| Season: | Fall 2021 season |
| Dates: | Aug. 7 – Nov. 21 |
| Competition: | National Independent Soccer Association |
| Matches: | 90 |
| Total Goals: | 227 |
| League Topscorer: | Omar Nuño (12) |
| Biggest Home Win: | NAM 4–0 1904 (November 21) |
| Biggest Away Win: | NAM 1–6 DET (September 29) |
| Highest Scoring: | MIC 3–4 CAL (7 goals, August 7) NAM 1–6 DET (7 goals, September 29) CHI 2–5 MAR (7 goals, October 23) |
| Longest Wins: | 5 matches Detroit City FC (August 21 – September 15) (October 9 – November 6) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 10 matches Detroit City FC (September 25 – November 20) |
| Longest Winless: | 16 matches San Diego 1904 FC (August 21 – November 21) |
| Longest Losses: | 6 matches San Diego 1904 FC (September 25 – October 23) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,076 DET 3–2 CHI (August 7) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 164 STU 0–0 MIC (September 1) |
| Attendance: | 29,641 (As of Sept. 4) |
| Average Attendance: | 1,289 |
| Prevseason: | 2020–21 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
| Updated: | November 21 |
| Winners: | Detroit City FC |
The Fall 2021 NISA season was the third season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. The season took place only during the Fall in order to realign the league's seasons with the calendar year.[1] The league also organized the second edition of its pre-season cup competition, the NISA Independent Cup.
The nine teams that participated in the 2020-21 Spring season all returned. They were joined by expansion club Chicago House AC.
Note: The league has signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allows clubs to find their own provider.[2]
| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California United Strikers FC |  | | Nike | Taco Bell | |
| Chattanooga FC | | Hummel | Louisiana Hot Sauce, VfL Wolfsburg | ||
| Chicago House AC | | | Nike | — | |
| Detroit City FC |  | Adidas | Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers | ||
| Los Angeles Force |  | | Xara | — | |
| Maryland Bobcats FC | Phil Nana | Kay Banjo | Hummel | Dog Haus | |
| Michigan Stars FC | | Hummel | HTC | ||
| New Amsterdam FC |  | Daniel Vicente | Icarus | Fruit Street | |
| San Diego 1904 FC | Ozzie Ramos | Nike | Live Up Nutrition | ||
| Stumptown AC | | Franky Martinez | Hummel | OrthoCarolina Healthcare |
The NISA Independent Cup will start on July 9. It features seven of the ten NISA clubs, with Michigan Stars FC and Stumptown AC opting not to participate and San Diego 1904 FC withdrawing before the start of the tournament. They will be joined by 28 invited amateur teams and divided geographically into nine regions of four clubs each. Each region will play a single round robin tournament with the team earning the most points in each region declared regional champion. Like last year, there will be no interregional play or national champion.
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The match between New Amsterdam FC and Lansdowne Yonkers FC was originally scheduled for July 17 and was to be hosted at Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick, New York. However, weather forced the match to be postponed to a later date.[4] The game was played on July 28 but was instead hosted by Lansdowne at Flemings Field in Yonkers, New York.[5]
On July 22, the league announced that California Victory FC had withdrawn from the tournament after playing one match, a 1-1 draw against Bay Cities FC. This result was expunged.[6]
The Southwest Region is the only region of the Independent Cup that does not consist of four clubs. On July 7, NISA announced on Twitter that 1904 FC had withdrawn from the tournament just 48 hours before the tournament was set to begin.[7] Therefore, the Southwest Region would continue as a three team round-robin.
The Fall season started on August 6, and saw the ten teams play each other twice, in a single-table format.[8] There were no playoffs; the team leading the table at the end of the season was declared champion.[1] The season ended on November 21.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Omar Nuño | California United Strikers | 12 |
| 2 |  Mayele Malango | New Amsterdam | 9 |
| 3 |  Wojciech Wojcik | Chicago House | 8 |
| 4 | Maxi Rodriquez | Detroit City | 7 |
| 5 | Olakunle Banjo | Maryland Bobcats | 6 |
| Christian Chaney | Los Angeles Force | ||
 Molley Karpeh, Jr. | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| 8 | Shavon John-Brown | New Amsterdam | 5 |
| Leon Maric | Michigan Stars | ||
| Kyle Nuel | Michigan Stars | ||
| Connor Rutz | Detroit City |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Huffman | Chattanooga FC | 4 |
| Steven Juncaj | Michigan Stars | ||
| James Kasak | Chattanooga FC | ||
| 4 | Drew Conner | Chicago House | 3 |
| Shavon John-Brown | New Amsterdam | ||
| Felipe Liborio, Jr. | California United Strikers | ||
| Bryan Medina | California United Strikers | ||
| Pilawe Patrick Pato | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| Christian Thierjung | California United Strikers | ||
| Kevin Venegas | Detroit City | ||
| Rhys Williams | Stumptown AC |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan Steinwascher | Detroit City | 9 |
| 2 | Tatenda Mkuruva | Michigan Stars | 6 |
| Kevin Gonzalez | Stumptown AC | ||
| 4 | Alec Redington | Chattanooga FC | 5 |
| 5 | Brandon Gomez | Los Angeles Force | 4 |
| Mike Novotny | Chicago House | ||
| 7 | Kevin Tenjo | New Amsterdam | 3 |
| 8 |  Christian Caulker | Maryland Bobcats | 2 |
 Joel Isyaq | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| 10 | Jean Gamain Antoine | California United Strikers | 1 |
| Brandon Barnes | Chicago House | ||
| Kifikalani Cabrera | Los Angeles Force | ||
| Alfredo Cortez | 1904 FC | ||
| Mitch North | California United Strikers | ||
 Sheldon Parkinson | New Amsterdam |
| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omar Nuño | California United Strikers | at Michigan Stars | 3–4 | Aug 7 |
| Olakunle Banjo | Maryland Bobcats | at Chicago House | 2–5 | Oct 23 |
Games without fans reported are not counted in averages or games played.
| width=25 | Rank | width=170 | Team | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit City FC | 9 | 6,076 | 3,689 | ||||||||
| 2 | Chattanooga FC | 9 | 2,916 | 1,420 | ||||||||
| 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 7 | 3,786 | 506 | ||||||||
| 4 | Chicago House AC | 9 | 1,420 | 663 | ||||||||
| 5 | California United Strikers FC | 8 | 1,738 | 345 | ||||||||
| 6 | New Amsterdam FC | 9 | 574 | 278 | ||||||||
| 7 | Maryland Bobcats FC | 9 | 372 | 212 | ||||||||
| 8 | Stumptown AC | 9 | 399 | 164 | ||||||||
| 9 | San Diego 1904 FC | 9 | 393 | 168 | ||||||||
| 10 | Los Angeles Force | 1 | 175 | 175 | ||||||||
| Total | 79 | 99,374 | 6,076 | 164 | ||||||||