be able to give back to the community. Subscribe to our newsletter, and follow our socials to learn about upcoming service opportunities.
2026 Board Members
Chairperson Tim Vacek
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Tim has lived in Knoxville since 2000, and he has spent all 20 of his years as an educator at Bearden High School. He has loved the beautiful game since his days supporting MISL's Dallas Sidekicks as a kid in the 80s.
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Daniel is a West Knoxville native and has been attending sporting events his whole life. His love of soccer began in 2015 with Chattanooga FC, where he started dreaming of the day he could support his hometown club.
Nikki Bolinger
Treasurer Daniel Morrell
Nikki Bolinger
Nikki moved to Maryville from Chicago in 2005 to attend Maryville College, planting roots after falling in love with the outdoorsy Scruffy City. Her soccer journey began young as an intimidating CM and keeper.
Kara Evans
Tony Schnadelbach
Nikki Bolinger
Kara was born and raised in Knoxville and has spent 21 years teaching at Cedar Bluff. Her interest in soccer started when the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup, but became a true passion during a semester abroad in Germany.
Tony Schnadelbach
Tony Schnadelbach
Tony Schnadelbach
A Mississippi native, Tony moved to Knoxville in 2023, where he works for UT. He fell in love with the sport during the 2006 World Cup, becoming a lifelong supporter of Die Mannschaft, Germany's national team.
History of The Scruffs
Auspicious Origins
The Scruffs were founded before the start of the inaugural 2022 season by our first capo Dakota Booth. We built a passionate core of loyal members during our lone USL2 season, as we traveled from Austin-East Magnet High School to Knoxville Catholic High School to Maryville College to West High School and back again to Austin-East. The acme of our first year together was our two nights at West, winning both playoff matches there, including the 4-2 AET thriller against Texas United. New members should consider it a rite of passage to have to listen to an OG Scruff tell the story of that night. Most of us will tell you it's the night that Knoxville became a soccer town.
Where the Battle Chant Began
In 2023, we moved up to USL League 1 and our home of two years – Regal Soccer Stadium. Tim Vacek stepped in to Dakota's role when the Booth family moved away from East Tennessee. Dakota remains a die-hard Scruff and makes sure that all in Portland, Oregon know it. We started our professional journey in style with a 2-1 win at home against Georgetown Neon Green Ponies FC.
Our two seasons at Regal saw our numbers grow considerably, as we formalized official membership in the group and a democratically-elected board of five members. We also established a rich tailgating culture that helped to ensure a sense of family and community in the group. On the pitch, results did not come as consistently as we would have liked in 2023, but we qualified for our first professional playoff match in 2024, falling just short in a 2-1 loss at Greenville Triumph.
Old City Glory
The opening of Covenant Health Park in 2025 gave us a new home in Section 118 (The Fort) and a new team to support with the debut of our women's side. Our tailgating traditions transitioned to pre-match hangouts at pubs in the Old City, and our marches past the historic red brick buildings of Jackson Avenue quickly became a cultural touchstone of Scruffy City. The first season in the Old City will always be the stuff of legends. A late-season surge of nearly unbeatable form saw our Boys in Smoky Blue leap arch rival East Ridge to win the Players' Shield, and we stormed through our three home playoff matches to win the double. We'll now forever sing about Nov. 16, 2025 as our 2-0 win over Spokane Velocity in the final meant that Knoxville, Tennessee was the center of the footballing universe for one magical night.
Our first four seasons have seen us write an extensive list of greatest hits, but as the lyric goes, "we've only just begun..." We hope you'll join us as we create more history together as a family.