On the face of it, Cam Lindley’s first stint with hometown club Indy Eleven in 2020 was not a success.

The creative midfielder made only 12 appearances, failed to record a goal or assist, and logged only 756 minutes as the Boys in Blue collapsed down the final stretch of the COVID-19 abbreviated campaign to miss the postseason.

And yet, in retrospect, it may have served as the year that made Lindley the player he is now.

“I wasn't as fit as I wanted to be getting in here,” Lindley told USLChampionship.com recently. “During that COVID time, I really decided to get fit. And I know that to some people is like ‘what does he mean?’ Well, for me, it was that I could always do things with the ball, my passing range and everything, but it was being able to do the other side the defensive stuff, the tackling, covering the ground.”

Contrast then and now, and Lindley has become one of the indispensable pieces of Indy’s lineup. Since his return to the club prior to the 2023 USL Championship season, he’s logged 38 appearances and 3,230 minutes across the regular season and playoffs – second only to Sebastian Guenzatti in both categories. He ranks second on the team in interceptions (28) and tackles won (39, at a 69 percent success rate), and third in recoveries (204).

Oh, and he still also leads the team in assists (8) and chances created (69), numbers which a season ago helped him earn his second consecutive selection to the Championship’s All-League Team.

With Indy in rebuilding mode after the disappointment of the 2020 season, he headed to San Antonio FC, where his ascent in the USL Championship’s hierarchy truly got underway.

“San Antonio had a big impact on me,” said Lindley. “The way we played, the way Alen Marcina made us train, it changed me as a player and it gave me the confidence that ‘OK, I can do this. I can make it happen in this league.’”

Lindley made 31 appearances for San Antonio, helping the side advance to the Western Conference Final of the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs before it fell in a penalty shootout to eventual title winner Orange County SC. His next change of scenery saw Lindley fully come into his own. Joining a Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC side that was loaded with attacking talent, he posted a career-best nine assists across 34 appearances while maintaining the defensive standards that had been set in San Antonio.

“It was a staff that let me be myself, truly to a tee,” said Lindley of working with former Switchbacks Head Coach Brendan Burke and current Sporting Director Stephen Hogan and Head Coach James Chambers. “They had to kind of rein me back during the week in training because I’m one that always likes to get after it, they managed me a lot better. And, obviously playing with guys like Hadji Barry and [Michee] Ngalina, it’s pretty easy to be a good player beside them.”

For Indy, success hasn’t always been easy to come by. The side last competed in a league final in 2016 when it fell to the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League’s Soccer Bowl, and there have been more seasons in which the side missed out on postseason play than it reached the playoffs over its first 10 seasons.

It’s made the rivalry with Louisville City FC that began in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2015 and expanded when Indy joined the USL Championship in 2018 to become the best in the league in some ways a measuring stick for the Boys in Blue. While LouCity has the trophies and a decent lead in the all-time series between the clubs – including sweeping last year’s regular season series to reclaim the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest trophy – Indy has been the nearly-club in relation to its size and investment.

That’s something Lindley would trade all his individual accolades to change. While he was surprised by former Head Coach Mark Lowry’s departure from the club at the end of last season, reuniting with McAuley – who worked with Lindley in Orlando after joining the club midway through the 2018 season – brought the side a leader Lindley believes can push the team forward.

“I kind of had an idea of what was coming, and that helped me personally and I was able to pass it along to the guys, ‘OK, here’s what we’re getting into,’” said Lindley. “He comes off great, everyone takes a liking to him. He’s great man-manager, which is something that maybe some managers don't quite understand, but he’s great at that. He makes the whole squad feel involved, and he’s built a great squad and everyone’s going to be involved this season.”

Indy will get its first crack at LouCity in the first USL Championship game to air on network television as CBS brings a national audience the action from Lynn Family Stadium this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. For Lindley, the national platform is a sign of how far the league has come from its starting point more than a decade ago.

“I mean, I get chills thinking about it,” he said. “I wasn't in the league when it first started, so talking to some of the guys about just how far it’s come, first off, it’s a tribute to them and the work they’ve put in to continue to raise the standard of the league.

“The transfers out of this league we’ve had, the players that have come through all the clubs, it’s a testament to them. As a player being able to play right before the Final Four – I’m a big basketball guy, you know – it’s incredible. I know a bunch of people be tuning in to watch that, and I can't believe we’re going to be in that position.”

As important as Saturday’s game is for Indy to get one over its biggest rival, the big picture for this season is to claim the first league title in the club’s history. The Boys in Blue have a deep, talented squad and have shown their qualities in the opening four games of the season, even if the results haven’t quite fallen their way yet.

That hasn’t dimmed the belief this year is the opportunity everyone at the club has been waiting for.

“I really do feel like we have a great chance to win this year,” said Lindley. “The way we’re playing, the players we have, the squad we have, the manager we have, I just think it sets up well for us. I think we're going to create a lot of goals and I think we're going to lock it down in the back even more.

“We maybe have been a nearly club, but once we get the championship then we can build on that.”

This time, for Indy and for Lindley, the pieces are all coming together.