Well we opened the season at the Fresno Fuego's home. So we played last year's PDL Champions in front of a crowd of 8,000 plus, and only lost by ONE goal. I would say that's a pretty good way to open the season. Final score was 2-1.
Good effort, except Fresno wasn't last year's PDL champions. Kitsap was. And I've not seen an attendance figure for this match anywhere.
Fresno is, however, the undisputed champion of PDL attendance. They know how to get people to the stadium for a soccer game. And no, I don't think it's all about the fact that the games are free. Hopefully FC Tucson gets a similar experience at home. They've done a lot of work this offseason.
Well they were the 2011 PDL Regular Season Champions. So they won the PDL 'Supporters Shield'. Well Fresno did have over 8,000 at yesterday's match, & drew over 6,000 for there first match. What's Des Moines average attendance.
Which doesn't exist, but, fair enough. Tough place to play. Got a link for yesterday? Fresno Bee didn't mention it, it's not on the USL's box score. And, no, Fresno got 4,273 for "their" first match, not over 6,000. Des Moines, again, has led the PDL in average attendance 10 of the last 12 years (Fresno did the other two years, including last year). I'd say that they've proven they're pretty good at selling tickets over a long period of time, regardless of their current averages. If someone's not the current leader in something, I'd still say their body of work over a longer period of time keeps anyone else from having an "undisputed" title. Last nine years: Des Moines 3,801 average, Fresno 1,966 average Last eight years: Des Moines 3,778 average, Fresno 2,198 average Last seven years: Des Moines 3,678 average, Fresno 2,434 average Last six years: Des Moines 3,596 average, Fresno 2,782 average Last five years: Des Moines 3,530 average, Fresno 3,109 average Last four years: Des Moines 3,515 average, Fresno 3,120 average Last three years: Des Moines 3,566 average, Fresno 3,032 average Last two years: Des Moines 3,430 average, Fresno 3,419 average Last year: Fresno 4,511 average, Des Moines 3,372 average This year: Fresno drew 4,273 to their opener and unknown officially to last night's game. Des Moines has drawn 3,272 and 3,243 to its two home games. Given Fresno didn't overtake Des Moines until last year (when they went free - which, no, is not the only reason they draw well, but that was a quantum leap they took last year) and are still behind them over the last two years, I'd say there's no reason to call either one the "undisputed" PDL attendance champions. And no one's trying to take your team away, sport, relax. FC Tucson isn't competing with anybody else for the right to move up to USL Pro, they can do that if they want to. But neither Chivas USA nor Dallas is moving to Tucson.
& Pima County is putting in bleachers that can only fit 2,000 people, so we won't be breaking any attendance records this year. Probably sell outs every game, but not record breakers.
Officially now, 4,361. http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/stats/2012/2883421.html Regardless, terrific effort by a team that hasn't been together that long.
FC Tucson won yesterday against the Pali Blues. Final Score was 1-0. We were down a man the entire 2nd half, but we still won. & the goal was a bicycle kick goal.
FC Tucson won there home opener, 1-0, with Danny Toia scoring the lone goal. Official attendance was 812. They only have enough bleachers to fit 700, so wait till they put the rest of them in. Then we'll really pack them in. Next game is against the scrub Monsoon.
Yup, and it wasn't us. Its funny because we had a pretty long discussion about smoke bombs with the FC Tucson owners, and eventually decided that streamers would be the best option, because smoke bombs could present a fire-hazard. But I guess the other supporters group didn't get the message. At the end of the match, they threw them on the pitch. But nothing wrong with that. Pitch wasn't damaged and no one was injured.
A little late, but FC Tucson won the 'friendly' against the MonSoon, 4-2. It was the FC Tucson reserves vs. The Monsoon starters. http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/sports/report/052412_fc-tucson/fc-tucson-downs-phoenix-monsoon/
FC Tucson beat the Pali Blues 1-0 on Saturday. Goal came in the 85th minute. & the official attendance was 634.
Article: http://azstarnet.com/sports/soccer/...cle_eaee8b17-72a7-536d-b98b-6f5f03a20e08.html Very surprised the article writer didn't put the word "loyal" in quotations. If the supporters' group doesn't care enough to show up until the 37th minute because some meaningless friendly is on television Tucson'll be yet another one-and-done.
Country over club any day of the week. Plus it was the first match since the Italy game. We told them, "Look, the only time we won't attend a Desert Cup match or FC Tucson match is when the US is playing at the exact same time." We're 110% committed to FC Tucson, but when it comes to the US, they'll win.
That is completely bizarre. It's fine to be country over club, but when soccer in your area may have a future, it's the team's fourth-ever home game, and the supporters' group is on the front lines of promoting soccer in the area, I think it looks terrible to abandon the local team's "meaningful" game to go watch the national team play a friendly on television. In my opinion right now it is more important for Tucson to have people learning about the team and going to the games.
Well in the short two year history of FC Tucson, this is the 2nd ever match where we didn't attend the whole game. The first match we ever missed occurred last year, during the Gold Cup Final (most of us were in LA for it.) But still, its not like we decided "Hey, lets just stay at the bar and celebrate." The 20+ of us that attended the viewing booked it THE SECOND the final whistle blew during the friendly. We could of stayed, had more drinks, and watch some MLS soccer, but we didn't. We still went out and supported the team. If we had the resources, or if FC Tucson had the beer garden with satellite tv just as they had plan, we would of had the viewing party at the game. This also explains a bit. http://12thlady.tumblr.com/post/23982751109/when-being-a-supporter-gets-in-the-way-of-being-a & tomorrow's friendly between the Monsoon and FC Tucson has been canceled. It sounds like the Monsoon are just about dead, but Phoenix will have a PDL team for next season (smart move). http://www.mindingthe.net/?p=2640
"Lopez may be looking to start a PDL franchise in the Phoenix area next year" becomes, in your mind, "Phoenix will have a PDL team for next season." Okay, got it. The Monsoon is a mess, has been a mess from the get-go. "Stadium issue" is like "visa problems," where the latter means "I'm not interested in getting to spring training just yet." They're a prime example of what happens when you try to do this with no money down and no money going forward. That's nothing against the players, they just want to play; it's the fact they've bought into something with the best of intentions that had no chance of making it. A PDL team would actually be better for everybody, as you actually have to show up front that you have some resources, you have to actually pick a place to play, it has to be an actual stadium, you have to have a coach and adhere to a schedule and all the things normal clubs have to do as a matter of course. And as for the US game, it was 4-1 by minute 65 - you had to stay to the final whistle? What, is that in your charter somewhere? I know there are club/country conflicts and you guys make up your own minds about what you're going to do, but it seems like attending a club's home league match would trump watching a country's friendly. And the US/Scotland game was effectively over with 25 minutes to play. But, to each their own.
I agree, that's what match trackers and smart phones are for. It was a full night for me too: USMNT, then an RSL home game ~45 minutes away, and the BYU-Fresno game that I went to. It's your call what games you go to/watch, but supporting your local team comes first in my mind. (now, back to your regularly scheduled FC Tuscon stuff . . .)