| Season: | 2020–21 |
| Manager: | Trevor James |
| Chairman: | Sean Mann |
| Chrtitle: | CEO |
| League Result: | Fall 4th, Eastern Conf |
| Cup1: | Playoffs |
| Cup1 Result: | Fall Champions |
| Cup2 Result: | Cancelled |
| League Topscorer: | Connor Rutz, Pato Botello Faz: 4 |
| Season Topscorer: | Shawn Lawson, Pato Botello Faz: 5 |
| Average Attendance: | 3,209 |
| Highest Attendance: | 4,741 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,530 |
| Pattern La1: | _dcfc_home_2020 |
| Pattern B1: | _dcfc_home_2020 |
| Pattern Ra1: | _dcfc_home_2020 |
| Pattern Sh1: | _dcfc_home_2019 |
| Pattern So1: | _dcfc_home_2019 |
| Leftarm1: | 600020 |
| Body1: | 600020 |
| Rightarm1: | 600020 |
| Shorts1: | 600020 |
| Socks1: | 600020 |
| Pattern B2: | _dcfc_away_2020 |
| Pattern Sh2: | _dcfc_away_2019 |
| Pattern So2: | _dcfc_away_2019 |
| Leftarm2: | FFF |
| Body2: | FFF |
| Rightarm2: | FFF |
| Shorts2: | FFF |
| Socks2: | FFF |
| American: | yes |
The 2020–21 season was Detroit City FC's second professional season since the club was established in 2012 and their first full season in the National Independent Soccer Association.
After the cancellation of the 2020 NISA Spring season the association confirmed that the 2020–21 season would take place as normal, under local guidelines for social distancing and restrictions for fan attendance.[1] [2]
| Name | Date of birth (age) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | data-sort-value="Steinwascher, Nathan" style="text-align:left;" | Nathan Steinwascher | 15 February 1993 | 2016 | |
| 2 | | data-sort-value="Filerman, James" style="text-align:left;" | James Filerman | 11 November 1996 | 2020 | |
| 3 | | data-sort-value="Torre, Javan" style="text-align:left;" | Javan Torre | 20 October 1993 | 2021 | |
| 4 | | data-sort-value="Manning, Anthony" style="text-align:left;" | Anthony Manning | 4 September 1992 | 2021 | |
| 5 |  | data-sort-value="Carroll, Stephen" style="text-align:left;" | Stephen Carroll (captain) | 30 November 1993 | 2017 | |
| 6 | data-sort-value="Todd, Max" style="text-align:left;" | Max Todd | 5 March 1996 | 2020 | ||
| 7 | | data-sort-value="Green, Roddy" style="text-align:left;" | Roddy Green | 26 September 1997 | 2017 | |
| 10 |  | data-sort-value="Saydee, Cyrus" style="text-align:left;" | Cyrus Saydee | 21 March 1992 | 2012 | |
| 11 | | data-sort-value="Rutz, Connor" style="text-align:left;" | Connor Rutz | 9 April 1997 | 2020 | |
| 12 | data-sort-value="Jirira, Tendai" style="text-align:left;" | Tendai Jirira | 12 November 1991[5] | 2019 | ||
| 13 | | data-sort-value="Quezada, Armando" style="text-align:left;" | Armando Quezada | 6 July 1994 | 2019 | |
| 14 | | data-sort-value="Steinwascher, Javier" style="text-align:left;" | Javier Steinwascher | 14 March 1998 | 2021 | |
| 15 | | data-sort-value="Lewis, Matt" style="text-align:left;" | Matt Lewis | 1 August 1996 | 2020 | |
| 17 |  | data-sort-value="Tanyi, Benedek" style="text-align:left;" | Benedek Tanyi | 19 January 2001 | 2020 | |
| 19 |  | data-sort-value="Botello Faz, Pato" style="text-align:left;" | Pato Botello Faz | 8 September 1996 | 2021 | |
| 20 | data-sort-value="Matthews, Yazeed" style="text-align:left;" | Yazeed Matthews | 22 April 1996 | 2019 | ||
| 21 | | data-sort-value="Rodriguez, Maxi" style="text-align:left;" | Maxi Rodriguez | 9 August 1995 | 2021 | |
| 23 | data-sort-value="Espinal, Darwin" style="text-align:left;" | Darwin Espinal | 16 January 1995 | 2021 | ||
| 22 | | data-sort-value="Venegas, Kevin" style="text-align:left;" | Kevin Venegas | 29 April 1989 | 2020 | |
| 47 | | data-sort-value="Tanyi, Barnabas" style="text-align:left;" | Barnabas Tanyi | 23 January 2003[6] | 2021 | |
| 99 | data-sort-value="Chomakov, George" style="text-align:left;" | George Chomakov | 19 November 1990 | 2014 | ||
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor James | Head coach and general manager | |
| Brie Gauna | Head athletic trainer | |
 Armen Tonianse | Assistant and goalkeeper coach |
The club wore different kits for the 2020 and 2021 portions of the season. Adidas was the supplier and Metro-Detroit Chevy Dealers was the sponsor through both halves of the season.
