Perhaps an introduction is necessary?

My name is Clay Trainum, and this site is a labor of love to compile the first comprehensive history of professional and semi-professional soccer in Nashville.

In a previous life, I was a sports information director for a number of universities throughout the Midwest and the South, and with the rebirth of professional soccer in Nashville in 2018, I was profoundly underwhelmed with the existing information on the previous teams that played in the Nashville area. With regular access to newspaper archives and a lot more free time now that I’m out of sports full-time, I set about to change that, so here we are.

This project, which is a little more daunting than I initially thought it would be, will likely take several months, if not years, to get it to the place that I would like it to be, but it’s something I very much look forward to completing.

At this point in time, my research has focused singularly on the Nashville Diamonds, a professional team that was both poorly managed and significantly ahead of its time. So far, I have mostly depended on the local Nashville newspapers, The Banner and The Tennessean, as well as the local papers from the opponents of the Diamonds. As time goes on, I will hopefully be adding to their story by hearing from the players that made up the team as well as from some of the writers who covered the tumultuous campaign.

If you have questions, or better yet, photos or further information on the 1982 Nashville Diamonds, please drop me a line at clayvtrainum at gmail dot com.