Matt Aldred has turned into part of the welcoming committee for the Chattanooga Football Club.

He also could be a tour guide, showing the soccer team's newcomers around town.

There will be a number of them.

Chattanooga FC starts its May gauntlet of matches Saturday in a National Premier Soccer League Southeast Division game at the Birmingham Hammers at 8 p.m. EDT. CFC could play as many as seven matches in a 17-day span in the month, with the U.S. Open Cup and Steinbrecher Cup adding to what already is a tough stretch.

CFC will face Reading United AC of the Premier Development League in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup at Finley Stadium next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. That could lead to hosting a third-round match on May 25.

Sandwiched between those dates is the CFC Foundation's Celebrity Soccer Weekend on May 20-21, which will include United States men's national team members Landon Donovan, Brian Ching and Stuart Holden. The trio will lead a youth soccer clinic both days, and Saturday will culminate with CFC's conference home opener against Nashville FC.

CFC will start the season with six starters gone from last season's NPSL national runner-up team, and a seventh — midfielder Luis Trude — out with an injury. That has put an additional level of pressure on players such as Aldred and mainstays Greg Hartley and Luke Winter to help the younger and newer players figure things out.

Coach Bill Elliott feels even better about the depth of this year's team than last season's. With back-to-back runs to the national final, he's been able to figure out the level of player it takes to compete consistently in the NPSL.

"It's important to have deep rosters and players that can play," Elliott said. "We've improved in that area. Our first 11 may not be as good — that remains to bee seen, a lot will have to prove their worth — but in depth, we have grown.

"You do need a lot of bodies."

"Our depth is going to be really important," said Alfred, a defending midfielder. "We've got good quality this year with a few guys that haven't played in a few years and a few new guys that I've heard good things about. They've shown some real promise the last few days of practice, so I think the mixture of experience, age, youth, talent and hard work, fingers crossed.

"It could be our year this year."

Elliott said the team is replacing its entire starting back line, which worked well together. Jon Finlay, who started some of the season, returns, but beyond him will be newcomers. For Alfred, who has to be able to trust and communicate with the center backs, it's been important to develop a certain level of camaraderie with the new guys as the season draws near.

"We've been trying to do stuff socially," he said. "We go out, talk about how we want to play, but when we're away from the field, we talk about each other. There isn't much talk about football when we're out; we're just enjoying each other's time and company. From that it creates trust, which is what you need for the soccer team, for any team really."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.