| Date from | Position | Player | Last team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 11, 2020 | GK | Jean Antoine | San Diego 1904 FC | Free transfer | [7] |
| DF | James Filerman | Old Dominion Monarchs | Free transfer | ||
| MF | Benedek Tanyi | Grosse Ile Red Devils | Free transfer | ||
| FW | Elijah Rice | Stumptown Athletic | Free transfer | ||
| FW | Ryan Peterson | Stumptown Athletic | Free transfer | ||
| FW | Travis Bowen | FC Golden State | Free transfer | ||
| August 14, 2020 | MF |  Ibrahim Conteh |  Persipura Jayapura | Free transfer | [8] |
| September 8, 2020 | GK | Parker Siegfried | Tormenta FC | Free transfer | [9] |
| September 11, 2020 | FW | Max Todd | Detroit City FC (NPSL) | Free transfer | [10] |
| September 21, 2020 | DF | Brandon Clegg | James Madison Dukes | Free transfer | [11] |
| February 15, 2021 | DF | Anthony Manning | Indy Eleven | Free transfer | [12] |
| February 19, 2021 | DF | Javan Torre | Las Vegas Lights | Free transfer | [13] |
| March 1, 2021 | MF | Pablo Cruz | Las Vegas Lights | Free transfer | [14] |
| March 22, 2021 | MF | Barnabas Tanyi | Grosse Ile Red Devils | Free transfer | [15] |
| MF | Maxi Rodriguez | Richmond Kickers | Free transfer | [16] | |
| March 29, 2021 | DF | Matt Lewis | New York Cosmos | Free transfer | [17] |
| March 30, 2021 | MF | Javier Steinwascher | Oakland County FC | Free transfer | [18] |
| April 16, 2021 | FW | Pato Botello Faz | Tormenta FC | Free transfer | |
| April 20, 2021 | GK | Armando Quezada | San Antonio FC | Free transfer | [19] |
| April 30, 2021 | DF | James Filerman | FC Tucson | Free transfer | [20] |
| May 21, 2021 | FW | Darwin Espinal | New York Cosmos | Free transfer | [21] |
| Date to | Position | Player | Next team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | James Vaughan | Unattached | Released | ||
| August 23, 2020 | GK | Austin Rogers | KF Vushtrria | Released | [22] |
| November 2020 | DF |  Evans Frimpong | Unattached | Not re-signed | [23] |
| MF | Bakie Goodman | Unattached | Retired | ||
| FW | Javier Bautista | Joined Detroit City FC coaching staff | Retired | ||
| FW | Elijah Rice | Unattached | |||
| Brandon Clegg | Unattached | ||||
| Travis Bowen | Unattached | ||||
| February 16, 2021 | DF | James Filerman | FC Tucson | Not re-signed | [24] |
| February 24, 2021 | GK | Jean Antoine | California United Strikers FC | Not re-signed | [25] |
| February 24, 2021 | MF | Ibrahim Conteh |  Al Ittifaq (Maqaba) | Free transfer | [26] |
| March 2021 | FW | Ryan Peterson | FC Motown | Not re-signed | [27] |
| March 5, 2021 | DF | Sebastian Capozucchi | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | Not re-signed | [28] |
| March 17, 2021 | GK | Parker Siegfried | Louisville City FC | Not re-signed | [29] |
| April 2021 | MF | Michael Kafari | New Amsterdam FC | Not re-signed | [30] |
| April 29, 2021 | FW |  Shawn Lawson |  Atlético Ottawa | Not re-signed | [31] |
| During season | MF | Pablo Cruz | Unattached | ||
The NISA Independent Cup was originally unveiled on April 27, 2020, following the 2020 Spring Season's cancellation, as a competition between NISA members and high level amateur clubs.[32] On July 1, the regional tournament was officially announced as a 'pre-season event' with Detroit City taking part alongside three other association members.[33] [34]
Competing within the Great Lakes Region, The team was reunited with Rust Belt Derby rival FC Buffalo and Cleveland SC, against whom Detroit City had lost the 2019 NPSL Midwest Region Finals to in PKs.[35]
The schedule for the 2020 NISA Fall Season was released on 31 July 2020.[36] The format consisted of a regionalized East/West divisional competition beginning 8 August, with Detroit playing in the Eastern Conference, and a single-location tournament to be held 21 September through 2 October, resulting in a single Fall champion.
Detroit City FC hosted the entirety of the 2020-21 NISA Fall Playoffs at Keyworth Stadium.[37]
The Spring season began on April 13, 2021, with a bubble tournament named Legends Cup and hosted by Chattanooga FC, with the winner gaining entry into the Spring 2021 Final. Phase 2, which is scheduled to begin on May 1, 2021, will be a traditional regular season hosted in each team's markets, the winner of which will face the winner of Phase 1 in the Spring 2021 Final, to determine the Spring champion.[38]
Detroit City was assigned to the second group of three. The best team at the end of the group stage qualifies directly to the Legends Cup final, while the second and third seeds will play a semifinal game to determine the second finalist.[39]
|-! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Goalkeepers|-! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Defenders|-! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Midfielders|-! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Forwards|-! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Left during season|-|}
| width=60 | Place | width=150 | Name | width=150 | Fall Season | width=150 | Fall Playoffs | width=150 | Legends Cup | width=150 | Spring Season | width=150 | League Play | width=150 | All Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawn Lawson | 1 | 4 | - | - | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Pato Botello Faz | - | - | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| 3 | Connor Rutz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| Max Todd | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 5 | Yazeed Matthews | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| Kevin Venegas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| Anthony Manning | - | - | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| James Filerman | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| 8 | Michael Kafari | 0 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Ryan Peterson | 0 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| Stephen Carroll | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| Matt Lewis | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| Maxi Rodriguez | - | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Cyrus Saydee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Name | Fall Season | Fall Playoffs | Legends Cup | Spring Season | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Filerman | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Cyrus Saydee | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tendai Jirira | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Kafari | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Elijah Rice | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Ibrahim Conteh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 |
| Yazeed Matthews | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Venegas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Sebastian Capozucchi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Brandon Clegg | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Barnabas Tanyi | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Max Todd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Maxi Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Anthony Manning | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Darwin Espinal | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |