Championship Game @ 7pm!

Love this quote from Ben7021. "...never saw a crowd quite like that." That should send chills down the spines of anyone outside of Orlando who hopes to have a MLS team in their city one day. I'm not trying to sound mean. But our brothers in Tampa and South Florida need to step it up a little.

The reason is, of course, the supporters groups. The big two groups constantly try to out-do each other. There are new groups popping up in different sections before every game. They're competing with each other. The big two could, in mass, go down to the concourse for food while the smaller groups easily keep the noise level up above what is normally heard at most D2, D3 stadiums. It's all a little disorganized but it's fun as hell to be in the middle of.

The attendance numbers WILL be great next year in Orlando. Bet on it.
What we need is the FOs of all three Florida teams to work together, schedule some friendlies (maybe a real Ponce de Leon Cup of some sort), and build the same kind of rivalry they have in the North West. This is what will bring Top Flight Soccer back to the Sunshine State.

Congratulations on the win. I'm a soccer fan living in Gainesville, and I feel a little bad about not paying any attention to Orlando City until now. When does the season start up again? And what is the usual venue? I'd love to make it down to some games next year.

You're right Prime and I am sorry for certain lines in my previous post. I'm not trying to cause trouble. We are feeling a little smug right now. Part of that is due to the fact that the other Florida teams' supporters were pretty rough on us earlier this year. Does anyone remember the phony photos of the Citrus Bowl featuring an unknown pair of soccer teams playing before a non-existent crowd? What were those threads titled? "Tampa Supporters...You're gonna love this". "Miami Supporters...You're gonna love this". "Austin Supporters...You're gonna love this." Love what? That Orlando City was, at that time, having some trouble getting the word out. These guys gave us NO chance of success. They knocked our front office personnel, our stadium, our fans. It was relentless.

But I'll try to remember that living well is the best revenge. I'll abandon my own petty bitterness for those times and, for now on, take the high road.

But let there be no mistake. There are three teams in Florida. One of them has just won the championship of it's respective league.

and in my world you should be promoted to NASL.

Ugh. Nobody gets "promoted" in American soccer. NASL is only provisionally sanctioned by the USSF. Who says they will even be D2 next year? And at this point, there is little difference between D2 and D3. No incentive for Orlando to "promote" themselves until the NASL makes it worth their while. They seem happy where they are and it doesn't effect their MLS aspirations.

Why bother? Are they going to get better players? No. They are arguably more talented than any NASL team and have no trouble keeping players from NASL teams. Are they going to stop losing money in NASL? No. It seems they have a plan right now to become profitable in their third year in USL-Pro. Do they need D2 to bump attendance? No. Being in D2 doesn't bump attendance anyway. Do the fans seems to care they are seeing D3 and not D2? No. They would only notice if it goes from D3 to D1.

To me this sounds more like a Tampa fan begging Orlando to play in their league so the Rowdies can get some bigger crowds. Nothing wrong with that.

what don't "in my world" you get...

As a fan of local soccer and soccer abroad, pro/rel is part of "my world".

If you don't understand that well that's your problem.

O.K. I really should not have been so smug. Didn't mean to offend any one, any where. But if you had been to that game on Saturday... you would have seen the south end of that bowl over-flowng with supporters. Check out the photos and videos taken before, during and after that match. The noise was deafening. The energy was palpable. I would put that atmosphere up against any thing going on at any MLS stadium.

I really believe we have done something special here in Orlando and I think it can be done in the other Florida cities as well. There is a movement going on here and I firmly believe soccer in Florida and the S.E. could be every bit as exciting as it is in the northwest. I, for one, think the MLS is crazy for not taking full advantage of the southern markets. I, along with my fellow OCSC supporters (in every group), are fully committed to proving the MLS has been, up til now, crazy. None of us have 40 million dollars. But we do have their attention. That's a start.

Great post Papadop, and you weren't being smug - WSW was! It was my understanding that the only difference between D2 & D3 was the level of financial backing! Richmond, Charleston, Rochester, Pittsburgh, & maybe Charlotte were all in the top(non -MLS) division at one time and were NOT relegated! They chose to play in a lower division in order to remain solvent!

I was there. Gratz on the trophy and the season. I talked plenty of shit around here and what can I say? 11,200 fans at the final speaks for itself. I think winning that trophy will do nothing but increase interest and I seriously doubt there will be much of a slump in year two.

And ya you guys have more supporters than we do, but I have one quibble. You still don't sing for shit We were sitting in the opposite corner from you, paying particular attention to what you had going on (only reason we went to be honest) and yes we could hear the 2 or 3 chants that both groups do over and over, but the Mob out sings you guys any day of the week.

That being said the noise level overall was impressive, just disorganized. Fans getting on their feet for every corner and some pretty impressive noise for the goals was fun to see.

If your supporter groups ever put aside their differences and stand together you might be on to something. Competing with each other, while you might think its great, isn't nearly as effective as one unit.

If you do that and you learn to SING then the skies the limit.

Oh I loved hearing 'Orlando Sea Lions' or 'Orlando shi***'. Funny how all that chatter is non existant. Next year we will improve. Best club in florida. Orlando City!

Grudging respect is always the best kind.

Finished watching the replay of the game on FSC and the atmosphere sounded awesome. And like speedcake said if there was more of an organized singing/chanting it would have sounded that much better.

Also I wonder if they told the cameramen to try to keep the lower bowl in the picture frame? Every so often it looked like the camera would drift up and quickly come back down.

Amen. But Speed is right. Chants and songs need to improve next year. Part of the problem is that our group has, in many ways, become a "mob" (sorry Speed, WSW). Getting everyone focused and organized has become our biggest challenge. We've got a bull horn up front and sometimes you can't even hear it three rows back. The fog often envelops the Capo and you can't see what he's doing. The base fan for the puppet sounds like your standing behind an airboat. There are some kinks to work out, for sure.

I do thank you all for the positive comments. Our founders attended four matches at GSS last year to "study" Ralph's Mob. We were inspired and learned a great deal. But, for better or worse, we put an "Orlando" flavor in the mix. People from Tampa are fond of saying "Orlando has no culture." Not true! It was on display last Saturday. Where else would you see hundreds of people standing around a fog machine chanting "I believe that we will win" while a 22' high air puppet hovers over their heads. Only in Orlando.

I knew this when I posted, I just loved seeing a team on their home pitch is what I meant.